1GO BUSINESS OPERATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS. 



who must be a thorough business man, and above suspicion. 

 They did not fix upon any one at that session, nor until a circu 

 lar letter had been sent to each of the Subordinate Granges, 

 asking them to name such parties as were competent and will 

 ing to serve. The election fell upon G. P. Kellogg, of Salinas, 

 who qualified by filing bonds to the amount of two hundred 

 thousand dollars, and entered at once upon his varied and diffi 

 cult task. 



He took rooms in the building occupied by Morgan s Sons, 

 and immediately put the Granges in possession of all the in 

 formation commanded by the firm. In order to relieve patrons 

 of limited means, who were compelled to realize at once on 

 their crop, the Executive Committee requested Mr. Walcott to 

 add to his sole business of shipper, that of purchaser, which he 

 promised to do to the extent of twenty or thirty thousand tons. 

 So lively was the competition pushed by the old wheat ring, 

 that in a very few weeks the prices went up even higher than 

 the Liverpool quotations would warrant, and Mr. Walcott, hav 

 ing entered into this competition, extended his purchases from 

 thirty to nearly a hundred thousand tons. The price steadily 

 rose from $1 50 per cental to $2 37J. Meanwhile, the State 

 Agent, watching closely to see that his employers were fairly 

 dealt with, was making favorable terms with dealers in imple 

 ments and importers, as will be seen in the official reports. 

 Mr. I. G. Gardner, a member of the Executive Committee, 

 acted as assistant to Mr. Kellogg, until the resignation of the 

 latter in January, 1874, when the Committee placed Mr. Gard 

 ner in full charge, tendering their own security for the faithful 

 performance of his duties. 



The efficiency with which these obligations were met, is best 

 shown by the footing-up of the operations of the first year, as 

 follows : 



Amount saved on sacks, $450,000; amount saved on tonnage, at 

 $5 per ton, $3,000,000; amount saved on agricultural implements, 

 $160,000; amount saved on groceries and general merchandise, 

 $200,000; amount saved on grain of 1873-74, at 15 cts. per 

 cental 9,000,000 centals $1,350,000. Total, $5,160,000. 



The magnitude of these operations, and the growing confi 

 dence of the people in the agency, already warranted the estab 

 lishment of a Grangers Bank. 



Early in April, 1874, the Executive Committee issued a call 



