478 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



business man in California that can show any such record. The farmers 

 can by organization, and the exchange south has just got this reduced 

 to a science and has cut expenses one third. They are packing every- 

 thing at a cost of two thirds of what they did pay. That is a nice little 

 sum ; that would make good pin money. I hope you will all see that this 

 matter is of very great importance, and I think it ought to come before 

 every fruit convention. On behalf of the association I want to thank 

 Mr. Dargitz for his splendid address. 



Mr. Stephens. I certainly am in accord with every word that has 

 been said by Mr. Dargitz, and believe it is a great thing if he can accom- 

 plish what he has set out to do; and if the growers will assist him in 

 accomplishing that, they will have solved the problem of marketing 

 dried fruits; but this has nothing to do with the marketing of our 

 green deciduous fruits. They are both important. Now, the cjuestion 

 is the value comparing the green fruits and the dried fruits. I agree 

 with you, Mr. Chairman, that you people south of Tehachapi have 

 accomplished wonderful things, and if the growers north of Tehachapi 

 could be induced in any manner to come together and get in unison Avith 

 your growers south of Tehachapi, they will solve the marketing ques- 

 tion of the green fruit proposition, but they are handicapped in so many 

 ways. The trouble with many of them, in some instances 75 per cent, 

 they are in an impecunious condition. There was a time here that you 

 couldn't borrow a dollar upon fruit lands, improved vineyards or 

 orchards, from the banks —savings banks ; and when you did succeed in 

 borrowing a thousand or ten thousand, you had to enter into a stipulated 

 agreement that you would ship every pound of your fruit with that 

 association and with that organization. Now I say 3'ou cannot borrow 

 a dollar excepting upon a certain high per cent of the value of the land. 



I am pleased to hear that the almond interests have been placed upon 

 a paying basis through the action and work of the Almond Growers' 

 Association or exchange. I am a strong advocate for co-operation. I 

 have the privilege of belonging to one of these associations. Mr. Hum- 

 jDhrey is one member and I am the other. Years ago we took our busi- 

 ness out of the jobbers. We happened to have enough to load a car, and 

 we market our own fruit. "VVe eliminate the jobbers from our business, 

 with the exception, maybe, of a Aveek or two at the beginning of the 

 season, when we have to ship small cjuantities with the others, but we do 

 our own business ; we have our own agents. We have tried to get others 

 with us; we invited others to co-operate with us, but the trouble was 

 that the jobber would go around and give them rebates upon the com- 

 mission and upon the shipment, and say. Don't you think you could 

 do your business as well with us as with Stephens and Humphrey? 

 When they got them into debt so badly they would have to borrow 

 money from them, then they were no longer independent. I will give 

 you an illustration. There w^as a neighbor of mine, a good business 

 man, too, who was struggling along, in debt, trying to get out. He went 

 to one of these interests and borrowed a certain amount of money upon 

 a crop of fruit, with the understanding that he would ship his crop 



