Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Co-Operative Farm Products Marketing How It Is Done in Europe and May Be Done in America to the Profit of Both Farmer and Consumer By MATTHEW 8. DUDGEON. CO-OPERATIVE GERMANY. IJerlln, Germany, ? Here In Germany ? he farmer successfully hoIIh his prod uct direct to the c|ty retailer while In America It In almost ImpoHBlble for the farmer to net Into tho city. In fact American cities aro practically quaran tined agalnHt the farmer ho far aa selling direct Ih concerned. "The farmer who trlen to Hell his product In tho city Ih up against It," said the proHldont of a New York cor poration. At the suggestion of one of our officers we laHt year raided a small lot of very fine potatoes on uotne of our vacant landH. Wo thought we .were business men but Helling those potatoes waH too much for uh. Wo found that the retailers had contracts with jobbers for their your'H supply. The Jobbers and wholesalers were shipping In their potatoes In carload lot h and they did not care for the few bushels we hyd. Kveu the hotelH had either bargained for their year's sup ply or would not make a contract with anyone who could not furnish all that they might need during the year. "In fact no ono In the whole city wanted our potatoes. We were com pelled to practically give them away. Il opened our eyes. Wo know now what tho farmer is up against in the city marketH when he has anything to ?ell. The farmer can no longer sell a product without going from house to house as a peddler.- Ah buslneHS Is now conducted his situation is hope less. It seems to me that It Is co-oper ative marketing or nothing for tho far mer." . I Colorado Peach Grower Has Trouble. Nowhoro on earth do thoy raise bet ' ter peaches than In Colorado. Recent ly in an exceptionally good year one grower marketed 10,000 boxen of fine peaches In the usual way expecting big returns. When the final settle ment arrived ho took It home bo that hlB wife and children who had helped with the work might enjoy it with him. When ho opened tho envelope he found first a long and detailed state ment which he did not fully compre hend. Hut turning to tho accompany ing letter ho road thlB paragraph: "I think we are fortunate Indeed, In view of all the circumstances, to find that no liability stands against us. If you will Bond us your draft for $50 this will close the account and no further liability will attach to you." Finally it Hon.ked lu that the result of the en tire year was a loaa of $50. Hut he possessed himself In pa tience and thought it all over. From inquiry he learned that while retail prices were good, tho peaches had passed through the hands of six to eight persons each of whom had taken out a profit. No ono person had robbed him. No one had been dishonest. No one had made excesslvo profits. Each one had simply looked out for himself. Tho farmer had been fool enough not to do the same tiling. Farmer Tries to Sell Direct. The next year at the opening of the season tho grower went to the Denver retailer who had handled his product. He was glad to find that his peaches of the previous season had arrived In | good shape, had been readily sold, and j had brought a good price. The dealer said be would he glad Indeed to ban ' die his peaches again If possible. Then ? the grower demonstrated with pencil J and paper that the grower by selling directly to the retailer would double | his own return, double the retailer's profit and still leave ample margin for all expenses Intervening. The retailer gave a respectful hearing bur slowly shook his head "Nothing doing," he bald. "If I buy my poaches directly from you the wholesalers will suggest that I buy my pineapples and bananas of you too I tried it once. It did not take them long to get wise. I w as in formed that if I ever did that again I would not he able to buy any fruit in the city. You can't blame them for they think they are protecting their business In the only possible way." Inquiries of retailers in other parts of the city brought the same answer. ; It was absolutely impossible for the j grower to market hla frutt In the cltv ' of Denver. Bayfield, Wis., l? In the midst of a new fruit country. There they have a high-grade, of cherries, strawberries and other small fruits. A small local co-opera 1 1 ve society. Is marketing all their, stuff In Minneapolis. We asked the manager why he did not Bell in oth er cities ? Milwaukee, for example, where the retailers should be willing to pay good prices for good fruit. His reply was that he had been utterly unable to find any Milwaukee retStler who would take his fruit because they Hald that they* must deal only with thoHo who handled a full .?