328 



English Agricultural Societies. 



existed in the district, which had attempted to supply a need 

 felt but not expressed, namely, purchase and sale on joint 

 account, no properly directed effort had been made to combine 

 on an organised business basis. The reason was that no one 

 knew how to begin. The Industrial and Provident Societies' 

 Act and its advantages were unknown. The general idea existed 

 that to deal with the question a company formed under the 

 Joint Stock Companies' Act, with considerable capital, would 

 be necessary. When, however, the representatives of the Agri- 

 cultural Organisation Society were able to show that no such 

 necessity existed, that a society could be registered having every 

 privilege requisite for trading without expense, and that only a 

 small capital was required, since this could always be increased 

 through members joining as the society got better known, 

 the feeling was expressed that it was well worth while to 

 make the attempt to form a society on the lines indicated. " The 

 Forest Supply Association " will always have in the West of 

 England the honour of having led the way in the agricultural 

 co-operative movement. It was no very easy task to induce 

 farmers and small holders to abandon the customs of centuries 

 and buy and sell in common. Yet in a year that has been done 

 at the Forest. The society has made excellent arrangements 

 for the purchase of feeding stuffs of pure quality in sealed 

 bags. The members have soon learnt to appreciate a 

 pure article, and would have been attracted by the quality, 

 even had the price not been reduced. The store-keepers, in 

 their turn, have had to force the millers and dealers who 

 supply them to give them better terms in order to keep some of 

 the trade. Thus even for non-members the gain has been con- 

 siderable, quality having been improved, and prices reduced 

 from 6d. to is. per bag. In poultry, fruit, eggs, &c, the society 

 is a vendor. Its purchases include manures, wire-netting, 

 &c. — indeed, all farmers' requisites. The society owns its own 

 manure drill. To-day the turnover of this society is at the 

 rate of ,£1,500 a year, and it would not be surprising if next 

 year saw it doubled. 



Another interesting society in the same district is the " Vicar's 

 Farm," a dairy established for the purpose of sterilising milk and 

 cream, and for the sale of butter. This enterprise will probably 



