RRiwsmcK 



ILLINOIS FARM SUPPLY CO. 



608 So^ 1 



CHICAGO 



and 17 local units, located in eight coun- 

 ties, were affiliated with the central Ex- 

 change. 



From then on marketing methods were 

 gradually changed. The first sale of the 

 new cooperative, a carload of transparent 

 apples from Johnson county, was made, 

 June 20. The sale grossed S4.00 per 

 bushel while the same kind of fruit. 



similar in quality, sold by unorgam'zed 

 growers brought only $3.00 a bushel on 

 the same market. Here was the first 

 triumph of the newly formed coopera- 

 tive. 



Earlier in June, 1 921, the board of 

 directors met in Carbondale. At this 

 meeting, their first, they adopted a three- 

 year membership contract which recjuired 



3rm 



members to pay a $5 annual membership 

 fee. Ever)' member was also asked to 

 sign a collateral note for SI 00 to be used 

 by the Exchange in establishing credit. 



And so the leaders carried out their 

 first offensive against low fruit and vege- 

 table prices. They had organized their 

 army and were ready to fight harder thaw 

 ever for fair price and orderly marketrfig. 



One of the earliest cooperatort vvas 

 >X'alter L. ("ope of Marion cowrtty. 

 is typical of the men who uniteij to 

 the Illinois Fruit Growers ExchajrJ^. The 

 Cope orchards were planted i^ Walters 

 father and Walter grew \^ in the busi 

 ness. 



The Ciopcs operated a vinegar plant 

 when Walter was jL young man. They 

 used their own apples and each fall the 

 younger Cope sola barreled vinegar in 

 several midwestern states. This paying 

 project became unprofitable with the in- 

 troduction of artificial vinegar and Wal- 

 ter and his father were forced to sell 

 their fruit on the open market. 



Walter Cope's ycars^of marketing ex- 

 perience led him to develop a funda- 

 mental cooperative inarketing philosophy, 

 ^vhich is: Cooperative marketing is.tKe 

 proper way for farmers to sell their pro- 

 duce provided the cooperative is organ- 

 ized on a state-wide or national basis. " 



Illinois Fruit Growers Exchange is 

 operated on a nationwide scale. The 

 National Fruit and Vegetable Exthangc, 

 with representatives on all the major 

 produce markets in the country, is the 

 sales agency for the Illinois growers' ex- 

 change and most of the other state fruit 

 and vegetable marketing cooperatives. 



The Illinois Exchange handles produce 

 in one of three ways. In each case the 

 growers pick, grade and pack their fruit. 

 The better grades are p.icked under>tHe 

 ILLINI brand label of the Vr\x\\.JS(o 

 lixchange. 



One type of marketing is to sell the 

 produce to cash buyp« at thd orchard as 

 is often <.]one iri^uck sales. 



A seconil in/rketing scheme practiced 

 by fruit co-ops is sfmilar to the method 

 used in selling to the Minneapolis grocer. 

 The descrij^tion of the produce is wired 

 to representatives of the fiational ex- 

 change on all the major markets These 

 agents secure bids for the fruit and tele- 

 graph them to the sales office of the Il- 

 linois Exchange. The local unit then 

 consigns the car to the highest bidder. 

 This is the most common selling method. 

 The buyer pays cash on delivery. 



The third method is to load a car 

 with a uniform quality fruit and send 

 it toward the market which is currently 

 paying the best prices. A description 

 of the fruit in the car is wired to all 

 Exchange sales agents after the car leaves 

 the shipping point. 



(ContiniitJ on pjnc 24) 



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20 



I. A. A. RECORD 



