BENEFITS OF COOPERATION 175 



that the vigilant traffic department cannot criticize. Such 

 ian organization as the Exchange traffic department main- 

 tains would obviously be impossible were it not for the 

 immense volume of fruit handled. As it is, the cost is 

 merely nominal while the benefits are among the most 

 clearly marked which the cooperative method of market- 

 ing has over other systems. 



Every day the Los Angeles office receives the reports 

 from agents and inspectors all over the country. The re- 

 ports begin to come in during the early morning, and those 

 of special significance that require immediate action may 

 be communicated to the interested associations or district 

 exchange managers the same day. Ordinarily, however, 

 these various reports are classified as they arrive, and are 

 tabulated in a bulletin which is mimeographed and sent out 

 from Los Angeles on the early morning paper trains. Thus 

 the manager of each association and district exchange finds 

 on his desk every morning a complete account of the citrus 

 situation in the whole of the United States and Canada. 

 He is told how many cars were sold the day before and 

 what prices they commanded; he is told the number of 

 cars on switch and rolling and also the location and con- 

 dition of the moving cars. 



The system employed at the central office is to have a 

 separate pigeonhole for history cards of each brand shipped 

 by each association, the cards being grouped according to 

 the district exchanges. In the office of each district ex- 

 change, also, similar history cards are filed for each brand 

 of the several affiliated associations. Each car shipped has 

 its own card which sets forth every item of interest per- 

 taining to it, such as the date of shipment, the car number, 

 the number which the Exchange gives it, the number of 

 boxes in the car, the varieties and sizes, whether the car 

 is ventilated, iced or pre-cooled, to what city it is billed and 



