348 



ever, the capital has been increased to £21,000, and individual 

 agriculturists and dairy farmers have been admitted as share- 

 holders. During the eight years of this company's existence the 

 total sales amounted to £3,757,000 , resulting in a profit of £31,500. 

 The sum of £25,000 has been paid in bonuses to producers, £1,655 

 in dividends, and £3,600 stands at reserve. In conjunction with 

 this company there is also a large factory for the manufacture of 

 butter boxes. 



"Victorian farmers are becoming more critical regarding the 

 methods of the middlemen, and are realizing the value of organi- 

 zation for their own protection. 



"That the principal of cooperation is sound is fully emphasized 

 in the illustrations already quoted. In the manufacturing and 

 preparation of produce, and to raise the standard of such produce, 

 the combined effort, if wisely directed, is par excellence. When 

 applied to the purchase of stores and requirements for the farm 

 and household, it should prove economical, but the ideal form of 

 cooperation is the one that embraces l)0th producers and con- 

 sumers. 



"Cooperative marketing and distributing societies, if not care- 

 fully managed and controlled, have a tendency to develop into 

 profit-earning institutions, and thus become ordinary trading con- 

 cerns. The idea should not be to make or hoard profits or ac- 

 cumulate capital, for this leads to extravagance and speculation. 

 Rather should the management be actuated with the primary 

 and simple idea of combining resources for the economical dis- 

 posal and purchase of produce, and to educate its members in the 

 best methods of producing, manufacturing and preparing their 

 products for market." 



It is stated that "farmers in various districts of the state are 

 further organizing for the purpose of making savings in the cost 

 of distribution of other products, such as potatoes, onions, cereals, 

 hay, chaff, etc., and for the purchase of bran, pollard, seeds, etc." 

 Several pages are devoted to the relation of various coo])erative 

 movements, also to the government policy of encouraging the 

 taking up of homesteads, which includes advances on moderate 

 interest for houses, etc., and in conclusion appears the following 

 statement of results : 



"Irrigation schemes Cf)nstrucled by the states run into many 

 millions of pounds sterling. The state has adopted the policy of 

 purchasing large areas of land commanded by these schemes, and 

 subdividing them for intensive cultivation, and the settlement of 

 those areas will mean a large increase in population. The man 

 agement and supervision of these irrigation enterprises have been 

 vested in a body consisting of three commissioners, and recently 

 the control of irrigable lands has been transferred to this body. 



"These manifold activities of the states, which are truly co- 

 operative in character, supply the capital for the purchase of land, 



