364 DRY FARMING 



The price a fanner gets for his products is fixed by the 

 law of supply and demand, the tariff schedules, the cost 

 of transportation and the cost of handling by middlemen. 

 Here even more than in the cost of production the factors 

 that determine the selling price are beyond the influence 



Fig. 108. Manitoba Farm Yard Scene, in Winter. 



,of the individual producer. Individually a farmer can 

 influence the price of wheat about as much as he can the 

 state of the weather. If he is ever to get a larger propor- 

 tion of the consumer's price it seems apparent that it 

 must be through co-operative effort. 



The price of crops in the future as in the past will in 

 a large measure be controlled by the law of supply and 

 demand. The world's demand is relatively constant. 

 May not the supply be made more uniform ? By a better 

 knowledge of the probable market requirements may it 

 not be possible to avoid over-production of one crop and 

 under-production of another with consequent loss in net 

 returns ? May it not also be possible to arrive at a valu- 

 ation of the services of transportation companies and 

 middlemen, with fairness to all concerned? These are 

 problem^ that farmers, transportation companies, middle- 

 men and consumers must solve collectively. In this way 



