568 JOUHNAL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.— DeC, 1922. 



and of the whole movement, because many growers are reluctant to 

 become members of an organization with large outstandings. The 

 essentials for putting the societies on a permanent sound footing are, 

 apart from good management, the adoption of a cash system without 

 any credits based on an expected surplus at the end of the season, and 

 g'iving advances sufficiently low to allow of the distribution of such 

 siirpluses. Only by working on these lines can success be expected 

 ill connection with the proposed scheme by which all maize growers in 

 the country should pool their maize. 



(h) Toharco. — The Magaliesberg society had another successful 

 year, and has extended the sphere of its operations to the Marico 

 District. It was able to add a further £3558 to its reserve fund, which 

 now stands at £41,476. The Vaal River society commenced opera- 

 tions during the year, while another tobacco society Avas formed at 

 Pietersburg. 



Now that the new Co-operative Societies Act is in force, it 

 should be possible to form co-operative tobacco associations in those 

 centres of the Union where up to the present it has not been practic- 

 able to do so, as it would have been difficult to work successfully 

 without a central organization to control the sales of tobacco, etc. 



(c) Thrasliin g . — While a few of the maize societies are carrying 

 on thrashing operations in addition to other business, only one society 

 has so far been formed exclusively for this purpose, namely the 

 Olifantsrivier Co-operatieve Dorschwerk. 



(d) Daivij Cattle Societies. — As explained in previous reports, 

 these societies are intended to encourage the dairy industry by 

 enabling members to obtain thoroughbred cattle of good milk-pro- 

 ducing strain on advantageous terms. These societies are of great 

 benefit to the members, and should serve the advancement of the 

 dairy industry of the country. 



(e) Cotton. — The T{\istenburg Boeren Ko-operatieve Vereniging 

 was, during the period under review, still the only society handling 

 cotton. Several meetings were held, liowever, by representatives of 

 the cotton-growing districts in the Transvaal and Natal, with a view to 

 organizing the cotton growers and establishing co-operative associa- 

 tions in all suitable centres, including Swaziland. 



(/) Citrus. — During the period under review two further citrus 

 societies were registered under the Transvaal Co-operative Act. With 

 a view to co-ordinating individual effort in order more effectively to 

 reach the market, representatives of nearly all the fruit-growing dis- 

 tricts in the Union held a meeting in Johannesburg towards the end 

 of 1921, the outcome of which was the formation of a Fruit Exchange 

 for the whole Union. The ]!^xchange was registered in due course 

 under the Transvaal Companies Act, with articles which embodied 

 the co-operatiA^e principles laid down in the Co-operative Bill. In 

 the meantime propaganda was conducted for the formation of co- 

 operative fruit societies and coinpanies in the fruit-growing districts. 

 The idea was that individual growers should be organized into local 

 societies or companies, which were to link up through district 

 exchanges, the latter joining the Fruit Exchange. The Fruit 

 Exchange has had to contend with certain difficulties, arising chiefly 



