336 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 May, 1898. 
Aoriculture. 
CO-OPERATIVE FLOUR MILLS. 
Mr. Tinzert, of Pittsworth, lately gave a few particulars to Mr. Daniels, 
M.1L.A., about his last season’s wheat crop, and especially upon the plan he 
adopted to obtain’a fair price for his wheat. Instead of selling it to the 
millers, he had it gristed and so turned it into flour, pollard, and bran, with a 
most satisfactory result. The price offered by the millers in Toowoomba was 
3s. 9d. per bushel, the wheat to be kept until it was required by the purchaser. 
Mr. Tillett thought he could do better, so, as before said, he had the grain 
gristed, and sold the flour at 1s. per bag less than the miller’s price. By so 
doing, he says that the result was equal to 4s. Gd. per bushel for his wheat, 
besides which he had the bran and pollard, which, when sold, would realise 
5s. per bushel. 
In the Pittsworth district some 120,000 bushels of wheat were produced 
last season. If the figures above quoted are correct, then it follows that the 
farmers by selling their grain must lose £6,000, whereas, had they had a mill of 
their own, this loss would have spelt profit. It is quite natural that millers, 
like all other business-like manufacturers, will try to buy in the cheapest and 
. sell in the dearest market. This is perfectly legitimate trading, but most 
people who deal in any commodity of universal consumption give their 
customers the benefit of the cheap buying. Those, therefore, who reap benefit 
from the transaction are not the producers, but the consumers. In this case, 
the farmers are the producers, and the middlemen are the gainers—not the 
public at large, who are the consumers. 
Here then we have an argument in favour of the erection of co-operative 
flour mills. But flour mills, although they may be erected at comparatively 
small cost are not run without capital. Suppose a mill capable of gristing 
200,000 bushels of grain per annum, those 200,000 bushels will have to be 
purchased for cash, which for argument sake we will put at 4s. per bushel. 
That means £40,000, but not necessarily a capital of £40,000. The grain 
is not purchased all at once, or if the year’s requirements are provided for in 
advance, delivery is arranged for at stated intervals and payment made on 
delivery. Meanwhile sales of flour are being made almost as fast as the grain 
comes in, so that nothing like the large capital above mentioned would be 
needed. At the same time the fact must not be lost sight of that new brands — 
of flour have to make their way in the general market against old, well-known, 
established brands, and hence it might occur that large stocks of flour would 
be accumulated, and still, to keep the mill going, cash purchases of grain 
would have to be made and that would mean a large amount of dead capital. 
So far we have briefly glanced at the position of private millowners. 
Now let us see how the matter would stand in the case of a co-operative 
company. 
Here we must first go into figures and try to arrive at an estimate of the 
cost of machinery, fittings, erection, and buildings. 
Fora large district where there are 10,000 acres of wheat ent for grain 
(and such an area in one district is in the near future), a mill would be 
required capable of gristing 200,000 bushels per annum. 
