CO-OPERATION FOR SALE OF FARM PRODUCE. 115 



But the staunchest admirer of the British farmer will 

 admit that he is intensely individualist. Forty or fifty 

 years ago this would have been a term of eulogy. Now it 

 will hardly be denied in any quarter that a fundamental 

 fault in the economics of British agriculture is that the 

 whole structure rests on a basis of individualism. It was 

 not always so, for under the old common-field system 

 there was a considerable amount of co-operation among 

 the cultivators, and it is only since inclosure transformed 

 the face of the country that agriculture has been on a 

 purely individualist basis. 



We take, then, as a starting point the fact that the 

 British farmer is by habit and prejudice averse to co- 

 operation. What we have to consider is whether co-opera- 

 tion would improve his position, and if so, whether it is 

 possible for him. 



There are three distinct forms which the co-operative 

 principle may and does take, or more correctly, perhaps, 

 three branches of co-operation : — 



1. Co-operative production. 



2. Co-operative purchase. 



3. Co-operative distribution and sale. 



The title chosen for this paper involves the considera- 

 tion of only the third of these subjects, viz., co-operation 

 for distribution and sale. We may, however, glance 

 briefly in passing at the first and second of these 

 subjects. 



Co-operative production as applied to agriculture 

 practically means the hiring of a farm by a number of 

 labourers who agree among themselves to take the risks 

 and share the profits. As long ago as 1829 Mr. John 

 Gurdon, of Assington Hall, Suffolk, adopted this plan, as 

 also did Mr. Vandeleur in Ireland in 1831, in both instances 

 with some success. Two other more recent instances are 

 on record. One commenced in 1883 on the estate of 

 Mr. Bolton King, in Warwickshire, where the labourers 

 formed themselves into the " Radbourne Manor Farming 



1 2 



