COOPERATIVE GRAIN" MARKETING. 5 



For the purpose of catering to those growers who wish to make 

 use of the special-bin privilege it is necessary to provide elevators 

 having a considerable number of small bins. While the Canada 

 Grain Act makes it obligatory upon all licensed elevators to special- 

 bin so long as they have available space, it can readily be seen that 

 elevators having no desire to special-bin may " grade store " in such 

 manner as to have little or no space available for special binning, 

 especially where elevators are constructed with a limited number of 

 large bins only. The farmers' 1 companies claim to provide more 

 special-bin accommodations than the private-owned elevators usually 

 give. In special binning the grower may be required to pay storage 

 on the capacity of the bin which is needed for his special purpose. 



In the matter of storage for growers, the elevators in Canada may, 

 upon giving 48 hours' notice to the owner, ship the stored grain from 

 the country elevators to a public elevator, thus relieving congestion 

 at the local elevators. 



THE UNITED FARMERS' ASSOCIATIONS. 2 



In Canada the farmers have been fortunate in having only a com- 

 paratively few general educational and agricultural associations 

 which are broad in scope and territor}^, and the result has been con- 

 centration of effort along definite lines. In the three principal grain- 

 growing Provinces, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, for ex- 

 ample, there are found the United Farmers of Alberta, the Sas- 

 katchewan Grain Growers' Association, and the United Farmers of 

 Manitoba, respectively. These and similar associations in some of the 

 other Provinces, together with their respective affiliated commercial 

 organizations, are united in the Canadian Council of Agriculture, and 

 through these various associations practically all of the demands of 

 the agricultural interests in Canada are voiced. There is, therefore, 

 no division of interest or effort among what might be termed compet- 

 ing farmers' organizations, as has sometimes been the case in the 

 United States. 



The existing associations are well supported, and there is unity of 

 action. With the exception of the Saskatchewan Grain Growers' 

 Association, these organizations have confined their efforts largely 

 to educational and legislative lines, leaving commercial undertakings 

 to separate and distinct trading corporations. The Saskatchewan 

 Grain Growers' Association is incorporated as a trading company 

 and is engaged in handling all kinds of farm supplies, but inasmuch 

 as its commercial activities are carried on in separate departments, 

 there is in reality a clean-cut division between its educational activi- 

 ties and the handling of supplies. 



2 Formerly known as the Grain Growers' Associations. They are now more frequently 

 called the United Farmers of a certain Province, as the United Farmers of Alberta. 



