i6o COOPERATIVE MARKETING 



fruit which was unfit for food, but it did not stop the ship- 

 ping of sour fruit as long as no sweating was done or if 

 the boxes were labelled "Color of fruit accelerated by 

 sweating." So other remedies were required. Finally the 

 United States Department of Agriculture decided that 

 sweated oranges are fit for food when the ratio of soluble 

 solids in the juice to the citric acid is not greater than eight 

 to one. This is known locally as the eight to one standard, 

 and in putting it into effect the exchange system took a 

 leading part, even in some respects making its own require- 

 ments more rigid than the Government's. 



The season of 1914-15 was the first in which growers 

 agreed to ship no fruit that did not come up to the eight 

 to one standard, and the restolts on the market of taking 

 such a stand were highly gratifying. The steadying effect 

 of the exchange system upon individual selfishness was 

 forcefully demonstrated by the manner in which the Cali- 

 fornia Fruit Growers Exchange management jolted back 

 into line one recalcitrant association which attempted to 

 disregard the regulations as to quality.' It therefore should 

 be evident from this general account that the exchange 

 system has markedly improved the product in the past and 

 is likely to continue in the same policy. 



As to the package not so much can be said. The chief 

 improvement along this line has been the reduction of 

 costs. However, substantial enough advance has been made 

 to place the pack of the members of the California Fruit 

 Growers Exchange at the very front of the fruit industry 

 with reference to the attractiveness and uniformity of its 

 output. New, machine made and machine covered boxes 

 are packed with the utmost precision. Each fruit is 



' Compare for a fuller discussion of the problem of immature fruit, 

 Towt: "Picking Oranges Under the New Government Regulations," 

 University of California, Journal of Agriculture, March, 1915, pp. 

 219-220; also Coit: "Citrus Fruits,'' pp. 282-289. 



