Wool 
‘ € 
| Roth: 
ft latte 
' Yarion 
1 Mar, 1900.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 167 
we We shall find that the sum total will amount to more than the profit on 
© 800ds sold. If all those men were to combine and send their produce to 
a ma couple of big wagons, in charge of two or three of themselves, the 
F Would be equally well done, and at a minimum expenditure of cash and 
mite Why should every housewife collect a few dozen eggs, a few pounds of 
% fr, honey, and other minor farm products which are her own particular 
betes and at the week’s end drive to town with a cargo weighing, perhaps, a 
Pray ovcight ? Would it not be far more profitable for all if these things 
mii anded over to one individual to take to market and dispose of? There 
3 be no middlemen’s profits, no commissions to come off the returns, and 
2 ‘there would be an end of what is not unknown to many farmers—namely, 
a account sales, with expenses piled up to a greater figure than the sale money, 
e “ respectful request to the sender to remit the balance. Here, then, is 
ue 0-Operation comes in again. i te 
Unde ome think thata co-operative store would be the panacea for the disabilities 
Durch, Which farmers labour in the matter of disposing of their produce and 
Eis ‘sing supplies. But it should be remembered that a store, to be a financial 
intelli must be managed by smart business men. Farmers may be shrewd and. 
3 Sent enough, but they have not been brought up as business men—that is, 
caret yh eepers, financiers, bookkeepers, and commercial travellers : and however 
muy uly & set of directors might think they were managing the business, they 
abovebn the long run, go to the wall. Auction. sales are thought to be fair and 
The ®Doard methods of doing business. But here again the farmer is “euchred.” 
tuctioneer may be a straight, fair-dealing man, anxious to get the best price 
é © goods he is selling. It is the buyers, over whose bids he has no control, 
by Combine to keep down prices. What is easier for a lot of professional 
Yrs, all known to each other, to combine to offer up to a certain figure and 
‘ Sher? ‘The majority of farmers are in a far different position to the 
witht If, at wool sales, prices do not suit the seller, he can afford to 
‘aw his lots and store them. He is not in any immediate hurry. The 
on it IS an excellent asset. It will keep, and money can always be raised 
ise 1 2° farmer's goods are perishable. If they are not sold, he cannot 
ge oy on many of them. The farmer himself is probably in 
Cro Mt want of money to carry out some work or get in some 
Oe r 
4 P. The buyers know all this, and thus are able to get the produce at 
Bette which will leave them a handsome profit. It is little they care for the 
into -’: ‘The best plan for the farmers of a district is to organise themselves 
* society. But they will say they have done this all over the colony. 
© ave 172 farmers’ associations and seventy-five butter and cheese factories 
Work gf meres, many of these co-operative, in the colony. Leaving out the 
th nt these factories, there are the associations and societies. What have 
. “one for the farmers? With the exception of a few, they have done 
7 More than collecting subscriptions ate holding an annual show, which 
S004 Would appear to be the sole aim and end of most farmers’ and planters’ 
foe etlons, Now, these societies could do a vast amount of valuable work 
Ther 
and 
or ; 
| Ther Cir embers, provided that those members also do their share of the work. 
igen Could act as agents for the farmers ; they should have their own reliable 
= every considerable town, to whom they would consign the produce of 
and Kinds entrusted to their care by the farmers. They could arrange sales 
| hay etces in advance, by which action farmers would have no need either to 
tors nl produce or, if unable to sell, to leave it to rot in the barn or town 
bo n, again, the society could act as buyers for their district. Goods 
;, the 
ein 1 
fino Wholesale are always cheaper than goods bought retail. Thus the 
tho, Could send in orders for twenty tons of seed potatoes instead of paying 
The} Fi the nose for one ton. It would be the same with all farm necessaries, 
| the 
‘Ng sacks and implements of all kinds. ‘There is no need to enumerate all 
“tffgj Yantages this method of supply would bring in its train; they should be 
“doar onl obvious to all interested in buying in a cheap market and selling in 
