<Jhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1131 
ABikC cooperative Movement in New York 
F ARM ORGANIZATION.—It has been often said 
to the discredit of farmers that they are unable 
to stick together, and it is no doubt true that a lack 
of unity of thought and effort has been character¬ 
istic. not only of individual farmers, but of farm 
organizations as well. History tells us, however, 
that when it becomes necessary for a group of men 
to work together to maintain their existence, co¬ 
operative effort is always forthcoming. While it 
may be exaggerating a bit to say that that day has 
now come for the farmers of the nation, still there 
is enough truth in it to explain the rapid develop¬ 
ment in recent years of successful cooperative en¬ 
terprises, wholly financed and operated by farmers. 
Tractor Hauls the Disks. Fig. 329. (See Pape 1130) 
Tims we see the Dairymen’s League suddenly 
brought to life and made an effective agency for milk 
v* hen the price of milk fell to a point where the 
men who produced it could not longer exist on the 
proceeds. We have seen throughout the country 
the woolgrowers organize to pool and sell their 
vooi direct because they could no longer stay 
in the business and take the prices obtainable 
through a long and involved chain of middlemen. 
Out in Western New York the growers of canning 
crops found themselves this Spring facing offers 
from the canning companies which would not per¬ 
mit them to grow their crops except at a loss. Here 
agaiu the result was organization and a collective 
sale. These organizations have all been on the 
selling side of the game. The buying side, equally 
important so far as Eastern farms are concerned, 
lias, however, been scarcely touched. 
UNITED EFFORT.—Just when the breaking 
point came in the economic system that has forced 
dairymen to buy their mill feeds at abnormal prices 
and that has put them at the mercy of the machinery 
manufacturer, the binder twine combine, the design¬ 
ing seedsman, and the unscrupulous speculator in 
farm fertilizers, it is hard to say. But it has come 
and the results are apparent on every hand, 
throughout the whole nation, farmers are organizing 
to buy farm supplies as well as sell farm produce. 
Hiis activity has been perhaps more pronounced in 
the Middle West. It is not confined to this area, 
however, for out in New England, farmers and busi¬ 
ness men have combined to relieve the pressure by 
means of the Eastern States Exchange. And now we 
have farmers of conservative old New York, through 
their representative organizations, ready to take 
a step that is perhaps greater than that taken 
tv the farmers of any other state in the union, 
(.rangers. Dairymen’s League members. Farm Bu- 
lo.m Association members—the backbone of New 
Wk State's agriculture—are all behind the new 
enterprise. It is the organisation of a million dollar 
cooperative corporation to purchase farm supplies 
amt sell farm produce for the members of the three 
' > t/anisations. 
THE NAME TELLS THE STORY.—The Co-oper- 
{u!ve Grange League Federation Exchange, Inc., is 
'he name of the new organization. Its immediate 
purpose is to take over, as a going concern, the 
New York Grange Exchange, a similar corporation, 
one-tenth as large, which was launched by the 
d.ite Grange two years ago and which is now com- 
( Jeting eighteen months of successful operation. 
l)ls move is made by the three organizations only 
u ter months of study by their Executive Committees, 
-in- Grange had already seen the need for such an 
oieaidzatipu and had started to develop it alone. 
1 Dairymen’s League has for months been under 
(,,| i.stant pressure from its members to do something 
lll “ l a t least guarantee a square deal to them 
the purchase of their concentrated dairy feeds. 
•Dl l Dually the members of the Farm Bureau Asso- 
u -dions, an organization established to develop agri- 
1 htuie. not only through increasing production, but 
also through attacking some of the economic handi¬ 
caps in marketing and transportation, have felt that 
their work could not proceed much further unless 
farmer-owned and farmer-controlled marketing 
machinery was established. 
ONE MILLION DOLLAR CAPITALIZATION.— 
i'nd so. after days of careful consultation, the move 
has been made and early in June a certificate of in- 
forporation authorizing the organization of a cor- 
poration under the cooperative laws of the State 
of New York filed at Albany. Under the tei’ms 
of this certificate the new corporation is capitalized 
at $1,000,000, divided into 200.000 shares with a par 
value of $5 a share. These shares are non-asses*»- 
eble. ownership is limited to 1,000 per individual, 
and shares may not be transferred without the con¬ 
sent of the directors of the corporation. Each share¬ 
holder has one vote, and but one. in the management 
of the corporation. This is a real cooperative prin¬ 
ciple. The corporation, under its charter, can pay 
six per cent on its stock, create a reserve defined by 
the law, and then must divide its earnings among 
those for whom it does business in proportion to the 
business done. 
A FARMER DIRECTORATE.—The initial direc¬ 
torate of nine men is named, three by the State 
Grange, three by the Dairymen’s League, and three 
by the Federation of Farm Bureau Associations. 
They are S. .T. Lowell. Fredonia: W. L. Bean, 
McGraw; and Raymond Hitehings, Syracuse, nom¬ 
inated by .the Grange: N. F. Webb, Cortland. Harry 
Lull. Campbell Hall, and J. C. Griffith, Salamanca, 
nominated by the League: Arthur Smith. DeRuyter, 
Harry Brown. Waterport, and H. E Babcock, Ithaca, 
nominated by the Federation. The headquarters 
are in the Grand Opera House Building. Syracuse. 
