EDITORIAL 



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A Casd of Cooperation 



ILLINOIS Fruit Growers Exchange, an lAA affiliate, is an 

 interesting case in point for the farmer who is consider- 

 ing cooperative marketing. It is interesting not because 

 the Exchange handles fruit and vegetables, but because the 

 benefits it is bringing fruit growers are comparable to the 

 potential benefits of cooperation in every branch of agri- 

 culture. 



Efficient Selling 



Consider briefly a few facts: the Exchange finds a 

 market for Illinois fruit in 25 states, selling each lot for its 

 members at the time and place where price is best. Its vol- 

 ume has grown nearly three times in two years since reor- 

 ganization. It earned a $12,000 profit for its members in 

 1943 in addition to rendering all this service. 



Volume Buying 



The Fruit Exchange Supply Company, a subsidiary, 

 was able, by utilizing early planning and volume buying, to 

 furnish fertilizers, insecticides, and orchard supplies as 

 needed to over 500 growers, in spite of wartime shortages. 

 And it paid out $8,000 in patronage dividends last year. 

 Volume of business grew from $61,000 in 1941 to 

 $152,000 in 1943. 



Earns Confidence 



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A nation-wide market, full current information 

 stant service, assurance of getting needed supplies : these are 

 some of the things achieved cooperatively by the farmers 

 of the Illinois fruit belt. Could the individual, working 

 alone, do as well? 



Today the Fruit Exchange, with the confidence and 

 support of individual growers and county and local asso- 

 ciations of fruit men, faces the problems of the future. 



Apple Storage 



One of them is adequate cold storage, especially for 

 apples. Facilities of that kind, in truly modem form, are 

 scarce. The Exchange, with the approval of its membership, 

 expects to build such facilities at Carbondale. This will 

 pave the way for future processing of peaches and straw- 

 berries, as well as meet the apple growers' immediate need. 



Consumer Demand 



Another problem is postwar selling of fruit. Con- 

 sumers will be demanding riper fruit, better packaging, and 

 other improvements. A market research expert said at the 

 annual meeting April 18, "The housewife wants fresh 

 peaches, in consumer-size packages. She is ready and will- 

 ing to pay for them. How to give her what she wants is up 

 to you." 



Cooperation Pays 



What can the individual grower do about such prob- 

 lems.-* Little enough, usually — but in cooperation with his 

 fellow-orchardists, working through a strong, well-man- 

 aged organization, he can find the answers. It is not ex- 



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travagant to predict that the solution to these and other 

 questions of today and tomorrow will be found by the Illi- 

 nois Fruit Growers Exchange. 



Applies to You 



"But I'm a livestock man . . a dairy man . . or a grain 

 man," you say. 



Yes, but cooperation is a way of doing business, and 

 what it demonstrates in one branch of agriculture it can 

 show in every other commodity field. 



Working together is the means by which farmers earn 

 more, save more, and prepare to meet their problems. 



Plan Your Postwar Future 



NOW is the time for far-thinking farmers to plan their 

 individual postwar future. It is a time to reduce 

 debts and get rid of mortgages, so that postwar oper- 

 ations will be less affected by "overhead." 



It is a time to accumulate liquid reserves of cash and 

 war bonds. The money in banks to farmers' credit is not 

 all profit — it represents depreciation that cannot be made 

 up now because of wartime shortages. 



It is a time to outline plans for building, improving 

 and conserving the soil. 



It is a time to set aside ample funds to repair and re- 

 construct depreciated buildings, fences, tile lines, and other 

 farm improvements, and to replace worn-out machinery. 



Thoughtful farmers, remembering the debacle of 

 1921, are not going into debt to buy land. They are not 

 anticipating that current price levels "will last forever." 

 They are getting their financial houses in order, to meet 

 whatever the postwar period may bring. 



In so doing, they are also laying definite plans for the 

 boys who will return from the armed forces. They will be 

 in a position to constructively use this mVipower which 

 will be necessary if we are to avoid mass unemployment 

 and disastrous breaks in farm commodity prices. 



Leaders in Safety 



COOK county has been named by the state club office as 

 reporting the most outstanding 4-H safety work in 

 Illinois during 1943. Congratulations are in order. 

 In a period of destruction, it is heartening to see that 

 Illinois farm girls and boys, not only in Cook, but in many 

 counties, have carried on projects on this vital subject. 



Safety is rightly a topic of primary concern, even in 

 wartime. More so, perhaps, in wartime, because of the 

 heavy losses that accidents impose, not only in terms of hu- 

 man suffering, but in lost time, lost production, and de- 

 layed victory. 



Safety First is a challenge to every farm family! 



L A. A. RECORD 



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