STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. I37 



COOPERATIVE FRUIT HANDLING ASSOCIATIONS 

 OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 



Prof. B. S. Brovvn^ Orono, Maine. 



Cooperative fruit handling associations are in no wise a 

 new, untried, or uncertain enterprise. While it is true that their 

 span of successful operation may be included within the past 20 

 years, yet the success of such endeavors is measured by the 

 volume of the business handled, and by the net cash returns to 

 the cooperator. Many failures have resulted during the evolu- 

 tion of these organizations, but as much was to be expected. 

 Everything was new and strange. No precedent existed to 

 serve as a guide for the leaders. They were groping in the dark, 

 as it were, yet feeling the insidious demands for a means where- 

 by the fruit industry could be given a permanent financial stand- 

 ing. Prices were continually fluctuating, and uncertain. Buy- 

 ers were compelled to be cautious, watching the movements of 

 their opponents and competitors. No one dared order large 

 quantities, for a fall in prices would mean the loss of months 

 of careful business manipulation. Railroads had adopted the 

 policy of charging "all the traffic could stand," and no one was 

 in position to argue with them. Producers had no means of 

 knowing what to ask for their fruit, and must rely upon the 

 judgment and honesty of the commission men. Times were 

 changing ; laborers were asking more for their services ; larger 

 orchards were being planted ; new sections were being devel- 

 oped, and this vast increase in production was being dumped 

 into the centers of the population with no organization to handle 

 it. Profits were on the decline ; the pocket book was being 

 affected. Growers drew together by instinct to talk the situa- 

 tion over, and cooperation was the result. 



At first, progress was slow and many failures resulted. The 

 organizations were either too small to make any impression 

 upon the larger markets, or too large to act as a single unit. 

 Farmers hesitated to pay large salaries to men with sufficient 

 business acumen to handle the crop, and disorder followed. 

 New laws had to be made and old ones changed. Railroad man- 

 agers had to be interviewed and trafific agreements arranged for. 

 Refrigerator cars, icing stations, and pre-cooHng plants must be 



