FIRST ATTEMPTS 291 



founded by the same gentleman, that formed 

 the most ambitious attempt yet made in Eng- 

 land to create a direct bond of union between 

 farmers and consumers. The National Agri- 

 cultural Union had expressed the aspiration of 

 eventually assisting in the organization of local 

 co-operative societies for the purchase of neces- 

 saries, for the sale of produce, for credit, and for 

 assurance ; but in point of fact, little or nothing 

 was done on these lines, and the members de- 

 veloped tendencies in favour, rather, of a policy 

 of protection, while the Union adopted the prac- 

 tice of approaching Parliamentary candidates, 

 and calling upon them to either accept a par- 

 ticular programme or look out for opposition. 

 With political leanings such as these, the Union 

 failed to convince the agriculturists that it was 

 a practical body, and it gradually drifted into 

 the position of a negligible quantity. 



The British Produce Supply Association, 

 formed in 1890, was a distinctly interesting 

 effort, and one that aroused much sympathetic 

 interest at the time. Lord AVinchilsea's idea 

 was that produce collected at certain depots in 

 the country districts should be sold in London 

 in such a way that the public could depend on 

 getting British - grown fruit, vegetables, etc., 

 while the farmers would be enabled to get larger 



