566 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



and securing to the individual grower a degree of uniformity in 

 liandling, which in the long run, proves profitable to him. 



One of the largest co-operative enterprises of this character in 

 the United States is the Ozark Fruit Growers' Association, with head 

 office at Fayetteville, Ark. The management has placed the stock 

 at |1 shares in the hands of as many growers as possible, this creat- 

 ing a nucleus for working capital. In this territory, comprising 

 chiefly the two Arkansas counties of Washington and Benton, fruit 

 interests are very important, not only apples but peaches, straw- 

 berries, etc. Through the efforts of the association some reduction 

 was secured in refrigeration charges, and more prompt railway ser- 

 vice was also secured. Shipments have been heavy in several seasons, 

 and the association has proved a profitable thing for the growers. 

 At the height of the shipping season representatives were sent to the 

 larger markets to keep oversight and report on cars of fruit shipped. 

 The outlay for so large an organization is necessarily heavy, this 

 including traveling expenses, office force, telegraphing, postage, etc. 

 All these expenses are met by a three per cent, rebate from con- 

 signments, and no assessments on members are needed. This associa- 

 tion, operating in such an exclusively fruit section, can scarcely 

 be compared with what may be done in a smaller way in our more 

 scattered fruit sections, yet it is inspiring to know that the organ- 

 ization named has been the means of saving its members, the actual 

 growers, substantial sums which formerly have gone into the hands 

 of the middlemen. 



A successful co-operative association, now just two years old, 

 is the Wathena Fruit Growers' Association of Kansas, starting with 

 12 members, now having a hundred. During the past season this 

 association marketed |12,000 worth of strawberries, |.35,000 worth 

 of raspberries and blackberries, 56 cars of apples, and a sprinkling 

 of peaches, at a reasonable profit to the producers. Grapes, peaches 

 and apples were sold in carlots, with shipments east and west, and 

 the small fruits mostly shipped by express, to various states. The 

 officers of this live association are all fruit growers, operating their 

 own farms. The business manager writes me under recent date: 

 ''Our association has been very beneficial not only to the members, 

 but also to fruit growers of this vicinity, as we have succeeded 

 in maintaijiing a much better average of prices than in former years. 

 We also buy our crates, material, baskets and barrels in lots of 

 eight to ten carloads, and pay cash for same, averaging splendid 

 savings to the growers. Vs'o permit all responsible houses to com- 

 pete for the business, and by so doing save a good deal of money on 

 our supplies," 



One of the really successful organizations for the co-operative 

 sale of small fruits is the Neosho Fruit Growers and Shippers' As- 

 sociation operating from Neosho, Mo., which is quite a center, par- 

 ticularly for strawberries. This truly local association, something 

 which might be readily duplicated in many localities here in our 

 eastern fruit sections, has carried on its business long enough to 

 have passed the experimental stage, and is favorably known in other 

 states outside the confines of Missouri. The farmers making up the 

 association grow some cane fruits, and have also shipped some 

 plums, cherries, peaches and apples, but confines its business mostly 

 to strawberries. 



