PROCEEDINGS OF THIRTY-SIXTH FRUIT-GROWERS ' CONVENTION. 93 



money. How to obtain this was the question. In order to allow the 

 smaller grower to come in and feel protected, our shares had been 

 placed at $25 per share, payable in five annual installments. The num- 

 ber of shares had been limited to one for each person. Therefore, to 

 get money we knew we would have to borrow it. We decided to adopt 

 a marketing agency and get our funds from them. On the question of a 

 marketing agency our board of directors, and also our members, were 

 pretty well divided up, and possibly here we made our first mistake of 

 adopting two firms doing business in the same territory as our agents. 

 But we did this. With our selling agents adopted we were enabled to 

 get money for our members to buy their supplies of shook, sulphur, 

 nails, etc., at a reasonable figure. The majority of our growers had 

 paid 12% cents for shook and baskets two years ago and lO 1 /^ cents 

 one year ago. They wanted it cheaper, and by getting together and 

 buying one half million in a bunch we got a much lower figure. In this 

 one item we saved our members between five and ten thousand dollars. 

 In labels on the number ordered we saved from $750 over their price 

 in small lots. In sulphur we bought so cheap that more than one store 

 asked us to buy for them. Nails we got at bedrock prices. 



We secured money for those that needed it at a very reasonable rate 

 of interest. We built two good sized packing houses and one smaller 

 one. We did not require all of our members to pack in these, as we 

 regarded them in a way as experimental. Instead of running them 

 ourselves at first we let the contract to a firm at a fixed price under a 

 heavy bond to run them and load our cars. This may or may not have 

 been a mistake. We ran them ourselves the last part of the season, 

 and the majority of our members will insist on this way next year, 

 though whether it will be by the crate or by the time taken to pack a 

 crate I am unable to state. The greatest objection to a fixed price per 

 crate for packing is that the grower with good grapes and the careful 

 picker has to pay for more than his share. 



Our work this season has shown conclusively that only by the closest 

 inspection can you secure a reliable pack of grapes and this inspection 

 is much more easily secured at a central packing house than otherwise. 

 For while the majority of members are honest, conscientious and fair, 

 in the minority are some who do not possess these qualifications and a 

 few who are actually dishonest. These few will kill your brand. You 

 can not carry out your motto of ''Make the brand good in every 

 market." with these few putting in undesired, improperly picked, 

 culled or packed fruit, handled carelessly. To have an inspector present 

 at every growers' packing house is impracticable. We had at our 

 busiest time four outside inspectors and two house inspectors, and they 

 got so they could turn a crate upside down and take the baskets out in 

 a scientific manner. In addition to these, we had our own man in the 

 East to report on the packs and condition on arrival, etc. 



As some remuneration for what we have done in this line we have 

 received several encouraging letters, one of which says. "For a number 

 of seasons past the Lodi pack of grapes has been gradually deteriorating. 

 In nearly all markets there was a prejudice against the shipments from 

 Lodi and a preference shown to some of the other points on account of 

 the more careful grading and packing. We know it has been the 

 object of your association to improve the pack, and we are pleased to 



