l6 ITAI,Y - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION 



the cheese they have deposited being their security ; d) at assisting enter- 

 prises which aim at the development of the cheesemaking and zootechni- 

 cal ind^lstr^^ 



The society proposes to hold an annual exhibition of cheese, and to 

 pay attention to the improvement of thjis article of diet. 



In order to improve the manufacture of dairy products it customarily 

 holds competitions, to which prizes attach, for producers and cheesema- 

 kers ; holds courses in cheesemaking ; and organizes cheese exhibitions. 



The society's storehouses hold at least 2,500 cheeses. The members 

 who wish to take advantage of them must make application in writing 

 and pay a deposit of 5 liras for each group of 50 cheeses, each of which 

 must bear its owner's stamp. The application must indicate whether the 

 owner will himself take charge of his product, make some one else do so, 

 or make the society responsible for it. The society has special tariffs for 

 storage, and has its own staff who include a director of the storehouse 

 and a certain number of cheesemakers. 



The Societd Viterhese Ovis, for the manufacture of Roman pecorino, 

 affords another example of bold initiative in the domain of co-operative 

 cheesemaking. 



The large growth of recent j^-ears in the consumption of Roman peco- 

 rino in Italian and foreign markets has caused a need to be felt for an im- 

 provement in technique and commercial organization, were it only for the 

 purpose of protecting the pure product from the unfailing frauds of specu- 

 lators. 



Thus several societies have been formed in Latium and in the Abruzzi 

 and Sardinia for the exportation of pecorino, and they have special estab- 

 Ushments for ripening the cheese. The society which has just been 

 named began its operations by salting the cheese made by the individual 

 shepherds. It now aims at collecting and treating the milk of members 

 on its premises in order that a standardized article of good quality may be 

 placed on the markets. As a guarantee to consumers each cheese is stamped 

 by heat with the word " romano ". 



The " Ovis " society already has man}'- members. It ripens about 

 3,000 quintals of pecorino which is commercially absolutely uniform and 

 is sold for prices higher than any previously realized by the members. 



In the district of Reggio several attempts have also been made to con- 

 struct large co-operative storehouses for ripening and selling grawa cheeses, 

 but hitherto no results have thus been obtained. 



In the matter of buttermaking the problem, which is to centralize 

 production and trade in special co-operative organizations, is certainly 

 easier, given the greater simplicity of the technique and the rapid sale of 

 the product. 



The Societd Cooperativa delle Latterie Agordine (Belluno) is incontes- 

 tably the most important example of its kind in Itah^ Another society 

 having a promising organization is the Federazione delle Latterie Sociali 

 Bergamsche, founded in 1909, especially with the object of selling on behalf 

 of its members the butter produced by the federated dairies and not sold 