> line of fruits; that if they bought cherries and strawberries of him they would find themselves unable to buy the othor frifjts which he did not handle, such aB bananas, peacheB, pineapples and the llko. The Bame condition ex ists everywhere. The retailer will not. buy In small quantities nor will they buy of those who cannot Bell them a full line of supplies. A repre sentative of the Society of Equity of Wisconsin went to Chicago to work up a trade directly with the retailers of that city but gave up the plan In de spair. Ho concluded that either the co-operative marketing concerns must combine upon broad lines in order to be able to protect the retailers who bought of them, or olso the consumers must combine and buy co-operatively of the producer. In short, the Ameri can farmer cannot, unaided, invade the larger cities. Even the smaller co-op erative organizations tlnd themselves tbo weak to go Into the city markets. Federates to Invade Cities. But hero in Germany, and In fact In many other countries, the farmer does successfully invade the cities, large and small. He does it through the federated association of co-opera tive societies which thrive everywhere. These organizations do a tremendous business. They are enormous con cerns, capable of taking big contracts and making good on them, fully able to hold their own In competition with privately owned concerns. The Ger man retailer knows that when he deals with such a concern or organization he can get all that he wants whenever ho wants It. Wo have Just been Investigating the methods of one of these federated sale societies, the United Pqmeranlan Dairies, a concern which represents thousands of farmers. We found the manager a most businesslike lndlvldu al with an amazingly wide knowledge of all masters connected with the mar keting of the products handled by him. Ho has at his tongue's end the an swer to all questions, whether they have to do with the technicalities of the product Itself or with the business methods of the concern. The retailers do not hesitate to deal with this eon corn for thev can rely upon it to sup ply all of their needs, all of the time. It markets the butter and cheese com ing from over half a million cows and supplements this when necessary with Imported products It Is through insti tutions such as this that the German farmer Invades the German city. Union of Co-operative Concerns. "This Is an association of associa tions," the manager stated. "It is not connected with any I .and sc ha ft en or Rcjffoson bank. Our associations are j tortned solely to aid the farmer in mar- I ketmg his produce. In fact, nearly all the shares are held by farmers. We have over twenty thousand separate members. There are 110 associations. We are marketing our product through fifty-six stores " This is a co-operative concern in the true sense of the word. All oui con cerns are oj>erated upon the "one man one vote plan, as are all of the co-oj> eratlve societies in Germany, The small farmer has as much influence as the big man Everybody connected with us participates In our profits and Is responsible if we have losses." Ev erybody votes, nobody votes more than once We charge about three per c??nt on the turnover to pav the ex penses Involved In marketing What Is left goes to the members who sell through us" 'The chief product :s butter, but we ,4 handle it great deal of cheese and ; some other farm product*. Wo lui|>ort considerable of our cheesH fro'u ('ana' ! 'la simply to 111*01 the demand and to i ruuko 1( unnecessary fur those who buy of u? to go elsewhere Keeping Up the Quality. "We regard the standardization of products uh the most important f fu ture of cooperation in Germany so far at j tho marketing of It In concern ed. All the butter which we bundle ; ts graded and branded. Kach producer Is given a most complete acorn sheet. Every time one of our subsidiary con cerns a consignment or butter from a produder It 1b graded an Is Indicated j on a score card." The score card la In duplicate, the original to be kept at the central office, and a carbon copy to be filled out and ! forwarded to the producer. The card states that the quality of the shipment received has been marked upqn the fol lowing points: . (1) (Joruch (smell); j (2) Qeschmack (Flavor); (3) Hals (Salt); (4) Bearbeltung (Well Worked); (6) (Consistent (Texture); (6) Verpacklng (Packing). (7) KlassU flzlert (Classified) ; (8) Remarks. The manager continued: "If we And a creamery is not sending us a high grade product we send someone to make investigation and to help Im prove the quality. As things now are no creamery supplies any butter of a grade less than the highest which It is capable of producing. " The score card is of course a great help in keep ing up the quality. We keep the orig inal score card ourselves and send a carbon copy of It to the producer who ; Is thus able to know in what particu lar his butter la Iobb than it should be. ! In this way each creamery gets a re port every week upon its butter so that It knows at once If there la any falling off In quality. We are now mar keting the butter produced by from six hundred thousand to seven hun dred thousand cows." An Efficient Plant. No American, accustomed to farmers who are always individualists and sel dom combine, would think from an In spection of this plant that it was owned and managed by 20,000 farmers. It would seem to be rather the prop erty of Bome captain of finance who had spared neither expense nor sclen tific effort in order to arrive at the highest stage of efficiency. Everywhere we found labor saving devices. Everywhere the machinery was carefully protected so that danger to employes did not lurk In the power machinery that was In operation. (Ger many It must be remembered has a na tional policy that requires that all workmen be fully protected). In one room was an Ice plant; in another was the electric plant producing the pow er used In operating the machinery and in lighting the establishment. An Outside Opinion. Naturally anxious to hear what a dealer who was not a co-operator and had 110 Interest In the cooperative movement had to say about co-opera tion, we went to the manager of a Jobbing concern dealing in dairy prod ucts. We found him Intelligent and ready to talk. "This Is a wholesale company privately owned," he said. "I deal with many co-operative dairy associations. My experience with them has been excellent. They have better machinery, better organization, better business methods, produce bet ter butter than do private creameries and are altogether satisfactory. There Is another thing which should not be Overlooked. We like to deal with a concern which can furnish us In large quantities In absolutely uniform qual ity. This is what tl\p co-operators do. No single creamery could give us but ter In such quantities as do the co-op erative associations which market the product of several federated creamer ies. Neither can we get such an abso lutely uniform quality elsewhere. We do not say but that at times a private ly owned creamery will produce Just as good a grade of butter. It Is al ways n problem with us, however, as to each creamery. We have to know the creamery itself and have to know whether or not they continue to have the samo butter maker. With the co operative concern, however, it is dif ferent. Nothing gots by them unless It Is up to standard. They give us better stuff and they get better prices. Danish Butter. "We do not buy Danish co-operative butter to any extent; It la too high. Besides that there Is a duty of ten marks for a package of^flfty kilograms. For example where we can buy Ger man butter for 125 marks ($25) per fifty kilograms we would have to pay 138 marks (($27.60) for Danish but ter. The difference is greater than the amount of (ho duty because Da nish buttor has a reputation; also be cause there is a demand for Danish butter everywhere. Most of the Da nish butter goes directly to England. Cream Is admitted to Germany free of duty. We have tried to ship eremn from Denmark and make butter here, j but It has not succeeded. It Is too j troublesome a process. Everybody In Germany will admit that the Danish 1 butter Is as good as our best German butter; most think It la better. It Is - ! necessary for us to handle the pooror ' grudf of butter for some of our trade. We got so mo Siberian butter which Is considered of tho second and third quality." A Successful System. This is the way the German farmer sells direct In tho city He unites with his neighbor in a local coopera tive society. This society federates with others until there is a combina tion that is big enough to competo with and out-<)o any private concern. He produces a high quality of prod uct He handles it in a b:;siaess like way Naturally ho <<?t8 a fair price and maKrs a "air profit. Co-operation seems a success. Bank Stock For Sale 1 am offering for sale, within 