390 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



State, the amount of such mortgages negotiated by banks or bank 

 officials for other investors, the amount of short-time loans made by 

 banks to farmers, and the total amount of deposits from farmers. 

 Considerable supplementary material also has been obtained relat- 

 ing to the length of time for which money is loaned to farmers, and 

 the privileges of prepayment and renewal granted by banks to 

 borrowers. 



Detailed information with regard to the financial and economic 

 status of the farmers on the Minidoka and Truckee-Carson reclama- 

 tion projects has been secured, partly by means of a comprehensive 

 questionnaire and partly through direct field investigation. From 

 the data at hand it is clear that capital is needed on these projects, 

 especially for the purchase of stock to which to feed the alfalfa which 

 is at present the principal crop. 



Active field assistance has been rendered in perfecting an organi- 

 zation agreement for farm-mortgage credit improvement among the 

 members of a cotton-growers' association in Arkansas. Under this 

 agreement the association will indorse mortgage loans for its mem- 

 bers, after securing the approval by its credit committee of the 

 purpose of the loan, the security offered, and the method of payment, 

 and on condition that a small percentage be paid by the borrower 

 toward a reserve fund for the protection of the association. 



A preliminary study has been made, partly by correspondence and 

 party by actual field investigations, of the agencies supplying cattle 

 loans, including cattle-loan companies and different classes of banks 

 in the central and far West. 



An investigation of the conditions under which credit is extended 

 to farmers by merchants and other dealers has been carried on in six 

 selected localities, and Farmers' Bulletin No. 653, How Farmers May 

 Improve Their Personal Credit, was published. 



A study has been made of the kinds of legislation needed to facili- 

 tate the formation of farmers' organizations for agricultural credit, 

 as well as of legislation affecting cooperative organizations in gen- 

 eral. Active assistance in drafting such legislation has been given 

 a number of States. 



Considerable attention has been given to a study of the financial 

 agencies in the United States supplying loans to farmers, particu- 

 larly those agencies supplying loans on farm-mortgage security, and 

 consideration has been given to proposed Federal legislation regard- 

 ing rural credits. 



INSURANCE. 



Actual work in agricultural-insurance investigations was begun 

 in February, 1915. A mailing list, comprising 95 per cent or more 

 of the farmers' mutual fire-insurance companies in the United States, 

 has been prepared. Replies to a comprehensive questionnaire have 

 already been received from nearly 1,200 companies, or considerably 

 more than one-half of the total number in the country. Field work 

 involving a more detailed study of methods and problems has been 

 conducted in Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Vir- 

 ginia. A model constitution and by-laws are in preparation. Pre- 

 liminary steps have been taken for a study of farmers' mutual hail, 

 windstorm, and live-stock insurance. 



