ORIGIN OF AGRICULTURAL SYNDICATES 61 



Apart from the ignorance and the prejudices of 

 the farmers in respect to the use of artificial 

 manures, the producers thereof, having to send 

 out travellers and push a business then far from 

 active, charged high prices, and, what was still 

 worse, sent out adulterated or inferior qualities. 

 M. Tauviray's happy inspiration was to get all 

 the farmers in a certain district to join together 

 in sending in one big order, by means of which 

 they would be able to purchase at a less price, 

 get lower railway rates, and, also, be in a better 

 position to secure a guarantee of quality. A 

 combination with these objects in view was 

 brought about in 1883, and when, in March, 

 1884, organizations of this type acquired a legal 

 status in France, many more of such purchase 

 associations followed. The use of the fertilizers 

 was found to yield increased crops at a reduced 

 cost, and the operation of the new syndicates 

 obviated all the difficulties previously ex- 

 perienced. So the movement for the establish- 

 ment of agricultural syndicates spread, in course 

 of time, throughout the whole of France — 

 though they were more numerous in some parts 

 thereof than in others — while in proportion as 

 their utility was more and more recognized, the 

 scope of their activity widened. Seeds and 

 feeding-stuffs were purchased in wholesale lots. 



