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About The Omaha morning bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 1922-1927 | View Entire Issue (April 12, 1925)
CO-OPERATIVE MARKETING NO FARM CURE-ALL " ■' ■ I More Facts Needed Says N.B. Updike Leaders in Agricultural Re form Movements Often Im practical. Is Claim; Fed eral Research \ aluahle. Price Charts Important 7 he present effort of the United States Chamber of Com merce to arrive at a farm pro gram that will have the united support of all classes of farmers gives added interest to the fol lowing analysis of the farm prob lem by Mr. N. B. Updike. Mr. Updil(e has been in close contact with the farmer and his problems for more than 30 years from the standpoint of both pro duction and marketing. He holds that the chief help the farmer needs is such help as will enable him to solve his own problems as a business man. 7 his help can best come in the n>a\> of fig ures on production and prices and the relation of one to the other, to be supplied by the United States Department of Agriculture and the state agri cultural colleges. He holds too that there are too many agencies, not operated' by farmers, which are trying to tell the farmer how to run his business. Mr. Up dike's analysis is as follows: are hearing mucti these ctnys about co-operative marketing as the solution for all the troubles of the farmers. There Is a real benefit to. certain farmers in co-operative mar keting. It is not a cure-all by any means. Those politicians and farm leaders who advocate co-operative marketing would have us believe that her# lies the way out fo'r all the farmer's difficulties. Tf we will think back a few years we will call to mind how politicians heralded diversified farming as the cure-all for the farmer and his troubles. Then, after them came the politicians who talked of farm credit :'.s 1he certain and sure way out. Whether the politicians came on the scene ahead of the over-enthusiastic farm leaders, or after, is hard to re call at this time. However, lioth these programs at different times took up reams of spare in the agricultural press of the country and in the re ports of the secretaries of agriculture. They also took up hours of debate at farmers' conventions. Diversified tnrndng has come and hu ' done its part til aiding those farm ers who were in position to 1st bene filted by It. Farm credits have come, slid this, too, has helped. Neither lias been a cure-all. We have learned that diversified farming is of real value to those farmers living near big city markets. There are farmers who live 1 ,huo miles front any big city. There are others who live on land that is not suited to diversified farming. To talk cure-all to them in the shape of diversified farming Is nonsense. Farm credits, too, have done their work, but the farmer's problems are still with us. Co-Operation .Sometimes Helps. To hold out another cure-all, In the shape of co-operative marketing, Is just another scheme to keep the farm er upset and to postpone the day when the farmer will realize his real position. By all means, let us have cooperative marketing wherever It Is practical, it will help as diversified •arming and farm credits have helped, but the farmers should be the first to refuse to follow any lenders—be they from their own ranks or from the ranks of politicians—who hold lliis plan out to them as the cure for all their troubles. Before we can get an understanding; of what co-operative marketing will do and will not do for the farmers, let us look at the problem of the farmers as tt Is. When we do this, we must take in all the fanners, not merely a feyv of them. Here arc some of the things that we discover at the beginning of our Inquiry: 1. Some farmers, chiefly cotton and wheat farmers, compete tn the world market. The cotton farmer is facing this to an Increasing degree as cotton culture ts extended to other countries. The wheat farmer is on every continent. His numbers are Increasing. Cotton sells only to manu facturers who fabricate It Into yarns and doth. Wheat Is sold only to millers who process It Into flour. 2. Other farmers raise corn, most of which Is consumed In our own country. t'orn Is sold to millers, who process It Into meal. Most of it. how ever, Is fed to hogs and catilc -on the faint. Stock Raisers Concerned. Then there arc the farmers who raise hogs. These men are farmers in the broad sense ami their prob lems are wrapped up in the general farmers’ problems. Home of these farmers raise the corn that they feed to their hogs. • Others buy their feed corn. 4. The farmer who raises cattle Is another of those whose problems ate part of the general farm problem. Home of these cattle farmers live on the runge and their cattle ore brought up to the feeder stage on range grn> , Others raise the corn that they feed to their cattle. Then there are Mill others who buy ''feeders" and also fcuy the corn with which thry feed them fi. The dairy farruei is another who ts part of the great farm family. Rome of the dairy farmers raise thtjj feed. Others buy thrj feed. I t>— S. The fiheep farmer is another. He not only sells mutton and lamb, but lie sells wool. Here, too, t He farmer sometimes raises his feed, of uses the range# or he buys his feed. Sometimes he does both. 7. Then