Agricultural Finance 



62 



LJULY, 1910. 



a co-operative way. In succeeding 

 articles I propose to give a few ex- 

 amples of now co-operation has been 

 put in operation among farmers. 

 Perhaps the first objection that will be 

 made to any plan of co-operation in 

 Hawaii is the difficulty of organizing 

 a workable plan. This difficulty rests 

 primarily on the diversity of race among 

 our small farming population. The 

 difficulty is sufficiently obvious to every 

 one, but the reply must be overcome 

 before any great progress can be made 

 in the marketing of farm produce. 



Article VII. 



As an example of what may be accom- 

 plished among a farming community of 

 ordinary intelligence and business 

 ability, it may be well to mention the 

 little rural town of Ruth v en, Iowa. In 

 the countryside about this town there 

 are five co-operative societies which have 

 passed the experimental stage and are 

 thoroughly established financially and 

 in the minds of the people. A local 

 telephone plant was bought by the 

 farmers and established upon a co-oper- 

 ative basis. Within two years 270 in- 

 struments were put in operation and the 

 cost for unlimited service is now $7 a 

 year, as compared with $18 a year before 

 the co-operative plan was adopted. No 

 farmer who has produce to sell cau 

 afford to be without the means fur- 

 nished by a telephone for putting him in 

 communication with the market, so long 

 as telephone service can be obtained at 

 such a remarkably cheap rate. 



A co-operative creamery company was 

 organized among the farmers the follow- 

 ing year, and in addition to paying a 

 higher price for cream than had pre- 

 viously been charged, the creamery yields 

 a dividend of 8 per cent, on the stock. 

 Incidentally, the social intercourse, 

 which was made possible and necessary 

 by the co-operative plan, contributed 

 greatly toward the raising of the stand- 

 ards of dairy sanitation among all the 

 members. After running the creamery 

 one year, insured according to the 

 ordinary plan, a co-operative insurance 

 was put in operation. By means of a 

 "sinking fund "allowed to accumulate 

 and loaned on first mortgages on farms, 

 the insurance policy now pays $100 per 

 year, instead of costing $55 a year, as 

 was previously the case. 



A co-operative buying enterprise was 

 also organized among the farmers with 

 a capital stock of $2,500. The society 

 buys and sells for its members various 

 kinds of farm produce, oil, coal, binding 

 twine, fertilizer, etc. A co-operative grain 

 elevator was erected in accordance with 



this scheme, and after passing through 

 stormy days, won out financially. 



The farmers' wives were not satisfied 

 with ass is ting in the co-operative schemes, 

 which their husbands had put on foot, 

 but started among themselves what was 

 perhaps the first organisation of its 

 kind on the mainland. The women pro- 

 posed to handle eggs and poultry in a 

 co-operative way. During the first year 

 twenty-five farmers' wives were asso- 

 ciated in this work and sold 8,500 dozen 

 eggs at a price of five cents in advance 

 of that which had previously been 

 received. They soon branched out into 

 poultry and such other farm produce as 

 is frequently left to the attention of 

 farmers' wives. In addition to these 

 schemes, a stockman's auxiliary was 

 organized for the purpose of buying and 

 selling beef cattle. This organization 

 has also met with pronounced success, 



During one year of operation the five 

 co-operative schemes, set on foot by the 

 farmers in the neighbourhood of one 

 little town, put an extra $42,350 into the 

 pockets of the farmers. It evidently 

 pays the farmer to run his own 

 business. What has been done in 

 Ruthven can be done in any rural 

 community. Co-operative enterprises are 

 eminently successful, and the factors of 

 success have everywhere been : common 

 sense, business methods, industry, a 

 fraternal spirit and faithfulness. 



Article VIII. 

 Important and extensive as is the 

 citrus fruit industry of California, it 

 had for some years ceased to be really 

 profitable previous to the organiza- 

 tion of the Southern California Fruit 

 Exchange with headquarters at Los 

 Angeles. This co-operative Exchange 

 has now been in operation about eigh- 

 teen years, and has proved even more 

 effective and useful than its organizers 

 anticipated. In the management of the 

 Exchange no one but citrus growers has 

 any influence or authority in its policy. 

 The regions in which citrus fruits are 

 grown in California are organized into 

 local associations which are grouped 

 about a local Exchange, each association 

 having, as a rule, one representative in 

 the local Exchange. Each local Ex- 

 change, in turn, selects one represent- 

 ative for the central Exchange. At 

 present there are fifteen local Exchanges 

 and nearly seventy Associations, all 

 organized co-operatively and transacting 

 their business with the fruit consuming 

 public through the central Exchange in 

 Los Angeles. This system secures a 

 perfect understanding of the demand 

 for citrus fruits in various parts of the 



