112 Report of State Board of Horticulture. 



BUYING FOR CASH. 



I speak of this subject now, because it is involved in consideration of 

 what is a necessary capital. With a modest capital, say nve to cen 

 thousand dollars (ours is five thousand), it follov/s that you can not, 

 without heavy borrowing and considerable risk, buy fruit extensively 

 for cash. Your capital will be largely absorbed by the site, buildings 

 and equipment. You will of course have to borrow some money, but the 

 aim of the directors should be to borrow as little as possible. Herein is 

 involved the essence of co-operation. Merely clubbing together to buy a 

 site and erect and eqüip a building, is but a short chapter in the story 

 of a truly co-operative association. Growers must expect, and be glad, 

 to contribute their fruit to the association and wait for the larger part 

 of their returns until the fruit is sold, confident in the expectation of 

 a larger profit by so doing. This idea is remarkably difficult for many 

 farmers to grasp. They apparently expect to deal with the association, 

 of which they are a component part, as though it were a stranger; and 

 they ask "what are you going to pay"? My answer has been: "The 

 sole purpose of this Organization is to secure to its members the greatest 

 possible profit from their products. This purpose can not be attained 

 by buying for cash, but by members being willing to wait for the major 

 part of their returns until the product is sold". Last year the Portland 

 canneries paid three Cents per pound for loganberries. The same price 

 was paid by the management of the Eugene Fruit Growers' Association 

 to the ten per cent of its members who insisted on cash at delivery. The 

 ninety per cent who better understood the true principle of co-operation 

 (or perhaps who were less pressed for money) received, a few weeks 

 later, returns which netted them three and a half Cents a pound. This 

 difference in return amounts to sixteen and two-thirds per cent. 

 Farmers are prone to complain of the large profits made by others on 

 the output of their toil. Why should they expect an Institution to tie 

 up twenty-five or fifty thousand dollars in cash necessary to do a cash 

 business, and take all the risks, without exacting a handsome margin 

 therefor? Why rather should not the farmers treat their output as 

 capital, distribute the risk among themselves, and put this margin into 

 their own pockets? Why should they not, as Manager Holt of the 

 Eugene association puts it, treat their association as the "business end 

 of their farms", and make it yield them the extra sixteen and two- 

 thirds per cent? 



PURCHASE OF A SITE. 



Do not be too economical in the purchase of a site. Provide room 

 for future expansion. You will probably erect but one building at first 

 but later you will need more. If you contemplate a cannery, remember 

 that in a few years it will demand considerable space. Manager Holt 

 says that their two acres are none too much. Locate where you can 

 secure a railroad switch. Our association has an acre accessible to two 

 railroads. 



BENEFITS FOR MEMBERS ONLY. 



It is but fair that you should limit the advantages of your Organ- 

 ization, both as to pooling and in the purchase of supplies, to members 

 only. It is a business proposition. Those who have invested their faith 

 and money are the ones entitled to the benefits. 



