SPAIN - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION 



Spain was in question, and that it was impossible merely to imitate similar 

 enterprises in other countries from which the Spanish districts were 

 distinguished by their particular conditions. Infantes lies moreover in La 

 Mancha, without doubt the most individualized and the least social region 

 in Spain. The obstacles encountered were not only technical but also social. 



Among such social difficulties, side by side with those of them which 

 were purely psychological, were some based on economic interests. In 

 fact the greatest resistance to the innovation emanated from the master 

 shepherds of the sheep farmer members of the society. This was due to the 

 fact that previously each master shepherd had made the cheese derived from 

 his flock, receiving certain indemnities at the period of manufacture, that 

 he was the middleman for the sale of the skim milk, and finally that he 

 enjoyed the enormous advantage of being able to instal all his family on 

 the farm, on the pretext that they helped in the manufacture, and they thus 

 were able to dispose of abundant cheese, milk, cream etc. The co-operative 

 society eventually solved these problems without prejudice to the interests 

 of shepherds or employers, either by employing the shepherds, as we shall 

 see, on the processes of manufacture, or by suffering them to sell and derive 

 profit from the skim milk, to provide wood and water for the factory, to 

 transport the cheese to the railways or to pack it. 



It was also no easy matter to accustom the cheesemakers to the new 

 processes of manufacture, to cause them to observe standards of clean- 

 liness and order previouls^^ unknown, and, above all, to teach them to treat 

 large quantities of milk at one time. Finally however all these diflficulties 

 were met by the enthusiasm and conviction of the sheep farmers, whose 

 rnmbers have continually increased as a consequence of the results obtained 

 by the society. 



§ 2. The working of the co-operative society. 



We have no data as to the organization of this societ}', and therefore, 

 before we give an account of its activity, we will merely indicate how it has 

 worked. 



Two problems had to be solved before it could become active, that 

 of the staff and that of the distribution of expenses and profits. The first 

 of these was undoubtedly the more complicated, for owing to the system of 

 sheep farming locally prevalent, as we shall see, cheesemaking lasts only 

 for from eight-five to eighty-eight days ; and it is therefore naturally impos- 

 sible to employ workpeople exclusively on this industr>^ since they would 

 thus be idle for nine months of the year. The problem is solved by appoint- 

 ing as master cheesemaker one of the shepherds in the employ of the mem- 

 bers and others as assistant cheesemakers, the chosen men always having 

 special skill in the trade. The factory pa^-s these employees during the 

 cheesemaking season, providing substitutes to do their ordinary work as. 

 shepherds. 



