July, 1910.] 



63 



and Co-operation. 



country and of the supply on hand in 

 all of the different markets. The quan- 

 tities and kinds of citrus fruits which 

 are needed for various cities and towns 

 are known by telegraph at the central 

 Exchange, and the distribution of all 

 fruit is made in accordance with this 

 information. By this means it is easy 

 to avoid overstocking or shortage of the 

 citrus fruit market in any given town. 

 The orders to supply the demands for 

 the various markets are issued in such 

 a way as to relieve most effectively the 

 accumulation of fruit which has taken 

 place in any one association. The fruit 

 is thus marketed with the least possible 

 loss at the place of production, and 

 distributed in the most uniform manner 

 which can be devised. All men con- 

 cerned in the packing and distribution 

 of the fruit are growers or on the pay-roll 

 of the Exchange. Direct represent- 

 atives of the citrus growers have been 

 found to be much more satisfactory in 

 protecting the interests of the industry 

 than men who work on commission and 

 who have other interests. The local 

 associations are kept informed as to the 

 losses which occur from improper 

 methods of packing, and any complaints 

 which may be received at the central 

 Exchange regarding the quality or pack- 

 ing of any crate of citrus fruits can be 

 at once referred to the individual con- 

 cerned. In this way great improvements 

 have been brought about in the grading 

 of citrus fruits and in the care with 

 which they have been packed. The 

 Southern California Fruit Exchange has, 

 therefore, found it possible, by means of 

 careful business methods and a master- 

 ful control of the situation, to ship citrus 

 fruit 3,000 miles across the continent and 

 market it successfully in competition 

 with the Florida growers, who are much 

 nearer the eastern markets. 



Previous to the organization of this 

 Exchange, the growers were entirely at 

 the mercy of transportation companies, 

 and were often unable to secure rates 

 and cars for shipping their fruits, so that 

 even a bare profit could be made. Now 

 the strength of the organization has 

 been made apparent, their business 

 methods are dignified and satisfactory, 

 and their influence is such that their 

 requests are considereJ by all business 

 men with whom they have dealings. 



The extent of the citrus industry in 

 California is, of course, an important 

 matter from a business standpoint, and 

 the influence even of certain individuals 

 was considerable in advance of any co- 

 operative organization. They found 

 themselves, however, unable to cope 

 with the difficulties of distribution 



and marketing without an organization, 

 and these difficulties have been solved 

 by the co-operative arrangement. 

 There is, obviously, a greater necessity 

 of organizing among the relatively 

 uninfluential small producers in this 

 even Territory, 



Article IX. 

 Cotton raising was late in the list of 

 industries which have yielded to the 

 necessity of co-operative organization. 

 During the long period of development 

 of cotton production in the South, the 

 individual grower felt the need of the 

 money from his crop as soon as it could 

 be marketed. He was, therefore, strictly 

 at the mercy of the speculative cotton 

 buyer, who con! J manipulate prices to 

 suit his own interests as soon as the 

 supply of cotton was out of the hands 

 of the producer. Within recent years 

 some attention has been given to the 

 organization of co-operative associations, 

 dealing with one phase or another of thfl 

 cotton industry. The simplest organi- 

 zation which could be effected concerned 

 the process of ginning. A number of 

 co-operative gin mills have been erected 

 in Oklahoma and Texas and have given 

 complete satisfaction. It has been found 

 possible to control the seed supply 

 better where the whole industry is in 

 the hands of the farmer, and the total 

 profits obtained from the total yield of 

 cotton are a little larger than under the 

 old system. Recently small co-operative 

 cotton warehouses have been establish- 

 ed, and this enables the grower to hold 

 his cotton for a more favourable market, 

 rather than selling it all at the begin- 

 ning of the season, when the price is 

 almost always at the lowest point. 



Cotton lends itself peculiarly to a 

 great variety of farming conditions. It 

 can be grown in areas of any size, from 

 one-half an acre to thousands of acres. 

 If only small patches are grown, there is 

 no necessity of purchasing any special 

 machinery whatever. The seed cotton 

 can be either all sold to brokers or taken 

 to a co-operative or commercial gin mill. 

 Even if larger areas are grown the neces- 

 sary machinery is still very inexpensive. 

 A gin of a capacity of 1,000 pounds of 

 lint per day can be purchased for about 

 $125. The fact that cotton is pre-emi- 

 nently a money crop makes it a simple 

 matter to obtain an advance upon the 

 year's crop as soon as it is delivered to 

 the warehouse and before any sale has 

 been effected. Tnis relieves the financial 

 stress to such an extent that co-oper- 

 ative warehouses can be built and main- 

 tained by a comparatively small number 

 of cotton growers of moderate means. 



