Miscellaneous. 



530 



June, 1910. 



"Secondly, there should be small local 

 societies, affiliated to the large one ; 

 and 



" Thirdly, there should be a central 

 bureau or intelligence department, where 

 the managers and representatives of the 

 large societies could meet to discuss 

 questions of policy and of contracts 

 and to organise an interchange of trade 

 and the marketing of produce. 



"An attempt is being made at the 

 present time to promote joint action 

 between the agricultural co-operative 

 organisations of England, Scotland and 

 Ireland, and if the fact is realised and 

 accepted that the central body must 

 not be a trading body but a central 

 bureau or intelligence department, it 

 will be of the greatest assistance possi- 

 ble, and will help considerably the agri- 

 cultural co-operative movement gener- 

 ally. It could be run, too, without im- 

 posing any tax, either openly or other- 

 wise, on the trade of the societies 

 affiliated to it. 



" Under a system of the kind the small 

 man would be placed on equal terms for 

 trading purposes with the largest farmer 

 in the country. 



"To illustrate what I mean, the large 

 society to which 1 have referred, admits 

 small societies to membership on the 

 basis of one 5s. share for every ten 

 members ; one-quarter of the share 

 capital has been called up, which means 

 that the cost of affiliation to the large 

 society costs the small society l|d. per 

 member, and for this the small society is 

 admitted to full membership. The lai ge 

 society can supply anything from a tin- 

 tack to a steam engine, and the purchase 

 of coal may be taken as an example of 

 the advantages which a small man would 

 derive from joining it. This society 

 makes contracts direct with the colliery 

 for from 5.000 to 10,000 tons of coal at a 

 time, and if the small society could take 

 one or two trucks, it would obtain them 

 at a price which might mean a saving of 

 from 5s. to 7s. 6d. a ton on the cost at 

 which its members could obtain coal in 

 small lots locally. The small society 

 could also obtain the best seeds, the best 

 cake and feeding stuffs, and the best 

 artificial manure and other requirements 

 at the lowest price possible. 



"Then with regard to the marketing 

 of produce and stock. Take the pig 

 trade by way of illustration, The farm- 

 ers of Suffolk are very large pig 

 breeders, and the usual practice was to 

 send the pigs to the local markets. This 

 method answered very well when the 

 markets were not glutted, but when 

 they were the results were disastrous ; 

 another drawback was that the pig 



markets were in the hands of a ring who 

 controlled the prices to their own 

 advantage. To get over this difficulty 

 the society decided to have their own 

 expert, a man who is in touch with all 

 the important markets throughout the 

 country. Between £60,000 and £70,000 

 worth of pigs passed through his hands 

 last year. The effect of this arrange- 

 ment is that the pig ring has been 

 broken, flooded markets are avoided, and 

 members can rely on obtaining the 

 highest market price of the day. 



"Now there is no reason whatever 

 why this system should not be multiplied 

 indefinitely, and applied to the disposal 

 of fruit, vegetables and the like. I came 

 across a case only last week where a man 

 sent one ton of apples and garden stuff to 

 London and received in return a postal 

 order for 2s. ; that kind of thing is a 

 matter of common occurrence, and 

 unless steps are taken to organise the 

 producers, and to insure as far as is 

 practicable that they shall reap a fair 

 and proper return for their labour of 

 months, I am afraid it will go very badly 

 indeed with them. Then again produce 

 must be sent to the consumer in the best 

 condition possible ; almost everything 

 pays for careful grading, and this, as a 

 rule, could best be done by the experts 

 of the large society of the district. I 

 cannot refer further this afternoon to 

 this most important question, but I hope 

 I have said enough to cause you to 

 realise how absolutely vital organisation 

 is to the success of your tenants, and 

 how necessary it is to encourage it in 

 every possible way. 



"I will now make a few remarks on 

 the subject of land renting associations, 

 which will be as a rule trading bodies as 

 well. 



" When the Small Holdings Act came 

 into operation there was a great rush to 

 form associations, but unfortunately 

 many of them were formed under a mis- 

 conception of the amount of share 

 capital that would be required. Some 

 of the promoters seemed to imagine that 

 twenty men, for example, had only to 

 form themselves into a registered asso- 

 ciation, with a capital of say, £50, and 

 to apply to a county council for 200 

 acres of land, and they were bound to 

 get it. 



" The question of capital has received 

 the careful and serious attention of the 

 Board, who have come to the conclusion 

 that councils are justified in letting land 

 to an association, provided its nominal 

 share capital, called and uncalled, is 

 equal to three years' rent of the land 

 applied for, it being thought that this 



