2IO COOPERATIVE MARKETING 



sold at a profit, for that depends on the whole economic 

 situation. It does, however, mean that a grower would 

 receive his equitable share of what consumers of citrus 

 fruits generally estimated that such fruits as compared to 

 other commodities were worth to them. Accident and 

 chance and speculation would largely be removed from the 

 business of marketing. Depressed prices in one market 

 and, at the same time, inflated prices in another would be- 

 come impossible. Prices would fluctuate from month to 

 month during the citrus year according as the sales man- 

 agers accurately or inaccurately anticipated the demands 

 of the market. If a wrong calculation occurred and too 

 large a percentage of the crop should be forwarded during 

 the first part of the season, prices would obviously be lower 

 during that part and higher during the latter part of the 

 season. Also from year to year prices would vary accord- 

 ing to the size of the citrus crop and competing crops and 

 according to the condition of business in general. 



The point here urged is simply that fluctuations in price 

 at any given time due to irregular distribution in space 

 could be eliminated. In other words, a satisfactory system 

 of food distribution should widen the meaning of the term 

 market until it corresponds with the financial market, in 

 which the market, where one price governs, is practically 

 synonymous with the entire country. At present, the mar- 

 ket for fresh food products is rarely of wider extent than 

 the municipality. Prices in one city have only a remote 

 relation to those in another, and unorganized distribution 

 cannot be other than fortuitous. It is submitted that com- 

 plete organization combined with an extensive market in- 

 formation service would remedy this situation. 



Under the present arrangements, without complete or- 

 ganization in the citrus industry, there are large differences 

 in the price of fruit in different cities and in different seasons 



