WORK DONE OR PROJECTED 207 



"mould" or "red spider"; and it would be a question 

 whether such losses could be met by a co-operative society 

 of only limited resources. 



H. CO-OPERATIVE BACON FACTORIES. 



<t 



The oft-repeated enquiry, " Why cannot we grow, or 

 produce, these things ourselves ? " would seem to be 

 especially applicable in the case of bacon, in regard to which 

 there are no considerations as to " vast expanses of virgin 

 soils in new countries," " cheapness of ocean transport/' 

 " difference in seasons," and so on, to account for the 

 magnitude of our imports ; and how great in extent the 

 imports of bacon into the United Kingdom really are is 

 shown by the following figures for the year 1911 : 



BACON IMPORTS FROM VALUE. 



I 



Denmark . . . . . . . . . . 6,690,937 



United States of America 5,067,533 



Canada . . . . . . . . . . 1,793,946 



Other countries 910,998 



Total.. .. .. 14,463,414 



The problem is an extremely difficult one to solve, and 

 presents considerations which would probably not occur 

 to individuals who, being unacquainted with the facts of 

 the situation, might think that more might, and should, 

 already have been done in the direction stated. 



One important matter of detail, for instance, is that to 

 conduct a co-operative bacon factory successfully it is 

 necessary to have always a regular and adequate supply of 

 pigs ; though a no less important matter of detail, and one 

 upon which great stress is laid, is that the pigs supplied 

 should be of the right quality, since unless this condition 

 also be fulfilled, failure might still result, whatever the 

 proportions of the supply. 



The definite minimum with which a factory can deal and 

 continue to be financially successful has not yet been 

 established ; but it is quite certain that the working expenses 



