THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



87 



jicknowlodged success, and nil agi'oe 

 tli;it it has been the salvation of a 

 most iniiiortaiit induslry of our State. 

 California is jicfuiiai-ly handicap- 

 ped in till' eii'funistances attending 

 her fruit indu^-try. Wo are over 2,000 

 iM.ilcs from mari<ot, and the freight 

 charges on fruit to the Eastern cities 

 ai'e altont on/ dollar a hoK. We had 

 lo comiiiote with Italy and other sub- 

 trciiiical and foreign nations \vlier(> 

 citrus fi'\iits were produced. These 

 ti-ansi)orta(ions was by water, and, 

 so. very cheap. Our superior intelli- 

 gtMice, energy and enterprise made it 

 possible for us to eclipse them to a 

 marked degree in the quality of the 

 fruit, but with railroads against us, 

 and their determination to 'charge all 

 the traffic would bear,' it Avas impos- 

 sil)le for us to win success except 

 llirough co-operation. As a result we 

 have today the Southern California 

 I'ruit Exchange. By the aid of this 

 the citrus-fruit growers of our section 

 have won a substantial success, and 

 I doultt if any rural industry in the 

 country can make a better showing, 

 despite the great disadvantage of dis- 

 tant market and railroad transporta- 

 tion. 



A HONEY EXCHANGE POSSIBI.E. 



For an exchange in any line to suc- 

 ceed demands a very intelligent con- 

 stitutency. Our citrus growers of 

 Southern California are largely edu- 

 cated men. They read, think, and 

 many had wide business experience 

 hefore they commenced the work of 

 fruit culture. Such co-operation as 

 the Exchange implies must be found- 

 ed upon faith in each other, absence 

 <tf distrust and suspicion, and a will- 

 ingness lo pay for lirst-class business 

 talenl. what other lines of business 

 are willing to pay, and do pay. Our 

 bee-keepers, to be successful, must 

 lead and think. As a general thing 



the apiarists are a reading, thinking 

 people. If I am right in this conjec- 

 tun^ then they will be more free from 

 suspicion and more ready lo act upon 

 recognized business i)riucii)!es; freer 

 from disti'ust and suspicion, and nuist 

 agree to procure the best business 

 talent and ability, even though they 

 do have to pay what sec^ms an exor- 

 bitant price for it. 



1 feel certain that in time we shall 

 ha\'e a Xational honey ex<diange. Vet, 

 as in our government relations, the 

 dilferent States will act separately, 

 and each will have its own exchange 

 which in many respects will be (juite 

 in(lep(>ndent of tlH> others, though all 

 will be organically uiuted and one 

 man of signal ability who is man- 

 ager of the great National exchange 

 will have general direction over all 

 the subordinate exchanges; that is, 

 the exchanges of the separate States. 

 This general manager would have his 

 head(iuarters in some great central 

 market. I should suppose proliably 

 Chicago would be headcpiarters for 

 the National exchange. 



Of course, this general manager 

 would have his advisers. This might 

 be a sort of executive committee ap- 

 pointed from the various States, and 

 would be composed of men of marked 

 business ability. It would very likely 

 be better to have this executive com- 

 mittee of these advisers of the great 

 business manager made up of the 

 business managers of the ditftM'ent 

 States, in which case, of course, 

 meetings could not be held oftener 

 than annually, and so the biisiness 

 would have to l)e largely by corres- 

 pondence. In lh(>se days of typewrit- 

 ers and telephones this would be no 

 serious handicap. 



The work of this genei'al manager 

 Avonid be chietly distribution and 

 marketing. He would have his ear 

 constantly to the ground, and would 



