BENEFITS OF COOPERATION 179 



watching for exactly the same chance and he must be positive 

 that he can reach the particular market with his car before 

 any other manager can reach it, or his expected advantage 

 will not materialize. The skill of the successful manager 

 consists chiefly in his ability to forecast the conditions of 

 the various markets and to start his fruit forward so that 

 it will arrive at the times and in the places most favorable 

 for satisfactory prices. 



At auction points sales are made by the auction company, 

 and there is no chance for selling strategy by the district 

 manager. When he has ordered a car to be thrown on the 

 auction there is nothing to do but receive what it brings, 

 and the agent of the California Fruit Growers Exchange 

 makes no sales, but simply transmits market information 

 and attends to collections. In private markets agents make 

 the sales, but they can do nothing except on the orders of 

 the shippers. A district manager may order an agent to 

 sell a certain car at not less than a specified price, to sell 

 it for what it will bring, or to obtain offers on the car but 

 not to sell until receiving word that some offer is satis- 

 factory. If no satisfactory bid is made the manager may 

 order the agent to hold the car a few days and see if an 

 acceptable price can be obtained, or he may order the car 

 to be diverted to another market where the conditions ap- 

 pear to be more favorable. 



The third important method of selling is on f . o. b. order. 

 There are many jobbers in the East Who are tmwilling to 

 buy any fruit that happens to be on the market but desire 

 to obtain certain brands of certain associations that they 

 have found especially reliable. So these jobbers go to the 

 agents of the California Fruit Growers Exchange and offer 

 various f . o. b. prices for a designated quantity of specified 

 sizes to be delivered at an agreed time. These f. o. b. 

 orders are transmitted through the Exchange mechanism, 



