COOPERATIVE PURCHASING AND MARKETING ORGANIZATIONS. 9 



For various reasons a large number of failures have occurred among 

 the farmers' cooperative stores. This line of business is not as well 

 understood by the farmer as is the elevator or creamery business and 

 he frequently fails to take into consideration the problems con- 

 nected with the management of a store. The member of a creamery 

 or an elevator association is in a better position to keep in touch with 

 the business, while the members of a cooperative store association 

 usually leave the supervision of its affairs entirely in the hands of the 

 manager. Although this is a satisfactory arrangement in some cases, 

 the manager is not always capable, and in some cases the store has 

 even suffered through wiiiful mismanagement. Another factor 

 which sometimes causes failure is the fact that the farmers have been 

 led to expect greater returns than it is possible to secure, so that the 

 members are disappointed with the results obtained and cease to 

 support the enterprise. 



The failure of some cooperative stores is accounted for v by the fact 

 that they have not been operated in accordance with the ' underlying 

 principles of cooperation. The English stores, based on the Roch- 

 dale plan of organization, are often cited as examples of successful 

 cooperative stores. These stores embody the true principles of 

 cooperation in that the voting power and financial interests of the 

 members are limited, and the profits are distributed according to 

 patronage. 



FRUIT AND PRODUCE ASSOCIATIONS. 



The method of marketing the fruit crop is very complex because of 

 the perishability of the commodities handled and because a large 

 proportion of the fruit is produced in certain restricted localities from 

 which it must be distributed to all parts of the United States and 

 foreign countries. The fruit growers of the United States have been 

 attracted by the possibilities of cooperative fruit marketing, and 

 during the last 25 years a large number of associations have been 

 formed which have been very successful. 



The most successful fruit-marketing associations are found in the 

 Pacific Coast States, among the citrus fruit growers of California and 

 the apple growers of the North Pacific States. These organizations 

 owe a large part of their success to the fact that they do more than 

 merely attend to the actual selling of the fruit. The fruit crop varies 

 in quality; therefore the associations have assisted in standardizing 

 the growing of the fruit, and in many instances have taken charge of 

 the sorting and packing. Thus a large quantity of fruit of the same 

 grade and quality is assured, and it is possible to establish trade- 

 marked brands which become known to the trade. By conducting 

 advertising campaigns on an extensive scale consumers are reached in 

 large numbers, the consumption of the fruit is increased, a demand is 

 insured, and brands are established on the market. A single grower 



