SELLING AGENCIES . 173 



In the final analysis, the desirability of the commis- 

 sion man must rest upon his ability to render a real 

 service to any community. Such service can only be 

 measured in one or two ways. First, from the capital 

 involved and, second, by the moral and educational ef- 

 fect. Referring to the capital, of course, it is not pos- 

 sible to give any carefully prepared statistics upon the 

 amount of money invested in commission house business 

 or in the amount of money made on the capital so in- 

 vested. The commission of 10% is a relatively high 

 profit, and the responsibilities are comparatively small. 



A small house capable of handling five or six cars of 

 fruit every week can be easily rented for $100 a month. 

 The commission man and one clerk could handle this 

 business, making the total outlay of $150 to $200 a 

 month. A car of fruit represents from $150 to $800 

 in money. If he handles four a week he does a business 

 of from $600 to $3,200, and by collecting a 10% profit 

 upon this amount of business he is getting as much re- 

 turns in one month as the average small farmer gets 

 for his services in a whole year. An orchardist, to pro- 

 duce a car of fruit, must have represented in capital 

 from $2,000 to $4,000. He has his upkeep of this capital, 

 the labor involved to grow the fruit, the interest, etc., 

 upon money invested. For his year's work he gets 

 perhaps as much on the total capital invested as does the 

 commission man on a tenth of the same amount of money 

 in one month's time. It is along these lines that the 

 ultimate service of the commission men must stand or 

 fall. 



Cooperation. Cooperation in its broader sense means 

 the banding together of a number of individuals to do 



