176 



Co-operation Amongst French Farmers. 



been adopted in Provence, several localities having their asso- 

 ciations of producers, who have combined to erect the 

 machinery for transforming the fruit into pulp, without the 

 intervention of a middleman, during seasons of excessive 

 abundance, when the price of fresh apricots is so low as to 

 barely pay the cost of picking. Co-operative associations 

 for the preparation of capers in the same district are noticed 

 separately on p. 221. Another instance of a similar character 

 is recorded from the department of the Alpes Maritimes, 

 where co-operation has been applied to the distillation of 

 perfumes from flowers. 



Manufacture of Wool. 



The " Syndicat Agricole de la Montagne Xoire,"' in the 

 south of France, which has about a hundred adherents, has 

 undertaken, in view of the fall in the price of greasy wool 

 (amounting to over 50 per cent, during the past ten or twelve 

 years), to get the fleece produced by its members worked up 

 into cloth, and to sell the manufactured article directly for 

 the profit of the society without the intervention of a 

 middleman. 



Each member receives a ticket, on which is entered the 

 quantity of greasy wool delivered by him to the manu- 

 facturer ; the wool is washed, and the weight of the washed 

 wool is also entered upon the ticket, as well as the quality, 

 since the ultimate price paid to the producer depends upon 

 the grade of the wool delivered. In June, or soon after, the 

 manufacturer submits a certain number of patterns to the 

 committee of the syndicate, who decide on the types to be re- 

 produced, and the wool is then worked up into the various 

 kinds of cloth selected for reproduction. The manufacturer 

 receives 100 francs {£4 for preparing these patterns, and he 

 is paid is. iod. to 2s. 3d. per yard of cloth made, according 

 to quality. The sale begins in October, and is entrusted to 

 agents who are responsible for the clients they accept ; they 

 receive 6 per cent, on the sales. The goods are usually 

 cleared off by February, the balance is struck in March, and 

 the profits are divided among the members. In 1893-94 the 

 average price received by the flock-owners was 5jd. per lb. 



