CANVASSING FOR TRADE.
Meantime, the committee had not been idle. They visited a number of societies which were taking bread from them, but not all that they required, with the view of getting them to place the whole of their orders with the Society. They also visited several societies which were within a comparatively short distance of Glasgow, and one of these—Renfrew Equitable—was so pleased with the quality of the bread supplied that after a comparatively short trial they agreed to take the whole of their supplies from the Federation. This was cheering news, and offset some of the other worries which were cropping up occasionally. Flour at this time was rising very rapidly in price. During the quarter it had risen by 10/6 per sack, the last rise being 4/6, and the bread had, in consequence, to be advanced in price—the common bread to 7d. per 4–lb. loaf and the “fine” to 8d. Some trouble was also being experienced with the engine which they had put in. New rings had been put on the piston rod, and the engineer informed them that this would require to be done about once in every six months. At first the committee were sceptical, but inquiries elsewhere confirmed the engineer’s opinion. The trade at this time was fairly prosperous, for the profit realised was averaging about £30 per week. They were very particular also to see that their financial position was kept on safe lines, and spent a good part of one night discussing the allocation of the cost of the additions to the property to the various accounts. The result was that they agreed to add the cost of the new machinery to fixed stock account, the cost of the new ovens and division wall to property account, to be depreciated according to rule, while the cost of reroofing the bakery and refitting the breadroom they decided to pay out of revenue. The latter decision was challenged at next quarterly meeting, but on a division the delegates by a large majority upheld the decision of the committee. Towards the end of 1879 they made another comparison of their bread with that of their competitors, and came to the conclusion that, as the minute puts it, “the Society’s bread was superior both in shape and colour, while the members had great reason to be satisfied with the great improvement which had been made in the french and pan bread. A unanimous expression of opinion was given that it had been the best comparison they could remember where the Bakery bread stood in such a pre-eminently favourable position.” After making due allowance for the partiality of the committee for bread of their own manufacture, it would, appear that the expectations of good to be derived from the installation of machinery were being realised. The committee also this year issued calendars to the societies. This had been done on at least one previous occasion.