cooperative citrus-fruit marketing agency. 39 
were so used, yet the excessive demand was reflected in the low- 
grade lumber for which there was little use other than that created by 
the agricultural demand. At this time a combination of pine-lumber 
mills operating on the Pacific coast announced an increase of approxi- 
mately 100 per cent in their price for orange boxes. This was 
strongly resisted by the fruit growers. The exchange, in behalf of 
the grower associations, held contracts with mills outside this con- 
bination for much of the requirements of its members; but if it 
acceded to the demands of the box combination it. would be obliged 
to pay a greatly increased average price for its total requirements. 
It was to meet this situation that the Fruit Growers Supply Co. was 
organized. 
The situation emphasized the dependence of the citrus industry 
upon an adequate supply of boxes and other essential materials. At 
the present time, exchange shippers require 18,000,000 to 20,000,000 
fruit boxes annually, valued at $5,000,000 to $6,000,000. An increase 
in price of 5 cents per box means an added cost of producing and 
marketing fruit of $1,000,000 to exchange members. Failure to 
secure the necessary packing supplies would result in tremendous 
losses. 
The Fruit Growers Supply Co. was organized in 1907, and in 1910 
the scope of its operation was extended to include the actual manu- 
facturing of box shook. The organization and activities of this 
supply company have been described in another section. 
Cooperative purchasing of supplies has resulted in large savings to 
the members of the exchange difficult to compute with any exactness. 
In addition it has placed the exchange shippers in a secure position 
in so far as their supplies of box material are concerned and has 
undoubtedly been an important factor in the growth of the exchange 
during recent years. The general manager of the exchange (tf) 
wrote concerning the service of the supply company to exchange 
members, as follows; 
Constituted as a service organization it is impossible to place in dollars and cents 
the maximum value of the Supply Company to its members. Its very existence has 
a stabilizing effect on the prices for essential supplies. This is beneficial to the entire 
citrus industry and without it the members of the Supply Company would have beed 
obliged to pay for these supplies an amount much in excess of that actually paid 
through cooperative purchasing. 
Brief mention should be made of the system of mutual fire insur- 
ance covering the property of associations and other shippers. The 
Mutual Indemnity Compact, as it is called, according to exchange 
officials, has resulted in a saving of 80 per cent in fire-insurance pre- 
miums during the past 10 years. 
STANDARDIZATION OF THE PRODUCT. 
The associations have played a leading part in improving the grade 
of oranges and lemons shipped out of the State. The pooling system 
made it necessary to establish grades and brands within the associa- 
tion, and the fact that the fruit of each association was sold on the 
market in competition with that of all other associations gave an 
incentive to careful grading. It was. not until the adoption of the 
"Sunkist" trade-mark, however, that the necessity for a unification 
of the grade standards of all associations became apparent. As the 
owner of the "Sunkist" trade-mark, the central exchange was in a 
