10 
BULLETIN 394, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
best size for a share of stock, most managers expressed themselves 
as in favor of the share of large denomination. It seemed to be the 
consensus of opinion that the share should not be smaller than $25, 
but an examination of Table I indicates that much depends upon con- 
ditions. The character and density of population, the kind of busi- 
ness conducted, nearness to wholesalers, and many other features 
have a bearing on the best size for a share of stock. Well-capitalized 
stores were found with .shares of small denomination, while other 
stores are very insufficiently capitalized on the basis of $100 shares. 
In general it is considered inadvisable for any store in the United 
States to begin operations with a share of less than $10, although 
here again there are exceptions. 
Table I. — The capitalization of typical stores. 
Number 
reporting. 
Total. 
High. 
Low. 
Average. 
32 
40 
50 
44 
40 
$1, 454, 000 
825, 898 
831,377 
$200,000 
106, 200 
106, 200 
100 
$10, 000 
305 
267 
1 
$45, 437 
20,647 
16, 627 
53 
764,026 
19,100 
Vote: Forty stores allow 1 vote to each member; 5 stores allow 1 vote to each share of stock. 
1 These are the 40 stores reporting subscribed capital, and are given separately for the sake of comparison. 
Most of the stores allow members the privilege of paying for stock 
in installments. Others, again, sell their stock and receive some 
form of note or agreement to pay for it at a specified time. Both 
of these practices appear to have been greatly abused. The former 
accounts to a large degree for the discrepancy between the paid-up 
and subscribed capital as given in Table I, and the result of the latter 
has been that many associations have accepted poorly drawn notes 
which are not bankable, and which merely burden the books of the 
association with fictitious assets. 
The following abstract from an auditor's report is illustrative of 
an abuse which has weakened many of the cooperative stores : 
In view of the fact that a majority of your members have not liquidated their 
note obligation in payment for shares, I recommend that no patronage dividend 
be declared or paid covering the year 1914. and that the amount be carried as 
surplus. * * * Permit me, in conclusion, to express the hope that the mem- 
bers will pay their notes and thereby place the company where it rightfully 
belongs, and furnish the opportunity for it to grow large and successful. 
A feature which probably has a greater influence on the successful 
capitalization of a store than the size of the share of stock is the 
amount of capital which one member may hold. Some of the earlier 
cooperative laws fixed the upper limit which one member could hold 
