MARKETING THE CROP 171 



Doubtless the best method of all for handling 

 large peach crops is through the organization of co- 

 operative selling associations. These have now been 

 formed in all of the best peach districts, as well as 

 in many other fruit-growing regions. Some of the 

 best of these are in the state of Colorado. The de- 

 scription as given in the "Cyclopedia of American 

 Agriculture" by Mr. James B. Morman is worth 

 quoting : 



"There are two methods of packing and grading 

 fruit, as practiced by the Colorado associations. 



"(i) The association does the packing. In this 

 case the growers deliver the fruit direct from the 

 trees to the packing houses. Here the assocation's 

 packers sort, grade, and pack the fruit into boxes 

 or crates, the culls being returned to the grower. 

 The grower's number, which is given to him at the 

 beginning of the season, is marked on each pack- 

 age with the grade of the fruit. When loaded into 

 cars a strict account is kept of the number of boxes, 

 varieties, and grades of each grower's fruit. In this 

 way the price for each box of fruit in any car is 

 easily determined. 



"(2) The growers do the packing. This occurs 

 when there is a large amount of fruit to be handled. 

 When the growers do the packing the association 

 hires an inspector whose duty it is to inspect every 

 load as it is delivered. This he does by opening 

 the boxes on the side in the case of apples. If the 

 pack is satisfactory, not more than two boxes are 

 usually opened. If, on inspection, the pack is found 

 unsatisfactory, the entire load must either be placed 

 in a lower grade or the whole repacked. In this 

 case, likewise, each one's fruit is designated by num- 

 ber. Most of the associations have now adopted the 

 latter method as the more satisfactory, for the rea- 



