What Is Real Cooperation? 
(Continued from page 316) 
a group problem because it started out with 
group capital and group finance and went 
ahead as a group into the final step of the 
process. 
Our entire modern industrial development is 
based on group production and group finance 
and group distribution. 
But the ONE characteristic of agriculture 
is individual production. Every farmer raises 
what he pleases, when he pleases, in whatever 
quantity he pleases. Not only is the fact char¬ 
acteristic, but it is the ideal. Every man of any 
intelligence deplores the spread of tenantry; 
all dream of the day when tenantry will be 
wiped out and every man will work the farm 
he owns. All are in favor of individual produc¬ 
tion—not only as a fact but as an economic 
ideal. 
Marketing Is a Group Problem 
Now that is the distinctive thing in agricul¬ 
ture. The PROBLEM of agriculture is to take 
the things that come out of individual produc¬ 
tion and fit them into a system built on group 
finance and group distribution. Because the 
farmer raises things as an individual, he like¬ 
wise thinks he should sell things as an indi¬ 
vidual. But he should follow his individual 
characteristic problem of production as an 
individual; and when it comes to MARKET¬ 
ING, which is his group problem, he should 
meet it as a group. Just as big business has 
adopted its formula of “group production, the 
corporation and group distribution,” the 
farmers must adopt the formula of “ individual 
production, the cooperation and group distri¬ 
bution.” Thus by means of cooperative mar¬ 
keting, the farmer steps down his products 
from individual production and fits them into 
the system that business men have built on 
group production, group finance and group 
distribution. 
That is the economic basis of all cooperative 
marketing. Farmers stop individual selling; 
and instead of individual selling, they group 
and organize a commodity and merchandise 
that commodity instead of dumping it. 
They aim to organize the commodity to mer¬ 
chandise it, to raise the general price level, to 
retain a larger share of the consumer’s dollar, 
and to build a decent farm prosperity in rural 
districts. 
That is why over 890,000 farmers in the 
United States to-day are organized under com¬ 
modity cooperative marketing plans and are 
handling over $1,400,000,000 worth of prod¬ 
ucts a year on that merchandising basis. The 
thing is purely economic. There are no polit¬ 
ical elements in it. 
Aim of Cooperation Is Merchandising 
Merchandising is the aim of cooperative 
marketing. The six steps they use in this mer¬ 
chandising are just plain baby talk to business 
men. For example, the first thing farmers 
learn is that they have to grade; raise quality; 
standardize and brand their goods; and stand 
behind them. 
There are other steps in merchandising— 
correct packing; extending markets by time 
and by place; increasing the use of good com¬ 
modities such as fluid milk; controlling the flow 
of commodities, with perishables, such as 
fruits, by routing, so that no market gets a 
glut and no market gets a famine; and with 
non-perishables, by storage and orderly mar¬ 
keting over a long period of months; and 
finally, making price depend on supply, the 
organization moves into the points of consump¬ 
tion instead of depending on supply at points 
of production. 
I don’t care what the commodity is, whether 
hogs, hay, live stock, wheat or bacon, fruit, 
eggs or dairy products, you can always mer¬ 
chandise that product more profitably than 
you can dump it. You can get results with 
some commodities more quickly than with 
others. But whatever it is, the method is 
sound, because it is simply an adaptation to 
agriculture of what business men have been 
doing every day of their lives, since they 
learned to think in intelligent commercial 
terms. 
That is the aim of cooperative marketing. 
But the goal is not enough. How do you build 
the machine to take you there? How do you 
get a good driver for that machine? Those are 
the problems of cooperative technique and 
cooperative personnel. And when you have 
the machine and the driver, how does the 
organization affect the general public? 
In my two succeeding articles we will discuss 
these problems. Meantime you will remember 
that the aim of cooperative marketing is to 
raise the basic price levels for the farmer, by 
economic principles along business lines, by 
merchandising instead of dumping, all through 
the efforts of the farmers themselves, by apply- 
mg business methods to the business end of 
farming. 
Haven’t You Heard of the 
New Way to Grow 
Better Crops? 
Cured Fertilizer—The Result of Years of 
Research 
For a lifetime Mr. Royster and his large organization of farm 
experts have searched, tested and toiled to improve fertilizer 
and thus increase the earnings of farmers. 
A Startling Development 
One of the most startling discoveries has been the curing of 
fertilizer. Mr. Royster and his helpers found that after aging 
in bins for four to six months, fertilizer grew better crops! The 
various chemical elements combine with one another and the 
close association of these elements brings about a chemical 
action which makes every food element in the fertilizer avail¬ 
able to the plant, just exactly as it is needed —from seed time to 
harvest. 
Double Milled 
After this aging, Royster’s Fertilizer is re-milled (to prevent 
lumping) and then bagged. All this additional work and care 
certifies the quality of Royster’s Fertilizers—and assures you 
of proper feeding for plants. 
Be Sure to get Royster’s 
The name “Royster’s” appears on every bag of Royster’s 
Fertilizer. Look for it. Ask for Royster’s Fertilizer by name— 
and stop guessing about brands. 
F. S. ROYSTER GUANO COMPANY 
Baltimore. 
fie/d Tested Terti/izers 
used.’ 
-best I’ve ever 
"Your goods are fine 
crop-makers.” 
My crop this year is 
far belter than ever be¬ 
fore.” 
*'/ can frankly say l 
have received the best 
results, by test, with 
Royster’s.” • 
”1 am expecting a fine 
crop this year, and l 
give Royster’s Fertilizer 
the credit.” 
**/ will not buy anything 
else as long as I can get 
Royster’s.” 
"Every time i use tt L 
makfi money” 
“BROOKLYN BRAND” 
SULPHUR 
COMMERCIAL FLOUR SULPHUR, 99K% Pure 
For Spraying—Insecticide Purposes 
SUPERFINE COMMERCIAL FLOUR SULPHUR, 99 yi% Pure\For Dusting 
FLOWERS OF SULPHUR, 100% Pure J Purposes 
£6 
NIAGARA BRAND’’ 
AMERICAN CRUDE SALTPETRE 
s For Better, Bigger and More Fruit 
ALSO CRUDE NITRATE OF SODA 
80 Maiden Lane, BATTELLE & REN WICK, New York, N.Y. 
Write Dept. “C” for Prices and Booklets 
When writing advertisers, be sure to say you saw it in 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
OwnTfrurOwnH 
Itljin e 
Wake up, fellers! Here’s a lad with a 
whole pocket orchestra! Who said this 
was going to be a pepless party? 
GET-TOGETHER 
HARMONY 
It’s always fair weather when there’s a 
Hohner in the house. Get yourself one 
and be popular. You can learn to play 
it in an hour—any tune you can whistle. 
Ask the dealer for Hohner Free Instruc¬ 
tion Book; if he is out of them, write 
“M. Hohner, New York” for one. Hoh¬ 
ner Harmonicas everywhere — 50c up. 
naim 
ARMONICAS 
