204 GARDENS AND THEIR MEANING 



members. There could be no better statement of the funda- 

 mental object for which this league stands than the third 

 article of its statutes : " The Agricultural League has as its 

 object the promotion of religious, intellectual and social 

 progress among its members and the safeguarding of their 

 material interests in order to establish a class of strong 

 Christian agriculturists." 



To judge how the several departments have grown, one 

 needs only to examine the development of the dairy business. 

 At first cooperative dairies formed an insignificant branch of 

 the work ; and yet, although in 1891 there were only eleven 

 dairies, in 1905 there were in operation four hundred ninety- 

 eight. Postcamp and Antwerp, moreover, set up cooperative 

 mills ; at present they raise seeds and manufacture oil cake. 

 Warehouses have been established everywhere. 



One after another the troubles arising from all these long 

 years of ignorance and misunderstanding have been over- 

 come. The cooperative buying of fertilizers, machines, and 

 other supplies was comparatively easy to manage ; but the 

 marketing of produce on a grand scale is a difficult matter 

 and in every case has proved a severe test of loyalty to the 

 federation. Within two years this last upward step has been 

 triumphantly taken : namely, that of selling members' prod- 

 ucts to an outside market. 



The federation provides that all the fertilizers bought by 

 the little associations shall be carefully tested by expert 

 chemists. This is but an instance of how, as one authority 1 

 puts it, " cooperation grown strong puts the man of science 

 in the field." 



The local associations not only employ scientists to test 

 and purchase manure and feeding stuffs, but they organize 

 agricultural credit, mutual insurance, and all forms of banking 

 1 John Graham Brooks. 



