(4, \Seexs 
Contribution from the Office of Markets and Rural! Organiza- "9)\— 
tion, CHARLES J. BRAND, Chief. 
i; BULLETIN No. 371 ¥& 
| ~ 
Washington, D. C. v ; May 23, 1916 
PATRONAGE DIVIDENDS IN COOPERATIVE GRAIN 
COMPANIES. 
By JoHN R. HumpuHrRey, Assistant in Market Business Practice, and W. H. 
Kerr, Investigator in Market Business Practice. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. Page. 
TMLEOUUCUIONE ts sons ote e tee ote Seneca es 1 | Accounting and business practice in relation 
Cooperative organization in relation to pat- to patronage dividend payments—Contd. 
ronage dividend payments........-....... yy Patronage dividend records............- 5 
Accounting and business practice in relation Basisvof/distribmtion 2a! hess: eee 5 
to patronage dividend payments.......... 4 Rnterpatronarevledeeniye sesmenpa. oe seme 6 
Desirability of standardization of ac- County unit or district requirements. ... 8 
COUMGIN SRACOLdS Hes seks ike ws Sens ee 4 
Diversity of conditions and methods of 
GIS DrilbiWbionie oo Acie ae Mas Se eee | 5 
- INTRODUCTION. 
The by-laws of a great many cooperative associations provide for 
‘the payment of dividends to their patrons prorated in direct ratio 
to the amount of business carried on between the organization and 
the individual members. In a great majority of those organizations 
these provisions have not yet been put into effect. 
The principle of patronage dividends has been understood by stu- 
dents of cooperation from the beginning, but has only lately been 
making itself felt among the rank and file of the great body of 
intending cooperators of America. The organization of farmers’ 
elevators, having had its origin at a time when cooperation on the 
North American continent had not been the subject of much study, 
quite naturally sought the lines of least resistance. It is natural, 
then, since the corporation law was well founded and in successful 
Note.—This bulletin should be of interest to farmers’ cooperative grain elevators and 
warehouses, and to members of these companies. It should be of interest to farmers and 
others who are forming new cooperative grain elevators and warehouses. 
30235°—Bull. 371—16 
