THE MONTHLY BULLETIN 



CALIFORNIA STATE COMMISSION OF HORTICULTURE. 



VoL IV. October, 1915. No. 10. 



COOPERATIVE FRUIT MARKETING.* 



By H. G. Johnson, General Manager, California Farmers' Union, San Francisco, Cal. 



It is with some hesitancy that, owing- to the short time at my disposal, 

 I will endeavor to di.sciiss the important subject of cooperative market- 

 ing-; for there is no problem of such grave importance to the farmer 

 today as that of the sale of his products. 



For the purposes of this paper, farm products may be divided into 

 two classes: perishable and non-perishable; each class presenting its own 

 problems. I will consider only the non-perishable products, thtT market- 

 ing of which continues during the whole of the year; and will touch 

 upon some of the points involved, as far as time will permit. 



The United States Government has at last awakened, to some extent, to 

 the gravity of the situation, and the business men of the small cities of 

 California are exerting every effort to improve conditions, so that it is 

 hardly necessary to argue that there is something radically wrong and 

 that improvements should be made. My conviction is that cooperative 

 marketing would overcome a great many of the present ills, even if it 

 did not wholly solve the problem. 



In the few minutes I have, I will give some of the arguments I have 

 heard against cooperative marketing and will try to answer them; also, 

 I will endeavor to point out the reasons why some cooperative enterprises 

 do not succeed. 



The enthusiast expects phenomenal results at the outset, not realizing 

 that his organization is a new one which must establish confidence, work 

 up business and overcome one thousand and one other difficulties, just 

 the same as any other new enterprise; and when his expectation's are 

 not fully realized at once, he becomes first discouraged, then indifferent, 

 and finally, withdraws from his organization. 



Some believe that we must deal direct with the consumer, without a 

 distributing organization ; this idea is erroneous and it has rarely been 

 accomplished in any line. When the producer reaches the consumer he 

 must have a complete distributing organization, such as that of the 

 Standard Oil Company and a few others, which has been established at 

 an enormous expense. I have listened to argiuuents where the speaker 

 believed that we could market our raisins, prunes, oranges, etc., by 

 parcel post; but when asked what kind of an equipment Uncle Sam 

 would need, he replied : "It is up to Uncle Sam. " The obstacle to such 

 an arrangement is the cost of transportation. The housewife who buys 

 in small quantities will not send across the continent when her corner 

 g]-ocer can supply her, even at a less cost ; so in time the producer who 

 cannot carry out his pet idea of ''Producer to Consumer" also with- 

 draws from his organization. 



♦Address before State Fruit Growers' Convention, Palo Alto, Cal., July 30, 1915. 

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