The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-18
By AARON sApIRo

ny hAhON SaIIhO
 Your farmers producing a certain crop have set up their organization They are organized upon q big scale. compact and powerful. Now, what do they po with that organization? Set out to stop dumping? Yes. But that is only the negative end of the process. The positive end is that they set out to merchandise their product after the most advanced methods of big American business.
 The large manufacturer the mer- chandising expert of magazines and newspapers, the big merchant, will know instantly what we mean by mer- cEandising. The average American business man probably has an idea Of the word that nowhere approaches adequacy. "Yes, yes" he says, they probably mean, first you advertise like the dickens and then you put new line of pep talk into your force of salesmen,"
 Well, that isn't so bad at that though it is first glimmering and nothing more. Advertising does play g tremendous part in the game. Any body who reads the magazines and newspapers today and sees certain brands of California or Florida citrus fruits. raisins. and other food prod uets advertised In magnificent and costly display. ought to know with out being told that the cooperative marketing associations which are handlers of the products in question arc among the foremost believers in advertising in this world Three California o-operatives are alone spending S4.000,0oo this year for ad- yertislnE. They swear by it. But II is only one part of the game.
 Ricrpr nnd neeuer Thiur
 Merchandising is bigger and deeper thing than that. Merchandise ing is everything that enters into the business of increasing permanently the demand for your product Mer- ehandising by certain cooperative marketing association has increased by six times the American con- sumption of one well known Cali fornia food crop within the last 10 wears alone. Advertising did q lot of il. but advertising did not do 1t all.
 The first thing that good merchan- disng requires is to make the sup ply of the product as attractive as possible. You will find the cooper atives changing completely the grad ing systems for the goods that they handle tho instant they enter the field. You will find them spending large sums and tremendous energies 1H Aiit tuAtdllOH oi lHeiG BEoWtTS to the production of better and bet ter quality. You will find them im- proving the packing and the process- ing of goods. You will find them de- veloping new uses for these goods.
 Tho first year the California As- sociated Raisin company, now the Sun-Maid Ralsin Growers, introduced tho use of raisins in the baking of bread more raisins, it is said, were baked in bread by American bakers than had been consumed by the en- tire country before that cooperative organization came into existence Last year, almost as many more were sold in the form of a new 5-cent package.
 certain California Poultry Pro- ducers' association sells eggs in the markets of New York city at a premium of cents a dozen over eggs raised right in New York state, be- cause of the use of certain packing processes which they have evolved, which assure better and more re- liable product.
 Improvement of Distribution
 Merchandising means the improve