Appendix. 195 



Our horticulturist, however, with a rugged independence that we ad- 

 mire, but a judgment we cannot approve, hesitates to co-operate with 

 his co-laborer and fights shy of organization, no matter how simple. 



We must admit that there is some reason for this and that fruit unions 

 have their weak as well as strong points. Possibly he may have known 

 of some such organization that went up like a rocket but came down in 

 a far less brilliant manner, probably on account of mismanagement. 



There is no disguising the fact that the earlier experiences of co-oper- 

 ative fruit unions are frequently most discouraging; sometimes on ac- 

 count of incompetency of the manager or board of control, or more 

 frequently as is the case, because their stockholders were not loyal to 

 their own organization. 



Possibly our brother fruit-grower has made consignments of fruit so 

 fancy that he was certain that he would capture the market, and when 

 the account of sales were returned there was hardly sufficient to pay 

 transportation charges and commissions, or ignorant of the markets he 

 has sold when he ought to have held, and held when he ought to have 

 sold, until he looks with suspicion upon every one who proposes to 

 handle his harvest. 



It is indeed too true that the elements of danger to fruit unions are 

 distrust, incompetency and home competition. The fruit growers have 

 suffered so frequently from those better informed than themselves, that 

 it is next to impossible to convince them that they can safely trust their 

 business interests even to their own neighbors. 



There is a class yet more helpless who in order to avoid the petty 

 charges of the union or to demonstrate their acuteness, ship on their 

 own account and profit by the prices that the union has been instrumental 

 in sustaining or cut those prices and demoralized the market. 



Let us consider briefly some of the more pleasing features of co-opera- 

 tions. Fruit unions are undoubtedly trusts, but quite unlike those im- 

 mense aggregations of brain and capital, that labor to enrich the few 

 at the expense of both producer and consumer. 



The union seeks to elevate labor and reward it with a living compensa- 

 tion. Its capital usually is nominal, merely sufficient to provide for 

 current expenses for transacting its business and hence does not have to 

 extort either from labor or consumption a profit for dividends on fictitious 

 valuations. 



A co-operative union educates its members along the lines of their 

 occupation; always aims to promote highest standards of excellence, se- 

 cures uniformity in the grading of products and dispose of them at 

 wholesale instead of each grower retailing what he has grown, thereby 

 saving to him both time and money. 



The union makes liberal use of the wires and hence is able to make 

 a more intelligent distribution of our fruits than growers acting inde- 

 pendently possibly can do. It is advised as to shipments from competing 

 places and is careful to limit its shipments to any place where there 

 is danger of loading the market with more than can profitably be sold. 



