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YEAR THAN '44 



A BIGGER year in 1945 than 1944! 

 That's the prospect for the Illi- 

 nois Fruit Growers Exchange and 

 its affiliate, the Illinois Fruit Exchange 

 Supply Company. 



What makes this prospect real news 

 is the fact that 1944 was a record year 

 for this statewide marketing coopera- 

 tive, an associated company of the Illi- 

 nois Agricultural Association located at 

 Carbondale. 



Look at some of these figures. 

 They're worth studying because they 

 tell an unprecedented story of coopera- 

 tive progress made possible through 



Dr. Robert B. Corbett, American Form 

 Bureau Federation secretary, gave the 

 main address at the Fruit Growers meet- 

 ing. 



loyal membership, able directorship, 

 and competent managership. 



Let's first take the 1944 report of 

 the Fruit Growers Exchange as pre- 

 sented at the 23rd annual meeting April 

 17 on the campus of Southern Illinois 

 Normal University at Carbondale. 



The Exchange marketed more than 

 300,000 bushels of fruit and vegetables 

 and 35 carloads of watermelons. As 

 Manager L. L. Colvis said, "The water- 

 melon deal was kind of a job we did 

 before breakfast. Then we really 

 started the day's work." 



For the first time in history, the vol- 

 ume of marketings in 1944 passed the 

 million dollar mark. In 1943 it was 

 $788,000. 



Now let's look at the Fruit Exchange 

 Supply's business for 1944. At the an- 

 nual meeting, patronage dividends 

 totalling $17,884.13 were distributed. 

 This is more than double the amount 

 of 1943 dividends. Rates of patronage 

 dividend payments were 6 per cent on 

 baskets as compared with 5 per cent in 

 1943; 8 per cent on fertilizer as com- 

 pared with 4 per cent in 1943, and 10 

 per cent on everything else. Patrons 

 received these dividends half in cash 

 and half in stock, unless they already 

 had 10 shares of stock. If they had 

 10 or more shares of stock in the Ex- 

 change Supply, they received the total 

 amount or their patronage refunds in 

 cash. One grower received a patron- 

 age dividend check of $1300. 



Dollar volume of the Fruit Exchange 



Officers and directors of the Illinois Fruit 

 Growers Exchange and Supply Company 

 pose for their picture at the April annual 

 meeting. Front row. left to right: Arthur 

 Foreman, A. O. Eckert president; Tal- 

 made Defrees, vice-president: F. G. An- 



derson, secretary-treasurer. Back row, left 

 to right: L. L. Colvis. manager: Don Lee, 

 Jefferson county, farm adviser representa- 

 tive: E. D. McGuire, H. E. Hartley, and 

 R. B. Endicott. Two directors not present 

 are C. R. Boland and Trevor Jeffries. 



Supply business hit the $260,000 mark 

 in 1944 as compared with $152,000 in 

 1943, some $81,000 in 1942, and $61,000 

 in 1941. This phenomenal growth was 

 not due to increased dollar value of 

 products growers bought, but to in- 

 creased volume of purchases. For ex- 

 ample, some 1500 tons of orchard fer- 

 tilizers are included in the 1944 busi- 

 ness. 



"We don't think we have reached 

 the peak in our supply business," Man- 

 ager Colvis said. "In fact, we believe 

 we are just getting started. Through 

 patronage refunds, growers are buying 

 supplies at wholesale, and they have 

 every right to such a price. When 

 supplies represent such a high propor- 

 tionate amount of a grower's produc- 

 tion costs, he is entitled to buj^ them 

 at wholesale in the same manner that 

 an industrialist buys his raw materials." 



Manager Colvis, however, pointed 

 out that a patronage dividend is not the 

 only benefit a grower expects from his 

 cooperative. The Supply Company en- 

 deavors to have essential supplies on 

 hand at all times to meet the needs of 

 the grower and to have efficient and 

 quick service in loading them out. 



What are the future plans of the 

 Fruit Growers Exchange and Supply 

 Company.' Right now the board of 

 directors is working to secure priorities 

 on a cold storage plant. This is sorely 

 needed by the growers of the area. 

 Application is pending in Washington 

 on priorities for this construction. 



An equally big job facing the Fruit 

 Exchange and its members is the grow- 

 ing of higher quality fruit. President 

 A. O. Eckert placed particular emphasis 

 on this factor. "We've got to raise a 

 higher quality fruit and pack a better 

 product," he said. 



As an example he pointed out that 

 Illinois had lots of apples in 1944. 

 The consumer also had more money. 

 The result was that consumers were 

 not just buying apples, they were buy- 

 ing good apples. 



"Southern Illinois," President Eckert 

 said, "is the best place in the country 

 to grow apples. We are close to mar- 

 ket facilities — in fact we have every- 

 thing. We've got good flavor, but 

 it takes more than flavor to hold the 

 market. We need to have No. 1 qual- 

 ity and good color. We've got to be- 

 gin thinking about some of these 



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I. A. A. RECORD 



