178 MODERN FRUIT MARKETING 
Many of the fruit sections in each district became a 
competitor of other sections, especially where the ship- 
ments were large enough to interest buyers from outside 
points. After some experimenting along this line it was 
found necessary for the local organizations to get to- 
gether and agree on the prices that they were to take 
for their products. This was in no sense an organiza- 
tion, but simply a mutual agreement. There was noth- 
ing to bind this agreement except the word of honor 
which, in many cases, did not last very long. Buyers 
and jobbers soon became aware of this condition and 
often went to unscrupulous means to get one exchange 
to set its price and then almost compel the other local 
organizations to fall in line. 
Later, it was found necessary to organize these locals 
into a central exchange and handle the business, not 
through each local office, but through a general man- 
ager who represented all the exchanges. This, in some 
cases, is known as the central organization, and in others, 
as the district. Then further, where several states or 
fruit-growing sections were involved, shipping to the 
same market became ‘again a question of competition 
among these districts and further efforts were made to 
get the districts together and form a central organiza- 
tion. 
One California exchange has over 90 local organiza- 
tions, at the present time, comprising nearly 8,000 mem- 
bers. These local organizations are combined into 15 
district organizations and the district organizations 
again combined into one central exchange. This same 
plan is followed out by another set of distributors. A 
large number of local exchanges have formed together 
