i62 AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION 



urban industries ; (4) the ensuring of an effective distribu- 

 tion of agricultural produce on the basis of scientific market- 

 ing ; (5) utilisation of surplus supplies in times of over- 

 production, thus avoiding either waste or an undue fall in 

 prices through gluts on the market ; (6) reduction of the cost 

 of rail or road transport by means of combination ; (7) 

 improvement of live stock ; (8) co-operative tenancy of 

 land ; (9) insurance, and, in fact, for every purpose connected 

 with agriculture in regard to which combined action may be 

 of advantage. 



The right of the agriculturist to resort to organisation 

 on these lines cannot reasonably be disputed since, although 

 his doing so may, to a certain extent, appear to prejudice 

 the interests of middlemen now thriving on his past neglect 

 of his own interests, it has to be remembered (1) that the 

 farmer, as a manufacturer of agricultural produce (for such 

 he may claim to be), is, under the recognised customs of 

 the commercial world, entitled to have direct dealings with 

 manufacturers of the raw materials, the implements, and 

 the machinery of his industry without being compelled to 

 purchase through agents, dealers or local shopkeepers in 

 the same way as a suburban resident growing vegetables 

 in his own garden for domestic consumption might be 

 expected to do ; (2) that by the formation of agricultural 

 co-operative societies, which group the requirements of their 

 members, orders can be given on a scale well justifying 

 direct dealings ; (3) that if agriculture, still the greatest 

 of our national industries, is really to flourish, there must, 

 whatever other remedies are adopted, be a reduction in 

 those intermediate commercial profits which, on the one 

 hand, increase unduly the cost of production, and, on the 

 other hand, make too great a difference between what the 

 producer receives and what the consumer pays ; and (4) 

 that in close alliance with this question of the farmer's 

 profits are many other matters including those of no less 

 material concern than the wages and the housing of the 

 agricultural labourer (who also stands to benefit if the 

 business of agriculture can be made a more remunerative 



