6 BULLETIN 1106, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
quirements of the statute under which it is proposed to incorporate. 
Such statutes generally require that a certain number of individuals, 
usually three or more, must unite in articles of association. The 
term, articles of association, describes the paper or instrument in 
which those desirous of forming a corporation set forth the various 
facts required by the law under wdiich they propose to incorporate. 
Those whose names appear in the articles of association, or, as they 
are sometimes called, articles of incorporation, are known as the 
incorporators. The statutes require that the objects and purposes 
for which the corporation or association is formed shall be clearly 
stated in the articles of association or incorporation. They usually 
require that the name by which the cooperative association or cor- 
poration is to be known shall be given and that the amount of 
capital stock, if the association is to have capital stock, shall be 
stated. Some of the other usual statutory requirements are the 
length of time the association is to exist and the place where is 
principal business is to be transacted. 
Application to be incorporated or for a charter is usually made 
to an officer of the State, generally the secretary of state. The 
articles of association or incorporation which constitute such appli- 
cation are submitted to this officer and, if he finds that the statute 
under which the incorporators are seeking to incorporate has been 
complied with and that the purpose of the association is one pro- 
vided for in the statute, he issues a certificate of incorporation. 
The amount of discretion which the secretary of state or like 
officer has with respect to the acceptance or rejection of an applica- 
tion for a charter is not the same in all the States. 17 Upon the 
issuance of the certificate of incorporation, the corporation in most 
States comes into existence. The procedure in the different States 
is not uniform, but the above gives a general idea of the steps in- 
volved. In Georgia and some other States, application for a charter 
must be made to a court. In some States the charter or the articles 
of association, or both, must be recorded in the county where the 
association is to have its principal place of business. In certain 
States it is necessary to advertise for a given length of time that an 
application for a charter is being made. The exact moment when a 
corporation comes into existence varies in the different States and de- 
pends upon their statutes. It is believed that all States require the 
payment of certain fees as an incident to incorporation. 
It is highly important that due consideration should be given b} r 
those interested in forming a cooperative association, prior to its 
incorporation, to the matter of determining the particular statute 
under which to incorporate. The Capper- Volstead Act, which is 
discussed elsewhere, should be considered Those interested in form- 
17 Lloyd v. Ramsay, (Iowa) 183 N. W. 333. 
