THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



177 



PUT YOUR ASSOCIATION TO WORK 



ARE you finding 

 a market for 

 all you raise on 

 your farm ? 



Are you getting 

 the best market prices 

 for your products? 



Why not? 



These are ques- 

 tions which every set- 

 tler on the Federal ir- 

 rigation projects 

 should ask himself. 

 Some of them have 

 already done so and 

 answered the ques- 

 tions, at least in part, 

 but there are still 

 thousands who are 

 taking whatever they 

 can get for their 

 products, and are 



dumping their SUr- Hogs Are a Money Making Crop on 

 plus into the sloughs. Photograph Was Takenjn 



There is a mar- 

 ket and a good market -for every pound of pro- 

 duce raised on the Federal projects. None should 

 have to go to waste. None should have to be sold 

 for less than a fair price. 



What is the answer? 



Co-operation. 



The absolute necessity of co-operation among the 

 members of a farming community in the sale of pro- 

 duce is becoming evident to all students of living 

 conditions in the United States. This co-operation 

 can only be obtained through thorough organization. 



In no section of America is there better oppor- 

 tunity for organized co-operation in marketing farm 

 products than on the Federal projects. This is true 

 because the foundation of the organization is already 

 built. It is the Water Users' Association. On those 

 projects, where the Reclamation Service has permitted 

 the organization of the Water Users, the settlers are 

 already bound together by constitution and by-laws 

 which make it possible, with little change, to turn 

 the association into a most effective business organ- 

 ization, which can market the produce of the project 

 in bulk, in the best markets, at the opportune mo- 

 ment and at the best prices. This kind of marketing 

 means the elimination of one or more middlemen and 

 lower freight rates, because of the bulk shipped, and 

 as a result more money to the farmers. 



Put your Water Users' Association to work for 

 you. 



You buy in an organized market and you sell in 

 an organized market. Meet organization with or- 

 ganization. 



If the hens are laying an oversupply of eggs, 

 you cannot tell them to wait until winter, when the 

 prices will be up high. It is the same with all the 

 other products on your farm. 



There is always this element of risk entering into 

 the handling of farm produce. As a result, we have 



Almost Any Irrigated Farm, 

 the Lower Yellowstone 

 Montana. 



This 



boards of trade to 

 buy your grains 

 butter and egg 

 boards, fruit and 

 vegetable commission 

 men. They are and 

 (have been the risk- 

 taking group. They 

 do not intend to lose, 

 if they can help it, so 

 they fix the margin 

 of profit, between the 

 price they pay the 

 farmer and the price 

 they charge the ulti- 

 mate consumer, big 

 enough that if the 

 market should take 

 a downward move, 

 they are on the safe 

 side, and if it should 

 rise, they are well off. 

 This is the real ex- 

 planation for high 

 prices today. 



The grower should carry the risk a little farther 

 ahead and reap at least a fair share of the rewards 

 that now go to the commission men. 



This is possible if you put your Water Users' 

 Association to work. And it is not such a big task. 



To begin with, practically every government proj- 

 ect offers conditions under which can be raised some 

 of the best of any class of the orchard or farm prod- 

 ucts. Not only can these products be raised of bet- 

 ter quality than .in many other communities, but they 

 can be made ready for the market at an earlier date. 

 A high grade of produce and on the market early 

 means good prices. 



Put the products on the market through the 

 Water Users' Association under some particular name 

 or trademark that will become known. Make each 

 box of such produce that you send out a forceful 

 advertisement for your brand and your project. This 

 can be done by educating your settlers to grade their 

 produce. Keep out the culls whether it is apples, 

 chickens, onions, potatoes, or whatever you are mar- 

 keting. Do this by rules of your association. Do 

 this by thorough personal interest. Make the brands 

 of your projects stand for quality. It means money 

 to you. 



On practically all the Federal projects there is 

 power development. This means that at low cost, 

 your Water Users' Association can construct and 

 maintain refrigerating plants and warehouses in which 

 to store your produce if the market is not favorable 

 when the crops are harvested. The association can 

 go still further and equip for the icing of cars, in 

 which the produce is shipped. All this can be done 

 at much less cost to the farmer than he now has to 

 pay, because the power is right at hand. 



The association can go even further and con- 

 struct such additional elevators as may be needed on 



