UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
| BULLETIN No. 547 
Contribution from Office of Markets and Rural Organization 
SSmM'^SL CHARLES J. BRAND, Chief 
Washington, D. C. T September 19, 1917 
COOPERATIVE PURCHASING AND MARKETING OR- 
GANIZATIONS AMONG FARMERS IN THE UNITED 
STATES. 
By 0. B. Jesness, Assistant in Cooperative Organization, and W. H. Kerr, Ivesti- 
gator in Market Business Practice. 
CONTENTS 
Page 
Early history and growth of cooperative 
organization 1 
Present forms and tendencies 3 
Statistics of cooperation 11 
Cooperation in representative States 37 
Representative types of cooperative organiza- 
tions 41 
Financing and business practices 50 
Page. 
Agencies which assist cooperation 59 
Cooperative laws > Gl 
Cooperative law summations 02 
Digest of State cooperative laws G7 
The Clayton Amendment to the United 
States antitrust laws 77 
Selected list of publications on cooperative 
purchasing and marketing 78 
EARLY HISTORY AND GROWTH OF COOPERATIVE ORGANIZATION. 
FOUNDATION. 
While cooperative organization among the farmers of the United 
States usually is regarded as a movement of recent origin, farmers' 
organizations existed in this country as early as the latter part of 
the eighteenth century. The need for organized effort, however, 
did not become very apparent until about the middle of the nine- 
teenth century. The first half of the nineteenth century was a 
period of rapid development in agriculture as well as in other indus- 
tries, but in so far as the farmer was concerned it was largely a 
period of individual development. The need felt by the farmer for 
organized effort about 1850 gave rise to a number of attempts at 
cooperative purchasing and also brought about the promotion of a 
number of cooperative stores. Coincident with this movement 
among farmers, a similar movement was inaugurated in certain of 
the cities. The establishment of cooperative stores among the fac- 
tory employees in England had proved so successful that employees, 
especially in New England cities, profiting by the experience of the 
85964°— Bull. 547—17 1 
