156 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
sociation or sub-exchange manager, or 
the central office can take any one of these 
cards covering any given shipment, and 
give to the owner of the fruit covered 
by same, all information relative to that 
shipment, at a moment’s notice. If the 
association and sub-exchange managers 
keep up with the bulletins from day to 
day they see the market conditions re¬ 
flected therein and are in position to form 
their own conclusions as to the advisabil¬ 
ity of forcing shipments or otherwise. 
Every grower affiliated with an associa¬ 
tion or a sub-exchange is at liberty to go 
into the office, peruse these telegrams 
from day to day and keep himself posted. 
This system will, in the end when the 
growers have learned its merit, educate 
the growers themselves up to a point of 
keeping closely in touch with the market 
conditions everywhere and give them a 
clearer insight into their own business 
than they have ever had. 
The cashier’s department receives and 
disburses all funds of the central ex¬ 
change under order of the Board of Di¬ 
rectors. After a car of fruit has been 
sold through the sales department, it 
passes to the cashier’s department and no 
further account is taken of the transac¬ 
tion by the sales department, unless some 
inquiry is made by interested persons. All 
financial matters of either the central ex¬ 
change, or the various districts through¬ 
out the country, pass through the cash¬ 
ier’s department and are submitted by the 
cashier at the regular weekly meeting of 
the Board of Directors for their consid¬ 
eration and action. This department also 
has charge of the supplies for the central 
office, and through co-operation with the 
general northern agent, supplies for the 
district managers. It will, therefore, be 
seen that a very efficient accountant is 
necessary as the cashier. 
The traffic and claim department is the 
third, and not the least important one of 
the central organization. All matters of 
transportation rates, etc., are referred to 
the manager of this department. When 
account sales are received they are placed 
in a jacket with the card manifest cover¬ 
ing the shipment, the inspection report 
made by the inspector in the district where 
the car is disposed of, the original bill of 
lading, and all correspondence relative to 
that particular car. The claim manager 
goes through each of these jackets, scru¬ 
tinizing them closely for overcharges, 
shortages, evidences of neglect on the 
part of the transportation company in 
handling the shipment, and if any legiti¬ 
mate basis for a claim appears, he imme¬ 
diately prepares a claim) and files it with 
the initial transportation company. These 
claims are followed up from time to time 
if prompt settlement is not made. As an 
evidence of the efficiency of this depart¬ 
ment, since the opening of the season, the 
claim manager has filed 2394 claims, ag¬ 
gregating $69,647.59 and has collected 
1214 claims, aggregating $11,477.86, and 
has withdrawn as uncollectable, 10 claims, 
aggregating $187.81. I think it will be 
conceded that this is a wonderful show¬ 
ing for so short a period’s work. The 
manager of the transportation and claim 
department of the Florida Citrus Ex¬ 
change is one of the most experienced 
men in the country, having been connect¬ 
ed with the claim department as one of 
its adjustors of one of the largest trans- 