The officers of the corporation are: President. W. L. 
Bean: vice-president, Raymond Ditchings; secretary, 
K. E. Babcock, and treasurer, Arthur Smith. It 
will be seen that these men were named by their 
The Potato Field in Blosso)n. Fig. 330 
(See Pape 1130) 
respective organizations, not so much because of 
business experience, though several of them have 
l ad considerable, as because they have been tried 
rnd not found wanting when the interests of agri¬ 
culture are concerned. The functions of the Board 
of Directors will not be to buy and sell the feed and 
fertilizer and seeds, but to select men who can do 
it. and principally their function will be to deter- 
n ine the policies of the corporation. And here the 
three cooperating organizations, by their action, 
have shown that they felt safer with their intei'ests 
in the hands of real farmers than they would in the 
hands of a directorate chosen for business experience 
ii lone. 
THE GRANGE EXCHANGE A SUCCESS.—The 
reasons for their confidence are not hard to find. A 
similar board of directors has already made a suc¬ 
cess of a similar business. The New York Grange 
Exchange which the new corporation takes over, has 
an enviable record. Its original stock issue was 
$100.(XX). This was offered to the Grangers of the 
State, who without particular solicitation subscribed 
about one-third of it. On this slender capital the 
Exchange has now been operating about IS months. 
Preparatory to transferring the business to the new 
corporation, the books were closed on the night of 
June 2nd by a firm of public accountants. The 
certified report of this firm shows that in round 
numbers the Exchange has done over $400.M0 worth 
oi’ business in the last five months, that it has paid 
all its obligations including six percent on its stock, 
and is in a position to create a creditable reserve. 
Thus it will be seen that the board of directors of 
the new Exchange take over a sound going business 
that is growing by leaps and bounds, and which has 
a present turnover of about $l(X).(XXt a month. The 
president of the old Exchange, W. L. Bean, becomes 
the president of the new. He brings with him the 
organization and experience that has been built to 
date. With it as a beginning and with adequate 
capital upon which to operate, the new Exchange 
is far from an experiment. Its success, under care¬ 
ful management, would seem to be assured. 
THE STOCK CAMPAIGN.—As this is written the 
executive committees of the Grange, the Dairymen’s 
league and the Federation of Farm Bureau Asso¬ 
ciations, and the board of director’s of the new 
Exchange, are laying plans to offer shares in its 
stock to the farmers of the State during the week 
of June 21st. The subscription campaign in each 
county will be in charge of a county committee com¬ 
posed of the master of Pomona Grange, the president 
of the county branch of Dairymen’s League, and 
the president of the County Farm Bureau. So far 
as possible a personal canvass will be made of 
the farmers of the State. They will be given an 
opportunity to buy shares of stock to be delivered at 
any bank which they may designate on July 1st 
oi January 1st, 1921. The aim is to have evei’v 
member of the Grange, Daii*ymen’s League, and 
Farm Bureau Association buy at least one shai*e. 
The shares will be offered to no others and the busi¬ 
ness of the corporation will be limited to the mem¬ 
bers of these three organizations. n. e. babcock. 
New York State Farms 
The best fanns of this county are selling from $75 to 
$150 per acre. These are mostly farms that are on 
good I’oads and are reasonably near towns, and contain 
a fair proportion of valley or bottom laud. Yon will 
iind farms that at first look extremely low. especially to 
the Western man, but on investigation you will very 
often find that these extremely cheap farms are low in 
price for some good reason. I think you can under¬ 
stand that our local people will not allow a good farm 
to be given away, and if a farm is especially low in 
price there is always a reason for it. The land may 
be too steep to be tillable, or it may be rocky, the land 
may be exceptionally unfertile, poor drainage, long dis¬ 
tance from towns, pooi- roads, in a I?ackward community, 
poor buildings or none at all. or any other reasons that 
depreciate the value of real estate. 
T HAT is a fair statement of conditions in one of 
the counties of Southern New York. We would 
like to have the numberless Western men who are 
writing us about farms understand it. No man is 
likely to make any bargain in buying a “cheap” 
farm. In the end he will find it like buying some 
run-down and afflicted horse, and trying to patch 
him up into a first-class animal. Some of these 
Western men are too eager to buy. They will not 
take time to look around and get a good idea of 
land values. Some of them seem to think they must 
buy a farm the very day they land in the county. 
The best thing for a man of moderate means would 
be to hire out on some good farm and work the sea¬ 
son through before he buys. This would enable him 
to know what he was doing, and if he had energy 
and character this would be the best way to adver¬ 
tise these assets. One trouble is that some of these 
men seem to be naturally of a roving disposition, and 
will not stay very long in any one place. Men who 
Dan and Molly Hauling the Planter. Fig. 331 
(See Page 1130) 
come hunting New York farms should be prepared 
to make permanent homes. There is, no doubt, a 
distinct movement of population from the West to 
the East ,and we think this will grow. The upper 
Atlantic section will show great development during 
the next 25 years. We must all remember that many 
so-called “farms” never should have been cleared 
in the first place. It is a sin, both private and 
national, to deceive these back-to-the-landers and 
locate them on impossible pieces of land. We do 
need, however, a good fanner on every good farm. 