we have the potato farm ers. tlie fruit farmers, the tobacco farmers, the sugar beet farmers. Farming Is Specialized. Here is a range of activities and interests that are an complicated and as intricate as the entire range of manufacturing. Can we conceive of co-operative marketing carried on by those engaged in manufacturing? We can see the answer to that question all around us. Manufacturing first divided itself into specialization before it could even Ih.v plans for marketing. The production and marketing of each manufactured article is a problem all alone, intricate and complex, klach of these specialized manufacturing in dustries has its own production and marketing experts. And usually each sticks to his own last, well aware of the fact tliut he has his hands full In his own industry and that lie might become engulfed in failure should he attempt to engage in the “other fel low's business." Now there is something further about farming, and it is common to all farmers, whether they are en gaged in raising wheat or corn or cotton or cattle. The farmer cannot ''regulate'’ production, as the manu facturer can. Nature Intervenes here. A smiling season will bring a produc tion beyond the hopes of the planters. A poor season and all too often the farmer finds himself with a short crop. In the case of the wheat farmer, if there lias been a bountiful crop in the other wheat-growing sec tions of tlie world, lie must, even then, sometimes sell his short crop at a low price. Specialists Can fo-Operate. Nature must lie taken into account, too. by the cattle and hog raiser. Here disease may decimate the Jierds and a looked for profit ire turned into a grievous loss. How can we get all these diversi fied interests, there opposites, these complex situations, into a great scheme for co-operative marketing? Those farmers who are specialists can co-operate to market their own special product. And, too. they are doing it. Some of them have been doing it for years. The citrus fruit raisers, the grape farmers, the beet sugar farmers, some general fruit raisers and to a degree the cotton growers and tobacco growers, pow have co-operative marketing organi zations. They have profited through these plans and will continue to profit. To them, co-operative marketing is a real solution. Jt is conceivable that tne wneat growers in America could, with gov ernment aid, build up a scheme for co-operative marketing, but there are so many farmers growing wheat and the fluctuations of good and bad crop seasons affect the production to such a degree, that it would be extremely difficult. Then the plan would have to take care not only of domestic marketing but of foreign marketing as well. It would seem to lie an im possible undertaking unless the gov ernment provided some such scheme as was intended in the Mc.N'arj Haugen. bill. From the experience <4 those who sponsored that measure, however, it is evident that farmers generally would not agree to such a scheme applied to wheat unless it was also applied to corn and rye'and oats and cattle and hogs and sheep. MrSary Rill Impractical. The McNary-Haugen plan failed be cause it would have meant that the government would to all intents and purposes have been compelled to go Into the general business of market ing agricultural products. Huch an undertaking would have been so stu pendous and would have required such immense slims of money to finance It that congress, much as It had at heart the interests of the farmer, felt that the plan would fall by its own weight on account cif be ing unable to satisfy the diversified interests of so many different classes of farmers. Let us look at the corn farmer. If he .sells his corn as corn, be wants a high price. If lie feeds his corn and sells it as beef cattle or hogs he is more interested in the price of cattle and hogs than lrt the price of corn, if he is a "feeder" farmer and raises little or no corn of his own, he wants a low corn price. In this western country today the cattle miser is praying for a bountiful corn crop that he may be aide to feed his cattle profitably. In thousands of case.1', however, the corn raiser and the "feeder" are to be found in tlie same farmer. If corn is low It will go Into hogs and cattle and lie marketed on the hoof. If corn is high there will be a tendency to sell It as corn for the tea son that if It Is fed, the stock may have to tie sold at a loss. Interests Not .Stable. In most Instances too the wheat farmers are also corn farmers, and when they are also cattle or hog "feeders," where are we going to’ find him as a co-operative marketer? One year lie may lie anxious to cooperate in marketing wheat. The next year because of changing crop conditions, ha may be anxious to coiqiernte In marketing corn, then another year may find him pushing co-operation In the sale of his cattle or hogs. We can hardly expect to find hint an en thuslastlo advocate of co-operative marketing for wheat, corn and hogs at one anti the same time. As a seller of corn he Is finding a market for raw material, nr. seller of hogs or cattle lie Is a manufacturer, anx ions to buy bis raw material- bis f- id n chi- .ply as he caIt. Fanning Is liiiliislr>. IVi- do not find anywhere else in Industry any association between the raw material man and the manu facturer