COOPERATIVE CITRUS-FRUIT MARKETING AGENCY. 13 
upon the dissolution of the agency: (1) Diverse interests of the two 
parties to the agreement ; (2) arbitrary sales methods which antag- 
onized the trade; (3) a cut-price war with independent brokers in 
the Iowa territory. 12 There was also a provision in the agreement 
which prohibited any increase in the membership of the association 
except under the regulation of a joint committee of the exchange and 
the citrus union. This provision was made to insure the independ- 
ent operators a sufficient supply of fruit to carry on their business, 
but it was undoubtedly the primary cause of dissatisfaction among 
the associations, and it was also distasteful to independent growers 
to have this committee determine the packing and marketing channel 
they should employ. 
The antagonism of the trade and the price-cutting war mentioned 
by Mr. Woodford were important causes of the low prices received in 
1903-4. During this season, exchange shippers seem to have fared 
better than those in the citrus union, owing to the lower packing and 
marketing costs and the protection of the pooling system through the 
exchange. Several instances of these differences have been quoted. 
Mr. Dreher has mentioned the case of two neighbors in the Pomona 
district shipping from groves identical in size and practically identical 
in yield. The exchange shipper received 77 cents a box net for his 
fruit, while his neighbor, shipping through the citrus union, received 
a bill of $68 for packing, transportation, and marketing charges, which 
returns from the fruit had not been sufficient to pay. 13 
Poor returns were undoubtedly the immediate cause of the dissolu- 
tion of the agency, although friction between the officials of the two 
contracting organizations was also an important factor. The dis- 
satisfaction of exchange members, however, preceded low prices for 
their fruit, and it is doubtful if they would have become reconciled to 
the agreement even under favorable market conditions. 
The agreement was entered into by the exchange directors in an 
attempt to meet a threatened emergency. For this reason local units 
were not generally consulted, and the agency was formed in a manner 
that did violence to the principle of local democratic control upon 
which the exchange was founded. Its failure emphasized the impor- 
tance of such control and made the domination of the locals more 
secure. 
THE CALIFORNIA FRUIT GROWERS EXCHANGE. 
One year after the dissolution of the agency, the exchange adopted 
the name of the California Fruit Growers Exchange. On account of 
the development of the citrus industry in Tulare and other northern 
counties, the old name, Southern California Fruit Exchange, was no 
longer representative. 
The California Fruit Growers Exchange has steadily increased its 
membership since organization. Shipments through this exchange 
have increased from 14,000 cars to over 40,000 cars and a percentage 
of the crops handled from 45 per cent to between 70 and 75 per 
cent. (See figs. 3 and 4.) During the same time the exchange has 
strengthened its organization and extended its usefulness to the 
growers. This developement is exemplified by the organization of 
the United Fruit Supply Co., and the two by-products companies, 
"Interview, Sept. 12, 1922. 
"Interview with P. J. Dreher, September, 1922. 
