CHAPTER X 



BENEFITS OF COOPERATION FOR PRODUCERS SEEKING 



A MARKET 



That the exchange system has fulfilled its purpose of 

 aiding to supply all the markets with citrus fruits is evi- 

 dent, but has it accomplished its purpose of furnishing these 

 fruits at a reasonable price ? Unfortunately, it is impossible 

 to answer this question categorically. No comparable fig- 

 ures are available which show the retail prices of oranges 

 and lemons for a series of years, and none of any value 

 can be computed. Retail prices quoted in the papers are 

 meaningless unless the quality of the fruit quoted is known, 

 and there is no way of gaining this information. All that 

 can be done is to present the prices that the exchange has 

 received for its shipments, f. o. b., California. 



Prices, a Box, Received by the California Fruit Growers Exchange 

 FOR Citrus Fruits, f. o. b., California, 1904-05 to 1915-16.^ 



Average a box. 



1904-5 $1.37 



1905-6 2.11 



1906-7 2.00 



1907-8 1.77 



1908-9 1.60 



1909-10 1.96 



1910-11 1.91 



1911-12 1.84 



1912-13 2.75 



1913-14 I-7I 



1914-15 164 



1915-16 2.29 



^ Figures computed from the Annual Reports of the General Man- 

 ager of the California Fruit Growers Exchange. 



i6g 



