136 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



trustful of other people and of one another. In a fruit association 

 there arise (such is the experience) the most inveterate jealousies. 

 Each man thinks he is furnishing a better grade of fruit than his 

 neighbor, though all share alike in the profits. Each one fears the 

 other will reap some special advantage somewhow. In particular, 

 the appointment of managers, superintendents, supervisors of grad- 

 ing, shipping agents, and all other officials of the company, offers a 

 sufficient opportunity for the elaboration of all sorts of neighbor- 

 hood quarrels. Each man thinks he ought to be manager, and when 

 one man is finally chosen he is usually suspected of all sorts of 

 favoritism. In any case he is apt to be hampered in his business 

 relations by committees, boards of directors, and various kinds of red 

 tape and foolishness. Often he has to consult a committee before 

 taking any important action. * * * 



"Another difficulty which arises from the same cause is that sub- 

 scribers to such an association never want to pay a manager's wages. 

 Two or three dollars a day is considered good pay. Yet such a man 

 is compelled at times to handle thousands of dollars' worth of busi- 

 ness. The position is such as, in ordinary business life, would com- 

 mand a salary of five thousand dollars a year or more." (Waugh, 

 Fruit Harvesting, Storing, Marketing.) 



Growers who are not members may ship through the association 

 on the same terms, but they are usually required to pay more for sup- 

 plies. All of the larger concerns require both members and non- 

 members, for whom they ship, to bring all their fruit to the associa- 

 tion. Formerly stockholders were allowed to sell their own fruit 

 by paying the association a small premium. Neither were objections 

 made to members filling orders from near-by towns. But, as these 

 means of disposing of fruit are manifestly unfair to a majority of the 

 association members, they have come to be looked upon with disfavor 

 and in most instances are no longer allowed. 



One of the strong points in favor of the association idea is the 

 possibility of a fairly uniform pack. This results in better prices, 

 since buyers have the assurance that all associations strive to make 

 their goods as nearly uniform as possible. Then, contrary to the 

 idea often advanced that poor fruit brings as great a price as good, 

 the most rigid grading must be practiced, and the intention is to place 

 each fruit in its proper grade, thus only the best grade sells for the 

 highest price, and, indeed, the grower of inferior fruit is fortunate 

 to dispose of his crop at all. 



There are two methods of packing and grading fruit; in one 

 instance, the association does all the packing, the growers delivering 

 the fruit to the packing house just as it is taken from the trees. Here 

 the packers, under the direction of a superintendent, sort the fruit 

 into the various grades, and at the same time pack it into boxes or 

 crates. Should there be any culls, they are returned to the grower 

 and are at his disposal. Each grower is given a number, which is 

 used to designate his fruit throughout the season. As each box is 

 packed, it is marked with his number and the grade. When the 

 boxes are loaded into the cars, the number of boxes, the varieties 



