GOOD SELLING IS A FARMER'S NEED 71 



for the crate. Middlemen got $1.50 for finding a buyer 

 for these berries, while the farmer, who did all the work 

 of growing them, received only 90 cents. 



The Kansas Agricultural College, by the establishment 

 of a co-operative buying and selling bureau for all Kan- 

 sas farm products, will undertake to save the unneces- 

 sary middlemen's profits to farmers in that state. This 

 announcement, made by President Waters, before 800 

 farmers in the co-operation meeting held in connection 

 with the State Farmers' Institute, was greeted with cheers. 

 By resolutions, unanimously passed, the meeting, after 

 considering many plans, with a determination to do 

 something, had just asked the college to establish such 

 a bureau. The announcement by President Waters, 

 promptly granting the request, came as a surprise. 



A co-operative bureau at the agricultural college will 

 be the first of that kind in the United States. When 

 developed to its highest efficiency, which may take several 

 years, it will mean a saving of millions of dollars to 

 Kansas farmers annually. It will shorten the distance 

 between the producer and the consumer, thus promoting 

 direct selling. For instance, a farmer with a carload of 

 potatoes to sell need not dispose of them to the local 

 commission man. Instead, he would list his carload with 

 the co-operative bureau. This bureau, in touch with 

 markets all over the United States, would immediately 

 place him in communication with a market for his pota- 

 toes. Whereupon the farmer would ship his product 

 direct to the buyer. 



That such a bureau would be successful was apparent 

 after the organization of a clearing house for apple grow- 

 ers and apple buyers, a year ago. The college had helped 

 farmers to find good seed and good breeding stock, but 

 the clearing house was the first assistance offered in 

 marketing produce. Upon the announcement, last fall, 

 that the college was again prepared to open a clearing 



