The sun., 1916-10-15

the pr,scut minute 100 900 out Of the
10000 farmers in Ireland have been
brought into cooperation. This may
seem to mean that but a nth of the
agricu.turists are affected. but it means
far more than that; it means that a
very powerful yeast already has ar
feCtsd 20 per cent u: the mass. and
inevitably must rapidly affect the bal
ance. You know now yeast works in
dough.
The present situation plainly indl-
Gates that the homeopathic farmer
buys his requir, mUGts at retail and
sells his products at wholesale. while
the cooperative organization puts his
competitor. the cooperating farmer,
who has seen the light. into the posi-
ton of a manufacturer who through
association with others buys his mate
rails at bedrock prices. thus gaining
q immense advantage. and then,
again through association. puts his
product on the market in such a way
that II Is SOLD for his benefit rather
than for that Of the middleman. thus
gaining another.
81 believe the plan already mas solved
the problem Of the middlcman for both
the consumer and the producer az far
as farm produce goes and. what is al
most as important to the farmer. that
1t has eliminated. for our memb, rship
at least. the m!ddlcmau. who for CEN
turtles has stood between the agricu,-
tural implement manufacturer and the
man who used his tools.
Thus to-day the Irish farmer /. buy
ing his materials tand incidentally his
fertilizers. his seeds. his fccdlrg stuffs
and whatever else he requircs) at rock
bottom prices and is selling his product
al top notch prices. The fact that in
Guided in the latter Is little or no md
dlclnan's profit means that this does
not entail an increase In the price To-
the ultimate consumer,
The only man who is fghtGg co..
operation among Irish farmers is the
middleman, and he never has been a
producer Of wealth. In Ireland such
mlddlcmen generally have been un-
familiar with the real requirements OF
agriculture and have taken up the sale
Of implements, fertilizers or what not
As "a sid line to other businesses. fire.
qucntly hat of the sale of liquor. OF
Course the consumer does not object TO
agricultural cooperation. it means for
him better food supplies at lowered
prices"
asked Mr.. Anderson to summarize
The exact situation fore tho conpera
tive idea gained ground in ireland.
I'm 1882" said he, there was no
agricultural cooperation In Ireland.
The butter industry was threatened
with extinction, for the British market,
lrelands chief customer, was import
ne large quantities from Denmark and
elsewhere. This imported butter was
Of good quality and uniform in charac-
ter. for the exporting countries fol-
lowed "A good system OF production and
standardization. which ireland did not.
Furthermore they produced fairly
regularly throughout the year. whereas
irish butter was "A summer product.
: far the cooperative creameries in
ireland have not mel the last objection
to any very great extent. Winter
dairying must come, however. and will
come. II waits only for AN intelligent
system Of cultivation which will enable
the farmer to produce milk economi-
cally during the winter months.
In the old days butter produced on
small farms and sold at very inferior
prices did not pay the farmer. Even
large farmers could not compete with
creamery production in other coun-
tries, and prices were largely in con-
tr0l of the middiemen who financed
with early IN the year loans. bindin"
the farmer to pay in butter at n low
price, rather than In cash, The in
tercst charged usually Was 10 per cent.
and was deducted when the loan was
made. The merchant was the judge Of
both price and quality. The farmer
was his virtual slave.
AT this time certain individuals,
mostly butter merchants. had started
creamcrics in Ireland, worked on pro-
prietary lines. Occasionally farmers
and others formed n joint stock com
pany to operate an institution OF the
sort. The creamery bought as cheaply
as possible and the farmer sold M
much water AZ possible, Few OF these
prpa mericS are alive to-day