48 COOPERATIVE MARKETING 



out of the question for an ordinary grower to escape from 

 the old hne packer and shipper by doing the work for him- 

 self in his own plant. This suggested to Mr. Chamblin 

 the possibility of a group of growers federating themselves 

 together in the ownership of a common packing house. 

 Then it was not a far step to the idea of selling the fruit 

 of these joint owners through the officers of the association 

 instead of each grower being compelled to make his own 

 arrangements for marketing. Here in essence is the ex- 

 change idea, the employment of collective packing and col- 

 lective marketing facilities. 



During the lean years of the early '90s members of the 

 Pachappa Association had fared much better than had in- 

 dividual shippers, and this fact led to a meeting of growers 

 in Los Angeles in 1893. The purpose of the convention 

 was stated to be: "To provide for the marketing of all 

 the citrus fruit at the lowest possible cost under vmiform 

 methods, and in a manner to secure to each grower a cer- 

 tain marketing of his fruit and the full average price to 

 be obtained in the market for the entire season." Mr. 

 Chamblin was the directing spirit of this meeting, and he 

 outlined a plan according to which associations for packing 

 the fruit were to be organized in the various districts. Then 

 from each of these districts one representative was to be 

 selected, and the group of representatives was to form a 

 central committee which was to attend to the marketing 

 arrangements for all of the associations. This plan, essen- 

 tially sound in principle, was finally adopted and put into 

 operation during the years 1893-94 and 1894-95. But the 

 details were not thoroughly worked out, and a complete 

 reorganization was effected in October, 1895, when the 

 Southern California Fruit Exchange was organized en- 

 tirely alot^ cooperative lines. 



Before turning to an examination of this perfected or- 



