16 
BVLLETIX 937. V. S. DEPAETMEXT OF AGPJCULTUEE. 
vantages claimed for this plan are that all elevators withm the county 
may have the benefits of a liighly skilled manager which the individ- 
ual companies could not afford to employ singly, and that there is a 
decreased general and overhead expense by reason of standardization 
and centralization of accounting work. In addition, of course, there 
is a greatly increased purchase power when it com.es to buying sup- 
plies and side lines usually handled by farmers' elevators. In the 
main, however, farmers' elevators in this country, and especially in 
the Middle 'West, have grown out of local effort, and up to the pres- 
ent time little has been done in the way of federating the individual 
companies into central organizations for marketing purposes. 
The existence of such a large number of the single-unit type of 
farmers* elevators, the great majority of which have been in success- 
ful operation long enough to justify a belief in their permanence as an 
FiCr. 4. — Typical flat warehouse in sack-handling section of the Pacific Northwest. 
economic thing, has naturally raised the question whether cooperative 
grain marketing should end Avith these local elevators or whether 
it should be extended to the terminal markets. Xo great movement 
like the farmers' elevator movement can proceed suddenly and rap- 
idly to a certain point of perfection and as suddenly stop and re- 
main stationary. It is true that much remains to be done in the mat- 
ter of securing a firm footing upon the groimd already covered and 
that stability shoidd be secured there before proceeding further. 
However, it is also true that if perfection is to be attained in the 
operation of the country elevators before looking toward the next 
step, there probably will be no next step, unless, indeed, it be a step 
backward. That complete success in the operation of local farmers' 
elevators will be aided by greater imity and community of action is 
readily apparent, and unity naturally centers around terminal mar- 
keting. It may or may not be to the financial advantage of the grain 
