The Springfield herald., 1913-03-21
IN FAVOR OF COOPERATION
Minister Of Agriculture for Province
Of Quebec Shows How Farmers
Are Benefited.

AT a recent important meeting OF
the Montreal board of trade. one OF
the most influential and at the same
time the mos dominant organizations
connected with Canadian commerce,
the minister Of agriculture for the
province OF Quebec ard his deputy
Mr.. A. G. Gigault, were called to TASK
because they dared to encourage co
operation ,mong the dairymen and
cheese and tuttermakers in the prov
ince. The Quebec Cheesemakers' as
sociation was organized three years
ago with membership of only 80
The membership is now l60. All
cheese and butter made by the asso-
citation and sold through 1t is In
spected by competent and reliable
men and graded Fine. Fines and
Fancy. The product is marketed in
these three classes and prices vary
according to quality. Previous to the
birth of the cooperative movement IN
Quebec. a peculiar condition existed.
The dairy Industry of the province
was in rut. The cheese was in every
case sold at average prices which al
forded the buyers chance to make
big profits and provided no incentive
for cheese or buttermakers or factory
patrons to do their best In turning
out a good product. The buyers had
full control in their own hands and
there are no instances on record OF
any lot of cheese having been aver
aged by the buyer higher than the
law allowed 1t is little wonder that
the produce merchants should pro-
test.
The two heads of the provincial de-
partment of agriculture had been re-
quested to attend the meeting of the
board of trade and they were actually
asked to explain why they had taken
such a course They were told that
they were sure to ruin the trade, ana
that it would never do If thy were 10
commercialize agriculture. This com
| ing from the delegaes of body con-
stituting such an important factor IN
politics, as well as commerce. produced
no effect on the representatives OF the
department for in explaining their
policy they championed the farmer
F., They replied that what would help the
| farmer would help the trade. Ihey
argued that II Il cooperative movement
among the cheesemakers would injure
| their business there must be some
| thing seriously wrong with their sys-
tenn of dealing. They showed where
/ the name of the cheese industry in
| the province was suffering in foreign
markets and that unless something
were to be done to raise the standard
the trade must ultimately suffer They
said that it could be brought on
! sound basis in no other way than
| through a CO operative association
such as now existed, and which they
stated that they would endeavor to
help in every way possible.
The results accomplished by the
Quebec Cheesemakers' association in
the three years of its existence Is one
of the best argumnts in favor of CO.
operation from every sound standpoint.
Previous to three years ago, In the dis
trict where this association Is operat-
in; there were a few good cheese
makers, but there were also great
many very careless makers. The good
ones had no encouragement. When
asked why they did not try to improve
their product their reply was invari-
lDly, - w nat Is tHe USE. 'dH b't
no more for my cheese than the 9TH
ers who take no pains in their work,
That was one of the curses of the av-
erage price system and this the
! cheesemakers' association soon dis
posed of, insofar as it was concerned.
The system of grading under the hules
of the association eliminated that. In
the same district today if cheese
maker gets careless the patrons are
not slow in noting that their returns
are not as large as they might be.
The cheesemaker is visited and when
it is found that through carelessness
or through other cause the product
from that particular factory was
graded down, the cheesemaker Is
brought to task as a matter of course.
]