14 BULLETIN 1109, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The pooling system established on Cape Cod was different from 

 that in New Jersey. In Massachusetts only one pool exists for each 

 principal variety for the season. The grower is required to ship his 

 berries whenever he is told to do so, and receives the average price of 

 the season obtained on the fruit shipped. If he is required to hold 

 his berries longer than a stated time, he is paid premiums to reim- 

 burse him for the normal shrinkage of the berries while in his posses- 

 sion, this premium becoming greater the longer the berries are held. 

 The amount of the premium is decided by the members at the begin- 

 ning of each season. 



In New Jersey the seasonal pool does not exist. There they have 

 weekly pools and the grower may ship in any week he chooses. The 

 difference in the pooling systems of the two companies is caused 

 primarily by the preponderance of small shippers in New Jersey who 

 want to choose their own time for selling. Owing to their small 

 individual crops, they can store their berries for some time without 

 inconvenience. The pooling system in Wisconsin follows very closely 

 that of Cape Cod and includes only one pool a year. 



Without question the grading and pooling systems instituted by 

 the exchange have contributed in a large measure to the success of the 

 undertaking. 



ADVERTISING. 



The good will of the consuming public is a valuable asset in any 

 attempt to increase the consumption of a specific commodity. If the 

 cranberry growers were to receive the cost of production for their 

 fruit it was necessary that consumption be increased. Hence the ex- 

 change turned to advertising as a means of creating a favorable atti- 

 tude in the minds of the public toward the cranberry as a food prod- 

 uct. It should be emphasized that by means of improved grading 

 and packing, which resulted in a higher quality of fruit reaching the 

 consumer, the associations had already gone a long way in cultivating 

 the good will of the consumer. Had not the associations raised their 

 quality to a high standard through careful grading and packing, it is 

 doubtful whether advertising could have been carried on successfully, 

 since it is generally agreed that effective advertising of a food com- 

 modity requires uniform quality. For instance, when the consumer 

 is induced by advertising to use a certain commodity of pleasing 

 quahty, the effect of the advertising is lost as soon as the quality 

 becomes displeasing. If the public asks repeatedly for a certain 

 branded article it is because ^the quality represented by the brand has 

 proved satisfactory in the past. Hence it is of the highest importance 

 that quahty be consistently maintained. It does not follow that only 

 high quality can be advertised with success. The consumer and the 

 trade must know, however, that they are receiving the same quality 

 under a given brand that they have received in the past under the same 



