MARKETS, MARKETING, CO-OPERATION 911 



lished markets and standardized produce so that farmers can better under- 

 stand market quotations and know the price their goods will command. 



The chief difficulty lies in the large number of middlemen and the 

 complexity of the business, thus entailing an expense in getting produce 

 from the farm to the consumer's table. This unwarranted expense is a 

 burden to both producer and consumer. 



The Consumer is helpless and must pay the price asked for produce 

 by those with whom he deals. Dissatisfaction on his part has more 

 recently given rise to public meetings with a view of forming associations 

 for the purpose of protecting consumers. The chief difficulty encountered 

 has been a lack of reliable data on which to base practical plans. In some 

 places the consumers have organized and established a market place where 



A Farmers' Retail Curb Market. 1 



they may meet the producer directly, thus eliminating the middlemen. 

 In other instances co-operative associations have been established, and 

 produce bought at wholesale and retailed to the members of the association 

 at actual cost. In order to succeed, such an organization requires loyalty 

 of all its members. The organized trade does everything to discourage 

 such competition. For a time regular dealers will reduce prices even below 

 that of the co-operative store, for the purpose of putting it out of business. 

 This is often looked upon as a failure on the part of the co-operative store, 

 and it receives no credit for having reduced the prices. If the co-operative 

 store is forced to close, prices again rise, frequently above their former 

 level, to enable the regular merchants to make up for their sacrifice in 

 gaining their point. Co-operative associations should recognize this 

 difficulty and hold out against it until the regular trade resumes normal 

 prices; this critical period once passed, such organizations are usually 

 in a position to render good service to a community. 



1 From Year-Book, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1914. 



