218 TwENTY-FlBST BlENNIAL RePOET 



with, the ease and understanding with which the banker 

 uses the terms of bookkeeping and accounting. They 

 saw a chart on the wall of the convention room showing 

 that over one million, sixty-six thousand dollars 

 (1,066,000) had been deposited in the banks of Anna 

 alone hj members of the Association in the neighborhood 

 of that little town from garden products marketed dur- 

 ing the months of June, July, August and September, 

 1913 — one million, sixty-six thousand dollars of new, 

 fresh money, which had never been spent by anybody in 

 Anna before, and had never been in that country be- 

 fore, all drawn directly away from St. Louis, Chicago, 

 Indianapolis, Detroit and other market centers to which 

 that Association shipped the goods of its members. 

 They found that organization equipped with a receiving 

 depot for its members at every shipping point. That 

 the members had learned how to sort and pack their 

 products for the city markets, that the handling, ship- 

 ping and accounting all done through the Association 

 was at such a small cost that the percentage is negli- 

 gible; that there were no middlemen, and that the pro- 

 ducer got practically the maximum city prices for his 

 goods. They learned that the farmers and truck grow- 

 ers were the most prosperous men in the community, 

 that the banks were loaded with their deposits, and that 

 the farmers themselves had loaned oiit thousands of 

 dollars at 4 and 5 per cent, interest. The guests of the 

 board of trade instead of staying one day, stayed until 

 the meeting was over, and when they came back they 

 began to spread the news. You all know how news 

 spreads in the country. In four or five days it was all 

 over the country. As soon as it had soaked in, another 

 meeting was called by the Board of Trade for the pur- 

 pose of taking up the question again. At this meeting 

 the assembly room at the board of trade was crowded. 

 Talks were made by several persons present, and an- 

 other meeting was arranged for. Then followed a series 

 of meetings before which appeared representatives of 

 the agricultural department of the Illinois Central Rail- 

 road, and various other public-spirited and enlightened 

 speakers upon the question of a growers' organization. 