for tin purposes of Joint c operative marketing. #The same sit SHEEPO Lawn and Garden Fertilizer Manufactured, Delivned and Applied to Your L-awn Perfect distribution aver the are« you dr % it e fertilized. Let the Nebraska Fertilizer Co. give you this nervice thi* sprint end heroine one of nur meny Matin fied cuitoimri. f Lor SHEEPO, Phone JA 1211.1 AUo for Sale bv Seedmen end KlorUta nation. In varying degree* and In dlffertng condition* is true all through the farming industry. The cure-all advocates make their mistake lie cause they fall to realize that farm ing, oV agriculture Is an industry. It must he considered as an Industry. As an Industry it must work out Its problems. Diversified farming is the answer in thousands of rases. More and better farm credits solves many vexing difficulties. Co-operative mar keting will solve others. Neither of them will solve all the problems and I here are many other problems that ail of them together will not solve. The farmers who have built co operative elevators for handling w heal and corn may have saved themselves some of i lie spread between producer and consumer. That is not co-opera tive marketing, however. It assures the farmers who use these elevators that they will get the full market value for their product, with a mini mum charge for handling. They are still victims of tile great drift, in mnr ket levels, however, due to supply and demand. I hoi mark Not an Kxaniplr. IVe have held up to .us as an ex ample the co-operative marketing plans In operation in other countries. Particularly Denmark is cited. There are counties in some of the western stales that are bigger than all of Denmark. Ilesides, the chief efforts of agricul tural in Denmark are directed toward dairying. What general farming is done is as a support to dairying. In a county where the farms can be counted in a week's time, where all of the farm owners could be gath ered together in a comparatively few meetings, where farm processes can he readjusted to suit a given smr pose, co-operative marketing becomes not only possible but practical. Then, with all their success in co operation, would the Danish farmers standard of living be considered as applicable to American experience? No. American farm problems must be solved with an American plan. The American farm producer Is the most efficient producer in the world. In this country we have less than 4 per cent of the farmers of the world. This 4 per cent, however, produce pearly 70 per cent_ of the world's corn: GO per cent of the world's cot ton; 50 per cent of the world’s tobacco; .25 per cent of the world's oats and hay; 20 per cent of the wheat and flax seed of the world; ]3 her cent of the barley and 7 per cent of the potatoes of the world. linemans Most l-.rilctent. These figures stated in a different way, mean that the American farmer raises more per unit of man power than (he farmers of all tho rest of the world. The American farms raise in cereals 12 tons per man en gaged in farm work. The farmers of tile rest of tiie world raise only 1.4 tons per man. Co-operation should not be thought of as applying to any particular class of business or individuals. It covers a multitude of activities, in fact, any association of persons for their com mon benefit in any pursuit of life, it is not new—It lias been used for centuries among industrial workers, producers, consumers, distributors, insurers, borrowers and lenders of capital. Another tiling to be borne in mind is that the term "co-operation" ns applied to selling organizations, is often Inaccurately applied to "profit sharing." Co-operative selling can mean only one thing, and that Is, the association of a definite list of individuals for the marketing of their own products only. The profits of such co-operation less any neces sary expense, to lie distributed pro rata among the members. If the matter of Iwrter -and sale of their own products where different mem bers receive different prices for their product according to the market »t the time of sale, or where products of others not members of the associa tion, are dealt in, it is not “co-opera tion.” The proper term Is such cases Is that of “profit-sharing.” In other words, the association instead of !>c ing a cooperative marketing associa tion, becomes an ordinary business venture with the members as share holders, subject to all the rules of trade. Figures Are Big Need. However, let us go ahead with our diversified farming plans, our farm credit plans and our plans for co operative marketing—recognizing all the time, that they will l># effective only In certain Instances and then plarp more reliance upon tho intelli genre of the individual farmer. Teach him the tint It nf the law of supply and demand. He knows It now, to a greater extent tbun some are willing to agree. Supply him through the Department of Agricul ture, and state agricultural colleges, with the figures of past years- fig tires showing the relation of farm liroduotlon ami farm prices. Give him regularly charts showing produc tion ‘curves and price curves for all the principal farm products, then rely upon his common sense as a busi ness man to cut his cloth accord ingly. (ure-Alls Are Worthless. The manufacturing industry nf the country is built more upon the uses to which individual