HORTICULTURE 135 



Supplies of various kinds which are used on fruit farms, may be 

 bought at wholesale, often in car load lots, which is quite an advan- 

 tage, especially in such items as spray and box materials. The sav- 

 ing which the association makes to the growers in this way is no small 

 item, as everything is bought at wholesale. The prices to growers are 

 only slightly in excess of actual cost. And then it is advantageous to 

 keep a certain amount of the better class of help from year to year 

 and to furnish them with employment, so a more or less extensive 

 jobbing business may be carried on. It will be noticed that not only 

 is a large amount of fruit growers' supplies handled, but a wholesale 

 business in other lines may be done, depending upon the demands 

 of the locality. 



And, finally, an association can be handled more economically 

 than it is possible for most individuals to market their fruit, unless 

 they depend entirely upon the traveling buyer, or resort to the doubt- 

 ful expedient of consigning to commission men. 



Given a capable manager and a wise board of directors, there 

 can be but small chance of failure. But men who are capable of han- 

 dling 500 to 1,500 cars of fruit at a good profit are not common, and 

 when one is found, every effort should be made to retain him. One 

 of the first things that should be done for the manager, when a capa- 

 ble one is found, is to give him a salary in proportion to the amount 

 of business done and the responsibility which must be carried. The 

 latter item is certainly important when we consider that he may be 

 responsible for a number of car loads of a very perishable product, 

 which are on the road at once. Then, too much supervision on the 

 part of the board of directors, who usually have small knowledge of 

 the business, only hampers the manager and restricts his personality. 

 If he cannot make a success of the association in his own way, 

 the advice or help of the directors will be of little use. A much better 

 plan is to give the manager a fair chance to work out his own ideas, 

 and then if he fails, try another. But here is the cause of most of 

 the failures; too much supervision by the directors and unjust crit- 

 icism and fault-finding on the part of the stockholders. 



A common source of discontent is the rumor that a neighbor in 

 another association has received a higher price for his produce, or 

 that an outside buyer is offering attractive prices. Unscrupulous 

 firms frequently adopt the latter method of getting consignments 

 only to swindle the grower. If there was not some decided advantage 

 in buying direct from the growers, these firms would not go to the ex- 

 pense of maintaining an agent in the field when just as good or better 

 fruit could be had from the association. 



The association idea is no longer an experiment, and when 

 each, one does his share to maintain the reputation of the fruit, and 

 the volume of business is sufficient to pay expenses, there is small 

 chance of failure. The history of associations, the country over, 

 shows that petty jealousies and distrust on the part of the members 

 is the common cause of failure. One writer has summed up the sub- 

 ject in the following terse sentences : 



"All classes of farmers are constitutionally and proverbially dis- 



