302 ENGLAND AND WALES 



and binder twine, and other goods. The egg 

 department had been most successful, over 

 56,000 eggs having been despatched to the 

 orders of the National Poultry Society. The 

 accounts showed a profit of 6 J per cent., after 

 allowing for all initial expenses, on a turn-over 

 of £1,136 for the half-year. 



In the county of Worcester, especially, agri- 

 cultural co-operation is now becoming a dis- 

 tinctly active force. The very great initial 

 difficulty of inducing the farmers to set aside the 

 traditions, habits, and prejudices of generations 

 has been so far overcome that several excellent 

 associations have been started and are in good 

 working order, while even those Worcestershire 

 agriculturists who still regard co-operative effort 

 with a lingering mistrust are beginning to think 

 there is " something in it," after all. At Bewd- 

 ley a co-operative association started by repre- 

 sentatives of the Agricultural Organization 

 Society in May, 1902, has rented a large ware- 

 house where fruit and vegetables are collected, 

 graded, and re-packed, the questions of sorting 

 and of suitable packages having been rightly 

 regarded as of primary importance for the local 

 producers if they are to succeed in the markets 

 where the association further seeks to push their 

 produce. Thanks to such combined effort, also, 



