474 CALIFORNIA FRUIT SOCIETIES. 



money on account as was required; final settlement was made 

 when all was sold. The plans of the association were elastic, 

 and any grower who preferred to dry his fruit at home might 

 do so, and bring it dried to the packing-house, where it was 

 graded and then mingled with the fruit dried by the society. 

 The accounts were so kept that the expenses of selling were 

 shown separately from those incurred in drying, and the grower 

 bringing his fruit dried was charged only for the expense of 

 selling. 



The society, of course, was incorporated, the par value of 

 the shares being $25, all of which was paid in at once or 

 during the season. The idea, being new to most growers, was 

 received as new ideas are generally received by the public, 

 who were quite ready to meet at the schoolhouses and 

 approve them by resolution, but extremely slow to sign their 

 names to subscriptions to stock. The promoters, liowever, 

 were not easily discouraged, and, being all men of substance 

 and standing in the community, eventually succeeded in 

 selling the required amount of stock, divided among some 

 eighty or more orchardists, some of whom lived too far away to 

 ever expect to make use of the organization, but benevolently 

 gave the $25 "to help it along," never expecting to see their 

 money again. It was intended that stock subscriptions should 

 be made upon the basis of acreage in orchard, and to a certain 

 extent this was done, but as success was earnestly desired, the 

 promoters were not very particular, in consequence of which 

 some "benevolent" growers obtained for |25 the privilege of 

 drying-grounds and plant for large orchards which they could 

 not have provided by themselves for fifty times the money. 

 Ten acres of land were purchased, a building erected, trays 

 and machinery provided, and in the fall of 1891 the associa- 

 tion was ready for business. 



The stockholders were afraid to trust their own business 

 agency. Of eighty or more who had undertaken to cooperate, 

 but five or six were found ready to intrust their fruit to the 

 care of the men of their choice, and their servants. What 

 they were afraid of it would be hard to say, Init they were 

 afraid. Especially they disliked pooling their fruit with that 



