American Agriculturist, June 23,1923 
523 
Potato Growers at Syracuse 
Fine Spirit Prevails at Annual Meeting 
A n exceptionally fine spirit prevailed 
-throughout the annual meeting of 
the Empire State Potato Growers’ As¬ 
sociation held in Syracuse, June 13, 
which incidently brought out some facts 
that potato growers may well seriously 
consider between now and marketing 
time next fall. There were three vei'y 
conci.se factors brought out in Manager 
Steele^s report that will materially af¬ 
fect the success of the organization this 
year. They are namely, volume of 
business, financing and local manage¬ 
ment. The report of Mr. Steele shows 
that the association could have handled 
several times the volume handled in the 
past without arty increase in overhead. 
Obviously, during the past year the as¬ 
sociation did not operate most econom¬ 
ically and a greater volume of busi¬ 
ness must be handled for the growers 
to realize a minimum expense for 
handling their crop. 
Increasing in Membership 
One of the outstanding features of 
Mr. Steele’s report was that there was 
an increase in the number of locals dur¬ 
ing the year, bringing the total up to 
30. This will increase the volume of 
business for the coming year. Accord¬ 
ing to Mr. Steele, there is a much bet¬ 
ter demand for Empire potatoes and 
cabbage and the association could have 
sold several times the volume of Empire 
spuds handled because the buyers were 
satisfied with product the association 
is turning out. 
Comparative potato sales showed that 
89 per cent of the association sales 
netted from 2 cents to 32 cents per 
bag above those reported by the 
Rochester office of the Bureau of Mar¬ 
kets. During the past two years Em¬ 
pire State potatoes and cabbages have 
been sold to 260 buyers in 23 States 
and 140 markets. An interesting item 
in the report is that $8.50 per thou¬ 
sand was the amount saved in pooling 
potato bag orders for the locals. 
President K. C. Livermore in his ad¬ 
dress, representing the directors, re¬ 
viewed the past two seasons’ results 
and voiced the opinion that progress 
has been made. He reviewed the 
Rochester meeting of April 11, which 
was addressed by Aaron Sapiro, head 
of the legal department of American 
Federation of Farm Bureaus. Mr. 
Livermore stated that the directors had 
selected the State-wide organization 
committee which will take up the en¬ 
larged and State-wide potato and cab¬ 
bage organization. The Sapii’o plan of 
organizing potato and cabbage crops 
was received with unanimous approval. 
Secretary-treasurer E. P. Smith ren¬ 
dered a financial report and read the 
auditor’s report, which showed that all 
accounts of the association are satis¬ 
factory. Both reports were adopted. 
Factors that Control Success 
H. E. Babcock, general manager of 
the G-L-F Cooperation Association was 
one of the main speakers and gave 
an excellent talk on the factors that 
go to make cooperative organizations 
successful. He emphasized ample fi¬ 
nancing, trained and competent man¬ 
agement, not only in central, but in the 
local associations, and volume of busi¬ 
ness as necessary to the success of the 
association. “To make these associa¬ 
tions pay,” he .said; “there must be a 
volume of business. To get volume of 
business is costly. The G-L-F has in¬ 
creased its business recently and by so 
doing it has wiped out its deficit and 
made a start toward paying a dividend, 
but it cost heavily at first to get the 
business. To increase volume means 
that you must go after it, and a lot of 
hard work is needed. The present busi¬ 
ness of the G-L-F could be doubled 
with almost no increase in office space, 
stenographic help and general overhead. 
A good manager is needed in every 
local, and one must be had. To get and 
keep such a manager, volume of busi¬ 
ness is necessary. Capital is also a 
necessity and the three constitute the 
major portion of all the problems of 
the local association.” 
The association is planning to con¬ 
tinue its business this year along some¬ 
what the same lines as last year. How¬ 
ever, efforts are being made to increase 
the volume of business. Last year 
466 cars of potatoes were handled while 
arrangements had been completed for 
handling somewhat like 1,200. Of 
course the extremely low prices of last 
year was responsible for much of the 
farmer’s produce not being shipped, 
which obviously cut down the amount 
the association could handle. For in¬ 
stance most of the cabbage grown by 
the members was fed to stock be¬ 
cause the growers considered that it 
was worth more for feeding than could 
be realized on it when shipped to mar¬ 
ket. As soon as this situation was re¬ 
alized last year/ expenses were cut 
down on all sides by the association, 
but it was too late, to avoid a deficit 
which is being carried over to what the 
members hope will be a better year. 
