Studv Manual The American Iiistitutef of AsTicult o are STUDY MANUAL Confidential Edition * * * This study manual is provided only to members of The American Institute of Agriculture and must be held as confidential. It is not for sale to anyone who does not enroll for study- ing one or more of the courses pro- vided by this Institute. This, together with the study sug- gestions provided with each lesson, will take the place of the suggestions that would otherwise be given you in person by the instructor. It is exceedingly important that you familiarize yourself with the suggestions contained herein, and that you refer to this study manual at frequent intervals during the period of training. ■* •* * Copyright, 1922 THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE CHICAGO HOW TO STUDY MARKETING There is no short cut to knowledge, but studying can be simplified and made more effective if you have an experienced teacher who can help you plan your work, and select for you the material which will be of greatest help. You will not have to plow through a number of lengthy books in order to find the facts you can apply practically in your every day work. This course provides just those facts you need to know - and no more. You will not be burdened with a lot of reading that is unimportant. The first important thing for you to know is just how to proceed with the study in order to get the most out of the lessons. This study manual will show you that. In addition, there are other study helps pro- vided with each lesson, and in this manual you will learn just how to use each of these. 1. Your Frame of Mind Even though you may be proficient in your par- ticular line, you will be able to do your work better and you will have more chance to advance in your line of business if you know about all of the other phases of marketing. Consequently, it is important that you put yourself in the right frame of mind to study most effectively. Success in life depends a great dieal upon your state of mind. Determination to succeed is half the battle. Positive thoughts and affirmative action are essential for every permanent advancement. No one ever has accomplished an important work while har- boring thoughts of doubt in his mind. C1A696114 'Vt* y JAN -2 73 STUDY MANUAL Determination and purpose, not doubts and fears, constitute the motive power of success. But deter- mination and purpose must be accompanied by serious work. Concentrate on your task. Proceed with your study of marketing with all the seriousness and de- termination at your command. Do not let thoughts of doubt, or fears of the outcome, lead you from your purpose. Resolve right now that you are going to get the greatest possible results from your studies, that you will proceed with an open mind, think positive thoughts, take affirmative action, work seriously and systematically, and finish the task before you at whatever the cost. If you do this and stick to it, you will be sur- prised at your progress, gratified with your success, and inspired with the possibilities of your own future. 2. Don't Miss Anything If you should be tempted at times to skip a les- son because you feel that the subject has no direct connection with your problems, don't yield to the temptation. In order to get the greatest good from the course, you must understand all of the various factors which influence marketing, for there is no telling when, under changing conditions, you may be able to apply certain points, which at first seemed to have little practical value. A lesson which does not seem to apply to local conditions, may suggest methods of adapting cer- tain principles which have been successful elsewhere. Again, it is important to know the tendencies in agricultural marketing - where the various movements are heading, and what forces are at work tending to shift the line of march to this side or the other. STUDY MANUAL If you study the currents, you can save yourself much unnecessary energy by swimming with the stream rather than against it. This does not mean that, merely because things are done in a certain way now, they never can be changed, and that we must be content to drift along. But you can be sure that engineers, assigned to the task of preventing per- iodic floods from a certain river, are going to study why that river acts as it does, before they attempt to prescribe a remedy. Study every lesson - for every lesson is put there with a purpose. And as your viewpoint broadens, you will be surprised at your new powers of vision. Not only will present difficulties clear up, but you will be able to point the way for improvement. 3. Study Without Prejudice Unfortunately, some people have prejudices that cause them to close their minds to the facts. You cannot learn unless you start with an open mind, and are willing to consider fairly and impartially all the facts in the case. This does not mean that when you have finished with a lesson you must necessarily agree with the author, or draw the same conclusions. One of the greatest dangers any teacher faces is that his stu- dents will accept all that he says without question or discussion. True education is not confined to absorbing facts, like a sponge absorbs water - but in learning how to think, how to analyze, and how to draw cor- rect conclusions from the facts. The point we wish to emphasize is, that you should start with an open mind. Weigh carefully the facts on both sides, and then draw your own con- clusion, not on the basis of what you have always been convinced is true, or what you wish were true, but on the basis of the facts. STUDY MANUAL For example, if you are a dealer and feel that farmers should not be allowed to cooperate, and that cooperative associations are destroying your busi- ness, study the facts, and, if this is a movement which is inevitable, see if you cannot perform some real service which will enable you to take advantage of the new found ability of the farmers to assemble, grade, and inspect their products, and in general do business on a more business-like basis. If you are a farmer and believe that all middle- men should be abolished, study the facts in the case, and it may be that you can take advantage of some of these highly specialized selling services. At any rate, keep an open mind. Get the facts. Study them. Then draw your own conclusions, and in nine cases out of ten you will be very nearly right. These lessons serve in no way as a battleground for disputing parties. There are differences of opinion regarding various marketing agencies and services. These courses do not attempt to defend any existing plan, or to endorse any proposed plan - but merely to give the facts concerning all impor- tant marketing movements. 