The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, December 2, 1915, Page 5

i i Cooperative marketing of agricul~ ‘tural preducts is the salvation of “the farmer, helps the consumer and impyroves the things he consumes. This is recorded. in the experience -of the walnut growers of California, whose great coeperative association, less than three years old, has already revolutionized the whole business and, turned the producers’ loss into pro- ducers’ gain. In 1893 the total walnut produc- tion of California was fifteen car loads. These were sold haphazard to commission men that went about the - state squeezing poverty and taking advantage of the fact that most of the farmers had mortgage halters about their necks. Greed would catch such a man with semi-annual interest to pay, get his walnuts-at 5 cents a pound and - then make that a market price for the rest of the producers. Make Cunring Combinations Also the buyers made cunning com- binations and fixed prices and divid- ed the territory, so that the producer I seldom got more than 3% cents al- though to grow walnuts costs more than 6. As in the case of the almond grow- .ers I told of recently in this juornal the farmers were now driven into some form of common effort to pro- tect themselves. So they made dis- trict “pools”. This is a punk divice and has an unbroken record of failure in Cali- fornia. All the farmers in a district put their walnuts together and a- a certain price. But there had now come to be cseveral ‘districts and many growers. One ‘district would hold for a price ‘er price. Then the first district, “would find itself with a lot of un- sold product on its hands, whereupon .it" would take fright and sell fos wkat it could get—which would be so little the producer would end up with another loss. . and the next district sell for a small-- THE NONPARTISAN LEADER - 'How They Doubled the Fa By Chartes Edward Russell Meantime the amount of the pro- duct increased, from year to. year, foreign grown nuts continued to command the market and the Califor- nia producer to pocket the loss: “Big Pool” Enterprise. About twenty years were spent in these .experiments. They had slowly raised the price of walnuts, but they had never once assured the producer a profit on his labors nor made it likely that he would not find himself at the end of a season with an unsold and unsalable crop. The biggest “pool” enterprise was formed, to handle the crop of 1913. The market was pretty good . that, year and the outlook was cheering: By this time the lesson had been learned that there must be some kind of a working agreement to cov- er all the state. The price was fix- ed at 14 cents. Each local pool had it « own selling agent. Some selling a- gents were smarter than others. The season was coming to an end when two of the associations discovered that they were certain to be left with a large unsold product. They broke the price to 11 cents. - greed.that.they would not sell below i Mutual Organization Started. That put the pool idea out of busi- ness forever so far as the walnut growers were concerned. The wise ones among them saw that the plan would never work. They got togeth- er and formed the California Walnut Growers Association, a mutual organ- ization without capital or capital stock, composed, of delegates elected one by each of twenty-two local asy sociations, which comprise nearly all the walnut growers of the state. The local associations, which like- wise are mutual organizations, erect warehouses and plants at shipping points, each member contributing in proportion to the acreage he has in walnuts. The members now bring their pro- duct to their local warehouse and re- ceive a statement of weight and grade and a check on the local bank for 80 per cent of the estimated val- ue thereof. That check is cashed on presentation. The Central Selling Agency The central organization is selling agency. the It .received and, stim« ulates orders from the markets, trans mits the order to the twenty-two PAGE FIVE rmers’ Returns local plants and gets the sales money on sight drafts. Ten per cent it holds out for selling expenses and returns the rest to the local associ- ations. When the season is over it checks up all the actual selling ex- renses, finds they are between 3 and 4 per. cent, and sends the balance- to the locals, which take out their own expenses for packing and, bleach- ing and return the remainder to the- growers. There are No “Dea’s” The associations sales in 1915 were about 27,000,000 pounds and will be 30,000,000 in 1916. All the sales were made at fixed, regular prices. according to grade, ranging from 13% cents to 173 cents per ppund. There: were no “deals.” Every pura chaser big or little got exactly the same price treatment. The produe- ers received more than twice as much as?in the old days, the price to the consumer was not advanced one cent. Meantime the Association had so greatly improved methods, quality and, grading that California walnuts were driving all foreign walnuts out of the market. This is a piéture of one of the modern Walnut packing p'ants in California. . The. capac.ty of this rlant is 70,000 pounds daily. There are 18 of them in the state. They bzlong t= Association: and have more than doubled the producer’s returns ¢n walnuts. tke Coc-operative Walnut Growe:s’ FIRST PRIZE - SECOND PRIZE - . THIRD PRIZE - FOURTH PRIZE - ‘ind" docked: 6 ‘pounds. * one-half pounds. - the total wheat ushels. Su 000,000 eac! buy? lege for four years at $400 c o 4 I - Ten Bollars in Gold - .. Five Dollars in Gold - ' Three Dollars i e el s G R N e (i N e A D ‘To Every-School Pupil Under 19 years of Age That " Sends an Ans- - wer The Leader Will Send a Beautiful Christmas Card Free. _HERE ARE THE PROBLEMS. A North Dakota farmer took a wagon load of wheat contain- 62 bushels to_am; elevator:whers .the - wheat was. graded No. 45 : ‘Two days later he togk another wagon Ioad, 52 bushels, of the same wheat to another' eleva tor and it was graded No. 2 and -paid for at- the price of No. 1, while it was docked only 2 and Between: the' price received for the first load and the net price received for the second load, allowing for fluctuations of the market: meanwhile, was a net actual difference of $9:87, crop of North Dakota tolb'e 110,~ hSuppose it all to be put into wagons’containing 52 bushels 'Sup se that-because of misgrading ‘and dockage there is fost to the farmers that raised it $9.87 on every second wagon: HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED: 1. What would be the totsl amount of loss in dollars to the farmers of North Dakota in Dockage and Grading Alone? 2. How many aut.‘.omobiles at $460 each would that amount 3. How many boys and girls ,wog‘ld?_ that amount gend to col r year . o it costs $100 forp: Klonfll’s vacation: for a farmer’s - wife and three children how-many such mothers would -be .able with this amount toenjoy a vacation of travel and recreation? How many membershifis in the Nonpartisan League would . How many at $10. each? \ Dakota” were' to establish their own. clevators would they ‘not. eliminate the loss they now sustain’ in dockage and in grading by privately owned elevators? the amount pay for at $6 eac ‘6. If the farmers of North T hat is a parasite? 8. How many new%pa&ers now: published. in the state of: North the abolition. of the present.system of Dakota have advocate dovckage and misgrading of grain? s0 " 9.7 If the farmers, who comprise 73 percent of the population, stick together, can they or can they not change the laws ! ' OUR CHRISTMAS PRESENTS READ THIS ALL YOUNG PEOPLE Presents for All That Will Write:Answers to Our Problems. ‘= Twenty Doltars in Gold I | ‘Why have mot-the othzrs.done- of ‘North Dakota so ‘that they will retain: far themselves and-their families 3 the money that ig now taken' from theém-by the precent system - of docking ‘and misgrading of grain? ~ RULES AND CONDITIONS OF THE CONTEST Give name, postoffice -address; commty ‘and: Contest open: to all school- lioys and -school girls under - tie ‘Write plainly. state. age of nineteen years. All replies will be considered that reach thi Nonpartisan. Leader in Farge not later ‘than 12 -¢’clock neon on- December 15. Each contestant wilF be allowed to send Buf one set of ' answers. Neatness in writing and brevity of statement - will be favor- ably considered. Write on one side only of-the-maper. 7 Mail Answers to “Contest Editor’.’=flonparfloan Leader, Box 919, Fargo, North Dakota. Names of the winners will be printed in the Leader of December 29, We invite all our young friends to enter . this contest. Al - awards' will be strietly onm merit, : . 7 . office . of the i A