( 

 FORTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT. 145 



ket in Benton Harbor this season. Tlie buyers by combination had reduced 

 the price to 8 cents and lower for 8-pound baskets. In order to force up 

 quotations from that market the League of Associations put men on the 

 local market to buy grapes and as a consequence the market was raised 

 to 10 cents in a very short time. The local buyers retaliated by sending 

 telegrams to all the big markets advising them not to buy on account 

 of heavy decline in the market, when market conditions were in reality 

 tirm and advancing. The effect was felt immediately by all the selling 

 organizations and the losses to the growers were large. 



Another flagrant instance of underquoting and the damage done by 

 irresponsible brokers is the following: "The St. Joseph Michigan Fruit 

 Association had sold a car of Champion Grapes to a Minneapolis firm for 

 15 cents. A well known broker quoted another firm in that city Champion 

 Grapes for 11 cents. The association order was cancelled immediately 

 and it was not able to get its quotation in that city for some time after. 

 The broker did not have a basket of grapes and in all probability, could 

 not have bought a car at that time." 



Another well founded criticism of the old system is the absence of 

 efforts to bring up the quality of the fruit and the pack. In fact this 

 is one of the principal reasons why many growers do not join associa- 

 tions because they do not wish to trouble themselves with maintaining 

 the standards required by the organizations, especially with regard to 

 weight. Certainly the buyers prefer the better fruit but the prices paid 

 are entirely inconsistent with the intrinsic worth of the better grapes. 

 A grower who makes special efforts to grow superior fruit and pack it 

 honestly will find that he will not receive sufficient pay for his extra 

 efforts. It is an undisputed fact that fruit of the most inferior character 

 finds a ready sale in such markets. This condition has a leveling effect 

 and is very conducive to slovenly cultural methods and inferior packing. 



The basic principal of the whole system is profits to a class of middle- 

 men in no way responsible to the producer. He would be very sanguine 

 indeed who Avould expect such a system, upon such a basis, to maintain 

 consistently the interests of farmers, and a permanent comprehensive 

 marketing system taking into consideration all the larger interests, is. 

 strictly impossible at the hands of these agencies. 



The grape industry of Michigan lends itself to organization very readily 

 on account of its restricted geographical limits — the whole belt being 

 located in two adjacent counties and on account of the imiformitj^ of the 

 product — ninety per cent of the acreage being Concords. 



The Van Buren County district has been for some time under as- 

 sociation lines, that is, local brokers and speculators have been eliminat- 

 ed. There are four independent organizations in this district. The Ber- 

 rien County district markets about fifty per cent of its crop cooperative- 

 ly; the balance being distributed by brokers and speculators. The 

 marked difference in the ])rogress made in organization in the two dis- 

 tricts is due largely to the fact that Berrien County has large horticul- 

 tural interests other than grapes, small fruit, peaches, melons, pears and 

 apples being grown extensively, so that in the majority of cases grapes 

 are only a side issue, and the average acreage is small. This condition 

 tends to prevent concentration of the growers attention to grape market 

 problems. The contrary is true in Van Buren where grapes are the 

 principal crop and the individual acreage is large. Another reason for 

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