602 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION F. 
mistrustful of one another. Intercourse at the meetings of their societies tends to 
break down the barriers of mistrust and jealousy which separate farmer from 
farmer, to broaden their outlook, and to teach them no longer to regard the 
welfare of their neighbours as detrimental to their own; while the discussions 
upon business matters have a stimulating effect upon their minds and arouse a 
spirit of inquiry and a desire for knowledge. 
While there are instances of agricultural co-operation in Great Britain of many 
years’ standing, there was no systematic effort to promote it until the Agricultural 
Organisation Society was formed in 1901. It is true that co-operation was part 
of the programme of the National Agricultural Union, of which Lord Winchilsea 
was the founder and the inspiring spirit, but it was never seriously taken in hand. 
In 1900, in addition to the N.A.U., another body had come into existence to 
promote agricultural co-operation, viz., the British Agricultural Organisation 
Society. To prevent waste of force it was decided to amalgamate the two and 
to form them into a society on the lines of the Irish Agricultural Organisation 
Society. This was done and the results obtained have been eminently satis- 
factory. 
The number of agricultural co-operative societies affiliated to the Agricultural 
Organisation Society had reached 153 at the end of June 1907. These included 
109 societies for the purchase of requirements and sale of produce, 14 dairy 
societies, 13 credit societies, 4 allotment societies, 2 motor-service societies, 2 fruit- 
grading societies, 7 miscellaneous societies, and 2 federations. 
The membership of the societies in June 1907 was roughly estimated to be 
10,000, and their turnover in 1907 is expected to reach 450,000/. 
The material benefits to the members of the societies have been considerable, 
but it is impossible to estimate them with any accuracy. In the purchase of 
requirements they have secured reductions in price averaging probably about 
15 per cent., and the benefit of obtaining goods of guaranteed purity is fully 
equal, if not superior, to that of the reduction in price. The sale of produce 
has not been developed to the same extent as the purchase of requirements, 
but where it has been carried out the net prices to the farmers have been sub- 
stantially increased. 
There has been ample evidence of educational as well as material results. It 
is the experience of the societies that co-operation has produced a more neigh- 
bourly feeling amongst the farmers, who become more ready to interchange ideas 
and place their knowledge at each other's disposal., With this has come a greater 
desire for knowledge. 
An important form of co-operation is co-operative credit. Village banks on 
the Raiffeisen model were promoted by the Co-operative Banks Association before 
the formation of the Agricultural Organisation Society. In 1903 the two associa- 
tions were amalgamated. In June 1907 there were thirteen village banks affiliated 
to the Agricultural Organisation Society. The object of these little banks is to 
provide their members with capital for reproductive purposes at low rates of 
interest. A Central Co-operative Agricultural Bank has been formed for the 
purpose of financing the village banks. 
For the success of the small holdings system co-operation is essential. Without 
it the small holder is at the mercy of the middlemen from whom he purchases his 
requirements and to whom he sells his produce. Co-operation places the small 
holder on an equal footing with the large farmer in his dealings, and provides him 
with the use of cheap loans for economic and productive purposes. 
The intense conservatism of the farmer makes the work of organisation very 
difficult. His naturally suspicious temperament adds to the difficulty, as he is apt 
to imagine that those who are urging him to co-operate have an axe to grind in 
doing so. Gradually the Agricultural Organisation Society has been able to 
remove this suspicion from the farmers’ minds, and the success of the co-operative 
societies is breaking down their disinclination to adopt new methods. 
The chief difficulty which now confronts the Agricultural Co-operative Move- 
ment is that of obtaining the necessary funds for carrying on propagandist work. 
The Agricultural Organisation Society feels that it may reasonably look to the 
