16 
in the district where the wool was originally produced. The 
woolen cloth must, therefore, be transported again over the same 
two or three thousand miles of journey which the wool originally 
took. From the dry goods merchants the tailor buys his cloth 
to make suits of cloths. At every step in this complicated journey 
of the wool, from the sheep’s back to the man’s back, a profit has 
been added by each dealer through whom the material was passed, 
and the consumer must ultimately pay the whole bill. The elimi- 
nation of unecessary links in the chain of distribution has enabled 
the co-operative woolen mill in question to reduce the price of 
clothing by one-half and still make a large profit for the co-opera- 
tive stock-holders. 
It is desirable for farmers to get together, not alone for the 
purpose of learning how their products are distributed and who 
is getting the profits from this farm produce, but also to study 
business methods of marketing. Farmers have been and still 
are very negligent in this regard. Produce is sent to market in 
carelessly made crates, and without thought of the appearance of 
the product when it reaches the market. The price of farm pro- 
duce, however, depends to a large extent upon its appearance 
when viewed by the prospective consumer. If the packages are 
untidy and the products not crated to secure uniformity a dis- 
agreeable impression is produced and the consumer looks else- 
where to make his purchase. With the establishment of co-opera- 
tive associations men are found among the members of the asso- 
ciation who have the proper training and ability to take the leader- 
ship in directing the methods of packing, marketing and distribu- 
tion of the products of the community, so as to get these products 
upon the market in a satisfactory condition and to obtain reason- 
able profits for the original producer. As has been demonstrated 
time and time again, this can be accomplished without increasing 
the price of the product to the ultimate consumer; in fact, the 
final retail price may be lowered and the price paid to the pro- 
ducer increased by a reduction of the unnecessary middle profits. 
Co-operative associations are of the greatest business signifi- 
cance to the farmer, not only in showing how to market his pro- 
duce better, and therefore obtain more profit from his farm opera- 
tions, but also in enabling him to buy farm machinery, fertilizers, 
furniture and other material at a better advantage. In other 
words, these associations naturally operate both in the line of sell- 
ing and buying co-operatively. The business of the merchant 
in the city is calculated to make him a profit for the simple reason 
that he buys at wholesale and sells at retail prices. The farmer, 
on the other hand, has always sold his produce to commission men 
and wholesalers and, of course, at wholesale prices, while every- 
