Financing a Cooperative Organization 79 



These associations each required a packing-house and 

 equipment costing from $10,000 to $40,000 in which to 

 prepare the fruit for shipment. They were usually organ- 

 ized with a capital stock varying from $10,000 to $50,000. 

 The stock was issued in shares of $1 to $5 each, and was 

 sold to citrus-growers only. Each grower could buy stock 

 at the rate of one or more shares per acre, depending 

 on the rule laid down by the directors. In other asso- 

 ciations, the number of shares an individual could hold 

 was often limited in amount. The land on which the 

 packing-house was built was purchased or was sometimes 

 leased from the railroad alongside of which the house 

 was erected. The paid-in stock furnished part of the 

 money with which to supply the facilities. In addition, 

 the corporation secured funds from a bank by giving a 

 corporation note as security and repaid the bank through 

 a period of years by withholding certain percentages 

 from the sale of fruit. These organizations, though stock 

 associations, were not organized for pecuniary profit, 

 and no dividends are paid on the stock. When the 

 association is formed as a non-profit corporation, the 

 money needed to build and equip the packing-house is 

 secured on a corporation note and repaid by withholding 

 a certain percentage of the proceeds of the sale of fruit, 

 or by assessing each package sold, a definite amount. 



ANNUAL FINANCING 



In either the stock or non-stock corporation, the money 

 needed to pay the operating expenses during the first 

 few weeks of the season, including the purchase of supplies 

 and the payment of labor, is usually secured from the banks 



