162 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Man., 1902. 
with which they are surrounded. In nearly every district in this State, — 
so-called agricultural societies and associations have been formed to assist 
those whose occupation is primary production, and I am pleased to be enabled 
to write that such institutions have done a vast amount of good, especially 50 _ 
where the objects for which they were intended have been strictly adhered to. 
The maxim that “ Union is strength” can never be better exemplified than by 
our farmers, if they follow on the lines of the progressive societies of England 
and of the Continent of Europe. This spirit of unionism or co-operation is thé 
secret spring that has revolutionised the agricultural industry of the world. 
The farmers first, by meeting together and discussing matters of mutua 
interest, which included not only cultivation of the soil but the disposal of thei 
products, by finding and creating markets, introducing better systems of 
manufacture, and the constant demand for the latest information an! 
scientific knowledge, compelled the attention of their respective Govern- 
ments, manufacturers, scientists, and others to their urgent needs; 
and their requests have been responded to most heartily by the — 
erection of schools, colleges, training homes, experimental farms, and — 
gardens under the care of skilled teachers, professors, and practical scientists, — 
who have succeeded in placing the farmer’s produce on the markets of the 
world in the best possible manner with the smallest amount of physical labour — 
and cost. This, then, should be an incentive to the farmers in this State t0 — 
meet together in unison to make their wants known, to form societies, or, if 
such are already established, to form branches working under the same rules, but — 
independently as regards their own requirements. Thus a better feeling wi 
be engendered, and, by co-operating, the many little difficulties will be overcome, — 
and socialism of the right kind will be established. It has often been show? 
that by uniting for the purchase of your seeds, implements, and even your — 
clothing and everyday requirements, a great saving will be effected in the cost — 
to each individual by the larger or wholesale purchasing power. ‘The same 
system applies also with beneficial results in marketing your crops. The great — 
lesson learned from co-operation, is that it teaches you and your neighbour 1 
help yourselves. It not only enables you to obtain a better price for what you 
grow and have to sell, but it creates a very considerable saving in what you 
have to purchase. In other words, co-operation not only assists you 
“making a profit,” but, better still, it helps you “to save one.” 
Our Socteries and ASSOCIATIONS. 
In addressing a few notes to our societies and associations on the question — 
of co-operation or, as some prefer to call it, affiliation (it all tends to the same — 
conclusion), I may be permitted to state that at the present time there 8 
certainly a movement amongst the various bodies in this State to increase thet 
usefulness. The conferences inaugurated by the Department of Agriculture 
have brought out the fact that common sympathies and interests permeate the — 
whole of this State’s societies, but for the want of proper organisation they 
have allowed their interests to lie dormant. No greater factor for the we 
of the agriculturists of this State could be found than the work which could ; 
be undertaken by the various societies and associations, if properly organi 
and modelled on up-to-date lines. It was this thought that enabled the writer ; 
to take into consideration the organising of a central body uniting the various 
societies into a corporate body, and which was enthusiastically taken up at — 
the Bundaberg Conference, where a strong and energetic committee was 
appointed to carry out the object in view—namely, the establishment of 
a Queensland Chamber of Agriculture. This has been done successfully, 
ices 
and I may therefore be pardoned for saying to our farmers, producers, 
and the members of our various societies and associations, whether 
large or small, that this Chamber has been formed to benefit you. You may be 
of the opinion that this does not interest you—that local organisations meet 
your needs and requirements ; but this is not so. Those of your members who 
are moving with the times will gladly welcome and avail themselves of this 
