CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS I89 



have nnited for their mutual benefit, forming such organ- 

 izations as the Long Island Cauliflower Association, and 

 the Thermal Cantaloupe Growers' Association. General 

 organizations, however, are much more common, and 

 some are mammoth affairs, having hundreds of members 

 representing thousands of acres; others are small, having 

 only a few members, although the benefits justify co- 

 operation. 



241. Volume of business transacted. — The transactions 

 of organizations like the Eastern Shore of Virginia 

 Produce Exchange and the Southern Produce Companj' 

 amount to millions of dollars annually. These great co- 

 operative bodies are well known in the principal cities, 

 and are a great advantage in making sales. The annual 

 total shipments of a single kind of vegetable often run 

 into thousands of cars. For example, a Texas association 

 shipped in one year over 3,000 cars of watermelons. 



242. Capitalization ranges from a few hundred dollars 

 to $100,000 or more, depending upon the methods 

 adopted and the magnitude of the organization. The 

 number of shares held by any one person is always lim- 

 ited, and sometimes is adjusted pro rata to the number of 

 acres cultivated. In some instances members are rC' 

 quired to give bond for about $100, and a general man- 

 ager is selected to conduct the business for 5 per cent 

 on net sales, all office expenses and telegrams being paid 

 by the manager. 



243. Management. — The management of an association 

 is in the hands of a board of directors who are chosen 

 because of their extensive operations or peculiar fitnes? 

 for the work devolving upon them. They employ a man- 

 ager, who usually gives all of his time to the business 

 aflfairs of the association. Pie may work on commission, 

 but the more common plan is to pay him a salary. It 

 takes a keen, shrewd, alert, tactful business man to han- 

 dle the business of a large organization. He must hav« 



