484 CALIFOEXIA FRUIT SOCIETIES. 



standard of excellence in dried fruit. They have a substantial 

 and well-managed business, and make no attempts to increase 

 their own membership, or even to hold the business of their 

 stockholders, much less to promote the formation of additional 

 cooperative societies. 



I have stated that the Exchange was organized to be a 

 common selling agent for all the Unions, and that, after its 

 organization, local influences of various kinds prevented the 

 Unions from accepting leadership of any kind. Precisely like 

 individuals, they desired absolute independence, and a spirit 

 of rivalry and distrust began to grow up among them, such 

 as always grows up between competitors everywhere. To put 

 a stop to this feeling and its attendant evils, negotiations, begun 

 in 1894, resulted in the establishment, in 1895, of a common 

 agency, known as the "California Fruit Agency," through 

 which the Exchange and three of the Unions have since that 

 time made their sales. This has obvious advantages in 

 economy and in other ways, but two of the Unions have thus 

 far declined to come in, and these continue to make sale of 

 their products through San Francisco commission houses. 



During 1894 and 1895, and later, quite a number of dried- 

 fruit associations similar to those of the Santa Clara Valley 

 were organized in other fruit districts of the state, most of 

 which died after a more or less feeble existence. Of those 

 established during that period, three only, I think, survive. 

 No one of these has any such volume of business as would 

 Justify it in making any effective canvass of distant markets 

 — an experience which is essential to a mastery of the art of 

 marketing. They have not thought best to unite with the 

 Santa Clara Exchanges, and, while they are useful, and ap- 

 parently to be permanent local societies, they have as yet 

 none of them approached the limit of success in cooperative 

 marketing. 



The principal fruit industry of the seven southern counties 

 of California is the citrus fruits — oranges, lemons, and pomelos. 

 For a long lime it was not thought that that these counties 

 were adapted to the production of deciduous fruits, except 

 apricots, and, at any rate, the citrus industries had greater 



