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



of equally grave concern to the association as an unduly low price. 

 The grower has learned by experience that his best interest requires 

 the custom of the great bulk of the consuming public — laborers and 

 farmers. He has also learned that a retail price above 25 cents a 

 pound cuts off this class of consumption. When to these two ac- 

 cepted facts is added the further knowledge on the part of the growers' 

 association that the custom lost when the fruit goes above 25 cents a 

 pound retail is difficult to win back, it can readily be seen that it is 

 not to the growers' best interests that fruit should be sold at high 

 prices. Careful marketing studies have shown the growers that an 

 association price to the wholesale trade above 15 cents a pound is 

 likely to result in a retail price above 25 cents. Hence, it is to the 

 advantage of the association to place the bulk of its supply on the 

 market at a price below the 15-cent mark. 



The 1921-22 season illustrates this point. The crop was short. 

 The demand for berries was good. If the association had distributed 

 its supply during the normal selling period, the demand for berries 

 would have caused the price to advance early in the season to a 

 level thatwoiild have cut off a large class of people whose custom is val- 

 uable during a season of normal production. In order to avoid this, 

 the association kept pushing its berries on the market in order to 

 satisfy the demand at rates that would permit a retail price of 25 

 cents or less. As a result of this policy, the association's supply was 

 practically exhausted before the end of December, whereas in a 

 normal year the selling season continues until the latter part of 

 February. 



Here is a concrete instance of a cooperative association throwing 

 its supply upon the market to discourage unduly high prices. This 

 action was in keeping with the best interests of the association as 

 demonstrated by past experience. It was in line with a long-time 

 sales policy designed to retain the volume of custom necessary to 

 the disposal of a normal crop. 



Wlien the good will of the consumer is such a dominant factor in 

 the sucess of a marketing organization, it can hardly be said that the 

 organization is in position to exert an artificial control over the price 

 of its product. 



THE EXPENSE OF MARKETING CRANBERRIES. 



Cranberries are handled by the grower up to the time they are 

 placed in the car for shipment. Picking, sorting, carting, packing, 

 and a greater part of the storage is performed by the grower and is 

 considered a part of his production cost. The local associations, how- 

 ever, supervise the performance of some of these practices. In 

 Massachusetts the cooperative association operates four screen houses 

 where farmers may have their berries screened, sorted, and packed 

 at cost. 



