ACTUAL RESULTS IN CALIFORNIA 155 



to the attention of members with the result that both the 

 quality and quantity of fruit produced in the future are cer- 

 tain to be improved. Much of the campaign against various 

 forms of fruit pests as well as the putting into effect of 

 methods for their control is ascribable to the cooperative 

 organization of the citrus industry. 



Second, care in handling the fruit is made obligatory 

 on all members, because the reputation of the entire system 

 cannot be jeopardized to humor the shiftlessness of a few 

 individuals. Under the old plan the ordinary grower had 

 no reputation to maintain so he tried to get to market the 

 greatest possible quantity of oranges or lemons at the least 

 possible cost, paying little heed to an)rthing but immediate 

 returns. Thus buyers were constantly swindled by securing 

 fruit that was in poor condition on arrival or which rapidly 

 became unsalable. Of course these sins reacted upon the 

 growers themselves, until the annual losses from decay 

 were estimated around the $1,000,000 mark, and the loss 

 of confidence in California oranges by the trade resulted 

 in low prices and thus, indirectly, in additional losses. 



For the purpose of studying these losses from decay the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, beginning in 

 1903-04, made an elaborate series of investigations, in 

 which it was shown that the causes of decay were not due 

 to certain kinds of soil or climate or location, to different 

 times of picking or to a poor transportation service, but 

 were directly attributable to injuries due to careless methods 

 of handling in field and packing house. Pickers were paid 

 by the box and were allowed to use clippers which scratched 

 large quantities of fruit. Little care was used in transfer- 

 ring fruit from picking bag to box, in loading or in haul- 

 ing. Each grower supervised his own picking and the 

 associations, not realizing the damage from careless 

 handling, did net try to enforce rules against mechanical 



