302 HARVESTING AND MARKETING 



to a definite set of rules adopted by the association, and the goods 

 are subject to inspection before they are shipped (Fig. 182). In 

 either case, the goods are shipped in the name of the association, 

 and not that of the individual grower. In this way it is possible 

 to ship straight car lots of a uniform product and command the 

 attention of wholesale buyers or general distributors. This 

 method of marketing places great responsibility upon the manager 

 of the association, for upon his judgment largely depends the 

 successful marketing of the entire output of the association. 

 He must establish connections in the leading markets long before 

 the shipping season begins, and keep in daily touch with market 

 conditions all over the country during the shipping season. Basing 

 his judgment upon the information at hand, he must decide what 

 to do with each car by the time it is loaded. Sometimes the crop 

 is quite largely sold f.o.b. at a definite figure, but very often a 

 large part is sold on consignment through general distributors. 



No matter how each car is disposed of, nor in what market 

 it is eventually sold, nor how much it sells for, each and every 

 grower who delivered produce to the association's loading shed 

 the same day receives the same price per crate or package for the 

 same grade of goods. That is, the net proceeds for the entire 

 output of the association for a given day are pro rated among the 

 growers according to the number of packages of a given grade 

 shipped by each. In this way the individual grower is relieved 

 entirely from the responsibihty of marketing his products. This 

 is a decided advantage over attempts at independent marketing, 

 especially where the producing point is located a great distance 

 from the market. The farther from market a grower is located, 

 the more dependent he is upon organized methods of marketing, 

 and the less he can afford to try to assert his independence. 



QUESTIONS 



1. Mention six vegetables that remain in edible condition only a short time, 



and six others that remain in edible condition a long time. 



2. Mention six vegetables in which the entire product may be gathered at 



one time. 



3. Mention six vegetables in which the harvest extends over a considerable 



period, but in which the individual specimens must be harvested 

 promptly at a given stage of maturity. 



4. How may market conditions cause a departure from the normal period 



of harvesting a given product? 



