Vo ., XII. No. 29S. 



THE AOKICDLTURAL NEWS 



307 



AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATION. 



ENCOURAGEMENT OP AGRICULTURAL 



CREDIT SOCIETIES IN THE 



WEST INDIES. 



An Ordinance (Xo. 9 of 1913) has just been assented 

 to in llie Colony "f St. Vincent, for the registration, encour- 



agement and assistance of Agricultui 

 the Kaiffeisen system 



Credit Societies under 



MUTUAL CO-OPERATION AMI LIABILITY. 



It is commonly known that the L;rs?t underlying prin- 

 ciple of these societies is mutual co operation and mutual 

 liability on the part of the members, borrowing and lending 

 being confined to the members themselves, all of whom 

 belonging to one particular village or district being well 

 known to each other and therefore mutually interested in the 

 fulfilment of each others engagements and obligations on 

 which the success of the society entirely depends. A great 

 educational influence is desired to be exercised by the societ}- 

 in its insistence upon good character, upon proper invest- 

 ments, punctuality of repayment and tLa instruction it gives 

 as to the proper value of money. 



GOVERNMEIST LOAJC^, 



Turning to the enactments which the Ordinance makes, 

 the following facts appear to be of interest. At the time of 

 application for registration of the Society, the Secretary shall 

 pay to the Registrar a fee of .5s. Xo society shall be regis- 

 tered which consist.s of less than twelve members. It is 

 enacted that the Governor-in-Council may make loans to 

 recistered societies provided that loans in the aggregate do 

 not exceed £-500. Provision is made in this connexion that 

 no part of a Government loan is to be applied to any purpose 

 except those incidental to agriculture If a loan has been 

 already contracted from the Governor-in-Council, the Society 

 may not borrow from private sources without the consent of 

 the Governor-inCouncil. 



RULES OF MEMBERSHIP AKD DUTIE^i OV THE COMMITTEE. 



Coming to the rules for the societies registered under the 

 Ordinance, it maybe noted that, as regards borrowing powers, 

 the Society may receive deposits or borrow money at interest 

 from persons other than mtmbers. The unlimited liability 

 of all and every member of the Society shall be the guarantee 

 for the repayment of such deposits or of such loans borrowed 

 by the Society. 



Every member on joining the Society must be a 

 householder or occupier of land resident in the district. 

 Each member on joining the Society must liold a share. 

 This shall not be less than 4,';., the amount and time for 

 payment being determined at the annual general meeting of 

 the members of the Society. At these general meetings also 

 will be fixed by resolution the total amount of savings 

 deposits that may be accepted, the total amount of loans that 

 may be contracted, and the maximuin of the total advances 

 that any member of the Society may hold at one time during 

 the next year. Xo member of the Cominittee .shall receive 

 salary or any other remuneration under any conditions 

 whatsoever The Treasurer, who shall be appointed at 

 A general meeting, must be either a .Vlinister of Iteligion or 

 a Justice of the Peace or some respectable and responsible 

 person approved by the Givernor-in < 'ouncil. A special duty 

 of the Committee i.'^ to consider tho justification of action 



being taken for the termiration of any loan It may be 

 noted here, that no loan can be granted for a period 

 exceeding one year, or to any person who is not a registered 

 member of the Society. Tlie interest to be charged on loans 

 shall in no case exceed f< per cent, per annum. The interest 

 shall be payable at the time the Committee determine. 



A UESERVE FUND. 



In regard to financial management, a lleserve Fund 

 must be formed from shares and entrance fees, This fund 

 shall be brought up to th( amount of 20 per cent, of the 

 total working capital as sl:ow'n in the balance .sheet, but as 

 a minimum, to the total amount of the share and entrance fee 

 capital. Under no conditions shall the lleserve Fund be 

 divided, and if the Society be dissolved, the money must be 

 devoted to some useful pulilic purpose, A proper system of 

 books is prescribed, and the law requirei the customary 

 auditing of the accounts at the end of each year. 



CO-OPERATIVE AGRICULTURAL DEMON- 

 STRATION IN THE PHILIPPINE 

 ISLANDS. 



In the last issue of this journal attention was called to 

 the growing recognition of the importance of practical 

 demonstration in agriculture. 



In the P/dlippine Agricultural Reviev) for .June 1913, 

 some interesting accounts are given of efforts directed along 

 this line in that territory. It is pointed out that the main 

 features of the co-operative demonstration work are as follows: 



(I) the selection of the crop best suited to the land available 

 for the demonstration; (2) drainage; (3) the thorough 

 preparation of the land before the seed is planted; (4) the 

 use cf seed of the best variety obtainable, (5) the use of 

 proper methods of planting; (6) intensive tillage during the 

 growing season; (7) demonstration of the value of leguminous 

 plants, barnyard manure and farm refuse; (8) methods of 

 controlling and eradicating plant pests and diseases; (9) value 

 of crop rotation; (10) the reason for diversified farming; 



(II) the use of better tools and implements; (12) the proper 

 care of live stock; (13) the production on the farm of all 

 food required hy both men and animals, (14) farm man- 

 agement. 



COOPEEATION WITH PvAILWAY CO.MPANIES. 



In conducting the preliminary arrangements for 

 a CO operative demonstration, an efi'ort is made to secure land 

 that is near a public hi^hw.iy, in order that the results of the 

 demonstration may be observed by a large number of people. 

 In one district, during 1911, an arrangement was made to 

 carry on demonstration wo;k in co-operation with the Philip- 

 pine Pvailnaj' Company, and to establish demonstration plots 

 plots on land occupied by the railway rightof wa}'. The 

 actual work was done by farmers themselves, whilst the 

 transportation for the inspejtors, and the office and seed room 

 were furnished by the llailway Company, A considerable 

 amount of demonstration work is to be done in future by 

 means of the railway trains themselves, after the system 

 employed in the United Slates. The car which is now being 

 constructed for this work by the Manila Pailroad Company 

 is about 14 metres long, and 3 metres wide, whilst the 

 interior arrangements provide for an aisle running the entire 

 length of the car, the remaining space being used lor 

 exhibition and demonstration purposes. 



