The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1902-09-02

business with all the money CA0S
could command, it is easy to under
stand that their crops soon became SO
large that something had to be done
to find an outlet for their products at
r~emunerative prices. Cooperation
solved the problem and there are now
in that State half a dozen or mor CO.
operative associations that have de-
veloped the industries that they repre-
sent as they never could have been
developed by individual effort. What
has been accomplished in California
by cooperation can be done in other
States if the same good judgment is
exercised in the management of the
associations.
WHAT THE TRUCKERS OF EASTERN
NORTH CAROLINA HAvE DONE.
My W native State, North Caro-
lima, is not lacking in Illustrations
of what can be accomplished by CO.
operation among her farmers.
In the trucking region of the State
there is an association known as the
Eastern Fruit and Truck Growers As
ISOLATION that had it's beginning some
eight or ten years ago and has proved
to be a mighty force in the trucking
section of the State. When it first
began operations the strawberry grow
ers were paying ~ cents per quart
for picking. Good pickers could cas-
lily pick 200 quarts a day, and have
as many as 300 quarts in a day.
This and other conditions made berry
picking very attractive and often 9th
farm work suffered on account of
it. The members of the Association
decided that one cent a quart for
picking would well pay the pickers,
for at that price they could make
from $3.50 to $3.50 per day. during the
of the season. There was nat
urally some kicking at the beginning
of the first season at the reduction in
price for picking, and a strike follow
ed. However, the growers we're deter
mined to abide by the decision of the
Association, knowing that the Asso-
citation would stand by them, and as
a result two or three car loads of pick
ers (persons who had been working on
farms for much less than they could
make picking berries at one cent a
quartz were brought in, which resulted
in a settlement of the strike by the
home pickers accepting the situation
and picking the crop at n cent a
quart. That has been the price paid
for picking from then until now. By
this action of the Association there
has been saved, in the item of picking
alone, more than $4,000 per year for
the last eight years.
Nor was this the only and largest
saving by the Association to the berry.
growers. At that time the express
company, and the railroad when ship
ped by refrigerators, charged $1.25
per crate on berries to New York. The
Association through it's authorized
committees took up the transportation
subject with the railroads, and have
succeeded in getting the price, when
shipped by refrigerator cars, to less
than IS cents per crate, and by express
for about 80 cents per crate. It will
be seen by this that the saving in
freight and express charges amount
to $4,000 or more, a year. I was
told by a member of the Association,
some two years since, that freight and
express charges in territory outside
of the Association were ABOUT the
same then that they had been before
the Association had secured the re-
duction in its territory, which is evil
dence hat without the Association
this reduction in freight and express
charges would not have come to the
truckers.
In addition to this the Association
has a business agent who looks after
the markets and is continually putting
North Carolina berries in new mar,
Eets. He is also director of carload
shipments and thereby largely pre-.
vents Cutting the market in the lar.
ger cities, so that better prices are OBJ.
tanned throughout the season thar
would be had if there were no system
end every shipper sent his berries for
ward without the advice Of one who
knows just how many carloads of Der
ries will arrive at any of the markets
on a certain day.