PROBLEMS OF COOPERATIVE MARKETING ASSOCIATIONS 



Table 5. — The volume of business of 1,141 cooperative associations in 1922, 

 grouped according to products marketed 



Fruits 



Vegetables 



Commodity 



Cars 



Value 



Commodity 



Cars 



Value 





43, 620 



15, 889 



16, 099 

 3,195 

 6,025 

 5,987 

 1,685 



391 

 2,829 

 190 

 383 

 111 

 199 

 353 

 313 

 121 

 100 

 25 

 1 



10, 271 



$69, 202, 327 



42, 510, 669 



13, 794, 341 



12, 453, 720 



9, 346, 380 



6, 169, 964 



3, 906, 510 



3, 083, 932 



2, 431, 286 



1, 130, 000 



672, 346 



579, 260 



499, 354 



312, 327 



268, 851 



93, 918 



85, 000 



13, 020 



2,230 



15, 564, 576 





19, 943 



1,262 



4,440 



5,149 



2,637 



1,821 



1,162 



870 



518 



190 



1,216 



212 



312 



503 



150 



173 



237 



53 



103 



22 



5 



13 



11 



3 



2 



2 



8 



2 



18, 925 



$11, 061, 852 





Lima beans... .. 



3, 800, 000 





Tomatoes ..... 



2, 993, 999 





Sweet potatoes... . . 



1, 792, 204 





Watermelons 



287, 525 





Lettuce .... 



1, 048, 920 





Celery .. . 



759, 502 





Onions _. .. 



435, 597 





Cucumbers 



347, 807 



Figs . 



Asparagus... . .. 



321, 702 





Cabbage.. . -..----. 



314, 193 





Rhubarb ...... . 



250,004 





Peas ......... 



241, 944 





Cantaloupes ..... 



209, 879 





Peppers ... . 



156, 000 





Broccoli 



Green beans ... ... . 



119, 030 





113, 796 



Quinces. 



Escarole 



Spinach .... ... 



53,000 



Gooseberries 



31, 281 







15,000 





Garlic ... _ 



14, 000 







13,000 





Romaine 



11,000 

 3,000 





Radishes _ _ 



2,000 







1,000 





Turnips . 



840 







800 





Miscellaneous . 



5, 104, 488 





Total 





Total 



107, 787 



182, 120, 011 



59, 944 



29, 503, 363 















9,475 

 177, 206 



9, 565, 603 



Total fruit and vegetables . . - 



221,188,977 







Of the citrus fruit shipped cooperatively, 98.9 per cent was han- 

 dled by 5 federations in 1922; 90.8 per cent of the grapes shipped 

 cooperatively passed through the hands of 8 organizations; 63.7 per 

 cent of the cooperative shipments of apples were sold through 8 large 

 associations ; and 3 associations handled 89.8 per cent of all the plums 

 and prunes sold by cooperative organizations. 



Likewise, a few large associations handled large portions of the 

 total reported cooperative shipments of vegetables. Six potato asso- 

 ciations handled 76.1 per cent of the total; 5 sweet potato organiza- 

 tions handled 95.4 per cent of the cooperative shipments of this 

 vegetable; 84.57 per cent of the tomato tonnage sold cooperatively 

 was handled by 7 associations; and the cooperative marketing of 

 Lima beans was confined to one association. 



The complaint of many managers, however, is that the volume of 

 business they control is not sufficient to stabilize the market. The 

 phrase, " stabilization of the market," is subject to various interpre- 

 tations and w r as not always used to express the same thought. As the 

 term is usually employed by fruit and vegetable shippers, it im- 

 plies chiefly the elimination of avoidable causes of price fluctua- 

 tions. The shippers, including the cooperative associations, particu- 

 larly wish to avoid violent recessions in price, which may be due to a 

 number of causes and which from the very fact that they are unfore- 

 seen are responsible for severe losses. 

 86142°— 26 2 



