MAEKETIXG AISTD DISTEIBUTIO:^;^ OF WESTEEK" MUSKMELONS. 7 



"It is further mutually agreed between the Distributor and the Grower that the 

 inspector furnished by the Distributor shall make inspection of all the cantaloupes 

 delivered for shipment by the Grower, and his decision on grade, quality, and pack 

 shall be final and binding on both parties hereto. 



'•In witness whereof the parties hereto have hereunto set their hands and seals on 

 the dav and year first above written." 



By 



Witness: 



UNFAVORABLE FEATURES OF PRESENT CONTRACTS. 



A careful study of the foregoing typical contract shows that the 

 pooling arrangements in general use possibly may work an injustice 

 to the producer, because all types of packages are included in one pool. 

 As the distributor is paid a commission on gross sales, it is to his ad- 

 vantage to handle as many muskmelons as possible during the season, 

 provided his average net return does not fall below the amount of his 

 guaranty. It may happen that although standards are selling at 

 prices which are returning good margins over the guaranteed season 

 average, ponies are selling at prices which result in actual loss to the 

 producer. By averaging the two classes of packages, the distributor 

 may be protected on his advance and may secure a larger commission 

 by handling more cars than he wordd if ponies were not shipped. 

 Meanwhile, the grower is receiving a smaller return than he would 

 if he shipped only standards. This inequity could be overcome by 

 maintaining separate pools for standards and ponies. 



A further disadvantage of the contract system has been that in the 

 past it has had a tendency to encourage the packing of muskmelons 

 of poor quality. In other seasons the advances were higher than in 

 1915, sometimes being as high as 85 cents. This amount was in 

 excess of the cost of production and guaranteed the grower a profit 

 on every crate shipped. Under such conditions there has been an 

 inclination to pack as many crates as possible, regardless of quality. 

 vSome growers have even gone to the extent of ''facing" the crates by 

 putting good melons on the outside and packing poor ones in the 

 middle. Under such circumstances the growers have depended on 

 their advances for profit instead of depending upon the production of 

 high-class goods, which would bring good prices. The result has been 

 to cause a deterioration in the average quality, which has injured the 

 reputation of Imperial Valley muskmelons. The impoctance of coop- 

 eration between growers and distributoi"s to obtain good quality can 

 hardly be overestimated. 



