Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1884. CO-OPERATEON AMONG FARMERS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 281, 24 October 1884, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1884. CO-OPERATEON AMONG FARMERS.

I TiiE emulation which agricultural ■ ,and pastoral as? pciations 'should induce should further impress our farmers with the invaluable benefits of co-operation. In this connection and m. order t# u direct? \ attention to the question,: we; reproduce from a ; Southern journal some Very appropriate remarks upon this all-impor- : taht subject. Our rCbntemporary f points outftfiat farmers, as a class, have from time immemorial been iniichgiveh ib playiiiga'"lone hand." Go-opefatibn'in the iray of business matter^, has 'at Way s'Scemed strange •to them, and generally undesirable. To mind their own business and say . .nothing about it to anyone has been a habit, to; ,the Biitisp> farmer '* to . the; tnanner born.'' The exigencies of modern life, modern commerce has drawn, them, however unwillingly, from their- old habits, and they have come to understand that they must combine or perish. Where others are" finding new strength' m : union, the one who tries to stand alone must 'be beaten m th£' race. Whether "farmers here desrre it or niot, co-opferation is a vital necessity to! the agricultural community.' For buying or seiling, the ''settlers m New Zealand have no profits'derivable, from, the. soil which they can afford to spend on the luxury of middlemen/; Just tthatt t margin of gain which an enterprising producer has had to spend onageots of all classes, has, now become /thanks to the low prices) A bfis only margin. If <h&^' can saVe that lie can live, he 1 J can l compete, he can thrive ; if notj he 1 iriust go to the wall sooner or 1 later. ; ' If%. co-operation be wisely contludted arid -well-supported there" iis an' ever-extending sphere for. its operations, To import seeel the far-, mer has now. ,tp employ one agent ; to insure his stacks and implements f he employs another ; to raise money until harvest .titrie perhaps, a. third. He has to take innumerable trips to town to see after every thing, and where so mtoy' have W live off fyis labours,; he necessarily has to pay a high price, for everything. If we rightly uriders(aiid)t'he, object 6f the Colonial Co-bpefatiVe!, it'is to secure for the farmer those, items, of' his expenditure which bulk so largely m his accounts by the end of the year .at present. JFor the , future farmers may divide among themselves the profits derived from their business -transactions, Storage, insurances indents of implements, and all similar concernsv are matters which should cost farmers not one tithe of what they have formerly had to pay. The simple fact will be that only one profit instead ofsten will have tb come out of their pockets, and the net result of that will be devisifele among .themselves. It is evident to tjie most determined admirer of old ways that it will be simply impo6sible ;to '" stand out " — and live. Assuming, that a prejudice exists against the new customs of commercial life, the pressure of stern facts must inevitably squeeze the prejudice out of existence, ' In one or two ;directions more especially the necessity 'fof combination' stnd cor operation is ,'cle^.r. The' settler on the T^ierj ]?lain is jib longer a mere purveyor, for the wants and tables of Dunedin re^idejits. It ?s..'pf.as rnuqh importance to him to know and reckon; up the prices m Mark Lane or the lvalue at Smitlifiekl as it is to know themj m Princes or Bond streets. H^ is a merchant, an adventurer; m other climes. He knows nothing ,of freights and landing charges, or dock dues. He is utterly unfitted) by his especial training to acquire the special knowledge that makes the difference between profit and loss m such matters as these. Moreover, unless m a very large way of i business, it can never pay him to acquire that special knowledge. He must combine with others if he is to have the commercial side of his business properly attended to. Ten men each with i five thousand bushels of oats to sejl will find the united charge when proportionately distributed amount '

to a sum incomparably less than that, which they would have to pay if each " went 'alone." : This 6b~viouy fact is one proof of the advantages co-operation, will bring with it, . In one other matter of first-rate importance co-operaticn will prove beneficial The establishment of biitter .factories— creameries, as they are appropriately termed m America- — becomes a necessity as soon as it is desired to export, butter. VNfe do not wish to offend our farming friends by dilating on the causes , which have produced the results, we regret. Still the simplcfact is that hardly a; pound of butter has been made mi n Otago which would bear export. Owing to insufficient appliances for the most part, but ofteri to downright ignoVance. -flew Zealand butter : will I scarcely 'f keep * through a winter here, and, certainly tyill not'£tahd a journey rdund the world. A grand future lies often to' a new company m the establishment of these creameries eVery twenty miles apart through that part of the colony which is jfit for -dairying. Butter made witlk proper appliances, and up to a certain standard of quality wiHalw^yis command a value.inthe ; world's' triarkets such as we have never knoWn here yet save now, and again for 'a few short weeks. We could poi^it out several other matters m the domain of the sheep farmer and agriculturalists crying out aloud for'c6-'opferative work. It is quite clear th;a|t the pressure of circumstances has produced its naturalresults, and the list of names of those who support the Colonial 'Cooperative sho^s .that; tjie, new • ebmpfany carries with : it the, pick of pur O.tago .settlers. ! .-.; ,' ; „' ,J, ."- ■;'""'.' ....