255 



Miscellaneous,. 



appearance, and in consistency, is the characteristic most required in butter 

 intended for general consumption in the great towns of this and other countries: 

 and it is obvious that this is more likely to be secured by manufacturing the article 

 jn dairies which can manipulate the milk supplied by a large number of farmers, 

 than if each of these farmers himself makes butter from the milk produced on his 

 own farm. A full account of the organisation and methods of the Danish dairy 

 societies, and of similar associations in Sweden and Germany, is given in a special 

 report published by the Board of Agriculture, and articles showing the progress 

 of co-operative dairying abroad, in the colonies, and in Ireland, have appeared from 

 time to time in the pages of the Board's Journal. Except in the case of butter 

 and cheese-making, little advance has been made in the application of co-operative 

 principles to productive processes in agriculture. Danish farmers have, however, 

 associated for the curing of bacon for export, and there are also instances abroad 

 of agriculturists having combined with satisfactory results for the prosecution 

 of such businesses as milling, baking, distilling, the preservation of fruit and 

 vegetables, sugar refining, the manufacture of starch, and the raising of seeds. 



Co-operation in the sale of general agricultural produce presents difficulties 

 which have not yet been successfully overcome. When it is remembered that corn, 

 vegetables, and meat are usually sold wholesale in separate markets under entirely 

 different conditions, it is not surprising that comparatively few farmers' associ- 

 ations have attempted to undertake the sale of all these articles on a large scale 

 These difficulties are less conspicuous in cases where the societies have confined 

 their business to a single class of produce, such as butter and eegs, and the 

 wholesale disposal of these products on co-operative lines has been organised 

 with success. Where this business has assumed large dimensions, as in the case 

 of the sale of butter manufactured in the Danish and Irish dairies, the work 

 of distribution is undertaken by special agencies formed solely for that purpose, 

 to which the dairies consign their produce. This form of co-operative distri- 

 bution is one which offers great possibilities in connection Avith the question of 

 the economic carriage by rail of agricultural produce. Many of the complaints made 

 by farmers of excessive and preferential railway charges arise from the fact that 

 the consignments concerned are not sufficient in bulk to enable the companies 

 to handle them with profit at the lower charges at which they convey larger 

 consignments. In such cases the remedy would frequently be found in the formation 

 of a co-operative distributing agency, which would undertake the collection and 

 packing of small consignments to make up truck-loads for dispatch at regular 

 intervals. 



Retail trading has been taken up by some co-operative societies in dairying 

 districts on the Continent, through the medium of the parcels post, and this 

 means of reaching the consumer direct has also been employed for the dis- 

 tribution of fancy cheeses, honey, eggs, and fruit. 



Among the other co-opei-ative institutions established by farmers on the 

 Continent, perhaps the most important are the associations for the improve- 

 ment and insurance of live stock, which are more numerous in France and 

 Belgium than elsewhere. As a rule cattle are the auimals with which these 

 associations are concerned ; only in a few instances are horses, sheep, and 

 swine included. In the case of the Belgian cattle insurance societies, which may 

 be taken as a type of these institutions, the usual compensation allowed to members 

 for the loss of an animal is two-thirds of its value, and this is paid out of the 

 funds of the society to which all the members make periodical contributions. 

 Another method adopted by some societies is to pay the compensation out of 

 the common fund only when the animal is declared unfit for food ; but if the 



