84 Poultry Societies in Ireland. [may, 



appliances when a poultry society of this kind is being 

 started :— 



£ s. d. 



I horse, value ... ... ... ... ... ... 20 0 o 



i spring van and set of harness ... ... ... ... 1800 



1 set of large scales ... ... ... ... ... 4 o o 



5 sets small scales at £ 1 ... ... ... ... ...500 



1 set of books and stationery for office, stores, and 



collectors ... ... ... ... ... ... 600 



1 set machinery for grading and testing eggs ... ... 7 10 o 



Acetylene gas plant... ... ... ... ... 10 10 o 



20 boxes for collectors at 4s. ... ... ... ...400 



1 set of tools for box-making, &c. ... ... ... 1 I o 



1 set of stencils ... ... ... ... ... ... I 10 o 



£77 11 0 



There were also some expenses, amounting to about £20, for 

 the repairing of the old houses and rendering them fit for the 

 society's business, but from these figures it may be seen that the 

 actual money required to start a poultry society is only about 

 ;£ioo. It is also necessary, however, that there should be an 

 additional sum of ,£200 or ^300 in the hands of the committee 

 for the purpose of carrying on the business, for the egg trade is 

 done on a strictly cash basis. All eggs must be paid for when 

 they are received, and when they are sold in England or in 

 Scotland it takes nearly two weeks from the day on which they 

 are purchased until the cash returns come in from the egg 

 merchants who buy them. Therefore, if a society is handling 

 ;£ioo worth or ^£200 worth of eggs per week, as Dervock Society 

 would be during the busy season from March to August, it 

 would be necessary to have a sum of £200 to ^400 in hand.. 

 This working capital is provided partly by the paid-up share 

 capital and partly by a bank overdraft. All the Irish banking 

 companies have now agreed to lend money to poultry societies 

 at the rate of 4 per cent, per annum, calculated from day to day 

 on the actual amount which the society has drawn out. This 

 is a very great concession, for there was a time, not many years 

 ago, when bankers charged co-operative societies a very high rate 

 of interest, and were not always willing to lend them money on 

 any terms. 



A poultry society could make a fair start and carry on a 

 successful business even on a smaller investment than ^"100, 



