28 BULLETIN 547, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



only a few members or which appeared to have most of the stock 

 owned by one or a few individuals were excluded entirely. While 

 1,074 elevators do not distribute their profits in a cooperative man- 

 ner, many of them have certain cooperative characteristics. In all 

 of them the stock is distributed among a number of farmers; in some 

 there is a limit to the number of shares one person may own; often 

 there are regulations in regard to the transfer of stock; and many 

 of these organizations adhere to the "one man one vote" principle. 

 There are many cases where the stock is distributed among farmers, 

 few holding more than one share. The main point on which these 

 organizations fail to live up to cooperative principles is in the dis- 

 tribution of profits, since they fail to make use of the patronage 

 dividend. In this connection the fact should be borne in mind 

 that many of the States only recently have enacted cooperative 

 laws, and in many instances the payment of dividends according 

 to patronage has not been provided for. The elevators grouped 

 in the cooperative class limit their stock dividends and distribute 

 any further profits in the form of patronage dividends. Some of 

 these pay patronage dividends to all of the patrons and some only 

 to the patrons who are members. Often the nonmembers are paid 

 at one-half the rate to members and some associations provide 

 that the dividends to nonmembers shall be applied toward the pur- 

 chase of a share of stock. The shares in these companies range 

 from $10 to $100; in most cases the par value is from $10 to $25. 



Business transacted. — As previously stated, the reports for the 

 volume of business are not all for the same year. The average 

 volume of business of those reporting was $143,268; applying this 

 average to all of the 1,637 elevators reporting, an annual business of 

 $234,529,716 is shown. 



A large number of elevators carry side lines in addition to handling 

 grain. Of the 1,637 elevators, 630, or 38 per cent of the total, 

 handle fuel, indicating that the farmers' elevators have found this 

 practice desirable. In most cases farmers themselves shovel the 

 coal from the bins in order to reduce the handling charge to a mini- 

 mum. Most of the coal is hauled by the farmers on the return trip 

 from the elevator during the season when grain is being delivered. 

 The largest number of elevators which handle fuel was reported from 

 Iowa, this State having 99; North Dakota reported 94, Kansas 85, 

 Nebraska 82, Minnesota 75, South Dakota 71, and Illinois 66. 



The handling of live stock was reported by 132 elevators. Of this 

 number 58, or a little over one-third, are located in Nebraska, show- 

 ing how prevalent this practice is in that State; Iowa reported 20, 

 South Dakota 13, and Minnesota 12 elevators handling live stock. 

 Separate live stock shipping associations have sprung up in many 



