COOPERATIVE AGRICULTURE


classes are being taught in 45 of the 48 State agricultural
colleges and universities.

 MEMBERS' CAPITAL
 The work is showing up on cooperative balance sheets.
At the time the new survey was made the total assets of
the marketing and purchasing associations amounted to
$510.846,000 Member-ownership capital is these associa-
tions amounted to $287,860,000, representing either original
contributions or savings which members allowed the asso-
ciations to retain; S109.561.000 represented borrowed capital
for which the associations had given notes or mortgages;
$54,194,000 had been obtained on open accounts; the balance
came from other sources.

 PATRONAGE DIVIDENDS
 Agricultural cooperation is paying cash dividends. The
survey-taker from the banks for cooperatives found that in
addition to providing more effective marketing of farm pro-
ducts and reasonable-cost farm supply purchases, over 4.000
of the 10,752 marketing and purchasing associations turned
back patronage dividends to their members in 1936 amount-
ing to more than $25,000,000. Many of these cooperatives
also pay limited dividends on stock owned by farmer-
members.

 Another significant fact brought out by the survey is
the influence of the 13 banks for cooperatives in pushing
down interest rates paid on borrowed money by farmer-
cooperatives. Since 1934, the year after the banks for
cooperatives began operation, the trend in interest rates
charged farmer co-ops by various creditors has been steadily
downward. For the United States as a whole, the average
interest rate on short-term money borrowed by co-ops
dropped from 5.9 to 5.7 per cent; on medium-term loans
from 5 6 to 5 per cent; and on long-term loans from 5.1 to
4.8 per cent The banks for Cooperatives charge 2 per cent