60 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



pominission mercliants in tlie large cpiiters in dispose of their products 

 are doiug- business in a crude, unsatisfactory and un]>roritable Avay. In 

 illustration, I will give you, as an oxani])le, a grower who ships a carload 

 of apples containing 200 barrels from South Haven to Chicago, that 

 sell at |3 per barrel. His freight, commission and cartage would amount 

 to 1110.00. Selling through the South Haven Fruit Exchange, F. O. P,., 

 South Haven, the cost would be 5%, or $30.00, making a saving to the 

 producer of |80 on one car of fruit, and, if you add 5% to take care 

 of the shrinkage caused by dishonest sellers, your total cost over and 

 above co-operative selling, would be |110, or |140, to market your carload 

 of apples in Chicago, 



Every little while our idols are smashed when some prominent com- 

 mission man is indicted for crooked work. I feel justified in charging 

 5% shrinkage to all sales made through commission houses. 



Therefore, the only relief in sight is to eliminate these middle men, 

 as far as possible. 



I will now tell you how fifty fruit growers in South Haven have or- 

 ganized to eliminate this non-producer. 



Our association is known as the South Haven Fruit Exchange. It is 

 organized Avith a capital stock of |5,000 and the term of existence of 

 this corporation is fixed at thirty years. Each member holds one share 

 at .flOO.OO and no member can own more than one share. The organi- 

 zation is controlled by a board of directors, from which they elect offi 

 cers, — President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. The Board 

 meets with the manager once each week during the shipping season. 

 All members deliver their fruit in crates at the central packing house 

 in South Haven, which is located on the Michigan Central Eailroad. 

 The grower receives a carbon copy of the number of crates, weight and 

 varieties of each load. They are then graded and sorted under the per 

 sonal supervision of the manager and packed ready for shipment. We 

 make but two grades of apples, "A" and ''B." Each j)ackage is stamped 

 with just what the package contains as to quality and variety. The 

 only way to obtain satisfactory results in co-operative marketing is to 

 have a central packing house where fruit is put up under the supervision 

 of a salaried and reliable manager. This eliminates any temptation the 

 grower may have to practice the nefarious schemes that are credited to 

 commission merchants. Under those conditions, the brand of an asso- 

 ciation will mean something and will materially broaden the market. 



The South Haven Fruit Exjchange buys all the s])ray materials, 

 fertilizers and many other articles used on the farm, buying in not less 

 than carload lots, paying cash therefor, securing goods at the lowest 

 possible cost and selling to the members of the exchange in quantities 

 to suit, at an increase of 5% over cost. We have made a saving of at 

 least 20% through co-operative buying. Packages are bought in quanti- 

 ties that admit of a liberal reduction in price. 



We gave emi)loyment to as high as seventy people, men and women, 

 during the season, women packing peaches, fancy apples and ])ears. 



The sales of the association for the first year were about .|30.()00. 

 This, our second year, we have handled 300 car loads of fruit, with sales 

 of about 1130,000. 



Our first year's business made such a good showing, paying 12% on 

 capital stock, besides disposing of fruit so satisfactorily that the de- 



