COLI<ECTIVE DAIRIES 1 3 



of the largest cheesemaking establishments in Europe. Its organization 

 is excellent ; its working and the quality' of its products, a large part of 

 which it exports, might furnish a model to many countries in which the 

 dair\' industry is developed. It was founded in 1900, thanks to the action 

 of a great agriculturist, a true pioneer of agricultural co-operation — the 

 engineer Antonio Landrini who died some years ago. 



Having constituted itself in the form of a limited liability co-oper- 

 ative society, it proposed to set up one or more cheese-factories in which 

 to treat by perfected methods the milk derived from the farms of members, 

 and to sell the products in common. It also proposed to buy and sell 

 other merchandise and practise certain agricultural industries. To ensure 

 , its existence it included two fundamental obligations in its by-laws : milk- 

 producing members nmst deliver the milk emanating from the land they 

 cultivate, the portion intended for the consumption of their famihes being 

 deducted, for thirty successive years ; landowning members or non-produ- 

 cers must oblige their farmers to become milk-supplying members. Parti- 

 cular provisions regulate the purchase of shares. 



The dairy began to work on 11 November 1900, when it had 91 mem- 

 bers who had subscribed 2,913 shares of 50 liras (i) each and who furnish- 

 ed about 150 quintals of milk a day. They had then paid up only half 

 the value of the shares : the remainder was deducted from the profits real- 

 ized on the dairy products in the first year. 



In 1900 the capital in shares amounted to 71,025 liras and the reserve 

 fund to 665 liras. The building of the .society's premises had entailed an 

 expense of 83,324 liras and the implements and utensils cost 87,990 liras. 



In November 1901 the capital in shares amounted to 159,600 liras and 

 the reserve fund to 25,247 liras ; in 1902 they had increased, respectively, 

 to 191,350 liras, and 72,729 liras, and at the end of only a few years, in No- 

 vember 1908, to 208,100 Hras and 210,591 liras. The large sums paid into 

 the reserve allowed the repayment of the capital shares, for which the 

 by-laws provided, to be begun. This repayment could be effected wholly 

 in 1909. The number of members increased equally, passing from loi in 

 1900 to 153 in 1908, 171 in 1912 and about 300 in 1916. 



While the administration of the dairy obtained these results its tech- 

 nique was also perfected ; so that while at first it could treat only 150 quin- 

 tals a day, it could finally treat on an average 500 quintals emanating 

 from within a radius of 10 kilometres (2). It produced at first 184,382 

 liras' worth of butter and 407,869 liras' worth (Si cheese, but in 1915 these 

 respective values were 550,000 liras and 1,570,000 hras. The society 



(i) I lira = 9 '^ d at par. 



(2) I kilometre = 1093.633 yards. The dairj' transports the milk from the farms to its 

 premises by means of 50 carts which it owns. During the hot months the milk is chilled at the 

 place of production by apparatus provided by the society. It reaches the dtiiry having a tem- 

 perature of from 25 to 26° centigrade. 



