COOPERATIVE PURCHASING AND MARKETING ORGANIZATIONS. 45 



The local unions have erected 23 warehouses or shipping houses, 

 25 grain stores, 3 grocery stores, and a gristmill. A wholesale 

 grocery house and a flour mill are under consideration. The gross 

 business during 1912-13 was $324,000 and in 1914-15 it was $800,- 

 000, an indication of the rapid growth of the business. 



THE LITCHFIELD DAIRY ASSOCIATION AND THE LIVE STOCK SHIPPING ASSOCIATION, 



MICHIGAN. 



During the winter of 1910-11 the patrons of the local creamery 

 at Litchfield, Mich., became dissatisfied with the prices paid them 

 for butter fat. As a result the farmers purchased the creamery, 

 and it has been conducted on the cooperative plan since that time. 

 The annual volume of business has increased from 125,000 pounds 

 of butter to 600,000 pounds. The creamery has been very suc- 

 cessful and now has approximately 600 patrons, to whose coopera- 

 tion, the manager states, the success of this enterprise is largely due. 

 Other factors which have contributed to its success are good markets 

 for its output, modern equipment, and efficient management. 



Encouraged by the success of the creamery, the Live Stock Ship- 

 ping Association was organized as a separate company by prac- 

 tically the same farmers who are interested in the creamery. The 

 manager of the creamery is also manager of the Live Stock Shipping 

 Association, and the business of both enterprises is handled from 

 the same office. Members ship their stock on regular shipping days 

 to the terminal markets in carload lots. Returns, less actual cost 

 of handling and a small reserve fund, are prorated to each" member. 

 All stock shipped is marked and sold according to grade. This 

 association is one of the earliest live-stock shipping associations and 

 one of the most successful. 



MINNESOTA COOPERATIVE DAIRIES ASSOCIATION. 



The Minnesota Cooperative Dairies Association was organized in 

 the summer of 1907 to bring about better marketing conditions 

 among Minnesota creameries. It is a capital stock organization, 

 and the shares are held by a number of cooperative creameries. 

 In 1908 the association appointed an agent in Chicago to handle 

 the butter consigned, and in 1909 similar arrangements were made 

 with agents in New York and Philadelphia. As the agents ap- 

 pointed were regular butter dealers in these markets, this method 

 of marketing did not differ materially from the method commonly 

 employed. 



It was the original plan of the association to have its own butter 

 houses at the principal markets and to sell the output of the member 

 creameries through them. In accordance with these plans a distrib- 

 uting office was opened in New York in the summer of 1915. On 

 account of the short time this venture has been in operation it is 

 not possible to say how successful or far-reaching the results will be. 



