126 RURAL RECONSTRUCTION 



the sale of live stock — over which, co-operatively conducted, people 

 have bungled a long while, groping their way to find the proper 

 method to adopt — the difficulty to be overcome proved much more 

 serious. But along with such difficulty, at this point, more than at 

 any other, one of the most solid advantages which co-operation 

 brings to the individual revealed itself. There is no other industry 

 so largely dependent for its successful prosecution upon the assist- 

 ance of ancillary crafts and sciences. " Agriculture," so wrote Sir 

 John Sinclair, the first President of our first Board of Agriculture, 

 " though in general capable of being reduced to simple principles, 

 yet requires on the whole a greater variety of knowledge than any 

 other art." That " variety " has not become less, but rather very 

 much more. The modern cultivator, large or small, requires the 

 services of chemistry, physiology, mechanics, engineering, bacterio- 

 logy, and more besides. Well, co-operation can place at the service 

 of its members, necessarily ignorant on many technical points, expert 

 assistance such as will fully make up for their own ignorance, and 

 that at a purely nominal cost. The farmer selling his own beast, or 

 a few beasts, at what to him is the nearest market — because he 

 cannot afford to go to one at a distance — is at a distinct disadvantage 

 when pitted against an expert dealer, who knows precisely which 

 market is best for a particular article, and can beat down the seller 

 — who does not like to take his animal home again — with his expert's 

 lingo, to his heart's content. A co-operative society is in a position 

 to overcome all these obstacles. It provides its expert advisers — 

 advisers of various kinds, in this case one versed in the secrets of 

 the live stock trade, who knows the markets, with their several 

 peculiarities, and can select the right one for each animal ; who can 

 arrange for the transport of a number of beasts, sufficient to warrant 

 the longer journey, at the most economical rates ; and who meets 

 the wily dealer on equal terms, as knowing all the tricks of the trade, 

 and having the right words ready on his tongue. We know now by 

 experience what a very great difference that makes in the selling of 

 produce. 



As time went on, further advantages came to be disclosed. If in 

 purchase " bulk " rules, so it does to a great extent also in sale. 

 The vendor who has large quantities of goods to offer is in a posi- 

 tion to speak with his enemy in the gate in a very different tone 

 from that mildly struck up by the seller of a small lot. 



And that has led on to a further advance in trade still. Trade 

 nowadays requires things not only " bulked," but also " classified ' 

 and " standardised " ; more carefully " packed," and brought to 



