COOPERATIVE CITRUS-FRUIT MARKETING AGENCY. 17 
cents to $1.10. The increased cost of handling was due principally 
to increased wages and higher costs of box shook and other supplies. 
Both of these items seem to have reached their peak during 1920 
and 1921. Overhead charges show a slight decrease per box during 
the same period, partly as a result of the increased volume of ship- 
ments during that time. 
After all expenses of packing and marketing were paid the grower 
received, on an average, $2.75 to $2.80 per packed box, for the period, 
for both oranges and lemons, before deduction of harvesting, hauling, 
and cultural expenses, and shrinkage. These averages may be some- 
what misleading, however, unless the fact is taken into consideration 
that the averages of all the associations in any given year varied 50 
to 60 per cent from the mean, associations within the same year va- 
ried more than 100 per cent, and payments for individual pools within 
associations show still wider variation. 
Several associations that ship oranges operate precooling plants in 
which the fruit is reduced to an average temperature of approximately 
40° F. before being loaded in iced refrigerator cars for shipment. 
An association receives from the district exchange, of which it is a 
member, the returns for all fruit shipped, and distributes this money 
to its growers in proportion to the quantity and grade of fruit de- 
livered by each. All shipments are made in pools which vary in length 
from two weeks or a month, under special conditions, to a year or 
season. 
CAPITAL STOCK ASSOCIATIONS. 
The membership of the local cooperative associations is made up 
entirely of citrus-fruit growers. The associations are usually organ- 
ized as stock corporations, with the restriction clearly expressed in the 
by-laws that they shall be operated for the purpose of mutual service 
and not for profit. Only in rare instances does an association pay 
dividends or interest for the use of money invested in its stock. 14 As 
a rule, a certain number of shares is issued to each member for each 
acre of " bearing grove" that he owns. In some organizations the 
investment of the members in the stock of the association is as high 
as $125 per acre; in others it is $10 per acre or less. A representa- 
tive figure is $50 per acre. In practically all cases the investment of 
each member is in proportion to the acreage of citrus fruit which he 
cultivates, or the quantity of fruit which he produces. If the stock 
of the association is not distributed on an acreage basis, one share 
may be issued for each 10 or 20 trees. In a few instances, the mem- 
bers subscribe for a certain number of shares per 100 boxes of fruit 
shipped, and the investment of each grower is maintained in propor- 
tion to his shipments by means of a revolving fund. 15 
In all capital stock associations, each member is required to sign a 
stock subscription agreement in which the method of payment is spec- 
ified. The almost universal custom is to make deductions from 
14 Among some fifty associations which were carefully investigated, only one was found which paid divi- 
dends to stockholders. This association has since been reorganized, and is now on a noudividend basis. 
15 Often associations of this type deduct 5 or 10 cents per box from all returns for fruit. After a grower 
has completed the payments for his pro rata share of the stock of the association, he continues to pay 
these assessments and new stock certificates are issued to him. At the same time his oldest certificates 
are retired and he is paid their par value, so his investment is always in proportion to his shipments. 
75901 °— 24 3 