4. How Much Time to Spend on Each Course There is no time limit on the service of the Institute or on the study period of the member. For most people, who can devote as much as an hour a day, one full course should easily be completed in 10 months. This requires careful work for that hour each day, however, and we would much prefer to have our members spend more time and do more thorough work. Our purpose is to give you real practical training in marketing, and we propose to do just that thing no matter how long it takes. 5 . How to Flan Your Work Experience has proved beyond question that a regular, set time for study produces best results for STUDY MANUAL most people. Plan to master a certain number of pages each day, or devote a certain amount of time to study each day. Either way is good and will enable you to map out a tentative schedule for completing the whole course. The main thing is to have some definite time set aside for carrying on your work in the Institute. This point must be especially emphasised because regularity soon becomes a habit. After you become accustomed to regular study, you will no more put off your study hour than you will go without dinner. 6 . Stick to Your Schedule Once having adopted a schedule, stick to it. You will have any number of excuses for putting off your work period. The average human being likes to take the easiest way. The big majority of men follow the path of least resistance. But such men are not numbered among the leaders. Success in any line has its price and if you would succeed tomorrow, you must prepare today. Every minute you invest in your Institute course brings you that much nearer the time when you can turn the knowledge to practical account. But even that is not the greatest profit. Every time you re- fuse to yield to the temptation to leave your adopted schedule, you are strengthening yourself for bigger things because you are developing your will power. And will power, backed with authentic knowledge, is the key to success. 7. What Your Study Should Accomplish The object of the Institute is to give you the kind of training that will enable you to get right to the bottom of any given marketing problem; the kind of training that will enable you to analyze the situation and then apply the fundamental principles that cover it. STUDY MANUAL We do not want you to work by rule of thumb, because conditions will vary almost every time. But fundamental principles never change. If you know why a thing is right, you will always be able to make the slight changes of detail that are needed for each individual case. 8 . Why You Should Study Conscientiously You will, no doubt, be impressed with the im- portance of marketing information as you proceed; the importance, both to you personally and to the industry as a whole. Don't forget that by learning the facts and m aking use of them, you are going to be not only more successful from a personal standpoint, but you are going to be of more value to agriculture and to the prosperity of the country. Opportunities exist by the thousands, for men who know marketing, and you should, by all means, be ambitious to grasp one of these opportunities. HOW TO PROCEED WITH THE STUDY 9. First - Get Acquainted With the Author There is a personal introduction to each author provided so that you may better understand what experience is back of the teaching and so that you may feel his real personality. Who the Authors Are - In these lessons, you have the experience of men who have been responsible for the success of cooperative organizations. You have the experience of commercial market men. You have the experience of congressmen who have made the laws regulating marketing. You have the experience of commissioners who have the responsibility of enforcing these laws. STUDY MANUAL You have the experience of educators who look upon marketing from the teaching standpoint, and who analyze the situation with an unprejudiced mind. You have the experience of government officials who have labored to improve marketing conditions. You have the experience of men in other lines of business who look upon agricultural marketing from a commercial standpoint. You have the experience of railroad executives who have hauled your farm products to market. You have the experience of advertising men who look at the problem from the standpoint of good salesmanship. You have the experience of men at the head of farmers' organizations who know what farmers can do for themselves to improve marketing conditions. You have the experience of agricultural publish- ers who have served farmers for years. You have the experience of market reporters whose business it is to interpret market conditions. You have the experience of attorneys who have handled the many legal tangles that arise from mistakes in marketing. Know the man who is talking to you through the printed page. Each writer has been carefully selected because of his specialized knowledge on some one subject. You will get a great deal more out of the lesson if you know the particular training and experience which enables the writer to speak with authority. 10. Second - Read the Sug g estions For Study Now to get right down to the business of studying. With each lesson, you will receive special sugges- tions for studying that lesson. These suggestions do not set forth an arbitrary method which you must STUDY MANUAL follow. But they have been carefully worked out to call your attention to the most important facts you should get from the lesson and are designed to conserve your time. The suggestions for study will make you under- stand the proper relationship between the present lesson, the ones that go before, and the ones that follow. They will show you the relative importance of the various parts of the lesson, and they will make specific suggestions as to exactly how to pro- ceed with the particular lesson. 1 1. Third - Use the Study Outline Look over the study outline which is at the be- ginning of each lesson. Do this carefully and fix the main points in your mind, so as to have a clear idea of what the lesson is all about. It will pay you to make a rough outline on paper, jotting down the main heads with plenty of space between to be filled in with notes as you study each section. 