6 
The Colorado Experiment Station. 
pelled at times to handle thousands of dollars’ worth of business. The 
position is such as, in ordinary business life, would command a salary of 
five thousand dollars a year or more.”—(Waugh; Fruit Harvesting, Storing, 
Marketing.) 
Growers who are not members may ship through the associa¬ 
tion on the same terms, but they are usually required to pay more 
for supplies. 
All of the larger concerns require both members and non-mem¬ 
bers, for whom they ship, to bring all their fruit to the association. 
Formerly stockholders were allowed to sell their own fruit 
by paying the association a small premium. Neither were objec¬ 
tions made to members filling orders from near-by towns. But, as 
these means of disposing of fruit are manifestly unfair to a majority 
of the association members, they have come to be looked upon with 
disfavor and in most instances are no longer allowed. 
One of the strong points in favor of the association idea, as 
worked out in Colorado, is the possibility of a fairly uniform pack. 
This results in better prices, since buyers have the assurance that all 
associations strive to make their goods as nearly uniform as pos¬ 
sible. Then, contrary to the idea often advanced that poor fruit 
brings as great a price as good, the most rigid grading must be 
practiced, and the intention is to place each fruit in its proper grade, 
thus only the best grade sells for the highest price, and, indeed, the 
grower of inferior fruit is fortunate to dispose of his crop at all. 
There are two methods of packing and grading fruit; in one 
instance, the association does all the packing, the growers delivering 
the fruit to the packing house just as it is taken from the trees. 
Here the packers, under the direction of a superintendent, sort the 
fruit into the various grades, and at the same time pack it into boxes 
or crates. Should there be any culls, they are returned to the grow¬ 
er and are at his disposal. 
Each grower is given a number, which is used to designate 
his fruit throughout the season. As each box is packed, it is marked 
with his number and the grade. When the boxes are loaded into 
the cars, the number of boxes, the varieties and the various grades 
which belong to any grower are kept account of and duly recorded. 
In this way the price for each box of fruit in any car is easily 
determined. 
But where there is a very large amount of fruit to be handled 
it is impossible for the association to do the packing, consequently 
the growers assume this work. With this arrangement, the asso¬ 
ciation employs an inspector, whose duty it is to inspect each load 
as it is delivered. This he does by opening the boxes on the side, 
in the case of apples, when a good estimate of the contents may be 
made. If the pack is satisfactory, not more than two boxes may 
be opened. If unsatisfactory, several may be examined, and if all 
