Page Twelve 



BETTER FRUIT 



Some Phases of Apple Marketing 



By H. H. Maynard, 



Economu> DepJitmeiii, \]\ii/iiiigtoii Stjie College, Pullman 



April, 1922 



HERE is another phase of the marketing 

 problem. There have been certain 

 weaknesses in the industry, duo to the pre- 



THKRE are certain fundamental 

 marketing function? that must be 

 considered and no method of sell- 

 ing can be adopted which will eliminate any- 

 one of them. The buyer and seller must 

 be brought together. Whether or not this 

 can most efficiently be accomplished by a 

 broker, working under the direction of a 

 local sales manager, or an individual grower, 

 is an open question. 



Both methods have met with some success 

 in the apple country in the past and both 

 have certain admitted weaknesses. Certain 

 it is that the broker must be used. Just 

 how he may be used to the greatest advan- 

 tage IS a question. 



My study leads me to believe that the use 

 uf a large sales agency which deals in all 

 kinds of fruits and vegetables and can 

 therefore keep its salesmen or brokers busy 

 the year round is the best plan for most 

 co-operative associations. Many large 

 growers could use this type of agency 

 directly and others would do better to use 

 it through the local association. 



It is possible that this can be most ef- 

 ficiently be accomplished by means of a 

 sales agency, owned by the farmers them- 

 selves similar to the method used by the 

 wheat growers. This plan is being sug- 

 gested and investigated by the National 

 Farm Bureau. There are many difficulties 

 in the w.iy of the successful operation of 

 such a system. Many of these problems are 

 faced by no other type of farmer. 



The wheat grower of the Northwest is 

 essentially like the wheat grower of Kansas 

 or Dakota ; that is, he is pretty much the 

 same kind of man racially, economically, 

 educationally and socially. The same is 

 true of the big stock men of the country 



,md of the corn and cotton growers. But 

 it is not true of the fruit growers of the 

 United States. 



The man who raises early vegetables on 

 the east shore of Virginia or in the Rio 

 Grande valley of Te.xas, is not the same 

 man who raises cantaloupes in the Imperial 

 valley, citrus fruit in California, or apples 

 in Washington or Oregon. He has a dif- 

 ferent racial history, different standards of 

 living, and a different background in 

 general. 



It is a vastly more difficult thing to get 

 these men together in co-operative enter- 

 prise than it is a few wheat men. Yet that 

 is just what would have to be done if a 

 growers' sales agency were to be successful. 

 It must compete with the big sales agencies 

 now organized to sell apples, fruits and 

 vegetables. These agencies either own 

 orchards and gardens in all these and many 

 others sections or they represent growers or 

 growers' associations in these widely dif- 

 ferent sections. Perhaps these varying 

 nationalities and types could co-operate in 

 the maintenance of a sales agency, but the 

 history of the co-operative movement 

 indicates that it would be almost certain to 

 result in failure. 



My conclusion on this point is that 

 growers who wish to sell to other than cash 

 buyers will do well to join a local co- 

 operative association, being careful to retain 

 control of the association in hands other 

 than those of the sales agency, and then sell 

 through one or the other of the two big 

 associations or sales agencies. Many men 

 prefer to sell for cash. The cash buyer is 

 present to accommodate them and, in my 

 opinion, always will be on hand. 



WRAPPERS^ 



PROTECTS 



"Caro" Protects-"Caro" Prolongs the Life of Fruit-Why? 



CHEMICALLY TREATED, "C»ro" from DeuiCARE (to dry up) 

 FRUIT MATURITV is retarded by cold or refrigeration and hastened by heat or atmosplieric exposure. 

 The soft fibrous silk-like texture of "C«ro" provides just sufficient ventilation to retard the ripening process. 

 FRUIT DECOMPOSITION starts from a bruise which opens tiny holes and pernuU juice to escape and BACTERIA to 

 enter. "Caro" clings closely and dries up the escaping juice. "Caro" ingredients harden the spot, kill the BACTERIA, 

 arrest the decomposition. 

 UmitMl StatM Distribnten. AMERICAN SALES AGENCIES CO., 112 Mark** Straat, San Franciaco, Califoraia 



