236 THE FARMER AS A COOPERATOR. 



deception. A man ignorant of business processes has no 

 means of distinguishing tlie projects of the schemer or the 

 enthusiast from the sensible proposals of the sound business 

 man, and as the former always promise more largely, he is 

 more likely to be attracted by them, and to be continually 

 disappointed. It is surprising to meet persons so generally 

 intelligent as manj^ farmers are, and yet so completely igno- 

 rant regarding many business transactions which concern 

 them, and consequently so suspicious of those proposing 

 improved methods. 



Infirm Will. — This seems to me the greatest infirmity of 

 human nature. It seems to be possible for bright talkers of 

 strong will power to persuade most men to act contrary to 

 what would be their cool judgment. It is my observation 

 that when cooperative societies are formed the majority of the 

 members are obtained only after the most earnest canvassing 

 by a small number of enthusiasts; I have personally assisted 

 in the formation of a large number of cooperative societies, 

 and perhaps have induced as many persons as any one ever 

 induced to sign their names to the stockholders' lists of such 

 enterprises, and I can remember hardly an instance where 

 any one not of the number of the original promoters gave his 

 signature without serious and exhausting arguments; I have 

 always been a hard worker, but have never done any work so 

 exhausting as canvassing for membership in a cooperative 

 society; of the hundreds whom I have induced to join such 

 societies, I do not believe that one third could have been 

 secured except as the result of this earnest canvassing; nor do 

 I believe that there were more than one in three who could 

 not be persuaded after having joined the society to compete 

 with it by doing their business elsewhere. 



The experience of the California Fruit Union, with which 

 I was never connected, is a fair sample of this. Sometime in 

 "the eighties" the growing output of fresh fruit in California 

 had outstripped the then existing shipping and marketing 

 arrangements, and the growers were making no money. In 

 this state of affairs, as the result of many large meetings, 

 and amidst much popular enthusiasm, the "California Fruit 



