SELLING AGENCIES 173 
In the final analysis, the desirability of the commis- 
sion man must rest upon.his ability to render a real 
service to any community. Such service can only be 
measured in one or two ways. First, from the capital 
involved and, second, by the moral and educational ef- 
fect. Referring to the capital, of course, it is not pos- 
sible to give any carefully prepared statistics upon the 
amount of money invested in commission house business 
or in the amount of money made on the capital so in- 
vested. The commission of 10% is a relatively high 
profit, and the responsibilities are comparatively small. 
A small house capable of handling five or six cars of 
fruit every week can be easily rented for $100 a month. 
The commission man and one clerk could handle this 
business, making the total outlay of $150 to $200 a 
month. <A car of fruit represents from $150 to $800 
in money. If he handles four a week he does a business 
of from $600 to $3,200, and by collecting a 10% profit 
upon this amount of business he is getting as much re- 
turns in one month as the average small farmer gets 
for his services in a whole year. An orchardist, to pro- 
duce a ear of fruit, must have represented in capital 
from $2,000 to $4,000. He has his upkeep of this capital, 
the labor involved to grow the fruit, the interest, etc., 
upon money invested. For his year’s work he gets 
perhaps as much on the total capital invested as does the 
commission man on a tenth of the same amount of money 
in one month’s time. It is along these lines that the 
ultimate service of the commission men must stand or 
fall. 
Cooperation.—Cooperation in its broader sense means 
the banding together of a number of individuals to do 
