AGRICULTURE 63 



smaller societies, all contributing to the cultivation of 

 interest in agriculture by means of bulletins, meetings, 

 and fairs. 



A summary of the advancement in agricultural educa- 

 tion in France during the past 40 years is as follows: 

 establishment of education in scientific agriculture 

 through the Institut National Agronomique; providing 

 for secondary agricultural education in national schools; 

 organization of primary agricultural education by estab- 

 lishing schools of practical agriculture; creation of a 

 complete staff of professors to teach the best and most 

 useful methods in rural communities; inauguration of 

 practical agricultural instruction for girls and popular 

 instruction for adults through traveling schools of short 

 courses, held during the winter; dissemination and 

 popularization of agricultural knowledge by agricultural 

 societies; supplementing theoretical and practical instruc- 

 tion by demonstrations at various fairs, permitting 

 farmers to know and appreciate the annual advance of 

 agricultural science. 



Another notable feature of French agriculture is 

 agricultural cooperation. While only a minority of the 

 farmers have come in direct contact with the instruction 

 provided, economic stress has tended to bring all the 

 farmers together. In 1884 a law was passed for the 

 organization of professional syndicates, and by an 

 amendment it was extended to include the farmers. 

 The purpose of the agricultural syndicate was to study 

 and defend the economic and other interests of the 

 farmers. One of the first undertakings was the purchase 

 on a large scale of fertilizers, thus giving the small 

 farmer the advantages of reduced prices, guaranteed 

 quality, and low freight charges upon this important 

 commodity. The scope of these syndicates was ex- 

 tended later to include large purchases of selected seed, 



