168 AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION 



and this fact has already led to an overlapping which must 

 needs increase as more societies of this same type are 

 formed. Then there is the further difficulty that inasmuch 

 as the central marketing society receives supplies only 

 from small holders' societies in affiliation with it, the latter 

 must, as at present arranged, become affiliated with every 

 central society with which they may seek to deal in their 

 desire to consign to a variety of markets. This means an 

 increase in those working expenses which it is one of the 

 main purposes of agricultural organisation to keep as low 

 as possible, and in more than one instance members of the 

 local societies have been deterred from consigning to the 

 co-operative depots, and have dealt with private salesmen 

 elsewhere. 



THE SMALL HOLDERS' OPPORTUNITY. 



That organisation on national lines would be the small 

 holders' opportunity is suggested by two examples typical 

 of the conditions under which the members of many a 

 colony of small holders now settled on the land are struggling 

 to make a living under conditions in which they may be 

 hopelessly handicapped by lack either of proper guidance 

 or of adequate facilities. 



In the one instance a group of small holders cultivate, 

 altogether, 194 acres (giving an average of from ten to 

 twelve acres each), on which they grow potatoes for sale. 

 They produce, however, on this quantity of land, no fewer 

 than nine different kinds of potatoes, with the result that 

 each grower must hawk round and dispose of his own 

 particular stock as best he can, since the wholesale dealers 

 will not look at such a collection of varieties. In a case 

 of this kind a National Organisation would advise the 

 growers to confine their attention to one or two kinds of 

 potatoes only ; and, when they had grown a sufficiently 

 large crop thereof to be worthy of consideration on a whole- 

 sale market, the means would be available for them to 

 dispose of the output at a co-operative depot or otherwise 



