24 COOPERATIVE MARKETING 



the industry affords a livelihood for about 150,000 people. 

 Since the citrus area amounts to 190,000 acres it follows 

 that the average ranch contains from thirteen to fifteen 

 acres. There are a few groves, often owned by corpora- 

 tions, that contain 500 acres or more, but in general it may 

 be said that a man owning thirty acres is regarded as a large 

 grower. By far the most common unit is that of five or 

 ten acres. These figures seem insignificant to one familiar 

 with the size of the ordinary farm in the United States, 

 but it must be remembered that on a value basis even a 

 five acre orange grove at $2,000 an acre compares very 

 favorably with the ordinary middle Western farm. 



Growing citrus fruits is, then, distinctly a capitalistic 

 enterprise. While it is true that plenty of orange and lemon 

 properties can be obtained for a few hundred dollars an 

 acre, the chances are strong that there is something funda- 

 mentally wrong with such property. To purchase enough 

 desirable property for a satisfactory citrus enterprise there 

 are required a good many thousands of dollars, so it cannot 

 be thought of as an industry that offers many attractions 

 to the poor man. 



These facts suggest the type of owner that we may rea- 

 sonably expect. Almost always he is a man with the out- 

 ward marks of comfortable prosperity, and frequently he 

 is a man of wealth. , The industry has been sufficiently at- 

 tractive and profitable to induce many business and pro- 

 fessional men to join the ranks of the orchardists. It is 

 asserted, and not only by Calif ornians, with some degree 

 of reasonableness that the average California orange grower 

 is the most intelligent farmer in the world. In fact, the 

 industry presents problems so numerous and so complicated 

 that a high grade of intelligence is imperatively essential 

 to success as an owner, and even the orchard laborer needs 

 to be a man of some education and considerable judgment 



