CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS IQI 



ducer need not lose his individuality; he may use special 

 methods and mark his produce with his own brand or 

 trade mark. 



247. Educational advantages. Co-operation means 

 better and more intelligent gardeners because of free and 

 mutual exchange of ideas. This is a daily occurrence in 

 organized communities. Jones and Smith meet at the 

 shipping station. Jones has the better watermelons. 

 Smith wants to know how they were grown, and his 

 neighbor is pleased to tell him, because their interests 

 are mutual. Meetings of the association are held from 

 time to* time. The strong organizations are able to em- 

 ploy the best talent, and the result is that these meetings 

 or conferences are great educational forces. In some in- 

 stances the associations have been able to interest the 

 experiment stations in their problems, and have secured 

 special investigations in their behalf. 



248. Co-operation relieves the producer. One of the 

 greatest advantages of co-operation is the fact that the 

 producer is relieved of the strain of selling his produce. 

 This often causes more worry than the growing. The 

 association relieves him of this anxiety, and all of his 

 time and energy may then be devoted to the work of pro- 

 duction and the preparation of crops for market. He can 

 give his undivided attention to his work at home, and for 

 this reason his earning power should be practically 

 doubled, while at the same time he is conscious of the 

 fact that the association will get more money for the 

 crops than he could by individual effort. 



249. Uniformity in packages, in packing, grading and 

 branding are decided advantages. The careful system of 

 inspection used by organizations reduces to a minimum 

 irregularities in these respects. 



250. Distribution. The earnings from the crops grown 

 in a given section depend largely upon proper distribu- 

 tion. This is one of the greatest objects of organiza- 



