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he sells it to the consumer. Of course the principal items of expense 

 remain to be mentioned — the railroad and refrigerator charges — both of 

 which amounts when paid help to gladden the hearts of thousands of 

 hard-working employes, besides comforting the treasury of the cor- 

 poration. 



Thus it will be seen that everybody but the owner of the fruit — the 

 producer — gets a benefit. I take the ground that he also should by 

 rights get something out of the fruit. Hundreds of carloads of the finest 

 fruit California ever produced, shipped the past season, have left the 

 grower in debt. 



I do not believe that any better results than the past season has 

 shown can be looked for, so long as the present methods of shipping 

 and selling are continued. I do not wish to be considered as attacking 

 the commission men or shippers. I know from an experience as a fruit 

 shipper, covering the entire time during which California fruit has been 

 shipped, that there are honest, hard-working commission men in the 

 business, both here and in the East. There are also dishonest men in 

 the business, and this is true in all lines of industry. But it is the 

 system that is wrong, and which should be destroyed and a new one 

 devised to take its place. 



Primarily the grower is the only man interested in the whole matter, 

 and yet he is apparently the only one to sleep on his rights and oppor- 

 tunities. Every one else is wide awake and active. But the grower 

 quietly says, "Take the fruit and do the best you can for me." Fifteen 

 or twenty shipping concerns each send out from one to thirty or forty 

 rustling men to secure the handling of the fruit, and perhaps it is not 

 to be wondered at that the grower, besieged as he is daily in this way, 

 gives up under the pressure. 



It is not, however, the purpose of this paper to dwell especially on 

 the dark side of this question, or to emphasize the deplorable condi- 

 tions that prevail, but rather, if possible, to lend some assistance in find- 

 ing the remedy. And this, I think, can only be through a thorough 

 and complete organization of the growers. Some may say, " I will not 

 again ship my fruit East, but will sell to the dealer, and let him ship 

 it." What value has the fruit, and who will buy it while present con- 

 ditions prevail? Others may say, "We will dry the fruit." Suppose 

 all do that, and a large surplus stock results, what will it be worth? 



The fact remains, that with the enormous product of our orchards 

 already in bearing, and with the vast increase from year to year of 

 young orchards, part, at least, of the crop must be shipped in a green 

 state. And this work the growers must do themselves. 



I believe the work of making a complete organization for this pur- 

 pose can easily be accomplished. In Southern California it has been 

 most thoroughly done, and 7,000 carloads of oranges will this year be 

 handled and controlled entirely by the growers themselves, through 

 their directors and salaried managers. 



While it is true that, owing to their more perishable nature, the 

 deciduous fruits of the North must be handled in an entirely differ- 

 ent manner from oranges, yet the mere matter of the organization can 

 be made on the same or similar lines as adopted by our Southern 

 friends. The organization may be the same, but its work would be 

 different. 



Very briefly stated, the growers in each fruit district form themselves 



