1922.] 



Egg and Poultry Co-opekatiyk Society. 



171 



A SUCCESSFUL EGG AND POULTRY 

 CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY. 



E. G. Warren, 

 Manager-Secretary . 



The Framlingham and Eastern Counties Co-operative Egg 

 and Poultry Society, Ltd., is an offshoot of the very old- 

 established Framlingham Farmers' Club, which has done good 

 service in the past lor agriculture. 



Co-operation was first introduced to its members by Sir 

 Horace Plunkett, supplemented later by Mr. C. C. Smith 

 (Chairman of the Eastern Counties Farmers' Association, Ltd.), 

 but it was left to the Agricultural Organisation Society to estab- 

 lish the first co-operative society in Suffolk in 1903. 



The success of the Society is clearly shown by the following 

 figures : — 



No. of Members. Shares. Sales. Collection of Egys. Share Capital. 



1903 114 1,600 £5,050 453,079 6400 



1921 5,091 53,031 £282,353 24,146,059 613,257 



The Society has acquired valuable properties at some of the 

 larger depots, notably Ipswich, Framlingham and Wisbech, 

 which originally cost (with improvements) £13,078, of which 

 a proportion has been written off each year as depreciation. 

 In accordance with the rules a reserve fund of £4,043 

 has been built up and the Committee receive loans at the 

 same rate of interest as is paid on the share capital, the 

 amount on December 31st, 1921, being £1,127. The value of 

 a share is 5s. (fully paid up) to admit of cottagers joining, 

 since it is recognised that, proportionately, more eggs are col- 

 lected from cottage homes in the winter months than from 

 farms, on account of the warmer housing of the hens. 



The Society is registered under the Industrial and Friendly 

 Societies Act, which affords the cheapest and simplest means 

 of obtaining corporate existence. An individual can hold £200 

 worth or 800 shares, but needless to say there are many holding 

 from one to four shares only. The Society has had no particular 

 difficulty in obtaining share capital, interest on which is paid 

 up to 6 per cent. 



There are 50 or CO depots or agencies established by the 

 Society which collect from the villages by horse or motor 

 vehicles. These depots are controlled by salaried or commission 

 agents. Each agency collects, tests and despatches its own 

 eggs in accordance with orders received from the Central Office, 



