WORK DONE OR PROJECTED 173 



another example of those purely commercial interests which 

 have grown up alongside of agriculture, are flourishing at its 

 expense, and are annexing gains which ought to flow to a 

 far greater extent into the pockets of the farmers themselves. 



In some instances a large wholesaler will sell to a smaller 

 one who will sell to a smaller one still, until there may be as 

 many as five distinct profits made after the milk leaves the 

 producer and before it gets to the consumer. This fact was 

 stated by Mr. J. S. Corbett in the course of a speech he made 

 at a meeting of agriculturists held at Chippenham, Wiltshire, 

 in August, 1910. 



In London, especially, owing to the following up of a 

 policy of absorption and amalgamation, the tendency of 

 late years has been for these intermediate interests to get into 

 fewer and still fewer hands, so that to-day the wholesale 

 dairy trade of London is carried on mainly by three or four 

 large and powerful firms linked with each other so closely in 

 questions of policy as to constitute, in effect, a milk " trust " 

 or " combine," and this trust, it is contended, would have 

 continued to control the situation as regards the dairy 

 farmers of the Western, the Midland, and the Eastern 

 counties if a policy of self-defence had not been entered 

 upon by them. 



How CO-OPERATION CAN HELP. 



A useful purpose has been served by the Dairy Farmers' 

 Protectionist Societies, which assist their members in the 

 making of contracts, fix minimum prices, seek to prevent 

 undercutting, and " protect " the interests of the farmer in 

 other ways, also, as against the middleman. 



Much more than this, however, is needed, and the further 

 requirements can only be supplied by co-operative effort, 

 which has especially aimed at : 



1. Establishing closer relations between producer and retailer ; 



2. Setting up central dep6ts at which, by means of the most 

 perfect machinery, the milk can be subjected to cleansing and 

 proper cooling before being despatched by train ; 



3. Regulating the quantities of milk sent to the towns, in 