manufacturers put knowledge of this character, than Mike Clark Breeder of High Class S. C. Rhode Island Reds Hatching Eggs $5.00 for 15 Eggs From Show Stock Foundations Write for Further Information Mike Clark 9823 North 29th Omaha, Neb. Phone ICE. 13AA -iJ Another Pen of Omaha s Good Backyard Poultry Top group: This pen of pullets averaged over 26 eggs each for the month of March. They are not show stock either. Bottom: This pullet began her record at 6 months and 6 days of age; she has laid an ecg each day for 40 days. It Is upon any schemes of ao-opera tive marketing. If we will put our selves to the task of getting this same sort of knowledge into the hands of the farmers, they, too, acting upon their individual Judg ment, will he able to make use of it. They too will know that when there is a year of high wheat prices and high com prices, or high prices for hogs and beef cattle, that there Is a reason for It. They will know that that reason has Its explanation in the operation of the law of supply and demand. They will know that with a shortened supply there will come a higher price and they will see to it that on their Individual farms they will not plant too much wheat, nor too niuch corn: that they do not take on the raising of too many cat tle nor too many hogs. We must stop putting our reliance upon cure-alls and place our faith InRtead In the wisdom of the Individ ual farmer. Supply hint with th» needed information, keep him sup plied, and he will work out his own destiny. Above all, the farmer is tired of being treated ns a child. Too many of his advisers are not farmers and know nothing of farming. r-N Nebraska exporters of dairy products will be Interested In the report w-hich has just been receiv ed by the St. Louis office of the United States bureau of foreign and domestic commerce, which states that a Spanish firm is anxious to Introduce frozen eggs into that country and wishes con tacts with American firms aide to supply this product. Additional details regarding this opportunity can be had from the bureau's ot flee in St. Ixtuls. v _* Seeds That Grow—Need Any? Let ■■ advise you on the seeding and fertilising of your lawn and the planting and planning of your garden. Bring your problems to us: SEEDS is our business; we have been selling SEEDS THAT CROW for years. NEBRASKA SEED CO. VJSth and Howard Si*. JA 1739 Opposite Auditorium . ———— ' _ __. . Raise Every Chick With Red Feather Chick Stater Death Lost Avoidable ________ Millions of chicks die every Lonoke. Arkan.a,. >’«« through improper feeding. m, c. Peter* Mill Co.. The little fellows onlv require South Omaha, Neb. .. - Gentlemen: small amounts of easily ditrest I have u«e,l Bed Feather Chick ed feed the first two weeks of Starter for name time and will say that ... . ._ , ... it U the best f,e.t for tttti. chick, i »«» why experiment with iiave evrr u*ed. t hav« not lost one cheap, unproved rations or chicken from my hatch and Red Feath* , , . , or t hick Starter is due tha compliment. nODlf rntt<i6 mixtures, Which I will alwaya feed Red Feather Chick will not produce results. Red Starter to my littla chicks when start- *x t c*. . . mg them, l ai.o *a, th.t everyone who heather Chick Starter contain* Arants healthy chicks should start them ju?t the ritfht proportion of with Red Feather ('hick Starter. _ ... _r , w. Very Re.,.retfully. Buttermilk, \ east and Mtner mrs, citAS. c. HEtSS. als which the chicks should . '■ have and they digest it so read ily and grow so quickly you hardly realize that the danger period has been passed and ________ pypry chjck you hatched is still Achilla*, Kan.a*. M. C. Peter. Mill Co.. alive. °ZTs,T Attractive Feeder FREE IMeas* find enclosed my check f«*r Jl packages of Red l eather Chick starter Rod Feather Chick Starter with Buttermilk. Pleas* send it right » . .. *x • i away, for I am using the is » pack- Automatic Feoder* *re supplied age and would not like ti g«*t out of vou froe with each purchase, it It is th* best Chirk Starter I ever u.ed. I got three package, .bout thr. <)„p wj,h every S tf, -lb. 1)SK weeks ago and 1 used thin math lant *umm m. My. how th* chicks do gtow Three with every 25-lb. hag I put a package in a feeding i-oop. c:K w:.t. pvprv f,0 |h hair where the young rhiek. run. and they * ' ■* get It any lime they come for their Twelve with every 100-lb. bate f e«*d. Your,‘ Red Feather Feeds MRS EFFIE Hit.I.. _______________________ Ara Safa to Uia At our Red Feather Farms, Rumsey Siding, Neb., thousands of chicks are hatched each year for experimental purposes, so we know by actual test what Chick Starter will do and you are >nfe in usitiK it on every brood you hatch. There is no substitute for Red Feather Our Booklet H, ISHJfi Edition, is now ready for distribution Write for your copy M. C. PETERS MILL CO. 2Mth and R Sts., Omaha. N*h I : . £ T7™.7:: 7^~/..ZZr’MWK'. Hen Lays 40 Eggs In as Days Barred Plymouth Roek Chickens Being Produced With Prize Flock as l Itimate Coal. Care Used in Feeding The old story about mouse traps and beaten paths into the wilderness to find the fellow who does some -- Choose seeds as you choose ingredients for a fine cake HER friends said she was too fussy when she made a cake. But she made a cake with the same care she made a garden. She was exceedingly particular about