282 WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY . 
which the chances are that he will have to pay a bill of costs, he 
is thus able to purchase under a general contract wherein his rights 
are amply protected, both as to terms and warranty. 
Again, a windmill of medium size costs, when bought of an 
eager agent, $100, and expense of putting up same, $25 more, be¬ 
sides expense of pump and pipe. It costs the manufacturer not 
to exceed $50 to build and transport that same mill. The other 
$50 are profits to the manufacturer and the three or four agents 
who manage to get in between the factory and the well. 
On the other hand, the system we are considering furnishes to 
the manufacturer an agency whereby he may dispose of his mills, 
employing few, if any, go-betweens. He jumps at the chance of 
selling to good customers a score of mills at a time, and closes a 
contract with the board of the society to supply its members with 
mills at $60 each, and pumps and pipe at correspondingly reduced 
prices. Being able to sell without dividing with agents, he 
can well afford it, and the members without stirring from their 
neighborhood, get their mills at a saving of from $30 to $40, 
which nearly pays the taxes for the year. In this way, machinery 
is bought from the manufacturer direct, and the officious agents 
which infest the farmer’s pathway are mustered out of service and 
remanded to the more productive walks of life. 
As to groceries and other merchandise, the society proceeds in 
this wise: The board of directors, armed with the patronage of 
from 300 to 500 farmers, go to some merchant centrally located, 
and say to him: Here is a patronage, sir, which will give you a 
large, stable, reliable, most desirable trade of well assorted cus¬ 
tomers. You have the opportunity to furnish hundreds of fami¬ 
lies their necessaries. We propose to buy our merchandise in 
three months’ supplies. We propose to lay down an established 
system of payments so that you can rely upon your money, or in¬ 
terest on such accounts as are not balanced by the appointed time. 
Thus you can forecast the volume of your trade with certainty, 
and purchase accordingly. But, sir, this splendid patronage is 
yours only on condition that you banish from your dreams all 
high price notions, and let us have the goods at a thin margin. 
For the trade of such a band of customers, there would be the 
liveliest competition, and the board could close a contract whereby 
