88 THE RURAL PROBLEM 



of his cows, which may account for the milk of some farms 

 actually costing four times as much to produce as that on 

 others. This will tend to disappear with the fuller knowledge 

 which a young generation of farmers will acquire from better 

 education and the co-operative atmosphere. Secondly, the 

 middlemen's profits, which average at least 100 per cent, in 

 the case of milk in England : what the middleman sells for 

 14d. to 18d. brings the farmer only 6d. to 9d. That 

 this enormous burden can be removed from the price is 

 proved by the case of Denmark, where the selling price is 

 only 30 per cent, above what, the farmer gets, although his 

 milk is hygienically handled and is absolutely free from 

 tubercular taint. 



The middleman's profit is responsible for a similarly hij^h 

 proportion of the selling price of other farm produce as com- 

 pared with the cost of production. The following table of 

 profits is given by Mr. Christopher Tumor : 



Per cent. 



.Mutton 27 



Beef 10.] 



Milk 100-120 



Bread 54 



Peas, beans, carrots, etc. ... ... ... 100-180 



Small fruit 100-150 



It will be noticed that the burden is greatest on those 

 articles which the small holder will mainly look to for his 

 livelihood. 



The future of small holdings lies not in the direction of 

 self-supporting small holders, each taking in the other's 

 washing and producing for local consumption only, but 

 rather in their contributing co-operatively to supply a 

 national and perhaps a world market. If then a glut is to 

 be avoided their produce must reach the public at ;i price 

 wnich will ensure an enormous sale among classes which at 

 present cannot afford these tilings at all. This can only 

 obtain when the markets have been systematically or- 

 ganised, when the cost of transit is cheapened, and when the 

 producers themselves are assisted by the local authorities 

 and the State to co-operate both for their own and for the 

 public advantage. 



The waste and overlapping that at present exist must be 



