Organization of an Association 71 



out of the surplus profits as often and at such times as 

 the board of directors may determine. It sells and dis- 

 tributes the fruit at a cost of 5 per cent on the gross 

 sales. It has no contract with the growers, and, like many 

 others, it is a loosely formed organization promoted by 

 dealers who are interested, not in fruit-growing, but in 

 stock dividends, surrounded by a glamour of cooperation, 

 operating primarily for pecuniary profit and under the 

 absolute control of the exploiters who organized it. 



It is not to be inferred from these statements that all 

 of the corporations formed to handle farm products for 

 pecuniary profit have been without benefit to the producer. 

 In many sections the farmers are not ready for the co- 

 operative method of conducting their business. Under 

 these conditions, a corporation for profit controlled by 

 the producers may be formed and may bring to the farmer 

 a larger return for his crops than he would have gained 

 had he attempted to market them alone. In some in- 

 stances, these corporations have successfully marketed 

 the crops of a community and at the same time have paid 

 dividends on the capital stock of 20, 30, and even 50 

 per cent to the grower-stockholder, the dividends aris- 

 ing from profits made on supplies sold to the members 

 and from the surplus above operating expenses when the 

 corporation operated on a fixed percentage of the gross 

 sales. 



On the other hand, many corporations have been formed 

 by the trade to distribute and market farm products for 

 the producer. In some, the stock is owned jointly by the 

 trade and by the producers as individuals or by associations 

 of producers. These latter organizations are usually 



