MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION OP WESTERN MUSKMELONS. 7 
"It is further mutually agreed between the Distributor and the Grower that the 
inspector furnished by the Distributor shall make inspection of all the cantaloupes 
delivered for shipment by the Grower, and his decision on grade, quality, and pack 
shall be final and binding on both parties hereto. 
' ' In witness whereof the parties hereto have hereunto set their hands and seals on 
the day and year first above written." 
By".":." 
Witness : 
UNFAVORABLE FEATURES OF PRESENT CONTRACTS. 
A careful study of the foregoing typical contract shows that the 
pooling arrangements in general use possibly may work an injustice 
to the producer, because all types of packages are included in one pool. 
As the distributor is paid a commission on gross sales, it is to his ad- 
vantage to handle as many muskmelons as possible during the season, 
provided his average net return does not fall below the amount of his 
guaranty. It may happen that although standards are selling at 
prices which are returning good margins over the guaranteed season 
average, ponies are selling at prices which result in actual loss to the 
producer. By averaging the two classes of packages/the distributor 
may be protected on his advance and may secure a larger commission 
by handling more cars than he would if ponies were not shipped. 
Meanwhile, the grower is receiving a smaller return than he would 
if he shipped only standards. This inequity could be overcome by 
maintaining separate pools for standards and ponies. 
A further disadvantage of the contract system has been that in the 
past it has had a tendency to encourage the packing of muskmelons 
of poor quality. In other seasons the advances were higher than in 
1915, sometimes being as high as 85 cents. This amount was in 
excess of the cost of production and guaranteed the grower a profit 
on every crate shipped. Under such conditions there has been an 
inclination to pack as many crates as possible, regardless of quality. 
Some growers have even gone to the extent of " facing" the crates by 
putting good melons on the outside and packing poor ones in the 
middle. Under such circumstances the growers have depended on 
their advances for profit instead of depending upon the production of 
high-class goods, which would bring good prices. The result has been 
to cause a deterioration in the average quality, which has injured the 
reputation of Imperial Valley muskmelons. The importance of coop- 
eration between growers and distributors to obtain good quality can 
hardly be overestimated. 
