loo COOPERATIVE MARKETING 



provide that after withholding his fruit for a certain num- 

 ber of years a member's rights automatcially cease, and 

 he is not entitled either to compensation for his contribu- 

 tions to the society or to payment for his stock. 



These provisions for withdrawing fruit from the control 

 of the association for a year or more are not mere dead 

 letters. It is the rule and not the exception for an asso- 

 ciation to have some non-shipping acreage on its books. 

 When for any reason a member becomes dissatisfied and 

 thinks he can do better by employing other packing and 

 marketing agencies he has nothing to do but try. And since 

 it is impossible for an association always to please every- 

 body, somebody is continually deciding to try. As a rule 

 the deserters soon return, and their very defections are 

 likely to prove a benefit to the association, for it should be 

 reasonably clear to an outsider that after a man ships 

 through the association, then through other channels, then 

 returns to the association something besides sentiment is 

 indicating that the cooperative method is most advan- 

 tageous to the grower. 



A more complete description of the methods of grading 

 and making payments will best be left till the pooling ar- 

 rangements are studied. Now it need only be said that the 

 associations do a strictly cash business, and that growers 

 receive their returns about a month after delivering their 

 fruit. The funds are ordinarily handled through a bank 

 and disbursed on warrants signed by the president and 

 secretary of the association. 



Each packing association adopts brands for its various 

 grades of fruit. These brands are lithographed on more 

 or less attractive labels which are pasted to the ends of the 

 packing boxes. For present purposes we may assume that 

 an association has three brands, one for its fancy grade, 

 one for its choice, and one for its standard. Like any other 



