the Farmer was a poor sheep without a
shepherd, shorn to the pink hide with one tuft of wool left over his
eyes--those "good old days" are gone forever. It is some time now
since he became convinced that if a lion and a lamb ever did lie down
together the lamb would not get a wink of sleep. As a matter of
survival he has been making use of the interval to become a lion
himself and the process has been productive of a great roaring in the
Jungle.

All this co-operative purchasing of commodities in the three Prairie
Provinces has not been developed to its present great volume without
arousing antagonism in the business world. The co-operative idea in
merchandizing is not confined to the West by any means. From the
Atlantic to the Pacific various organizations have been formed to carry
on business along co-operative lines. A Co-Operative Union has been
formed to propagate the movement and the subject is vast.

But the establishment of an extending network of elevators under the
control of the Western farmers has brought about possibilities which
threaten to revolutionize the whole established commercial system.
Farmers' Elevators in Dakota, Minnesota and Alberta have proved that it
is practical to utilize the same staff at each point to manage the
distribution of farm supplies as well as looking after elevator
operation during the grain season. This being so, it is not difficult
to visualize a great distributing system under centralized management
with tremendous purchasing power.

There are those whose imaginations stretch readily to the extreme view
that the Grain Growers are a menace. Such are filled with foreboding.
They see the country merchant out of business and the whole business
fabric destroyed.

"The farmers are talking everlastingly about 'a square deal,'" it is
argued. "Why don't they practice what they preach and give the country
merchant a square deal? What about the times of poor crops and money
scarcity? Where would the farmer have been if the country merchant had
not carried him on the books for the necessities of life?"

"It didn't cost the merchant anything to carry me," denies the farmer.
"He just raised his prices to me and got credit from the wholesaler."

"Then what about the wholesaler?"

"Raised his prices and got credit from the manufacturer and the bank."

"Then the banks----"

"Refused to give me the credit in the first place!" interrupts the
farmer resentfully. "Do you da