I70 COOPERATIVE MARKETING 



These figures give a simple average for the twelve years 

 of $1.91 a box and a weighted average of $1.89. In gen- 

 eral prices have responded roughly to the size of the crop 

 to be marketed, showing that demand and not cost has 

 been the governing factor. Particularly striking was the 

 price situation in the season of the famous frost, 19 12-13, 

 when actual shipments were only 37.7 per cent, of the esti- 

 mated shipments and prices rose about 50 per cent, above 

 the average. However, citrus fruit prices for California 

 are so interrelated with the supplies of other fruits and 

 vegetables, especially apples and Florida oranges, that it 

 is practically impossible to segregate the demand for Cali- 

 fornia oranges and lemons and then proceed to correlate 

 prices with land values, costs of production and transporta- 

 tion, quantity of output, etc. If an3rthing at all can be 

 inferred from the f . o. b. prices it is that they have shown 

 a slight tendency to fall as the industry has expanded. 

 Even if consumers have to pay as much for each orange 

 as formerly, they unquestionably obtain higher quality, 

 more reliable fruit; and this is tantamount to a reduction 

 in price. But the best reason for concluding that retail 

 prices of citrus fruits have fallen is the fact that rapidly 

 increasing quantities of fruit have been absorbed at an 

 almost constant f. o. b. price. These constant or slightly 

 declining f. o. b. prices, moreover, have been in the face 

 of a rapid upward movement of general prices and a par- 

 ticularly marked rise in prices of agricultural products. 

 Besides, the costs of transportation, refrigeration and pri- 

 mary marketing have declined during the period in ques- 

 tion, and decay has been minimized, so stationary f. o. b. 

 prices imply reduced costs to jobbers. Therefore, unless 

 jobbers and retailers are retaining a larger percentage of 

 the consumer's dollar than was formerly the case the pub- 

 lic is now able to obtain more citrus fruits for a given ex- 

 penditure of money. 



