214 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [25 April, 1917. 



of farming, on the small farms the chief influence in improvement is 

 due to co-operation — for it is through co-operation that the advantages 

 of farming ou a large scale are made possible to the small farmers. 

 The more important of these advantages are — 



1. The regulated purchase of raw materials, artificial manures, 



feeding stuffs, seeds, implements, bags, &c., which are 

 necessary for farming. 



2. Better prices for produce — milk, butter, eggs, fruit, grain. 



3. Facilities for making use of personal credit at a cheap rate 



of interest, and of putting aside small sums of money 

 that can be spared from carrying on the work of the farm, 

 with the possibility of obtaining interest. 



These are the important commercial advantages reaped by the man 

 who farms on a large scale, and thev have been placed within the 

 reach of the small farmer by means of various local societies established 

 for buying, selli\ig, and favn\ing co operatively, and connected with 

 savings banks and central associations. 



Two million .=inall farmers in Germany are members of co-operative 

 institution* 



In 1910 there were 13,636 co-operative societies in Germany, with 

 a yearly turnover of 859,000,000 marks. In 1912 there were 26,026 

 societies with a turnover of 6,341,000,000 marks. 



As an example of their work, Cahill states that 620,000 tons of 

 basic slag were bought in one year by a single German Agricultural 

 Society. There were 571 co-operative implement societies in Germany. 

 600 electric supply societies, as well as potato drying societies and dis- 

 tillery societies. 



A few beet sugar factories are run on co-operative lines, but as the 

 amount of capital required for a factory is large, most of the factories 

 belong to joint stock companies, though the beet is grown by the mem- 

 bers on co-operative lines. 



III.— WHAT WILL BE THE RESPONSE? 



The Titanic struggle raging in Europe has brought home to the 

 belligerents the vital importance of agriculture to a nation. As the 

 war drags wearily on, it is more and more clearly recognised that agri- 

 culture forms a strong bulwark in a nation's defence. 



Agriculture the Bulwark of a Nation's Defence. 



Military valour and prodigies of military skill will not save a 

 nation if its population is in want of food. Germany's encircling 

 walls of men and steel will not save her from disaster if her agriculture 

 fails to supply the foodstuffs neces.sary for life. Nor can the Allies 

 cleave their way to final victory unless their people are properly fed. 



In the early stages of the war the cry was for men ; then came an 

 incessant call for munitions, shells, and guns. Now the call is for 

 foodstuffs. A few weeks ago the Chancellor of the British Exchequer 

 (Mr. Bonar Law) is reported to have said that, so far as Great Bi-itain 

 was concerned, the British Cabinet had informed the War Office tlyit 

 it now regarded the production of foodstuffs at home as even more 

 important than the supply of more men. 



Taken in conjunction with numerous administrative acts, e.g., fixing 

 the price of foodstuffs for the next five years, and the utterances of 



