MARKETING FRUITS—CO-OPERATION 
the fruit growers manage and control the 
distribution and marketing of their own 
products. Every member of the associa- 
tion is a bona fide producer and his fruit 
is handled exclusively by the association. 
All of the operations are carried on at 
cost, and after operating expenses, de- 
preciation, and a reasonable interest on 
the capital invested in the equipment of 
the association are deducted, the profits 
are distributed to the members in pro- 
portion to the amount of business each 
has transacted through the organization. 
The powers of the association are 
vested in a board of directors selected by 
the growers, who manage and control its 
affairs and business through officers or 
agents appointed by it and subject to its 
advice and direction. 
The Organization of a Co-operative 
Association 
The first step in organizing a co-opera- 
tive association is to incorporate it un- 
der the laws of a state. This usually has 
to be done under the laws that author- 
ize the formation of stock or member- 
ship corporations, as few of the states 
have provided for the incorporation of 
non-profit co-operative agricultural or 
horticultural associations. 
The association needs to be incorpor- 
ated on broad lines. The articles of in- 
corporation should set forth the purpose 
for which the association is formed and 
should provide for every activity in 
which it may wish to engage. They 
should define the principal place of busi- 
ness, the life of the association, the num- 
ber and power of the directors, the vot- 
ing power and property rights of the 
members, the amount of the capital 
stock, and all other things of a general 
nature that are needed to be included in 
the incorporation of such a body. 
A code of by-laws needs to be adopted 
for the government and management of 
a co-operative association. The by-laws 
should define the method of exercising 
the power of the corporation through 
the board of directors and the officers ap- 
pointed by it, the conditions surrounding 
the admission of members, the dues or 
stock to be paid by each, and the condi- 
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tions surrounding the same. They should 
provide broad powers for the manager, 
including the supervision of the harvest- 
ing, grading, packing, distribution, and 
sale of the fruit, or for such of these 
operations as the association may wish to 
perform. They should define the grades 
to be adopted by the association for each 
kind of fruit. They should contain a 
provision by which the grower gives the 
association the exclusive right to market 
the fruit, with the possible exception of 
the lowest grades, and to harvest, grade, 
and pack the same. This includes the 
selling of the fruit for the members 
either as individuals or through pools of 
fruit, a penalty to be collected by the as- 
sociation for every package sold outside 
of the association. These objects are at- 
tained by the signature of the farmer 
to the by-laws of the association, or the 
association may require a special con- 
tract to be executed with the co-operating 
member. 
The methods of providing money for 
operating expenses, such as a fixed as- 
sessment against every package of fruit 
handled by the association, and the meth- 
od of prorating the balance if the total 
amount of the package assessment 
amounts to more than the operating ex- 
penses, and other things usually includ- 
ed in such organizations should be set 
forth in the by-laws. 
Types of Co-operative Associations 
The fruit growers’ organizations vary 
in form from joint-stock companies com- 
posed of growers or dealers or of both, 
who distribute their own products or the 
products of others, to the simple non- 
profit form of co-operative association 
which purchases the supplies and distrib- 
utes the products of its members at cost. 
The voting power of the members in 
the different associations varies from a 
single vote for each member to a vote 
proportional to the amount of stock 
owned by each or to the acreage held by 
each. His voting power may depend on 
the probable crop production or the ac- 
tual production of the preceding year. 
The capital may be contributed in limit- 
ed amount equally by each member in 
