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Published on 06-04-2011 08:41 AM
During the 1920's most of the strawberry growers located in and around Sarcoxie, Missouri participated in a farming cooperative. Like today's orange growers, the purpose of the cooperative was to pool and leverage the resources of all the growers who were located in close geographic proximity. This particular cooperative was known as the Sarcoxie Horticultural Association, and in its heyday, it consisted of more than 200 member growers. As an operational strategy of the collective, the member growers established a financial arrangement with one of the town's banks; The Bank of Sarcoxie. Pursuant to that arrangement, the bank conceived and issued a special set of picker checks, consisting of three separate denominations that varied in size and amount. The first picker check, about the size of a nickel, represented a quart of strawberries harvested. The second, about the size of a quarter, represented a tray of strawberries harvested. And the third, about the size of a Peace Dollar, represented a crate of strawberries harvested.
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