COOPERATIVE PURCHASING AND MARKETING ORGANIZATIONS. 9 
For various reasons a large number of failures have occurred among 
the farmers' cooperative stores. This line of business is not as well 
understood by the farmer as is the elevator or creamery business and 
he frequently fails to take into consideration the problems con- 
nected with the management of a store. The member of a creamery 
or an elevator association is in a better position to keep in touch with 
the business, while the members of a cooperative store association 
usually leave the supervision of its affairs entirely in the hands of the 
manager. Although this is a satisfactory arrangement in some cases, 
the manager is not always capable, and in some cases the store has 
even suffered through willful mismanagement. Another factor 
which sometimes causes failure is the fact that the farmers have been 
led to expect greater returns than it is possible to secure, so that the 
members are disappointed with the results obtained and cease to 
support the enterprise. 
The failure of some cooperative stores is accounted for by the fact 
that they have not been operated in accordance with the underlying 
principles of cooperation. The English stores, based on the Roch- 
dale plan of organization, are often cited as examples, of successful 
cooperative stores. These stores embody the true principles of 
cooperation in that the voting power and financial interests of the 
members are limited, and the profits are distributed according to 
patronage. 
FRUIT AND PRODUCE ASSOCIATIONS. 
The method of marketing the fruit crop is very complex because of 
the perishability of the commodities handled and because a large 
proportion of the fruit is produced in certain restricted localities from 
which it must be distributed to all parts of the United States and 
foreign countries. The fruit growers of the United States have been 
attracted by the possibilities of cooperative fruit marketing, and 
during the last 25 years a large number of associations have been 
formed which have been very successful. 
The most successful fruit-marketing associations are found in the 
Pacific Coast States, among the citrus fruit growers of California and 
the apple growers of the North Pacific States. These organizations 
owe a large part of their success to the fact that they do more than 
merely attend to the actual selling of the fruit. The fruit crop varies 
in quality; therefore the associations have assisted in standardizing 
the growing of the fruit, and in many instances have taken charge of 
the sorting and packing. Thus a large quantity of fruit of the same 
grade and quality is assured, and it is possible to establish trade- 
marked brands which become known to the trade. By conducting 
advertising campaigns on an extensive scale consumers are reached in 
large numbers, the consumption of the fruit is increased, a demand is 
insured, and brands are established on the market. A single grower 
