gricultural
products is the fact that a strong central organization can be developed
only by the federation of local associations whose members understand
the purposes of the organization and are loyal to them. The history of
all cooperative movements shows that those which have been permanently
successful have arisen through the federation of strong local
associations, and numerous failures of well-intentioned efforts at
large-scale cooperative marketing have been due to the fact that
numerous local associations cannot be organized by the parent
association with any assurance that they will function effectively.

The late G. Harold Powell, for many years the successful manager of the
California Fruit Growers' Exchange, in his discussion of the
fundamentals of cooperation emphasizes that cooperative associations
must be born of a real need:

"Among farmers, who under existing conditions are already
prosperous, the need of business organization is not usually
felt, even though the costs of marketing and extravagant
profits of the middlemen or the railroads might be greatly
reduced. They must feel the pressure of need before they can
launch a successful business association. When the farmers
buy their supplies at reasonable prices, and sell their
products readily at a good profit, they do not feel the
necessity of organization. It has been the experience of the
past that they must feel the need of getting together to
meet a crisis in their affairs, and the realization of the
need must spring from within and not be forced upon them
from without by the enthusiasm of some opportunist who seeks
to unite the farmers on the principle that organization is a
good thing.... In short, if an organization is to be
successful, the investment of the farmer must be threatened
by existing social and economic conditions before he can
overcome his individualism sufficiently and can develop a
fraternal spirit strong enough to pull with his neighbors in
cooperative team work."[33]

The tremendous losses suffered by American agriculture in 1921 furnish
exactly such a crisis as Mr. Powell suggests, and have given the
strongest impetus to the cooperative movement. But even when the
necessity exists and is recognized it takes time to build up a strong
cooperative association.

The successful operation of a local cooperati