COOPERATIVE CITRUS-FRUIT MARKETING AGENCY. 23 
tised brands, without the necessity of contributing to the support of 
an association or taking any part of the responsibility of managing a 
packing house. Possibly freedom from the latter responsibility 
plays an important part in maintaining such an arrangement. The 
packing company, as a matter of course, must be reimbursed for 
such expenses as an association would ordinarily incur, and must 
show its owners a fair profit. 
A plan more nearly cooperative has been worked out by the 
exchange and put in operation by some companies. Under this 
plan, the company makes a charge for packing that covers the cost 
of labor and material. To this is added an arbitrary amount per 
box to cover interest, depreciation, general expenses, profit, etc. The 
growers participate in all marketing refunds which may be made by 
the central or the district exchanges. 
THE DISTRICT EXCHANGES. 
A few local organizations, approximately 20, affiliate directly with 
the California Fruit Growers Exchange. Most of these " direct- 
contract shippers" are located in sections that do not ship a suffi- 
cient quantity of fruit to maintain a district exchange. In one 
section an anomalous situation is presented: A group of closely 
affiliated individual shippers make up the district exchange, while 
three or four cooperative associations in the territory are direct- 
contract shippers. Inasmuch as the exchange directors are the 
representatives of the district exchanges, the direct-contract shippers 
are not represented on the board of directors. They are also subject 
to a charge of 1 £ cents per box for the special service that the exchange 
gives through its direct contract. In all other respects their position 
is comparable to that of shippers affiliated with a district exchange. 
Locals affiliated with district exchanges find that it costs them on 
an average about 1 cent per box to support the district organizations, 
though a few districts have operated for as low as one-half cent, and 
one of them regularly for more than 2 cents. 
STRUCTURE. 
The members and stockholders of a district exchange are the asso- 
ciations, individual shippers, or packing companies affiliated to form 
such an exchange. As few as 2 local units may make up a district 
exchange, or there may be as many as 20 associations in the organ- 
ization. From 10 to 12 is a common number, and 9 is an approx- 
imate average. Each local is represented on the board of the district 
exchange. The voting power of each is proportional to its share 
of the total expense of the district exchange, or to its percentage 
of the total number of cars shipped through the district exchange 
during the previous season. The capital stock of each district 
exchange is a nominal amount. 
The directors of the district exchange elect officers, a manager, and 
frequently an assistant manager. They also elect a man, who may 
be a director or the manager, to represent the district exchange at 
the meetings of the California Fruit Growers Exchange. Such a rep- 
resentative, upon presentation of his credentials to the directors of 
the central exchange, is elected a member of its board. 
