growers' national marketing agency. 17 
As it was. however, an average price of $8.89 a barrel was obtained, 
resulting in an estimated gain of over $1,000,000 to the growers. 
Conditions in 1919 were worse than ever before. There was a 
very large crop .556. 000 barrels', the third largest in the history of 
the industry. The sugar situation instead of improving was be- 
coming worse. Transportation facilities were demoralized and 
weather conditions were adverse. The opening price for cranberries 
was placed at 8S.50 a barrel. In the last week of September severe 
sugar restrictions were placed on the country and the price of sugar 
rose to 25 and 30 cents a pound retail. The price of cranberries 
fell to 87.50 by the middle of October. Approximately $123,580 
was spent in advertising that year. Toward the last of October 
results began to be felt, and by the middle of Xovember the price 
again reached 8^.50. 
For the year 1920 there was an allotment of approximately 
S los.000 for advertising purposes. Of this amount. $77,937 was 
expended on advertising, which was an amount equal to 27^ cents 
a barrel on the total sales of the season. Nearly 831,000 of the 
advertising assessment was returned to the growers, because the 
demand was sufficient to clean up the supply without further ad- 
vertising expenditure. 
Up to and including the season of 1920-21 a total of $293,434 
was spent for advertising purposes. Tins amount is equal to an 
average of 20 cents a barrel on all cranberries shipped cooperatively 
from 1916 to 1921. 
It will be noticed from the data contained in Figure 4 that more 
money was received for a small crop in 1917 than was received for 
a crop over twice as large in 1914. Since 1917 the amount of 
money received has been more nearly in proportion to production. 
That is. a large crop has not necessarily meant small total receipts. 
It might be inferred that the increased receipts from cranberry 
sales were due to the general wave of rising prices. But this can 
hardly be the case, for the price and scarcity of sugar had a tendency 
to depress cranberry prices. This tendency was combated by the 
stimulation of consumption through advertising. Furthermore, if 
the increase were due in any large measure to the forces that caused 
prices to rise during the war, it would naturally follow that cran- 
berries would fall in price during 1920-21 in the face of an average 
crop and in a period of falling prices, but this was not the case, 
The bad years test to the fullest extent the advantages of coopera- 
tion. In all probability had it not been for advertising and the 
ability of the exchange to distribute shipments in a way to establish 
and maintain a reasonably stable market, many carloads would not 
have been sold at all in 1919. and the rest would have been sold 
1936= — 22— Bull. HOD 3 
