The result of this decision was that the Committee appointed a deputation to visit Belfast with the object of finding out the real position there and what buildings or land might be available for the planting of a branch. A bakery, consisting of two Scotch ovens and one draw-plate oven, together with the necessary bakery plant, had been discovered, and seemed a suitable place, while the price was £750, but it was ultimately decided that ere making an offer all the Irish societies should be consulted as to the best method of assisting Irish Co-operation under the circumstances. By the time the replies to the letters sent had been received, however, the Committee were informed that the bakery they had under consideration had been sold, with the result that the manager and secretary of Belfast Society were requested to supply particulars of other vacant sites, and particularly of open ground suitable for building on. When these reports came to hand they contained particulars of six different plots of ground, ranging from one acre to five acres in extent, and with prices ranging from £26 per acre to £60 per acre—the latter price, however, including the making of streets. With these reports before them the Committee decided to delay coming to any decision until after the question had been again before the quarterly meeting, but to go forward to the quarterly meeting with a recommendation that a branch be erected at Belfast. SCOTLAND COMES TO THE RESCUE. At this time the position in Belfast warranted fully the optimistic tone in which Mr Gilchrist had spoken three months earlier of its future. The society had been established for fourteen years and its sales were rather more than £30,000 a year. It was not their size, however, but the rapidity with which they were growing which led to the optimism of those who were responsible for the management of the society. In one year they had grown from £5,000 a quarter to £10,000 a quarter. From the one tiny branch in Shanklin Road the society had grown until it was now the owner of four branches, and the members continued to join the society in large numbers. All this the delegates had found out during their visit to Belfast, and they considered that the facts justified the recommendation they were making—that a branch should be established there.