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Show CO-OPERATION IN THE SOUTH Farmers Are Thoroughly Aroused and Are Devising Ways and Means to Help One Another. It has been a favorite saying with us for a good many years that the average man (and we might add, woman I, whether on the farm or in town, won't do what he knows in his heart he ought to do, until he has to, or until circumstances compel him to Individually, we won't even consult a doctor until we are really sick, and meanwhile keep up a manner of living that our better judgment should teach us will inevitably result in a call for the doctor and serious illness. Several illustrations of this general truth come to mind. Tak, for example, exam-ple, the farmers of the Sou'.h. They have been going for many years against the advice of the agricultural papers, of every teacher of agriculture, agricul-ture, and of the leaders ot the farm demonstration work. None of these classes could foresee this war; but they could foresee the end of the prosperity pros-perity of southern farmers, though no one could tell when it would end. Now they are doing what they have been advised to do by every person whose advice was worth listening to; and in doing so they are forced to cooperate co-operate in various ways. The whole South is thoroughly waked up. They are devising ways, all of which neces sitate more or less co-operation, not a co-operative society but co-operation. They are calling special meetiegs of the legislatures. Some are advocating the reduction of crop area by law; others, and we think more wisely,' by the active co-operation of the farmers, each agreeing to cut down his area a certain per cent. Some are presenting petitions to the members of the legislatures legis-latures and of congress. All involve co-operation, and without co-operation of some kind nothing can be done. The agricultursl press, the expert ment stations, and the United States department of agriculture have been teaching better methods of farming. Here and there an individual grasped the ideas and put them in practice (we speak now of general farming); but the counties where farmers got. together and co-operated in employing employ-ing advisers, and did not stint their money, are getting ahead much faster than counties where each man works out his own agricultural salvation. It is only by farmers working together whether we call it co-operation or not that they can achieve any marked success; suc-cess; but the man who has studied human hu-man nature understands that farmers will not do it until circumstances compel com-pel them to do so. This is enforced co-operation. So long as every farmer kept a few cows and milked them, and his wife made butter and traded it at the store, we never got anywhere. Our butter was of all sorts and colors and flavors, and only the best of it was sold foT what it was worth. Now that we have creameries, we have demonstrated to the world that the Corn belt can make first-class butter and as much of it as can be found anywheTe in the world. Take it in another line the breeding breed-ing of live stock. Breeders are beginning begin-ning to understand that they can succeed suc-ceed only by a sort of co-operation. They group themselves together at some point with good railroad connections, con-nections, and then, instead of competing com-peting with each other, they co-operate co-operate in the use of sires, cooperate co-operate in advertising, co-operate in selling. They have .'found out that farmers in search of improved live stock go to some point where there are a number of herds of the breed they want; and the various owners find out that it is not wise for them to do their very best to sell their own animals, but that it pays to help their neighbors to sell by pointing out the best points of their own stock and helping visitors to see the stock of their neighbors also. In this way they succeed. It is difficult for any man with any breed of live stock to succeed, suc-ceed, where he is alone and does not have the co-operation and support and help of his neighbors. In fact, when we begin to co-operate in any line, we begin to succeed. Until we do that, we usually find it hard sledding in these days. Wallace's Farmer. |