CHAPTER V. 



THE DRIED FRUIT AND NUT ASSOCIATIONS. 



ALMOST simultaneously with the beginnings of coopera- 

 tive effort in the San Joaquin raisin district, producers 

 of dried fruit in Santa Clara County evolved a class of 

 organizations which have thus far proved very successful, al- 

 though they have never yet controlled the crop, or approached 

 the effectiveness of a Trust. Although originating in Santa 

 Clara County, the example has been followed in all parts of 

 the state, and there are now a large number in successful 

 operation. These societies do not differ in principle from the 

 cooperative raisin-packing societies already described, but they 

 were, for some years, far more successful than those societies, 

 mainly for the reason that, situated in the midst of an older 

 and richer community, they have had no financial trouble. 

 They also had the advantage of beginning while the fruit 

 business was still remunerative, and, while they have not been 

 able; to arrest the downward movement in prices, inevitably 

 following the enormously rapid increase of production, they 

 have greatly steadied the descent, and assisted to equalize the 

 pressure among all engaged in the business. Their character 

 and methods will be better understood after a brief description 

 of the dried-fruit business. 



The Santa Clara A^alley lies south of the southern arm of 

 the Bay of San Francisco, San Jose, the commercial center 

 of the valley, being fifty miles distant from the city of San 

 Francisco. Originally a great wheat field, some of its inhab- 

 itants were prompt to see tlie attractions of the fruit business, 

 and to engage in it. The plums known to commerce as 

 "prunes" were found to succeed admirably, and large areas 

 were rapidly planted to these trees, as well as to apricots, 

 peaches, pears, and, in fact, nearly all deciduous fruits; but 

 the prune was largely in the lead. The apricot grows and 



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