95 
The extent of the citrus industry in California is, of course, 
an important matter from a business standpoint, and the in- 
fluence even of certain individuals was considerable in advance 
of any cooperative 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 cooperative arrangement. There is, 
obviously, a greater necessity of organizing among the rela- 
tively uninfluential small producers in this Territory. 
Article IX. 
Cotton raising was late in the list of industries which have 
yielded to the necessity of cooperative 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 could 
manipulate prices to suit his own interests, as soon as the sup- 
ply of cotton was out of the hands of the producer. Within 
recent years some attention has been given to the organiza- 
tion of cooperative associations, dealing with one phase or 
another of the cotton industry. The simplest organization 
which could be effected concerned the process of ginning. A 
number of cooperative gin malls have been erected in Okla- 
homa 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 yield of cotton are a little larger 
than under the old system. Recently small cooperative cotton 
warehouses have been established, and this enables the grower 
to hold his cotton for a more favorable market, rather than 
selling it all at the beginning 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 acre to thousands of acres. If only small patches are 
grown, there is no necessity of purchasing any special ma- 
chinery whatever. The seed cotton can be either all sold to 
brokers or taken to a cooperative or commercial gin mill. Even 
if larger areas are grown the necessary machinery is still very 
inexpensive. A gin of a capacity of 1000 pounds of lint per 
day can be purchased for about $125. The fact that cotton is 
preeminently 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. This 
relieves the financial stress to such an extent that cooperative 
warehouses can be built and maintained by a comparatively 
