SELLING AGENCIES 191 



and grading schools during the slack season to give these 

 men sufficient training that they may do the work in a 

 highly efficient and satisfactory way. 



Financial Aid. Another very important considera- 

 tion in the management of exchange is its ability to aid 

 financially deserving members of the organization. This 

 is done in a number of different ways. In the first place, 

 by assisting in the purchase of farm supplies, such as 

 fertilizers, machinery, fruit packages, spraying material, 

 etc. Occasionally a grower desires to handle these him- 

 self, but more frequently the larger exchanges have a 

 purchasing department where the materials are con- 

 tracted on a large scale and then re-sold or re-distributed 

 to the local association as needed. One large exchange 

 was enabled to save 4 cents on the price of each package 

 by contracting them in 25,000 and 50,000 lots. In this 

 way they saved enough on the price of packages alone to 

 pay the entire management of the exchange. 



Another way in which financial aid is often given is 

 through the extension of credit. This is largely in co- 

 operation with the supply department. When the man- 

 agement understands how much fruit the grower will 

 have for sale he then can estimate the needed quantity 

 of spraying material, packages, fertilizers, etc. They 

 are often willing to supply this material as needed and 

 wait for the paying of the bill until the fruit is sold. 

 The grower often gets from $100 to $500 worth of sup- 

 plies in this way and yet is not compelled to pay for 

 them at any specified time, nor worry about the exten- 

 sion of credit. The price is simply deducted from the 

 sales of the fruit when returns are made. This, with a 

 detailed statement regarding all deductions, gives an 



