ioo AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION 



even more difficult than it would otherwise have been. 

 None the less had it been made evident that the task was 

 one to be accomplished, if at all, by an independent organisa- 

 tion, working on purely propagandist lines, and not only 

 undertaking duties far beyond the scope of a railway com- 

 pany's activities, but also avoiding the risks and complica- 

 tions of actual trading. 



Before this was done, however, there was to be a renewal 

 of efforts by the Central and Associated Chambers of 

 Agriculture. 



Chambers of Agriculture Inquiry. 



On March 3rd, 1896 — that is to say, in the same month as 

 that in which Lord Winchilsea's British Produce Supply 

 Association was registered, and at a time when agricultural 

 organisation was very much " in the air " — the Council of 

 the Central and Associated Chambers resolved, by a majority 

 of 21 to 8, " That this Council recognises the desirability of 

 promoting combination for the sale and distribution of farm 

 produce, and for the purchase of farm requisites " ; while in 

 the following November the Council further resolved, " That 

 a Committee be appointed to enquire into the extent to 

 which the principle of co-operation has been applied in this 

 and other countries to the sale of agricultural produce ; 

 whether it is feasible and desirable to promote its further 

 extension ; and, if so, what means are best adapted to that 

 end." The Committee was constituted thus : — The Rt. Hon. 

 J. L. Wharton, M.P., the Rt. Hon. (now Sir) Horace Plun- 

 kett, M.P., Mr. D'Arcy Wyvill, M.P., Mr. R. A. Yerburgh, 

 M.P., Mr. W. H. Barfoot-Saunt, Mr. J. Bowen-Jones, Mr. T. 

 Latham, Mr. W. Lipscomb, Professor Long, Mr. Clare 

 Sewell Read, and Mr. S. Rowlandson, with the subsequent 

 addition of Lord Wenlock, Mr. F. E. Muntz and Captain 

 Stuart-Wortley, R.N., while Mr. R. H. Rew, who took an 

 active part throughout in this further phase of the move- 

 ment, was once more appointed to the position of secretary. 

 At the outset of their enquiry the Committee invited the 



