THE R6LE OF THE DISTRIBUTOR 197 



markets, by selling at once to shopkeepers or others in 

 small towns which previously drew their supplies from 

 the large markets. Here the Distributor element is 

 certainly brought to the irreducible minimum unless 

 the Evesham growers attempt the formidable task of 

 opening co-operative retail shops in every town in the 

 United Kingdom to which their produce is now con- 

 signed ! It is true that even the shopkeeper is cut 

 out by the system under which farm produce is for- 

 warded direct from farm to householder. But this 

 system must have only a qualified success, because it 

 is obvious that the householder cannot gauge the 

 household requirements with such exactitude that the 

 box from the country will always contain the precise 

 quantities desired ; and if the local shopkeeper is 

 abolished, how will the additional supplies that are 

 wanted be obtained on the spur of the moment ? 



Whether or not, therefore, the Distributor should 

 be recognised, and if so, to what extent, are matters 

 that depend upon the circumstances of each particular 

 case. There are certain branches of agricultural pro- 

 duction in which the ' wholesale ' as well as the ' retail ' 

 element will certainly have to be accepted as unavoid- 

 able, if not actually desirable ; and it is worth consider- 

 ing whether in some instances, at least, combination 

 might not be more effective if it aimed at putting large 

 supplies into the hands of a wholesale middleman, who 

 controls a big trade, and can dispose of large quantities 

 with a minimum of cost and trouble, instead of seeking 

 to abolish him in his capacity of Distributor-in-Chief. 

 Certain it is that while individual farmers are sending 

 off separate boxes to separate householders, wholesale 

 firms whose turnover may run into several millions a 

 year are importing butter, bacon, eggs, or other com- 

 modities by the shipload, and having it carried past 