12. Fourth - Study the Lesson Itself No lesson can be mastered with one reading. Neither can you get the most out of any lesson by reading it simply as a matter of interest. First, read the entire lesson quickly to get a general idea of the work to be mastered. Next, read over the entire list of questions. Then re-read the lesson slowly, paragraph by paragraph, endeavoring to organize the information so as to make it your own. Make sure yon understand every point. How to Develop Confidence in What You Read - Because of the long experience of each author, you can read each lesson with absolute confidence in what you find there. To develop this confidence, STUDY MANUAL just remember that every lesson is by a national authority, a practical man who has gained his expe- rience in the business about which he writes. Furthermore, every lesson has been edited and checked over by several other authorities. Wherever legal phases are considered, these have been care- fully checked by a competent attorney. The informa- tion in every lesson is as reliable as the Institute can make it. Paper and Pencil One of Your Best Teachers Keep a pencil and paper always at hand. As you read a paragraph, underline the principal thought. Put it into your own words and v/rite it down under the proper head on the outline sheet you have made. When you have finished a lesson, you will then have a com- plete summary of the whole thing - the meat of the lesson in your own language. Some people have the faculty of organizing their thoughts without putting them down on paper, but in general, you will find it much easier and quicker to write the outline. This puts the whole thing in your mind in an orderly fashion and it is much easier to hold the information. 13. Fifth -Make Use of Illustrations Photographs, charts, maps, and drawings are not put into these lessons for decoration. They are put there to help you better understand the subject you are studying. It is important, therefore, that you examine each illustration carefully, note its connection with the lesson, and discover the addi- tional information the illustration contains. 14. Sixth -Familiarize Yourself With All Trade Terms All unfamiliar terms are completely defined in the glossary, and these definitions should be used in connection with your study of the lesson. Whenever STUDY MANUAL you come to a word in a lesson that is a little unfa- miliar to you, by all means refer to the glossary at once and get its meaning clear before you proceed. The definitions in the glossary are not copied from a dictionary. They are special authoritative definitions to show the applications to marketing of the various words defined. 15. Seventh - Familiarize Yourself With the Sup- plement Many of the lessons have supplements, in which the actual documents referred to in the lesson are reproduced. Look over these documents carefully to make sure that you know what is there. You may later wish to refer to them for detailed information. Study them in connection with the reference in the lesson, so that you will know exactly how they are used. Then, if it is convenient, talk with someone in actual marketing who makes use of such documents. 1 6. Eighth- Discuss the Subject With Others It is urged that you discuss the subjects taken up in your lessons with other people whenever you can. It is especially valuable for you to discuss these questions with men actually engaged in the various phases of marketing. Discussion accomplishes two very important things. The first is, it fixes in your own mind what you have learned. And the second is, it shows you the opposing ideas on the subject that may be prevalent with some people. The very opportunity to argue the point, makes cer- tain facts seem more important to you than if you had not discussed the subject at all. Whenever you have opportunity to discuss any of these subjects before a farmers' meeting, by all means grasp that opportunity. That, again, will be STUDY MANUAL a wonderful help to you in fixing the facts in your mind. 17. Ninth - Answer Questions After completing this systematic study of the lesson, read the first question and, without refer- ence to the lesson, make rough notes on the points which you wish to cover in your answer. Think over what you have read and carefully organize your answers to the questions. Work out brief, clear, logical, pointed statements covering the salient points. Time is much better spent in this manner, both for you and the instructor, than in writing wordy discussions. In your answer, stick to the point. This is very important. Express the Ideas in Your Own Words - One of the big advantages of a correspondence course is the opportunity for effective expression in writing. Do not neglect it. Completeness of answers must not be sacrificed for brevity, however. Do not attempt to use the wording found in the text, but master the ideas and express them in your own language. This organizaton of thought will give you the strongest preparation for the examination which follows in the problems sent you periodically. How to Submit Answers to Questions and Prob- lems - Submit work regularly. By so doing, you will secure the best results. Write answers to ques- tions just beneath the question. Use a separate sheet for business or other communications. Be sure to mention your membership number and course number in all communications. STUDY MANUAL When to Mail Answers to Questions - Do not wait to send in several lessons at once. Send the answers to questions for each lesson after you are sure you have mastered the lesson. 18. Tenth -Work Out Solutions to Problems Problems are not supplied with each lesson. Eut at various times during the continuation of your course, master problems will be sent to you. These problems give you an opportunity to put int-o practice what you have learned. The questions in the lesson simply test your memory, but the prob- lems test your ability to make use of what you learn. They are, therefore, of the utmost importance. Do not attempt to work out the solution to a problem until you have mastered all of the lessons you have received before you received the problem. Do not attempt to give the solution of any problem too briefly. The problem is not a question to be answered. It simply describes a situation and you must determine the best way to handle that situation. 1 9. How to Use Lessons for Reference Each lesson is arranged for reference, as well as study. And as you work with later lessons, you may wish to refer to some point in a previous lesson. This you will find very easy, due to the fact that the study outline with each lesson is simply a list of the headings separating the different parts of the lesson. And the page numbers giving the loca- tion of these headings are to be found on the study outline. 20. Be On the Alert to Get the Broad View It is seldom that anyone succeeds in this life with a narrow view of the work in which he is engaged. It is the man who sees all that precedes and all that STUDY MANUAL follows the particular part of work he does, who eventually becomes a leader and a constructive thinker. You are urged, therefore, not to be satisfied with simply learning the details of handling one phase of marketing. Search diligently through the lessons of this course for the facts on all phases of marketing. It is only in that way that you are pre- paring yourself for worth-while success and out- standing leadership.