Show I 1 to raise kaisa da cy by dr L D legear V S st louis mo I 1 dr legear is ia a graduate of 0 the he 0 ontario tarica veterinary college 1892 thirty six years of veterinary practice on diseases oilive live stock and poultry eminent authority on poultry and stock flock raising nationally known poultry breeder noted author and popular lecturer I 1 I 1 PT HOW ABOUT UNIONS roil EGG PRODUCERS mark twain once said ot of the weather that everybody talks about it but nobody does anything about it much the same thing might inight be said about operative cooperative co marketing among poultry ral raisers sers to be sure there are some operative cooperative co organizations now working sue successfully cess fully in ili several sections of 0 the country notably in california and some of 0 the central west western epil rhe the 13 coops of 0 canada too offer a n notable example of what can call be accomplished taking the whole situation by and large however it Is almost literally true that much has been said about cooperative marketing but little done about it t to be sure it is no simple problem to get a tiling thing of this kind started that very tact fact however is a fogt excellent reason rea son why soine something should be started at once today egg producers are in much the same position as were the workers of a few generations back without organization of any kind they are at the mercy of those to whom they must sell john jones with ten tell or twelve dozen eggs to sell each week must take them to the nearest market and accept the price offered or tote them home hoine again A well organ zed association shipping carloads of eggs each week suffers no such disadvantages with sufficiently large quantities to really mean something the association is in a position to seek out he most favorable markets and can regulate shipments into those markets in such a way that a higher average level of prices can be maintained than would otherwise be possible collective bargaining the factor that has made possible the present high wage levels for workers is 13 also brought to the through operative cooperative co marketing other advantages no less important though not so often considered are the possibilities of standardizing and improving production moth meth standardizing and improving the grade of the product and liz ing production it is a well established tact fact that in some sections of the country only white eggs find a ready sale gale at top prices while in other sections brown eggs are the favorites let us suppose that a number of poultry men whose natural market Is a brown egg territory are producing only white eggs they know they are not getting aa good prices as they should but they do not know why and have no way of finding out is they operate independently As of an effective association they would be given the necessary information or it if their total vol ime was large enough their separate lots could be pooled into larger units and shipped economically into some territory where they would find ready sale I 1 cannot too strongly emphasize lio lo wever the need tor for organization in the poultry business labor Is or anizel ani zed and look where wages are today the fruit growers of california organized and boosted their profits mill tons ons of dollars annually the walnut growers go together and sell carloads where they once sold bushels and at higher profit too the poultry men of canada formed an association and realized 12 cent a dozen more tor for their eggs than they had ever been able to got get before here are just a lew few examples of what operative cooperative co marketing has done doneald and Is doing tor for those engaged in it the poultry men of 0 this country must come to la is looner or later f they are ever to realize the full profit that is rightfully theirs this Is an age of big business done in a big way and we who 11 live ve in this age must tall fall in line or watch the procession go marching on to a success in which we cannot share it you are not big enough to get into the procession single handed you can combine your rea arces with others like yourself and all match march together for or the common good I 1 do not bot mean to imply that cb operative operal lve marketing la Is a kink cure all foFe tor every very ill the poultry bust bustness neEs Is afflicted with neither do I 1 wish to give the impression that a simple club of 0 poultry men luen is enough A cooperative association must be a well managed commercial institution it must be big enough to be truly rep of the territory in which it operates it must be operated on the laid down by the three musketeers of dumas famous story the pol poultry men must understand the managements problem and the management must understand those of the there must be harmony and concerted actton action in every part or the who whole e thing will collapse ot of its own weight weight weight the thing to do la Is to study such organizations are already successfully cess fully operating and adapt to your own local needs the principles and practices they have found successful cess ful shape a course that you know you can depend on to get you some place and then stick to it but make your plans flexible enough to allow tor for really necessary necessary changes in the future future PT |