262 THK FARMER AS A COOPER ATOR. 



general use. By advertisements in papers of general circula- 

 tion, the public may be inforjned of the actual cost of the 

 product, in whicli case public opinion would cause a reduc- 

 tion of profits; or consignments may be made to enterprising 

 retailers upon condition that the goods should be sold at fixed 

 prices for a given time. Either of these remedies, however, 

 would excite the bitter enmity of retailers, leading to strong 

 efforts on their part to discourage sales and introduce compet- 

 ing goods. There is no economic gain in beginning a fight 

 where all the odds are against the attacking party, as they 

 would be in this case, but I often hear such methods pro- 

 posed. I can conceive of them as proper only in some very 

 exceptional case. 



The retail merchant most conveniently obtains his supplies 

 from wholesale merchants in the same line. In the case which 

 we are considering, for illustration, the retail grocer would get 

 his Californian-dried fruits from his wholesale grocer. It is the 

 most poj)ular of delusions to imagine that manufacturers or 

 associations of producers can profitably ignore the wholesale 

 merchant, and sell direct to retailers. In the case of California 

 merchandise seeking eastern markets, this would evidently 

 be impossible, except by establishing depots in the leading 

 wholesale centers, since the difference in freights, on so long 

 a distance, between car-load and less than car-load lots, is, and 

 is always likely to be, more than the wholesale merchant's 

 profit. This distribution to retailers is a measure very rarely 

 attempted by any competitive manufacturer or producei and 

 })robably never, except for urgent and special competitive 

 reasons. I do not believe the present or the next generation 

 likely to develop, in cooperative enterprises, sufficient energy 

 and administrative ability to so control important outlying- 

 agencies in distant cities as to make them a source of profit. 



But assuming the ability to manage such agencies — and 

 it is a fact that in the particular case under discussion, the 

 exigencies of competition between Californian and other pro- 

 ducers may soon render them a necessity — let us consider the 

 results to Californian producers which would follow systematic 

 attempts to sell the retail trade from those depots. 



