94 AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION 



cordially approved, and a few days later it was announced 

 that a co-operative association was being formed for the 

 purpose, among other things, of establishing depots, as 

 suggested. 



At a further conference, a fortnight later, Lord Claud 

 Hamilton announced that, as a means both of enabling farmers 

 to send supplies direct to consumers and of solving the pro- 

 blem of returned empties, his company had decided upon 

 the adoption of a new system for the carriage of farm or 

 market-garden produce. Provided that the senders packed 

 the produce in wooden boxes to be purchased from the 

 company such boxes having so small a value that there 

 would be no question of returning them and fulfilled certain 

 specified conditions, the company would carry the produce 

 from close on 100 of their country stations at substantially 

 lower rates, to include delivery to the consignees. 



This " box system," as it came to be known, met at first 

 with much favour. In March, 1896, it was announced that 

 the Great Eastern Railway Company would apply the 

 system to the whole of their stations in agricultural districts, 

 that is to say, to 300 stations instead of 100 ; and that, with 

 the help of their station masters, they had, with a view to 

 putting producer and consumer into more direct communi- 

 cation, compiled a " List of Producers in Cambridgeshire, 

 Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk " who were 

 willing to supply farm and dairy produce to householders in 

 the towns. The list contained 600 names and addresses 

 and stated the different kinds of produce which could be 

 supplied. 



Other leading railway companies (as will be shown later 

 on in the Chapter dealing with " Transport Questions ") 

 followed the example set by the Great Eastern alike in 

 endeavouring to secure combination among the farmers for 

 the purposes of joint consignment, in the establishing of the 

 " box " system, and in endeavouring in other ways to 

 forward the interests of agriculturists. 



In regard, however, to combination, it was subsequently 

 stated that although some of the companies went to a great 



