230 Cooperation in Agriculture 



There is another side also to the pooling system. It 

 may discourage the skillful grower from producing fruit 

 of the highest average grade. If a member is an unusually 

 skillful grower, he will not get the full advantage of his 

 extra-fine fruit in a pool, because the practical effect of the 

 pool is to lower the average price of the finest and to raise 

 the price of the fruit that can just enter a grade. An 

 association ought, therefore, to be composed of growers 

 who are located on similar soils and in other similar con- 

 ditions and who possess somewhat similar cultural skill. 

 In some of the northwestern apple-growers' associations 

 the fruit of a large area is pooled. The Spitzenbergs 

 that grade fancy under the rules of the associations may 

 vary considerably hi different localities in the same sec- 

 tion. The higher orchards often yield better apples than 

 the lowland orchards. Some of the unusually good 

 growers may produce a crop of apples in which the fancy 

 grade is above the average of the fancy grade of the pool 

 by better thinning, better spraying, and better average 

 cultural care. These growers are likely to become dis- 

 satisfied with the association and may withdraw to pro- 

 tect their business interests. Small associations com- 

 posed of growers similarly located and possessing similar 

 cultural skill avoid these difficulties. A community 

 should, therefore, form several associations, each grading 

 and packing its fruit under the brands of the association. 

 These associations may then federate into a central mar- 

 keting agency which will market the fruit of each associa- 

 tion as a unit or furnish the facilities for marketing, thereby 

 preserving the advantages which soil, location, and cul- 

 tural skill give to a group of fruit-growers who are similarly 

 located. 



