May, 1910.] 424 Miscellaneous. 



Note.— During 1909-10 second-year stu- Poultry (5) or Agriculture (5). Animal 

 dents will take, in place of animal indus- industry will be given in the second 

 try first term, Entomology (6) and term in place of dairy industry. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



FARMERS' CO-OPERATIVE 

 SOCIETIES. 



(Extract from Board of Agriculture, 

 (England) Leaflet, No. 97.) 



The idea of combining for purposes of 

 trade in Societies conducted on co- 

 operative lines perhaps originated in 

 England, where it has certainly received 

 its greatest development. While, how- 

 ever, English workmen have always 

 been the foremost in this movement, 

 English farmers have too often stood 

 aloof and have allowed foreign nations 

 to carry agricultural co-operation to a 

 point unknown in this country. There 

 are many reasons for this reluctance to 

 join Co-operative Societies, reasons 

 which are not at all discreditable to the 

 farming class, who have often shown 

 themselves fully capable of combining 

 in other directions. Yet it has proved 

 disastrous to them in some respects, for 

 it has enabled the farmers of foreign 

 nations, who have shown greater apti- 

 tude in trade combination, to secure 

 markets for their produce in competition 

 with English growers. 



There are signs, however, that this 

 unwillingness is dying out, and there are 

 many Societies throughout the United 

 Kingdom which are carrying on a 

 successful business which farmers and 

 all other cultivators of the soil would do 

 well in joining, though there is still 

 ample room for the formation of other 

 Societies on similar lines. 



Agricultural Co-operation may be 

 applied in four ways :— (1) The joint 

 purchase of farm requisities, such as 

 artificial manures, feeding stuffs, seeds 

 and implements ; (2) The joint sale of 

 agricultural produce ; (3) Mutual insur- 

 ance ; and (4) Credit banks and loan 

 societies on co-operative lines. The 

 present leaflet deals only with the first 

 two subjects, the last two being con- 

 sidered in separate leaflets. 



Societies for the Purchase op Farm 

 Requisites. 

 This kind of society is obviously the 

 most simple and most readily adapted to 

 farming needs. Indeed, there are some 

 large associations of this order which 

 have a continuous history extending 

 over thirty or forty years, and which 

 have undoubtedly been of great service 



to the agricultural classes. The benefit 

 of such societies is perhaps most obvious 

 to small farmers, who only require to 

 buy manures, cake, seeds and imple- 

 ments in small quantities. By pur- 

 chasing direct from the manufacturer 

 and selling at a trifle above cost price 

 a Co-operative Society enables a small 

 farmer to procure his goods at a much 

 more moderate price than would be 

 possible if he purchased on his own 

 account from local dealers. He obtains 

 the benefit of lower rates of carriage, 

 and is assured by guarantee of the genu- 

 ineness of his goods. 



Tbe benefit to a large farmer is equally 

 great, though for a less obvious reason. 

 The quality of manures and feeding 

 stuffs can practically only be tested by 

 analysis, and even then some scientific 

 knowledge is requisite to appreciate 

 the results obtained and the relation 

 between the price charged and the value 

 represented by the analysis. By joining 

 a Co-operative Society a farmer is 

 assured not only that he is paying the 

 proper market price, but also that he is 

 getting a genuine article for his money, 

 for it cannot be to a Society's interest to 

 cheat its own members, 



Societies for the Sale of Agri- 

 cultural Produce. 



Societies tor the sale of produce are 

 chiefly of benefit to small farmers and 

 persons who confine their attention to a 

 few kinds of agricultural produce. They 

 are certainly also useful to those exten- 

 sively occupied in mixed farming, 

 though it is chiefly among dairy farmers 

 that societies for the sale of produce 

 find their members. It is well kuown 

 that in Denmark, where large quantities 

 of milk are made into butter for the 

 foreign market, the dairy farmers have 

 formed Co-operative Societies in order 

 to secure not only economy in manu- 

 facture, but also that uniformity of 

 quality which has enabled them to dis- 

 place their rivals. Small holders who 

 desire to sell their produce in the market 

 will find membership of a well-managed 

 Co-operative Society an enormous ad- 

 vantage, inasmuch as they will be saved 

 tbe trouble and expense of marketing 

 their goods, and will be able to devote 

 the time so saved to the cultivation of 

 their holding. A double saving i9 thus 



