10 BULLETIN 1237, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
No record is found of any organization up to this time doin^ its packing and mar- 
keting, except through local packers and brokers. This organization saw the neces- 
sity of breaking away from this system, dispensing with the toll and profit exacted 
by the packers and shippers, and. conducting it? business with the jobbing trade 
direct, or through brokers residing in the eastern cities; thus securing some adequate 
returns from the shipments, and a fair part of the proceeds from the sales. Three 
methods were adopted by them at this time: One to sell at auction through eastern 
brokers; another to deal direct with the trade allowing them a brokerage; and the 
third to export. 
ORGANIZATION OF THE EXCHANGES. 
At a meeting of about 60 orange growers held in the Chamber 
of Commerce, Los Angeles, April 4, 189o, definite action was taken 
for the organization of a system of cooperative marketing, based upon 
the principles adopted by the Claremont and Pachappa associations. 
A committee was appointed which, in a report made about 10 days 
later, submitted a plan for adoption by the growers. 
The committee recommended the formation of eight districts and 
the organization of local associations within each district. Each as- 
sociation should establish a local brand and do its own packing. 
Further fundamentals with regard to local organization and operation 
were specified by the committee and it was recommended that a 
central business office be established hi each district. Furthermore, 
an executive committee for southern California, made up of one 
member from each district, should have charge of matters affecting 
all the districts. 
During the summer of 1893, district and local associations were 
organized. At a meeting held in Los Angeles, August 29, 1893, dele- 
gates from the local associations formed up to that time approved a 
plan of organization for the associations, the district exchanges, and 
the executive board. (See Appendix, p. 49.) 
The organization thus formed operated during the seasons of 
1893-94 and 1894-95. In a circular issued to the trade in Decem- 
ber, 1894, the executive board of the exchanges stated that the 
exchanges positively controlled four-fifths of the orange crop of south- 
ern California. This circular also stated: 
Our purpose will be to establish confidence between the legitimate trade and our- 
selves, countenancing no speculative deals, and operating on lines whereby our fruit 
can be placed before the consumers at the least possible cost consistent with practical 
btisiness methods. 
Estimated shipments by districts for the 1894 -95 season totaled 
4,190 carloads, or 89.4 per cent of the actual total orange shipments 
for the season. One year later, at the beginning of the 1895-96 sea- 
son, the estimate of exchange shipments was 2.574 cars, or only 36.7 
per cent of the actual total orange shipments for the year. Mr. Wood- 
ford (10) is authority for the statement that at one time, exchange 
shipments were but 20 per cent of the total. 
The decline in percentage of the crop handled by the exchanges 
may be accounted for, in part, by the growth of the industry, and 
the development of new and unorganized producing sections. This 
factor, however, explains only a small fraction of the los<. There 
was an increase in shipments from 5,87 1 cars of oranges in l892-%3 and 
4,678 cars in 1894 95 to 7,010 cars in 1895 96. (SeeTable2.) There 
was, however, a decrease of over 1,600 ears in the estimates of ex- 
change shipments in spite of the Increase in production. Actual 
shipments showed a -till further decrease. 
