ACTUAL- RESULTS IN CALIFORNIA 157 



Bureau of Plant Industry. Indeed the chief of the Bureau 

 in his letter of transmissal of Mr. Powell's report says: 

 "Largely as a result of the thorough organization of the 

 industry, and the active cooperative spirit shown by the 

 leading men in it, a prompt and general modification of 

 methods has resulted and is still in progress."* 



A third way in which the product is improved is by 

 making the grading much more strict. Standardization of 

 fruit and vegetables has always been difficult, but the asso- 

 ciations realize that business stability for the industry de- 

 pends on a reliable pack. Therefore, brands are adopted 

 and so far as possible maintained, and jobbers soon learn 

 to know the reliable brands and offer for these higher f . o. b. 

 prices or give them the preference on the auction. That 

 standardization of output may not be confined to individual 

 associations while diversity of standards for grading per- 

 sists as among the various associations, the California Fruit 

 Growers Exchange has established a field department, one 

 of whose functions is to cooperate with the different asso- 

 ciations toward securing uniformity in grading throughout 

 the exchange system. Besides the name of the association, 

 the "Sunkist" trade mark of the California Fruit Growers 

 Exchange appears on the wrappers of the best brands of 

 fruit shipped through the exchange. It would be unjust 

 to an association making rigid requirements for Sunkist 

 fruit if another having lower requirements were allowed 

 to ship under the same brand, so the field department of 

 the Exchange is responsible for standardizing the grades 

 and pack of all associations. Thus both the citrus industry 

 and the fruit trade are beneficially affected by the coopera- 

 tive system. 



"For this whole study of decay and the prompt response of the 

 citrus industry, see Powell : "The Decay of Oranges While in Transit 

 from California," U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant 

 Industry, Bulletin No. 133, igo8. 