30 days. Five I housand ($5,000) Dollars worth of stock of the Loan & Savings Bank, of Camden, S. C. L. L. CLYBURN DeKALB. S. C, BANK STOCK WANTED I hereby offer Five Thous and Five Hundred Dollars ($5,500,00) for the Five Thousand Dollars of Loan & Savings Bank Stock, (50* shares) advertised by L. L. Clyburn, that is to say, ten per cent, above par. Henry Savage CAMDEN, S C. MONEY TO IA)AN. On improved farms. Eaay t?rinn. Apply to B. B. Clarke. Camden, S C. 60. SAM WING LAUNDRY PHONE91 9152 Broad St., Camden, S. C. ? AND ? POLITICS War, politics and high prices is about all one can hear these days. While discussing these things don't loose sight of the fact that we will give you the - ^jr; -;??? ' ? ..... ...... ? ? ? * ? ?'?" ?? ' very best prices to be had any where. Give us a trial. MURCHISON Wholesale Supply Co. Dr. I. H. Alexander Dr. R. E. Sttvamoa Alexander & Stevenson DENTffcTS OHict Soothtait Corotr Broad and DcKalb Sta. Dr. E. H. KERRISON dentist Successor to Dr. L. W. Alstou Office in the Mann Itullillng Phone 185 COLUMBIA LUMBER & MANUFACTURING CO. MILL WORK a SASH, DOORS, BLINDS AND LUMBER PLAIN & HUGER STS. Phone 71 COLUMBIA, S. C. Farm Lands For Sale Plantation of Mrs. T. It. Team In West Wateree, seven miles from Cam den, '2Vi miles from Lugoff. Tract contains 1373 acres, 800 acres open land ; some good timber on place; one good dwelling, 26 tenant houses, barns and gin house. Rents for 35 bales of cotton ; good tenants and plenty of labor. This is one of the best plantations in Kershaw County, and will pay good Interest on investment at price offered. Terms reasonable. 510 'acres, more or less, known as the Spencer Place, situated 12 miles Southwest of Camden on the Cohlter's -Ferry Road; 100 acres of open land, two horse farm under cultivation; land lies well; good stream -running water; plenty of wood and good quantity of timber qu this tract. Price $10 per acre. ' . Farm of W. E. DeLoache, situate 2 1-2 miles Southeast of Camdefl. containing 270 acreB; 160 acres of open land, part of this under cul tivation; timber and wood enough for place; land producing well; ad joining lands have sold for $80.00 per acre; one five room dwelling, a good barn and seven tenant houses. For sale at $3 5.00 per acre. The Doby Place, containing 450 acres 3 miles of Blaney; 250 acres open land, a part of this under cultivation; 100 acres pasture land under wire; sonio good open creek land, plenty of wood and some . timber on the place; good buildings; one overseers house.; 0 tenant , houses and two barns. Twenty-five mile creek runs through this pro perty. Price $7,500. Terms: 1-4 cash, balance in three years at the usual rate of interest. 361 acres on Town Creek, four miles south of Camden; 60 acres open land; two tenant houses. Will sell at a bargain. Plat of same can be seen at our office. 137 acres on' Lockhart ltoad known as the Wheat Place; seventy one acres under cultivation; 3 tenant houses and one dwelling. Price $22.00 per acre. 100 acres three miles from Camden betweeen the Kershaw and Liberty Hill Road; 50 acres under cultivation; one four room dwell ing and barns. Price $35.00 per acre. ~~ 7 5 acres adjoining Citv Limits, known as Race Track Place of H. O. Garrison; one good overseer's house, several tenant houses and barns; Improvements first class; lands in high state of cultivation. Price Reasonable. 1,900 acres eight miles from Camden, on Charleston Road. on 9outhern Railway with siding and ware house; one new over-seer's house, eight tenant houses, 1 large barn, 1 gin house and equipment and 1 cotton house. 1,200 acres swamp land, excellent for cattle or hay culture;; 650 acres upland, 300 acres of the upland beinft of the finest land in* the state and in the highest state of cultivation. Price $21 an acre. Very easy terms. 352 acres of land known as the Creed property, eight miles North of Camden; 200 acres open land, some timber and plenty of wood on place; one half mile from good school; one fi\&e room dwelling, barns, one store building and ten tenant houses. Price on application. Terms: one-third cash, balance to suit purchaser. Small farm, property of H. M. Fincher, one mile East of Camden; one new $1,200 dwelling and barns; land In high state of .cultivation 10 acres of this land produced seven 500 weight bales of cotton and 144 bushels of corn. Price $3,000. Terrms 1-6 cash, balance at 7 per cent 'on easy terms. _ ? We also have listed with us a good selection of City property. C. P. DuBose v. & Company Real Estate City Property Farm Lands