<39(i JoLtnutl of A(/ricultun'. }'icturia. | 15 iS'ov., 1!(1!>. 



which all tliose horses and iiioii vmxld have got through in the day, and 

 add to tliis loss the ])i-ohahle exi>eiiditur(' of" a few shillings on creature 

 comforts in town, Ave sliall find that the sum tot^al will amount to more 

 than the profit on the goods sold. If all those men -were to combine 

 and send their ])roduce to town in a couple of big waggons, in charge 

 of two or three of themselves, the work would be equally well done, and 

 at a minimum exi)enditure of cash and labour. Why should every 

 housewife collect a few dozen eggs, a few pounds of butter, honey, and 

 other minor farm products which are her own ])articular province, and 

 at the Aveek's end drive to tOAvn with a cargo weighing, ])erhaps, a 

 hundredweight ? Would it not be far more profitable for all if these 

 things were handed over to one individual to take to market and dispose 

 of? There Avould be uo middlemen's profits, no commissions to come 

 off the returns, and thus there Avould be an end of what is not unknown 

 to many farmers- -namely, aii account sales, with expense.-; ]»iled up 

 to a greater figure than the sale money, and a respectful request to the 

 sender to remit the balance. Here, then, is Avhere co-operation comes 

 in again. 



Some think that a co-operative store would be a panacea for the 

 disabilities upon Avhich farmers labour in the matter of disposing 

 of their ])roduce and purchasing sup])lies. Kut it sliould be 

 remembered that a store, to be a financial success, must be 

 managed by smart business men. Farmers may be shrewd aud 

 intelligent enough, but they have not been brought up as business 

 men — that is, as shopkeeper, financiers, bookkeepers, and commercial 

 travellers; and however carefully a set of directors might think 

 they- Avere managing the business, they must, in the long run, go 

 to the Avail. Auction sales are thought to be fair and above-board 

 methods of doing business. But here again the farmer is " euchred.'" 

 The auctioneer may be a straight, fair-dealing man, anxious to get the 

 best price for the goods he is selling. It is the buyers, OA'er whose bids 

 he has no control, who combine to keep doAvn prices. What is easier 

 than for a lot of professional buyers, all knoAvn to each other, to 

 combine to offer up to a certain figure and no higher? The majority 

 of fanners are in a far different position to the Avool-grower. If, at 

 wool sales, prices do not suit the seller, he can afi'ord to AvithdraAV his 

 lots and store them. He is not in any immediate hurry. The Avool 

 is an excellent asset. It Avill keep, and money can ahvays be raised 

 on it. The farmer's goods are perishable. If they are not sold, he 

 cannot raise money on many of them. The farmer himself is probably 

 in urgent Avant of money to carry out some Avork or get in some crop. 

 The buyers know all this, and thus are able to get the produce at a 

 figure which Avill leave them a handsome profit. It is little they care 

 for the farmers. The best plan for the farmers of a district is to 

 organize themselves into a society. But they Avill say they have done 

 this all over the State. There are farmers' as.sociatious and butter 

 and cheese factories and creameries, many of these co-operative, in the 

 State. Leaving out the work of these factories, there are the associa- 

 tions and societies. What have these dr<ne for the fanners? With the 

 exception of a few, they have done nothing more than collecting sub- 

 scriptions and holding an annual sIioav, AA'hich latter Avould appear to 



