SELLING AGENCIES 193 
These are variously enumerated, but the following would 
represent the more common of these subdepartments: 
(1) Statistical. (2) Traffic. (3) Legal. (4) Field or- 
ganization. (5) Advertising. (6) Selling. (7) Pur- 
chasing. In the smaller exchanges these, of course, are 
collected together and often one man will handle two or 
three departments, but as the business increases each 
one becomes an independent department in itself, subject 
only to the supervision of the general manager. 
The statistical department looks after the collecting of 
information, largely from the producing end. It gathers 
figures regarding the acres in fruit, number and kind 
of varieties and general facts that might be of interest 
either to the grower or to the management of the ex- 
change. The traffic department looks after the move- 
ments of the cars of fruit. It keeps records of the num- 
bers and names of the cars and follows them through 
to their destination. It also is instrumental in getting new 
commodity rates. It files claims for over-charges or for 
any carelessness due to the railroad’s management. It 
handles, as far as possible, claims filed against the or- 
ganization and, in connection with the legal department, 
looks after the claims brought by individuals against the 
shipments which may be rejected. 
In a recent annual report of a Western exchange 
occurs the following statement regarding the work of 
the traffic department. ‘‘The exchange has filed with the 
railroad 6,626 claims for over-charge or damage to fruit 
in transit—5,745 claims have been paid. And $180,428 
has been returned to the shippers, the cost of which is 
included in the selling expense at 414 cents a box.’’ 
This exchange did a business last year of 28,186 cars 
