52 ORGANIZATION 



The great advantage of obtaining credit acts 

 as an incentive to the small farmer to work 

 his land well, and to keep a clean character. 

 A man has often been known to change his 

 mode of life, so that he may satisfy the vigilant 

 examination of his neighbours and become a 

 successful applicant for membership. 



This brief account will suffice to show what 

 a highly efficient machine is the organization 

 of agriculture on the Continent. No small 

 farmer is to be found who has not joined some 

 society ; most of them belong to two or three. 

 A new local industry is always started by 

 co-operation among the members of the 

 district. The total membership of these 

 societies numbers some hundreds of thousands 

 of persons, each cultivating only a few acres 

 of land. The turnover is enormous — amount- 

 ing to many millions of pounds sterling. 

 For purchases each individual member has 

 the same advantage of price, quality, and 

 attention as would be given to a large farmer 

 who might require supplies by the ton. He 

 knows his produce when disposed of is care- 

 fully graded and packed in expert manner and 

 despatched to the best markets, avoiding glut 



