Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / March 18, 1916, edition 1 / Page 19
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Saturday, March 18, 1916 EDUCATION, COOPERATION, LEGISLATION (1) Education to Develop rower, w t-ooperttion to Multiply It, and (3) Legislation and Good Government to Promote Equal Right and Human Progress-- Plain Talk About Men, Measures and Movements Involved -By CLARENCE FOE ' '" - : ' r u. ..... . .. - .- , , . .. , . . vorminv Industry, Business, Profession "in other words, am-i developing my 'thrce-f old - , t powers as (1) an industrial worker, (2) as a user, .Txc-nPLE used to think of farming only as'an 0f professional or scientific knowledge, and (3 a K industry. Lately"they-are'coming-torrealizea'businessTman?M- : - 1 the truth that farming is really (1) an indus- p a business, (3) a profession. c f trAn industry is an occupation requiring manual suppose Each Factory Operative Marketed effort or labor. . ;.' t .. His Own Product A business is an occupation requiring knowledge . . . v - tuuu of buying and selling financial transactions. UST in so far as any farmer' seeks to acquire A profession is an occupation requiring techni- I and use scientific knowledge about his work 1 skill an(j knowledgescientific training. J whether through, an agricultural college, The trouble with us heretofore has been that we N through reliable' farm papers and bulletins, or hvpn't laid enough emphasis on thie two last- through institutes and demonstration agents mentioned' phases ot agricultural errort. 100 many just m so iar is mat iarmer .making his work a HQ have thought of farming as an occupation in profession and solving this phase of our problem. which only muscular enort coumea ine essentials vvnat we wish especially to empnasize tnis f cnrress being summed up by Tosh Billings in week, however, is the importance of making the i" r . f ... , iarmer a Dusiness man, especially in tne matter ot marketing. " What then is, the first big fact the farmer must see and acknowledge if he is to win success as a business man? It is that if he is to market his products profitably he must sell them collectively or cooperatively. What would happen if each operative in a cot ton factory had to go out and sell separately ando independently the little output of cloth woven by himself and his family? What would happen if each individual laborer in a coal mine marketed the coal mined by him? What would happen if each man who cuts trees in a forest had to market the lumber from the trees he cut? ( What would happen if each employee of the American Tobacco Company sold independently the tobacco manufactured by him? - - (19) 407t individual shipper. .1 make a statement show- ing tlie number of hogs, their weights," and the net-returns due to each farmer, attach the -draft. from the packing house and turn allja pers over to the banker for settlement. This ; has given entire satisfaction to all concerned." - Commendable enterprise in marketing pfans is shown by Cumberland County, N. C, farmers as is shown by this dispatch from Fayetteville, March 5th: - 3- the famous lines : He who by farming would git rich,. Must rake and hoe and dig and. slch Work hard all day, sleep hard all nlte, Save every cent ana noi gu uie. The Real Nobility of Farming FORTUNATELY, however, we are at last be ginning to get a clearer understanding of the real situation. We are beginning to see that while farming is an industry just as is digging coal in a mine, or cutting trees in a forest, or shoveling fuel into an engine, or keeping a piece of machinery going in a factory yet farming, is very much more than this. The miner, fireman, or factory operative has nothing to do with the business side "of his industry ; all the purchase of supplies and all the big tasks of selling the pro duct profitably are foreign to him. Moreover, for the miner or factory operative there is absolutely nothing in his work to make it a profession. It does not call for scientific knowledge and training such as the successful farmer requires in greater or less degree in a dozen branches the careand management of soils ; the feeding and breeding of plants and animals; the effects of various pro cesses of fertilization, cultivation, rotation; meth ods of combating plant and animal diseases, and a Organize a Marketing Association Now w E CAN all imagine what the results would be if each indivdual laborer in all the en terprises just mentioned were called on to market the product of his own hands. We all un derstand how wasteful and unsatisfactory such a svstem would be and how necessary it is in all