Part 1 : Co-operation and Association 



SPAIN. 



THE FIRvST CO-OPERATIVE CHEESE FACTORY. 



SOURCES : 



IvA i}UESKKiA Manchixia, I,a iuduslria peaiaria (The Making of Manckego Cheese. The Live 

 Stock Industry). Organ of the General Association of Ganaderos (General Association of 

 Stock Breeders), i8th year, no. 544, Madrid, 20 February loi/. 



§ I. Antecedknts. 



We have already mentioned (i), in speaking of co-operation in Spanish 

 agriculture, the first attempt in Spain to treat milk co-operatively, made 

 by the society called Qneseria Manchega, which was founded at Infantes in 

 the province of Ciudad Real. This society is concerned with the manufac- 

 ture of the cheese perhaps most characteristically Spanish, the manchego 

 made from sheep's milk. 



The Qneseria Manchega is the first co-operative society for the manu- 

 facture of cheese in Spain. It owes its foundation to the campaign in fa- 

 vour of dairy industries undertaken by the Asociacion general de Ganaderos. 

 A technical teacher of this association happened to be in the district of 

 Infantes, undertook studies and experiments in the manufacture of the lo- 

 cal cheese, and pointed out to the sheep farmers the advantages they would 

 derive from the formation of a co-operative society which would improve 

 their processes, make their product more uniform and lessen their costs of 

 manufacture. The idea had no sooner been started than they received 

 it favourably, and after a time of indecision, devoted to the study of the 

 question, they decided to put the plan into practice. They then undertook 

 the work necessary to the installation of the factory and the formation of 

 its staff, relying above all on the support of the Asociacion de Ganaderos. 



The founders of this co-operative society had to conquer initial diffi- 

 culties of every descri]:)tion, a fact which is comprehensible if it be re- 

 membered that the establishment of a business of a kind entirely novel in 



(i) International KcvilW of A^ricultund Economics, March and May 11J15, 