what she put into it. And the results always made her friends envious. She had the most mar velous cake—the most beautiful garden. If you want a beautiful, pay ing garden you must be particu lar about the seeds you plant. For seeds, lifce butter and eggs, must be'above suspicion. Good seeds are never an acci dent. They are the product only, of long and careful development. They are selected seeds, clean and tested for vitality. Such are Ferry's Seeds. But the most important thing about Ferry's Seeds is that they are purebred. Their history shows that they are direct descendants from selected parent plants. We watch them while they are grow ing. We weed out undesirables —choosing the finest for harvest. And then we test the seeds at our experimental garden to see that they will be reproducing true to type. Year in and year out, we main tain this vigilance. Think of it as you plan your garden. It will give you the same faith in Ferry's purebred Seeds to do their part, that you have in the sun, rain and soil. You can buy Ferry's “at the store around the corner" from the familiar Ferry Box. D. M. FERRY & CO. Detroit Michigan San Francisco. Calif. Windaor, Ont. 0/ cours# you a##rf Ferry'* Seed Annus!. It's packed with autkori tative garden information Free —juit write and aak for it . i : thing 1 teller than the rest of the world has been revived >m the Pax ton poultry farm, 4123 North Thirty sixth avenue. Mr. and Mra W. T. Cor l«>urn are doing something out of the ordinary. The husband la a rail way mail clerk, and works at his po sition while the wife Is building, for a future, of which we all dream. Edna Corbourn, the wife, operates a backyard poultry farm. She has developed a small flock of Barred Plymouth Hock chickens which will he heard from as the years go by. There Is nothing experimental about the work Mrs. Corbourn is doing. She save, “If I get my flock estab lished to the point at which T am aiming, In five years I will he satis fied. 411 Eggs in 10 llays. Number five In the Paxton poultry flock started her egg-laying career at the age of eight months and six days. Since that time she has maintained a perfect record. In March she laid 30 eggs; the 10 days since March she has laid 10 eggs- That makes a record of 40 days with an egg each day. In the pen with No. five are four other pullets that have made record* which would place them In any na tional egg-laying contest. In March these four pullets laid 101 eggs. No. 9 laid 6 eggs; No. 32, 24: No. 18, 2C; No'. 26, 22. Eighteen pullets under trap nest conditions averaged over 20 eggs for March. I*ri*e Flock Ideal. “We are striving for conformation and feather characteristics to be sure, but we do not intend to lose sight of production,’’ said Mrs. Corbourn. The aim ot the backyard farmers, in other words, is to take plenty of time and lay a foundation for one of America’s good-producing show flocks. The start they have is right, the ideal back of the work Is sound and suc cess is sure to result. The •Corbourns use a prepared lay ing mash. They have tried several kinds and have decided that a good scientific preparation is more ef fective than a home-made mash. Mrs. Corbourn said, “I know our records are largely due to the feed we use. I feed a regular commercial laying mash and supplement it with sprouted oats.’’ The hens are permitted the run of; the yards at all times. "Five pullets' to a pen are enough to Insure best results," declared Mrs. Corbourn. They practice line breeding and are building their present flock. largely upon one record hen which they pro duced last year. Paint will go a long way In making buildings last longer and give better service. Well painted buildings also add to the attractiveness of the farm as a home. f A Backyard poultry farmV .4 ing, to be done properly, should be followed as a permanent avocation. The man or woman who begins a flock with the best to be had in the breed selected, who attends to records properly and feeds scien tifically, should be able to build upon solid founda tions. No avocation is profit able unless it is pursued with the same amount of determination manifest in one’s regular business. “Just a plaything’’ will not get real results. Mrs. Corbourn says, “Sometimes we get discour aged with our work. It seems so slow, it is a real job to keep records correct ly, but then we do not both get discouraged at the same time. When I am down and out Mr. Corbourn is all en thused over some new turn of the game and it generally happens that I am among the clouds when he is de pressed and discouraged.” To produce a strain of real laying hens which have poultry show possibilities is not an easy task. To keeph * on improving animal form through c onatant line breeding takes brains and perseverance. Yet those who have done constructive poultry breed ing are rewarded many times over for their work. They can look back over the years and say, “Well, I have accomplished some thing and know that my efforts are being appreci ated.” The backyard poul try fancier fills a niche in life’s great problems that nothing can replace. v_-■> The dormant epray for fruit 1* ap plied before the buds begin to swell on the tree*. Get, ready now by or dering your lime sulphur liquid. It should t>e diluted with eight to 10 parts of water before application.