THE DISTRICT OF TRENT, A MODEL CO-OPERATIVE DISTRlCr 



Thus it often happened that silkworm breeders parted with their valu- 

 able produce at absurdly low prices, which did not pay them at aU, so that 

 many preferred to abandon their business and substitute their mulberry 

 trees by vines and other more remunerative plants. 



In this case also recourse was had to co-operation and establishments 

 were founded providing purchasers with the necessary conveniences, 

 especially for weighing and drying the cocoons, and in these establishments 

 the produce could be stored, if need were, until the conditions of the market 

 improved. When the necessary arrangements had been made for the in- 

 stallation of the drying estabhshments, and for the selection of the form to 

 be given to the new institution, in 1901 the first cocoon drying consor- 

 tium was founded at Cles (Valle di Non) by 22 economic societies of the 

 valley. 



The founders v. ere encouraged by this first experiment; in fact the estab- 

 lishment at once gave excellent results, rendering the producers independent 

 and attracting to the Trent market serious firms, which purchased the 

 produce of the organized silkworm breeders at suitable and remunerative 

 prices, which contributed appreciably to raise the price of cocoons even on 

 other markets of the country. 



The example of the producers of the Valle di Xon was followed by silk- 

 worm breeders of the most productive regions of the country, so that in 

 a short time there had arisen drying establishments at Rovereto, Cavedine, 

 Caldonazzo, Mori, Arco Trento, Levico and elsewhere. 



These establishments take various forms : we find some are consortiums, 

 some are societies in civil law, some are private establishments. Sub- 

 stantially, however, they do not differ greatly from each other, because gener- 

 ally the same contract regulations are adopted as those drawn up and adopted 

 by the economic societies ^^hich founded the Cles drying establishment. 



These establishments ofier another by no means inconsiderable 

 advantage, that is to say they can be used also for the drying of maize. This 

 is an advantage of indubitable importance when we consider the fact that 

 in some parts of the Trent district, the pellagra has not yet been extirp- 

 ated : and in order that this terrible malady may be more effectually com- 

 bated the Imperial and Royal Government has granted some of these 

 establishments subsidies varying from 5,000 to 6,000 crs. out of the pella- 

 gra fund, or subsidies of 2,500 crs. out of the provincial funds voted 

 for the purpose. 



Wine Societies. — The institution of these consortiums for production 

 and sale arose in the most difficult period for viticulture and wine making 

 in the district of Trent, that is to say, at the date of the renewal of the Com- 

 mercial Treaty of 1892 between Austria and Italy, in which there was in- 

 serted the famous clause in favour of Italian wines. The consequences ot 

 this clause were fatal for the wine trade of the district ; the prices fell in 

 fact almost to half what they had been and the production would perhaps 

 have been even more severely affected, had it not been that the spread of 

 phylloxera in Hungary created a new market for the consumption of the 

 ordinary produce of the district and especially of musts. 



