April 1907.] 



243 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



THE AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION SOCIETY. 

 The systematic promotion of agricultural co-operative societies in Great 

 Britain dates from the formation in 1900 of the British Agricultural Organisation 

 Society. Prior to this date a few societies had been independently formed in 

 different parts of the country, but it was evident that there was an opening in 

 Great Britain for a society on the same lines as the Irish Agricultural Organisation 

 Society founded by Sir Horace Plunkett. In 1901 an amalgamation was effected 

 between the British Agricultural Organisation Society and the National Agricultural 

 Union, the new society being known as the Agricultural Organisation Society. In 

 the Society's report for the period ending June, 1908, the following figures are given, 

 showing the progress Avhich has been made in the five years of the Society's 

 existence since April, 1901 :— 



lyui. lyu.i. 



Societies existing ... ... ... 12 ... 131* 



Number of counties in which they are 



affiliated societies ... ... 4 ... 41* 



Total membership of affiliated societies... 517 ... 7,439 

 Total turn-over of affiliated societies ... £9,467 ...£221,524 



The 134 societies which were in existence in June, 1906, were made up of 96 

 societies tor the supply of requirements or sale of produce ; 12 dairy societies ; 11 

 credit societies ; 4 allotment societies ; 3 motor service societies, and 8 miscellaneous 

 societies. Some of the societies, however, engage in more than one kind of 

 business, and might be classified under several of these headings. 



Two central societies, off -shoots of the Agricultural Organisation Society, 

 have recently been formed, one being a trading federation of agricultural 

 co-operative societies and the other a central credit bank. The Agricultural Uo-oper- 

 ative Federation, Limited, which was found in 1905, took over the work previously 

 carried on by the Advisory Business Department, and now has fifty-three societies 

 federated to it. It is a trading body purchasing goods on commission on behalf of 

 its societies, and is, therefore, naturally in a much stronger position to make terms 

 with wholesale firms than any single society would be. This has already been 

 indicated by the further concessions which have been granted to it by various firms, 

 and also by the fact that dealers are now offering far better terms to the societies 

 than they did prior to the existence of the federation. Manufacturers also are, it is 

 stated, finding it to their advantage to deal with societies through the Federation. 



The Central Co-operative Agricultural Bank, Limited, which has been in 

 course of formation during 1906, will, it is hoped, remove the chief difficulty 

 encountered in the formation of agricultural credit societies, viz., the difficulty of 

 obtaining capital, and that consequently the number of such societies will increase 

 more rapidly than has hitherto been the case. 



Another off-shoot from the Agricultural Organisation Society is the Scottish 

 Agricultural Organisation Society, which was formed in the course of 1905. Owing 

 principally to the difficulty and expense of sending organisers to places at a great 

 distance from London very little progress had up to that time been made in forming 

 societies in Scotland, and it was to carry on this work that a propagandist society on 

 similar lines was formed in that country. An arrangement has been made whereby 

 the Farmer's Supply Association of Scotland can act as the trading federation of 

 local agricultural co-operative societies formed in Scotland. 



*June, 1906, 



32 