B' 4-ti ArA ft-n-rviiiPOP 4- r hntrfi nrhtf ic in f 4-11 1 1 1 tr ft tY1 1 1 . - , i4 rr r 1 1 lllCdv tllltl uiiov.o lu na v vviiai io vn many cl mai - thousand other problems offering scope for knowl- . association" to sell the product of a large srrouo of individual laborers. Such a svstem Se- edge of chemistry, biology, physiology, botany, and a dozen other sciences This is why farming is a nobler occupation, an occupation better calculated to develop ability, character, and all-round efficiency, than any other in which any great portion of the human race is engaged. The Almighty gave man both brain and brawn, both mind and muscle, and it is to be doubted whether any occupation can develop the ideal man which does not call both into play. The great Russian philospoher, Tolstoi, was probably right in insisting that even a professional man should do enough manual labor to provide food for his body or its muscular equivalent. And on the other hand, any occupation which is only aseries of mechanical, muscular operations will result dis astrously; one's mental powers failing to meet the challenge of problem after problem, 'fall into atrophy from disuse. Only recently a close student of the laborers in a certain great industry lament ed to us the vacancy of mind characterizing the boys and girls, the work having nothing in it to call for the exercise of intelligence. A1f yw"v w vmow ty Qr a hundred farmers to unite Wih you in THE pity of it is,"however, that in spite of the forming a marketing association, resolve to start nobility with which the Almighty has en- out anyhow by doing your marketing this year in nobled agriculture by nature, yet the wrong cooperation with a dozen or even a half dozen sort of man, the wrong sort of farmer, may "rob it kinsfolk, .friends, and neighbors; The idea will us nobility. He can probably blunder along ' grow. somehow and keep soul and body together work wig at farming only as an industry ignoring the scientific knowledge which exalts it. into a profes sion, and ignoring' the opportunities for commer cial ability which make farming,also a business. " Consequently, what we are after this week is to get every Progressive Farmer subscriber to. stop and ask himself the following questions : . 'Ami living up to my opportunities? Am I liv- "6 uu lO tne exrpllpnro nf flio o11nr mliorpw th cures (1) greater ability in marketing the product, and (2) better grading and handling of the pro-; duct. Well, then, the question arises, isn't it just as necessary for indivdual farmers to get out of the habit of every man marketing his own product? Isn't it just as necessary for them to organize so as to get the benefits (1) of having marketing ex perts, and (2) of having products graded and han dled in accordance with the most modern commer cial methods? This does not mean at all that the farmer would lose the business ability required in his occupa tion, and surrender this side of his work to others, as hired laborers in other industries have to do. What, it means is that farmers would pool or com bine their business ability, the cooperative asso ciations, in fact, offering opportunities for the ex ercise of a much higher order-of business enter prise than is offered by the individual farmer's marketing problems. Right now before crops are planted farmers ev erywhere ought to mature plans for marketing this year's products more wisely than ever before."" And if you, Brother Subscriber, if vou can't get wih B Success Through Cooperative Selling ani i called? While I ant working' diligently with y hands, as I should, am T bringing to bear on my business scientific and technical knowledge -H-u as have made law !,!iessions? And in and medicine honored as trip tiPYt nlnrp am T brinep- 1nr . . " w t . - o That ' business ability into play in my work? V S to.say do 1 seek not merely to save money dlia t0 make trnnA k. I-- 1... j. J.A J ...M mc moriprn n 4- 1 : uu-iu-udic urosrcssivc uusuicss icaii i S ?at win Profits for all lines of systemat- "WHVIVU city business?", EFORE lis as we write, for example, are a bunch of letters and clippings showing how the idea of cooperative marketing is spread ing. From Kleberg County, Texas, County De monstration Agent Kloppenburg writes of success in having farmers sell hogs together: "In September last I sent a circular letter to every farmer in the county askingthem to notify ine whenever they have hogs ready for market. I mak a memorandum of these no tices and whenever I have 90 hogs on my list, I notify the -farmers 'to bring "them in on a cer tain day. A day before shipment I telegraph to Fort Worth and Houston