CHAPTER IX 



VALUE OF THE EXCHANGE SYSTEM, MEASURED BY 

 RESULTS IN CALIFORNIA 



This sort of a study in cooperative method would be 

 comparatively valueless if it described only the form of 

 organization of the various societies and the functions these 

 bodies are supposed to perform. No matter how splendid 

 the organization, we want to know what it has done and 

 what it can do. If the system of cooperation as worked 

 out by the California citrus growers cannot exhibit a record 

 of actual accomplishments far superior to those obtained 

 through the methods employed by other farmers in the 

 marketing of their crops it has little to offer as one mode 

 of attack on the vast problem of food distribution. How 

 then does an organized agricultural industry carry on its 

 operations, what does it do, what has it done that un- 

 organized industries have failed to do? 



It is but fair to take up the purposes of the exchange 

 system as set forth in the contract between the California 

 Fruit Growers Exchange and its members and inquire to 

 what extent each has been realized. The first purpose of 

 forming, the organization was to lessen the cost of market- 

 ^^. How cooperation has furthered the production of 

 citrus fruits need not be considered at this point. Attention 

 will be devoted to processes of marketing proper, namely, 

 packing, transportation, refrigeration, selling and the col- 

 lection of proceeds. Before the era of cooperation, ship- 

 pers charged about fifty cents a box for packing. Now an 

 incomparably superior pack costs slightly over thirty cents 



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