MARKETING 281 



middle-men are searching for channels by which fruit can be 

 put before the potential consumer. They hold and finally 

 transfer fruit to points where it seems to be in demand, 

 usually buying in large quantities and selling in smaller. 

 If a dozen middle-men handle produce more cheaply than 

 could one or finally find a market for what otherwise might 

 be wasted, there is justification for each of the twelve. But 

 that a great deal of confusion and waste exists under the 

 present system is undeniable. Moreover, from time to time 

 abuses of the system have arisen and have threatened the 

 growers very gravely. Sometimes buyers have combined to 

 agree on a maximum price to be paid the growers, with the 

 result that all the fruit had to be sold at a low price, and 

 sometimes jobbers have combined to contract for all the 

 space in warehouses of large cities. Commission-men have 

 been known to repack products into more boxes than the 

 growers used, returning the proceeds for the original number 

 to the producer and keeping for themselves the profit from 

 the extra boxes thus obtained. Commission-men and brokers 

 themselves have turned jobbers, and while extracting from the 

 public the maximum prices have returned to the grower the 

 minimum. 



394. Cooperation. When the present marketing system 

 has given the farmer a fair return on his investment, he has 

 shown himself reluctant to turn to other methods. When 

 for any reason this system has failed, growers have sought 

 protection through the passage of laws (such as those re- 

 stricting the action of railroads and commission-men) and 

 through organization into cooperative societies. A co- 

 operative organization is a combination for mutual benefit 

 of individuals engaged in similar work or business. 



395. Essentials for success in cooperative marketing. 

 Since the cooperative organization has for its purpose the 

 benefit of all its members, it is necessary that the problems 

 and needs of its constituency be alike, in order that what will 