for prices. The hogs are "weighed before loading and - the amount of money received for the shipment is divided by the total. weight in Kingsville and Riviera, thus finding the amount due to each "Preliminary steps toward the formation of a farmers' cooperative marketing association were taken today when a number of the most progressive men in the county' met.' here. An organization committee was named, composed . of eighteen hustling farmers and truckers, to canvass the county and enroll the farmers." '. The Mississippi Extension Service contributes T this gratifying' piece of news: " - Cooperative marketing in Mississippi is rapidly assuming large-proportions. Since July 1, 1915, a total of 77 codpeTative - clubs. and associations have been organized. Cbop ation and organization is making it possible for the small farmer to find a market for pro-, -duce which formerly could not be sold, since , large quantities could not be obtained. Coop erative creameries in Mississippi last year dis tributed half a million dollars to the farmers of this state. The cooperative sale of sweet potatoes has increased to three or four hun dred cars from 25 to '30 points in South Mis sissippi while this season 200 cars are being stored in kilns and 200 to 300 cars will be can ned, From 15 to 20 points in Mississippi cars of Irish potatoes are being shipped. Coopera tive, clubs for selling hay, molasses, peanuts, oats, corn, peas, cattle, hogj, poultry, and other farm products are being organized in all parts of the state." ',.' Better Grading, Packing and Advertising ETTER grading of products is one o e good results of marketing associations, and on this point the Charlotte Observer reports: "It is estimated conservatively ihat the in stallation of the cotton grader's office here resulted in an increase in price of $1 per bale for each sample submitted and sold, upon the Charlotte market." Op this point of cotton grading, too, a Progress ive Farmer reader in a long-staple section, says one cotton-buying firm on his market is said to have made $44,000 on 5,000 bales of long staple. He adds: "I shipped five bales 40 miles from my local market and cleared $26 after paying freight Other good illustrations of the need for market-: ing reforms are given in a clipping now before us from the Carthage News, as follows: One farmer recently went into Carthage with a dozen eggs forwo neighbors. The clean dozen brought 30 cents ; the soiled dozen only 25 a loss of 16 per cent due to poor handling. Good butter brings 25 cents in Carthage, but poor butter only 15 cents a loss of 40 per cent in price. Furthermore, West ern corn, properly sacked, weighed and graded, brings a good price, but local farmers loading up a Jot of mixed-gfaded ear corn in bulk find a poor Tale for it. And so on and so on. In every line of farm produce the same principle applies; profits are to be had only by selling in quantities, and grading and packing to suit market requirements. Recently a farmer asked one of our newspaper friends in Washington, D. G, to find hint a .market for some fat hens, and the .newspaper man sought out a big city dealer, but with no success. 'X cannot handle Southern chick ens," said the merchant. "The people down there do not know how to prepare them for the market. I buy all my hens in New Jersey. I have to pay more but what, I get suits my select trade." On the other hand, as our newspaper friend went on to point out, farmers' marketing associa tions Jrorri this farmer's own section are breaking into the Washington market selling creamery butter, apples properly packed and graded, and eggs dated and guaranteed. These associations ' are learning,, as an individual is not likely to learn, how to grade and market. They are also learning how to advertise learning that printer's ink pays the farmer with something to sell just as it pays the city man with something to sell. Mr. J. Z. Green's article in our March 4' issue telling "How Cooperative Advertising Sold 10,000 Pounds -of Butter" for farmers in his neighborhood is a case in point. ., ; Let us reiterate in conclusion that it is up to our farmers to realize that they are at once laborers, ; business .mien, and professional men,. -and that as business, men they must realize that the old sys- . tern of each man selling his own product is almost as unprofitable in agriculture as in manufacturing. Everywhere farmers should get busy now organ izing marketing associations to handle all this' year's products. -J ;r t i
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 18, 1916, edition 1
19
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