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Still some dissatisfaction with conditions of buying hogs pravails in Ireland and it 

 is confidently predicted that unless co-operative curing becomes general in parts of 

 Ireland where pigs are sold alive, that it will not be long before auction markets are 

 operated as in England and Scotland. This it would seem should be a good solution 

 for much of the buying difficulty in Canada. It ought to do away with the flat-rate 

 system of paying alike for all kinds, good and bad. It would do more, it would stimulate 

 competition which is limited to a minimum in many country sections in Canada. 



Co-operation is, however, the best solution as indicated in Ireland and Denmark. 

 The members of the co-operative bacon factory at Roscrea are satisfied with their lot 

 as pig raisers looking for full returns from their hogs. Between them and the market 

 there is nothing to obstruct the vision and there is no one to blame but themselves if 

 the prices received are not those quoted for the highest class. 



In Denmark the industry has grown rapidly and substantially and is thriving as a 

 well watered tree in good soil and all on the principle of co-operation. Co-operation 

 in Denmark had its origin to some extent in dissaticfaction with the packer and on 

 its own success it continues to bring prosperity to the pig raiser and contentment to 

 the farmer. 



Co-operation in Canada can it succeed ? Some say ' no, it has been tried and failed.^ 

 Was it not a poor kind of co-operation that failed? The intention of organizers was of 

 the best, much hard work was done, farmers put in a lot of money and well equipped 

 factories were put in operation; business connections that promised well in the Old 

 Country were made and co-operation in the bacon industry was launched, but it did not 

 last. Where was the weak point? It was not in the hogs for there were plenty and 

 of good bacon type; it was not in the factories for these have proved their own success 

 in the hands of proprietory firms; it could not have been in the market for this has 

 never ceased to grow for the Danes and others who send on the good bacon in regular 

 quantities. Was the system of co-operation defective? It would seem so at least for 

 the disloyal members who soon commenced to bite at the dangerous bait of rival houses 

 who received every encouragement to cast their bread upon the waters, to be gathered 

 in larger loaves in the not too distant and very certain future. No, co-operation did 

 not prove a success in the pig business nor could such a brand of it have succeeded 

 in any business in which it might be tried. It would have as surely failed in Denmark 

 with such poor staying material. The early organizers in that country saw the rocks 

 ahead and added a penalty clause to the rules. It required only a little patience and 

 honour to teach the Dane that co-operation was the correct method and since then it has 

 proved not only to the Danish but to the Canadian farmer as well, that wisely con- 

 ducted co-operation is a sound principle. 



The failure of co-operative bacon curing in Canada has valuable lessons. The 

 success of the system in Denmark and in Ireland, has still more valuable lessons. With 

 the instruction that these impart there should be no need of failure in every attempt 

 at co-operative bacon raising, curing and selling, in districts of a country so well 

 adapted as Canada for the raising of swine. A successful co-operative society requires 

 a strong leader and a faithful membership. Unless a community is made up of such 

 a class, who will bind themselves for a term of years to supply all their marketable 

 hogs to their own factory and stand firmly and loyally by the interests of their 

 organization, it need not hope to make co-operative curing a success. Given such men, 

 with a desire to follow pig raising as an important branch of their agriculture, a 

 co-operative association will work in Canada as it does in Denmark. The initiative 

 must, however, come from the pig raisers and be carried through as a remedy to a 

 grevious situation. Having come into contact with a large class of farmers who are 

 growing rich through co-operative bacon raising the Commission confidently recom- 

 mends it to the pig raisers of Canada who will do their duty towards it. 



Suggested Remedies. 



Realizing the conditions which called for the appointment of the Commission and 

 having studied the methods of successful pig raisers in other countries the Commis- 