There are something like 50 growers 
present represented by 20 of the 30 
locals of the central organization. Sev¬ 
eral of the locals were not only repre¬ 
sented by delegates, but by several 
growers who were not delegates. There 
was a high degree of interest mani¬ 
fested in the meeting and from this 
enthusiasm one would readily infer 
that the association will not lack sup¬ 
port this coming year. 
Advocate California Plan 
The ' organization plans which will 
follow the so-called California plans, 
were received enthusiastically.. This 
will mean an entirely new membership 
list each with a $5 membership fee and 
the adoption of a pooling plan. Maine 
has already organized such an associa¬ 
tion enrolling 65 per cent of the grow¬ 
ers of the State as members. It is not 
considered advisable with less than 50 
per cent of the producers enrolled. 
Colorado, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Wis¬ 
consin and Michigan are already pre¬ 
pared to organize pooling associations. 
New York may also be considered in 
the list with the possible addition of j 
New Jersey. 
Three directors were elected at this 
meeting for a term of three years. One 
director was elected to take the place 
of J. A. Childs, resigned. The nom¬ 
inating committee appointed by Presi- i 
dent Livermore consisted of H. N. 
Kutschbach of Sherburne; William ! 
New of Wellsville and Fred Beecher 
of Earlville. The directors elected 
were Fred Hencle of Baldwinsville; 
H. L. Freeman of Marcellus and Wil¬ 
liam New of Wellsville, all for three 
years each. G. P. Gregg was elected' 
to fill the vacancy created by Mr. 
Child’s resignation. The other directors 
who are carried over are; K. C. Liver¬ 
more of Honeoye Falls; E. P. Smith of 
Sherburne; Datus Clarke of Peru; C. 
M. Hennis, Gainesville and F. E. Wil¬ 
liams, Earville. The directors elected 
the following officers: K. C. Livermore, 
president; Fred Hencle, vice president; 
and E. P. Smith, secretary-treasurer.— 
H. H. 
WESTERN NEW YORK BEAN 
CROP WELL CLEANED UP 
According to bean dealers in Western 
New York, beans have never been so 
thoroughly cleaned up at this season of 
the year. According to “The Packer,” 
they place total holdings at less than 
150 cars, divided evenly between red 
kidney and pea beans. In view of this 
fact, it seems to be the sentiment of the 
trade that prices will continue firm, 
with a likelihood that they may advance 
before a new crop comes in. 
Importations of Orientals may offset 
the scarcity yet. During the first week 
in June, quotations for hand-picked 
stock f. 0 . b. Rochester were; Red kid¬ 
neys, $8; peas, $7.50; Yellow Eye, $8; 
marrow, $10, and medium, $7.50. The 
indications for the 1923 crop is that the 
acreage will be heavy if weather condi¬ 
tions are satisfactory. In view of the 
extreme shortage of labor, however, 
plantings may be reduced materially. 
Labor shortage will also have an effect 
when the factor of cultivation is taken 
into consideration. 
The Robust pea bean is gaining in 
popularity in Western New York. It is 
said to be resistent to many of the 
common bean diseases, and has met in¬ 
creased favor. Although it does not 
come up to red kidneys in maximum 
yield, the average is probably better. 
BROOKMEAD’S STARLIGHT, 73133, of Brookmead 
Farm, Devon, Pa. In two successive lactation periods she 
produced 32,107.5 lbs. milk, 1,621.42 lbs. fat-a record rarely 
equalled in the history of the breed. ^ 
A Great Guernsey and a Great 
Feed Get Together 
.... and another Great Record results 
T his frequently happens when a very fine pure¬ 
bred, such as Starlight, has made Diamond’s 
acquaintance. When grade cows become fond of 
this feed there usually occurs a decided increase in 
milk and butter production. 
D iamond Com Gluten Meal was a substantial 
part of Starlight’s ration during the period in 
which she established this record. 
Diamond plays no favorites. If you make it a sub¬ 
stantial part of your grain ration your herd cannot 
fail to show big results in the milk pail. 
No wonder it’s in 
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