1 84 BIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS 



operative society may indulge in " profiteering' as 

 well as the private trader, and in the matter of the 

 milk supply this is an actual danger which seems to 

 have been realized, or is likely to be realized in the 

 case of at least one powerful society operating in a 

 large centre of population in this country. Such a 

 danger is, of course, no objection to the principle of 

 co-operation, but it is as well to remember that in the 

 case of essential commodities like milk the interests 

 of the urban consumer must override the financial 

 advantage of the country-side. Even if the retail 

 price is fixed, however, co-operative methods will still 

 give the producer a better profit than selling to a 

 middleman. 



The type of marketing society which should be 

 established in any district or locality depends, of 

 course, on two factors, the actual production of the 

 locality and the available markets. Outstanding ex- 

 amples of this are to be found in Denmark and Ireland. 

 There the conditions of success are given by the fact 

 that these are stock-raising countries, dairying coun- 

 tries, and pig-breeding countries, and by the proximity 

 of the great British markets. Most of the bacon and 

 butter of Denmark came, before the war, to England, 

 and so does most of the Irish bacon and butter. The 

 co-operative creameries of Ireland and the bacon fac- 

 tories of Denmark, as well as the co-operative stock- 

 breeding societies which improve the strain of the 

 animals from which these products are obtained, are 

 all dependent on these factors. 



A specialized society dealing with a single product 

 has very great advantages. The business it has to 

 do is less complicated than in the case of a society 

 which deals with miscellaneous produce. , It is there- 

 fore easier for the managers to obtain a thorough 

 working knowledge of the conditions of production 



