INFORMATION RELATING TO CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION I7 



to increase steadily until it has reached the enormous total of 180,000,000 

 pounds. The raisiti grape is now grown on approximately 150,000 acies in 

 California. 



In the early days the growers did their own marketing individually ; 

 but companies soon oiganized themselves for the purposes of bu3^ng rai- 

 sins from the growers, packing them and marketing them under various 

 brand names. Competition among these companies gradually lowered the 

 prices to growers until at last the latter were selling at less than the cost 

 of production. The state of affairs became so unbearable that in 1912 the 

 growers banded together and organized what is now known as the California 

 Associated Raisin Company, an association which aims at giving such sta- 

 bility to the raisin market that a fair price is guaranteed to the growers. 

 The company saved the raisin industry from ruin and has been a decided 

 success. It is governed by a board of twenty-five trustees apportioned 

 among five districts. These trustees, when elected in 1912, became the le- 

 gal representatives of the subscribers with full power to act for them in the 

 work of incorporating and conducting the company for seven years. The 

 interest of each individual subscriber is shown by a trust certificate, is 

 sued to him by the trustees, transferable and entitling the holder to his pro 

 portion of dividends but to no voting rights. At the end of the seven years 

 the trust agreement will expire, and the trust certificates will be exchanged 

 for regular corporation stock certificates. 



The trust agreement provided that $300,000 should be subscribed be- 

 fore it came into force. This was done duly, about 90 per cent, of the 

 amount being subscribed by raisin growers and the balance by business and 

 professional men of the raisin growing district. Immediately after the com- 

 pany had been incorporated in 1912 the trustees and directors decided that 

 m order to control laisin prices they must control not less than 60 per cent, 

 of the crop for three years., with the option of doing so for further two years. 

 After a long, hard struggle they obtained control of 76 per cent, of the crop. 

 The companA began its real work in the spring of 1913. The 1913 and 1914 

 crops were received, and sold and paid for in full at satisfactory prices. 

 The 1915 crop, the largest in the history of the industry by 30,000 tons, was 

 received and paid for at guaranteed prices. A campaign for securing con- 

 tracts for crops on additional acreage was begun on i January' 1916 and 

 prosecuted vigorously unt'.l i April. It was based on a statement by the 

 board of directors that all contracts would be surrendered and efiorts to 

 control prices abandoned if contracts for 15,000 additional acres were not 

 signed before i April. The campaign was an overwhelming success. The 

 total area under contract to the company is now about 157,000 acres, is 

 owned by more than 8,000 growers, and represents almost exactly 90 per 

 cent, of the acreage under raisins in the State. 



The stockholders of the company now number 3,569. Its net profits 

 up to 30 September 1915 were $198,588.32. Out of that sum two dividends 

 have been paid, one of 5 per cent, and one of 6 per cent., leaving a surplus 

 of $84,497,32. Since the 1916 crop has not yet been sold the figures for 

 that year canuot be given. 



