The VALLEY SETTLER is published
every Friday by the Matanuska
Valley Farmers' Cooperating Asso
ciation at Palmer, Alaska
Mng. Editor, Mrs. Verna Eastham
Reporter: Mrs. Carl Erickson
Subscription rates: £>1.00 year
by nail: $1.50 year
Mailed anywhere: 10^ a copy
This paper is issued for the pur
pose of giving information and
news of the Matanuska Valley Fann
ers' Cooperating Association's
work, problems, accomplishments
and also news of local and general
interest; and to help foster the
cooperative spirit of the farmers
of the Matanuska Valle y.
"A Cooperative is a Business
Organization" - -
William II.Bankers, Extension Econo
mist, Agricultural Extension Divi
sion, St.Paul, Minnesota, writes to
Fred N. Johnson in part as follows:
"In a new community such as
yours, it appears to mo that any
thing attempted should be done
conservatively.' That is to say,
start with one line, develop it,
and progress only when you know
"your feet are on solid ground".
Volume of business is most neccs'
sary if overhead costs arc to be
held down. One of the bio pro
blems in Minnesota cooijerative
creameries is thnt they arc ex
tremely overhuilt and now suffer
ing from a big debt load, high
interest cost, high depreciation
charge, high taxes and high fuel
cost, etc., and then wonder why
they canPt meet competition. A
cooperative is a business organi
zation and loyalty of members
depends entirely upon whethor
it is doing an efficient job.”
With this in mind it is interesting
to see how Lawrence Vasanoja, the
new sales manager of "Matanuska
Maid" products is concentrating on
two lines at the present time. He
tolls us "We can furnish large quan
tities and regular supplies of high
grade sausage, wianers and lunch
meat and also excellent quality
eggs, so we are pushing these two
lines. Nothing l?ut the very best
quality is being shipped out and we
are getting now customers and mak
ing friends."
'SOME RULES FOR SUCCESSFUL CO-OPS
There must be a potential market,
A Co-op must have something to sell.
Members should be in svich position
that it is financially and econom
ically more sound for them to mar
ket collectively.
A co-op must have sufficient capi
tal to operate—sufficient reserve
funds.
A Co-op must be able to select an
efficient management to MANAGE the
business. In the case of reprodu
cer Cooperative, the management
should guide the production and
handle the sales to seo that goods
of high quality in sufficient quan
tities arc produced in order to
meet the demands of the market.
The members have to believe in their
Coop and cooperate—to make possible
a successful business.
7/IND INSURANCE
It seems that this isn't the only
place v/here there are high winds.
In earlier days.there were so many
windstorms in Iowa that the farmers
started to get’worried about their
buildings being destroyed.
_ Their alarm ancl determination to do
something about it resulted in the
foundation of the Iowa5Mutual Tor
nado Insurance Association. It is
now the only exclusive tornado in
surance association in the State
and the largest organisation of its
kind in the v/orld. It now carries
nearly three-fourths of the total
windstorm risks of Iowa.
Seems like it might not be such a
bad idea for the farmers here in
the Matanuska Valley to arrange
some kind of protection, from the
sound of that wind a-blowing right
now. Insurance wouldn’t make you
rest any easier in your beds, when
the big wind is shakin the house,
but it. might kind of help to know
that the place was insured against
_ damage.
-We wonder if that kind of insurance
would cover newly planted gardens
which blow off down the Valley sone
place. We hear that's what has
happened to some of the early plante
gardens this spring.