1280 
of the proceeds based on the number of 
pounds or packages of each grade that 
he has contributed In theory the grower 
has the privilege of contributing to each 
pool his pro rata of the fruit of the as- 
sociation as a whole, the manager of 
the association usually apportioning to 
the growers their quota in accordance 
with their respective acreage. The pool- 
ing arrangement greatly simplifies the 
practical business methods of the asso- 
ciation. 
The successful working of the pooling 
system depends on having the handling, 
grading and packing of the fruit under 
the direction or control of the associa- 
tion. It may but does not often succeed 
where these operations are in the hands 
of the grower. It depends, further, on 
having a large proportion of the fruit 
of the association of uniform grade. 
There is considerable variation in the 
average quality of different lots of fruit 
in the same grade, even under the most 
rigid system of grading. The fancy grade 
of one grower may average better than 
the fancy of another, though the fruit of 
both is entitled to be graded fancy under 
the established rules of the association. 
No grower is willing to admit that he 
does not raise the best fruit in his com- 
munity, and where it happens that his 
fruit falls below the average and he is 
paid for a larger proportion of the lower 
grades than his neighbor he may become 
dissatisfied, when he will either drift 
along and finally leave the association or 
will adopt better cultural methods. In 
some communities there is a friendly ri- 
valry among the association members in 
securing the largest proportion of the 
higher grades of fruit. The grade of 
fruit grown under similar conditions of 
soil and location depends largely on the 
cultural skill of the grower, and the pub- 
licity that the association affords regard- 
ing the results of grading the fruit of 
different growers is a strong factor in 
stimulating better cultural methods in a 
community as a whole. 
On the other hand, the pooling system 
may not encourage the unusually skillful 
grower to develop fruit of the highest 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
average grade. If he stands alone as a 
skillful grower, he will not get the full 
advantage of his extra-fine fruit in the 
pool, as the practical effect of the pool 
is to lower the price of extra-fine fruit 
and to raise the price of fruit that can 
barely enter a grade. An association 
ought, therefore, to be composed of mem- 
bers located similarly as to soil and 
other physical conditions and having 
similar cultural skill and, preferably, 
similar acreage. Unless these fundamen- 
tal conditions are carefully guarded, the 
pooling system may tend to lower the 
average grade of the fruit of a com- 
munity because the grower, realizing that 
the identity of his fruit is lost in the 
pool, may grow careless in his cultural 
practices and trust to the better fruit 
of his more careful neighbors to raise 
the average net returns of the grades 
in which his fruit is pooled. 
The Size of a Co-operative Association 
In theory a large association can han- 
dle a business more economically than 
asmall one. It is not usually practicable, 
in the orange business for example, to 
organize an association and build a pack- 
ing house unless there are at least 150 
cars of fruit to ship. The largest asso- 
ciations do not often ship more than 750 
cars, and only a few of these large asso- 
ciations are highly successful, as they are 
likely to become unwieldy and difficult 
to hold together. 
There is a wide difference in the char- 
acter of the fruit grown on different soils 
at different altitudes or with other dis- 
similar physical conditions. The varia- 
tion shows in the texture of the skin, in 
its color and clearness, in the flavor of 
the fruit, and in those qualities which 
give it style and attractiveness. There 
is no system of grading by which the 
fruit grown under different conditions 
can be made uniform and similar. An 
association should therefore include not 
only those growers who are similarly 
skillful, but also those whose fruit nat- 
urally shows similar characteristics. 
In a community in which the fruit is 
somewhat variable it is a wiser policy 
to organize several associations, each 
