490 CALIFORNIA FRUIT SOCIETIES. 



for stock then and there, but upon subscriptions being called 

 for the hall was nearly emptied within a few minutes, with 

 only some hundreds of dollars subscribed, by less than a dozen 

 subscribers, but one of whom ever made good his subscription. 



In due time the directors met, subscribed to the stock, 

 organized, and incorporated. The manager who had acted 

 during the temporary organization, was the same who had 

 served the Santa Clara Exchange during its period of organi- 

 zation, and was therefore assumed to have had a useful expe- 

 rience. He undertook to serve only until the enterprise was 

 well started, but remained in service for over a year. The 

 character and scope of the work which the Exchange should 

 undertake had, in general terms, been outlined by the conven- 

 tion, from which, of course, directors chosen by that conven- 

 tion would not feel at liberty to materially depart for the first 

 year. The outlined program, however, contained far more, 

 than could be undertaken at once, and the obvious first duty 

 was to establish an effective organization, with the necessary 

 capital and income, and to this effort the manager addressed 

 himself. 



The press of the state lent itself very cordially to the 

 movement, but was of course unable by its own utterances to 

 treat the subject in any such way as to really contribute 

 to the education of the people, upon which everything 

 depended. The majority of the growers, and at first the 

 majority of the directors, regarded the state Exchange as a 

 proposed selling agent for tlie fruit of the whole state, some- 

 what on the plan of the California Fruit Union, then just 

 going out of business ; and, in fact, most people considered it 

 as connected exclusively with dried fruits. Those connected 

 with the press, as well as most growers, having little or no idea 

 either of the real bonds of connection between the different 

 branches of the industry, or of the limitations of possible 

 state cooperation imposed by matters of finance and detail, 

 were unable to discuss the subject intelligently, and the 

 manager was compelled to expend a great part of his vital 

 force in combating erroneous impressions, and warning against 

 extravagant anticipations. With so large an undertaking as 



