UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 547 
Contribution from the Office of Markets and Rural Organization 
CHARLES J. BRAND, Chief 
Washington, D. C. 
September 19, 1917 
COOPERATIVE PURCHASING AND MARKETING 
ORGANIZATIONS AMONG FARMERS IN 
THE UNITED STATES 
By 
O. B. JESNESS, Assistant in Cooperative Organization, and 
W. H. KERR, Investigator 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 
Organizations 41 
Financing and Business Practices ... 50 
Page 
Agencies Which Assist Cooperation . . 59 
Cooperative Laws 61 
Cooperative Law Summations .... 62 
Digest of State Cooperative Laws ... 67 
The Clayton Amendment to the United 
States Antitrust Laws . 77 
Selected List of Publications on Cooper- 
ative Purchasing and Marketing ... 78 
i 
