200 MODERN FRUIT MARKETING 



the cost of distributing the fruit to the consumer be- 

 cause of the greater efficiency in handling the market- 

 ing at selling end. There is no longer any question but 

 what cooperative fruit-selling associations are a desir- 

 able institution and in many places an absolute necessity. 



All of the fruit growers on the Pacific Coast will say 

 that were it not for their methods of standardizing the 

 packages and being able to guarantee these to the 

 Eastern buyers, they would never have been able to 

 develop the fruit industry on the Pacific Coast. While 

 the organizations have not always' proved a financial suc- 

 cess this was to be expected, because they represented a 

 new industry and the methods and details of manipula- 

 tion had to be gradually worked out to fit the needs of 

 each different locality. 



The benefits of cooperation in fruit selling can be 

 more or less definitely summed up under the following 

 heads: (1) They enable the small grower to ship in car- 

 lots. (2) They distribute the crop to prevent congestion 

 upon the market. (3) They have enabled growers to 

 establish standard brands. (4) They have made possible 

 better business methods in handling the produce. (5) 

 They make possible the use of less important varieties of 

 fruits. (6) They allow better equipment for handling 

 the crop. (7) They give an incentive for better care of 

 the orchard. (8) They make a better market stability. 



There are also, as might be expected, a few difficulties 

 in the workings of the cooperative organizations. Some 

 of these are more theoretical than practical, but still there 

 is a more or less well-founded objection to the fruit- 

 selling organizations. One objection usually advanced is 

 that independent growers get the benefit. That is, people 



