The Wisconsin magazine of history: Volume 10, number 2, December 1926

              166 frank g swoboda wisconsin farmers can succeed if they will be loyal to sane and wisely formulated cooperative plans and ideals the northern wisconsin tobacco pool organized in march 1922 with more than 7200 farmers representing eighty per cent of the state's five million dollar acreage signed up to a five-year growers contract has rendered most valuable service to the tobacco farmers of the state it op erates seventeen warehouses in eighteen counties and in 1925 did a total of two and a half million dollars worth of business like every other worth-while cooperative it has been compelled to fight its way through a maze of grower prejudice abetted by selfish private dealer propaganda the pool has benefited its members both by price advantage and by reduced handling cost the successful organization of the northern wisconsin tobacco pool was the culmina tion of a varied series of attempts to get the growers to gether the first of these was made in 1902 when twenty local associations were formed under the leadership of the wisconsin union of the american society of equity in 1908 and 1909 those affiliated in the equity organization packed twenty thousand cases and sold several million pounds of lower grade unpacked about 1911 the local associations withdrew from the equity and formed the farmers tobacco association which operated for three years in 1918 the wisconsin tobacco association was formed it packed about twelve thousand cases after this attempt the locals operated independently until brought together in the northern wisconsin tobacco pool as pre viously noted with a 1926 cherry business of 1,750,000 and an addi tional apple and plum business that will crowd the grand total of its business close to the two million dollar mark the door county fruit growers union can easily be considered as having title to rank with wisconsin big business initial activities among door county fruit growers eventuating in the present splendid organization which this season handled 628,000 crates of cherries were begun in 1909 better cul