COOPERATIVE AGRICULTURE 65



 CAN COOPERATIVE MARKETING DO IT ALL?
 By NATHAN MAYO, Commissioner of Agriculture
 Can the American farmer obtain through cooperative
marketing his much-needed "relief?"
 How far will orderly selling by producing groups go
in stabilizing markets?
 Can Florida producers hope to hold up profitable prices
permanently by clearing houses and similar organizations?
 These questions may well be considered in the light of
recent developments in cooperative marketing circles out-
side of Florida.

 In California, where cooperatives have had some years
of success. it now appears that trouble is at hand. Growers
of peaches, raisins, prunes and some other crops are loaded
down by surplus production and are said to be facing ruin-
ous prices. After several seasons of prosperity resulting
from collective action in the sale of their products, these
California folks are now said to be feeling the weight of
their own heavy crops which cannot be sold except at loss.
They are reported to be considering heroic measures, such
as allowing a large part of the present year's crop to go
to waste in order to reduce this surplus to the level of a
profitable instead of unprofitable supply.

 Up in Canada where they grow vast quantities of wheat.
the growers formed a pool and operated it successfully for
a number of years. For a while it worked well. Undoubt-
edly it steadied the price of wheat and did much to prevent
sags and gluts in the market. Like the California organiza-
tions. it brought cheer and confidence to the producers.
Farmers everywhere were looking at these cooperatives
with pride and hopefulness But now we have the report
that the wheat pool is in trouble. More than seventy-five
million bushels of wheat, on hand as a "carry-over" from