10 



CO-OPERATION AMONGST IRISH FARMERS. [Jmie 1895. 



this number 34 were established in the 15 months ending 

 March 31st, 1895. There are now in operation 67 of these 

 organisations, with a membership of 3,800 farmers. Th©/ 

 remarkable development, which has taken place so recently, has 

 been due, to a great extent, to the efforts of the Irish Agricultural 

 Organisation Society. This propagandist body , which . jnay be 

 regarded as the organising centre of agricultural co-operation- in 

 Ireland, has been constituted solely " to improve the condition 

 of the agricultural population by teaching the principles and 

 methods of co-operation as applicable to farming and the allied 

 industries; to promote industrial orgtmisation for any purposes 

 which may appear to be beneficial ; and generally to counsel and 

 advise those engaged in agricultural pursuits." The activity of- 

 this society has not been solely confined to the furtherance of 

 co-operative dairying. Within the short period during which 

 it has been in existence, it has succeeded in forming 10 associa- 

 tions of farmers for the joint purchase of farming requirements/ 

 and in opening, as an experiment, a small co-operative credit 

 bank. 



Briefly, the functions of the Joint Purchase Associations are 

 to carry on the occupations of commission agents; wholesale and 

 retail dealers in farm and garden produce, seeds, artificial 

 manures, feeding stuffs, agricultural implements and machinery ; 

 exporters and importers of live stock and general dealers in any 

 other class of goods the committee may select. Members of the 

 associations are expected to pay a sum equal to 2 J per cent, on 

 the value of their purchases. These payments are placed to an 

 insurance fund, and in the event of any member failing to pay 

 his account for goods within the prescribed time, it is discharged 

 by the society out of this fund, and the defaulter is expelled 

 from the society. 



No credit is allowed to any member for purchases of feeding 

 stuffs, manures, seeds, or implements, except at the discretion 

 of the committee, who must be satisfied of the solvency of the 

 applicant. The committee may at their discretion refuse credit 

 to any applicant, unless two members of the said committee 

 become personally liable for the amount. 



No member can receive any credit for goods purchased through 

 or from the society, the value of which exceeds the amount paid 

 up on his share or shares, except with the approval of the 

 Committee. Credit is not allowed for any time exceeding one 

 month, save in the purchase of artificial manures. 



The operations of the associations consist, as is the case with 

 similar organisations in France,* for the most part in the purchase 

 of manures and feeding stuffs on behalf of the members ; but 

 some of them have already turned their attention to other 

 classes of business. Thus, one association has bought a short- 

 horn bull, two stallions, a steam threshing machine and a 

 traction engine. It has also hired a large disused mill for the 



* Cf., Vol. I., No. 1, p. 7 of the Journal of the Board of Agriculture. 



