I9I5 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 9 



portion; other things being equal, halv- 

 ing the price doubles the demand. Ap- 

 ples are, then, a staple or a luxury 

 primarily as they vary in price, and, 

 excluding the very highest grades of 

 apples, the industry will benefit or 

 suffer (other things being equal again) 

 in proportion as api)Ies are made by 

 their price to appear a staple of the 

 daily public diet. 



We have discussed distributing organ- 

 ization of farm products in Chapter II. 

 At this point we will consider some- 

 thing of the same question as it applies 

 to apples. Commission and jobbing, 

 etc.. is practiced in the apple trade as 

 outlined in the above mentioned chap- 

 ter, but co-operative organizations, in 

 as far as they concern apples, merit 

 further discussion at this point. For 

 nearly all examples of successful co-op- 

 erative concerns, we must look to the 

 far West or to specialized districts in 

 the East. .Some little work has been 

 done on co-operative marketing of 

 apples in New York communities, but 

 the movements are not at all well de- 

 veloped. It is in the West only that 

 co-operative apple marketing has been 

 carried on thoroughly enough to give 

 this practice anything like a trial. Mr. 

 G. K. Holmes' statement of the essence 

 of the matter admits of the results and 

 possibilities of co-operative marketing 

 under "good management" and "with 

 conditions which permit success." This 

 system is still on trial, and yet it has 

 gained already such momentum that 

 there must be something back of it. 

 Northwest growers have had local asso- 

 ciations and unions for several years, 

 and the 1913-1914 crops were marketed 

 to a large degree under the co-operative 

 bod\- known as the North Pacific Fruit 

 Distributors. The Northwest growers 

 are planning at present a large repre- 

 sentative meeting at .Spokane in Feb- 

 ruary, 191,5, at which it is expected that 

 further marketing schemes along lines 

 similar to those now in vogue will be 

 evolved. Many evils of strict competi- 

 tion were not avoided by the Distribu- 

 tors; in spite of every efTort self-com- 

 petition went on, and over-heavy con- 

 signments and under-bidding, etc., all 

 lent a hand in bringing low returns for 

 the 1914 crop. The writer has been told 

 by various men whose judgment should 

 be of the best that the only salvation 

 for co-operative fruit producers was 

 complete pool of produce, with no 

 chance for the insistance on the pick 

 of the markets a* certain times by any 

 fruit raising community. This complete 

 pool is without doubt a vital point, but 

 the California Fruit Growers' Exchange 

 has managed without such an absolute 

 pool, the various localities retaining 

 their respective identities, and though 

 the circumstances in California are dif- 

 ferent, the writer believes that this one 

 factor will not check the movement in 

 the Northwest. 



Each grower must decide in these 

 communities whether he is to market 

 individually or with the union or asso- 

 ciation. If the association is clearly 

 bringing him the highest prices, there 

 is no doubt as to what to do. But when. 



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as in many cases, the association does 

 not bring in as good prices as certain 

 individuals receive by standing out for 

 themselves, it is a ditferent question. 

 The writer knows of a group of grow- 

 ers who are associated in a Northwest 

 valley to market their apple crop inde- 

 pendently of the local and of the North- 

 west association. These growers be- 

 lieve that they can grade higher, etc., 

 and so get an earned better price. Is it 

 right to say to these men, "We know 

 you can get better prices selling alone, 

 but we want you to sell through us so 

 that the co-operative idea will gain 

 strength"? The writer believes not. The 

 burden of proof is on the co-operative 

 association; they must prove themselves 

 to be the most advantageous marketing 

 agency before they can be allowed to 

 market all the fruit. The small grower 

 has been forced to join the association. 

 He cannot handle his own marketing, 

 and though the larger owner may be- 

 lieve in co-operation and eventually 

 intend to join the movement, he cannot 

 be logically asked to sell his api)les for 

 less than the highest price thai they 

 will bring, under any pretense of any 

 motive whatsoever. 



Within limits, a great deal may be 

 done in the direction of getting a larger 

 consumption of apples. We will con- 

 sider this phase of increasing the de- 



mand under the heads of standardizing 

 and advertising. 



The grading of apples has come 

 from the West to the East. In the 

 West what was then a revolutionary 

 uniformity of pack became a necessity. 

 The Wesiern grower could only sell 

 fruit at top prices to compete with 

 Easterners who did not have the ex- 

 pensive long shipment, and hence there 

 developed in the Rocky Mountain and 

 North Pacific States systems of sizing, 

 grading and packing which have very 

 vitally affected the apple industry. 

 Perhaps the most important function 

 of grading is that in thus standanlizing 

 the marketable product there is taken 

 a long step in bringing the consumer 

 closer to the producer. This standard- 

 izing has also allowed much of the 

 change from commission to jobbing 

 marketing, and thus accomplished a 

 great deal toward the simplification of 

 (hstribution. .Stanilardizing has its 

 drawl)a(ks; llic Chicago commission 

 men mention st)iiu' of these, but never- 

 theless standanlization is a most de- 

 cided advance in agricultural nuirket- 

 ing. We cannol accomplish anxtliiiig 

 by clinging lo antiiiuated methods. We 

 must make whal progress we can by 

 adapting ourselves skillfully to the in- 

 evitable new systems. 



