THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 357 



The onion growers of California have never been organized. They plant indis- 

 criminately and market as individuals — as do the growers of most vegetable products. 

 Result: at times the consumer is begged to take onions at less than one cent a 

 pound, and at other times is required to pay 15 cents a pound. 



This fluctuation has not happened in the case of a single farming or fruit industry 

 that has organized for collective marketing. Both the producer and the consumer 

 have been benefited as the result of pooling the output, standardizing and grading 

 the pack, and reducing speculation to a minimum. The proof of this is the fact that 

 in the face of the most determined opposition to the organizing activities of the 

 State Market Director, the last legislature passed a new act to authorize the 

 extension of such activity, and Governor Stephens added his approval by reappointing 

 the State Market Director. 



As an individual, the producer is helpless, and not even the state can be of much 

 service. He is at the mercy of a shifting market, but the consumer does not reap 

 the logical benefit. The organized producers, on the other hand, are being assisted 

 and guided by the state at every turn, whenever perplexing conditions present 

 themselves. 



And what is the result'.' The organized producers are getting fair prices and the 

 unorganized are losing all along the line. Meanwhile, the consumers are buying the 

 standardized and graded products of organized growers at reasonable prices, while at 

 times paying extortionate prices for unorganized products, such as onions. 



The recent abnormal price of onions, for example, due mainly to spasmodic plant- 

 ing by unorganized growers, had of course the immediate effect of stimulating 

 everybody to plant onions. Had the growers been organized, they would have known 

 that they were overplanting and would have kept their acreage within reasonable 

 bounds. Organized consumers learn that overproduction, with disastrous prices, is 

 logically followed by underproduction and high prices to the consumer. In their own 

 interest, the producers object to abnormal prices because these in turn bring on 

 another season of overproduction. By getting together and accumulating accurate 

 information, they are able to plant intelligently, equalize production from year to 

 year and steady the market to such an extent that the consumer will not be at the 

 mercy of the fluctuating prices of speculators. 



The mau, whether producer or consumer, who can not read the answer is a poor 

 reader. 



