CO-OPERATION FOR SALE OF FARM PRODUCE. 123 



be churned and made up in bulk. At the blending house 

 the butter is received in lumps from the farmers, and 

 worked up, salted, graded, packed and marketed. 



A comparatively new but fairly typical cheese factory 

 is described in my Report on Dorset to the Royal Com- 

 mission. It was started in 1891 by a limited liability 

 company, with a capital of 5,000. The two completed 

 years of working showed that the milk purchased averaged 

 4,478, and the cheese sold realised 5,885. A high 

 quality Cheddar cheese was made, many prizes having 

 been won at the leading shows. Cheese-making starts 

 in March and goes on to November, and in the winter 

 months the milk is sent to London. The enterprise met 

 with some misfortune at starting, but now appears to be 

 fairly successful. 



Co-operative bacon factories have been established in 

 a few districts, but not always with success. In Denmark 

 they have, since the year 1887, sprung up rapidly, and 

 there are now thirty-four in that country, seventeen 

 of them having been erected by co-operative associations 

 of farmers. As one result has been a great increase in 

 the quantity of bacon sent from Denmark to this country, 

 a few particulars may be of interest. In the case of the 

 factories established by the farmers' associations, the 

 funds for the erection of the necessary buildings were 

 generally derived from a loan effected on the security 

 of the founders, each member being expected to become 

 a guarantor for an amount not exceeding 50, the sum 

 guaranteed by each individual determining the extent 

 of his ownership in the concern. The administration of 

 the association is vested in a council elected by the 

 members. The employes usually consist of a manager, 

 a bookkeeper and a cashier. 



The regulations of the different co-operative bacon 

 factories agree very much in their general principles. 

 It is usually stipulated that the members of the 

 association shall deliver all their saleable pigs to the 



