1914 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 75 



capital above a fair interest for the use 

 of the capital, especially where the 

 capital contributed by the members is 

 not proportional to their individual 

 shipments. The tendency in such 

 organizations is to pay high dividends 

 on the stock. The stockholders gen- 

 erally demand an unusual earning on 

 the capital contributed. They actiuire 

 the dividend habit and deduct an 

 amount from the proceeds from the 

 fruit of all members, or from the earn- 

 ings of the company, to i)ay the divi- 

 dend, before returning the proceeds to 

 the growers. In some fruit growers' 

 organizations dividends of twenty, thir- 

 ty, or even fifty per cent have been paid 

 on the capital stock. 



The difficulty over the payment of 

 di\idends usually arises with a member 

 who is a small stockholder and at the 

 same time a large shipper, or when a 

 stockholder ceases to be an important 

 shipper. A grower becomes dissatis- 

 fied when he realizes that the payment 

 of a profit to capital, whether taken 

 from the proceeds of his fruit or made 

 as an earning on his ])urchases, are 

 used to enrich a stockholder who has 

 money invested in the corporation but 

 who has not contributed to its success 

 except in the original investTuent. An- 

 other source of trouble in the stock 

 corporation is that the grower becomes 

 dissatisfied after receiving a liberal 

 dividen<l on his stock if the business 

 condition of the organization does not 

 warrant its continued payment. In the 

 citrus industry these dilhculties have 

 I'si'allv been avoided by paying no 

 I'ividend on the capital, or at least a 

 f'ividend not in excess of the customary 

 rate of interest. 



A farmers' organization that has been 

 ort-'anlzed under the usual stock corpor- 

 ation laws is on an uncertain founda- 

 tion, not alone from the lack of control 

 of the membership, but also because of 

 the conflict between the capitaf an(f the 

 product of the members whenever the 

 proceeds derived from the latter are 

 reduced to pay an unusual rate of 

 interest on the capital contributed. 



There are many so-called co-opera- 

 tive organizations (shrewdly formed) 

 that make an earning for the corpora- 

 tion on the product of the grower by 

 retaining the control of the facilities 

 through which the growers' fruit is 

 handled. The packing houses may be 

 controlled by the organizers and a large 

 dividend paid out of the proceeds of the 

 product on the capital invested. The 

 purchase of sujiplies may contribute a 

 profit, low grade supplies may be sold 

 at the ijrice of high grade material, and 

 profits may be made in many other 

 indirect ways. An organization that 

 pays a profit to cai)ilal from the grow- 

 ers' iiroduct, either for the use of pack- 

 ing facilities or for any othei' service, 

 is not co-ojjcrative. It is a slock cor- 

 poration, operating for the grower for 

 profit on ca])ital, while a c()-oi)erative 

 organization is operated by the pro- 

 ducers wholly for their own benefit, 

 the benefits being pro rated on tlie 

 use which the member makes of the 

 organization. 



FERTILIZE YOUR STRAWBERRIES 



AND INCREASE YOUR YIELD FIFTY PER CENT 



Last June, Mr. A. M. Goocli, of Hood River, wrote us tliat by using our fertilizer 

 on liis strawberries, lie believed lie would realize 50% more berries than last year. 



We have heard from Mr. Gooch again, and read what he writes now; 

 UNION MEAT COMPANY. North Portland. Ore. Hood River. Sept. 14, 1914. 



Gentlemen: On seeing your ad in "Better l-"ruit" I want to make some corrections. The $1500 

 was only a guess. At that time 1 had not received statement of my berries. The true statement from 

 the Association for the crop was $1855.98 



1 1.00 1 1 cases sold for $ 1 .00. 

 $1866.98 Total. Yours truly. A. M. Gooch. 



NEW BERRY RECORD MADE 



From 5 Acres Between Apple Trees 

 In Hood River $1300 iVorth Sold. 



HOOD RIVER. Or,, July 12.— (Spe- 

 cial.) — A. M. Gooch. a West Side or- 

 ehardlst, has obtained record returns 

 from hlfl Birawberry crvjp thla year and 

 hoflds tho list for productfon umong 

 shipplns through I ho Appio 

 Growers" Aaaoclatlon. 



From a five-acra tract, with berries 

 planted between apple rows. Mr. Gooch 

 ahlppc^t 1117 crates, receiving (1500. 



w 



From Portland Oregonlan 

 July 13. 19U 



'lit > 



A. M. GoolU's Orchard 

 showing famous 

 strawberry patch 



.Mr. ' iourli's Micccss crm lie \ our succc^^ 1 1 you ii^c 



BEAVER BRAND ANIMAL FERTILIZERS 



**A Fertilizer for Every Crop" 



The results obtained by the use of our fertiHzcr in Hood River X'alley are not theories, but coUI. 

 hard facts. Ask Mr. Ciooch or anybody else who has fertibzed their berries how they increased their 

 yields by usine BKA\^ER It RAN I ) ANIMAL FERTILIZERS. 



Write for nur Imoklet No. 3/ and let us show you wliat animal fertilizers can do for you. 



PREPARED BY UNION M EAT CO M PA N Y NORTH PORTLAND, OREGON 



A (.o-operativf organization of farni- 

 t'ls must be founded on economic 

 necessity' if it is to be permanently 

 successful. The reason for its exist- 

 ence must lie in some vital service 

 which it is expected to perform if it is 

 to have strength enou.gli to live in the 

 face of the competition to which it will 

 he instantly subjected. It must compete 

 with existing organizations and this 

 competition will he directed towards 

 eliminating it; il will be viciously at- 

 tacked; every conceivable form of mis- 

 representation will be leveled against 

 it; the ollicers will be attacked by 

 insidious rumois concerning their abil- 

 ity or integrity; the banks, especially 

 in the newer sections, may be con- 

 trolled by competitors, and may refuse 

 to furnish the necessary credit; am! 

 evei'y weapon known to competition, 

 either legitimate or disreputable, will 

 be used to put it out of business. 



The average ijroducer is not a busi- 

 ness man, nor is he skilled in the arts 

 of com])ctitive business. He is natur- 

 ally a strong indiviilualist. He is slow 

 to delegate autliority over his alVairs 

 to anyone, and when he is face to face 

 will) tlie skillful arguments of those 

 who aim to break the organizalion and 

 keep him working ;is an indiviilual, lie 



is likely to weaken and finally leave 

 the organization unless he had felt the 

 ell'ect of hard times, a helplessness on 

 account of a combination of those who 

 buy or sell his products, excessive 

 freight or commission charges, or other 

 forms of oiiiiression. It is an historical 

 fact that tlie investment of the farmer 

 must have been threatened by existing 

 conditions before he had been ;ible, in 

 the jiast, to overcome his inilividualism 

 sullicicntly to work with his neighbors 

 in co-operative team work. The coun- 

 try is strewn with the wrecks of co- 

 operative organizations that were born 

 prematurely and whieh died by the 

 wayside, because the farmer himself 

 deserted in the lirst real conllict with 

 the estalilished agencies that have han- 

 dled his business, (^i-operation, to be 

 successful, must be founded not only on 

 economic necessity, but it must grow 

 through gradual evolution. It must 

 have a small beginning and grow in 

 slreiiglh through experience step by 

 step, rather than b\' leaps and bounds. 

 The fundamental mistake thai is being 

 made in main' localities is to form a 

 farmers' organizalion all at once on a 

 plan of an organization that has taken 

 years to develop. The plan may be 

 sound, but a co-operative organizalion 



