SOCIETIES FOE PUECHASE AND SALE 129 



representatives of agricultural societies and co-operative manure 

 supply societies, to discuss what action should be taken, and 

 in July, 1916, a meeting was convened in Odense, where 871 

 delegates of farmers' organisations from one end of the country 

 to the other met and unanimously and vociferously carried a 

 resolution to form the " Danish Co-operative Manure Supply 

 Society of 1916," passed the bye-laws and elected a committee 

 of representatives. This committee elected a board of directors 

 with Anders Nielsen as its chairman. At the meeting it was 

 announced that a total of 1353 local societies with 67,600 

 individual members had joined the " D.C.M.S.S. of 1916," 

 representing farms of a collective rateable value of £53,000,000 

 corresponding to a guarantee fund for the society of £900,000. 

 On account of the abnormal and difficult circumstances caused 

 by the world war the society was unable to start operations, as 

 intended, in 1917. 



The members are local societies, which must have at least 

 ten co-operators and be open to others to join. The local 

 society must send to the central society (1) an agreement 

 signed personally by each of the individual members, binding 

 them for a period of ten years to buy through the society all 

 the artificial manure used on their farms ; (2) an agreement 

 signed on behalf of the local society by the members of the 

 board of directors of the local society making these jointly and 

 severally Hable for a guarantee fund corresponding to one-half 

 per cent, of the total rateable value of the farms belonging to 

 the inscribed co-operators, provided that no co-operator shall 

 be liable beyond an amount of four shillings per acre. The 

 Habihty of members must be hmited to this guarantee fund and 

 the debt of the local society for goods delivered. Each member, 

 i.e, local society, must be represented at the general meeting 

 by one delegate. The general meeting elects a committee of 

 23 representatives, who elect their own chairman, vice- 

 chairman, and secretary. The committee of representatives 

 also elects a board of directors, chairman and vice-chairman, 

 secretary and four other members, and appoints the mercantile 

 and technical managers. Within each local society the members, 

 i.e. the farmers, manage the affairs of the society ; they are 

 jointly and severally responsible for prompt payment of goods 



