BUREAU OF AGRICUI^TURAL ECONOMICS. 179 



MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANIES ENCOURAGED. 



SuJiimarizing of State insurance reports for farmers' mutual fire 

 ineuranc« companies was continued in order to have on hand up- 

 to-date information concerning the growth and achievement of this 

 chiss of insuiance institutions in the various States. Press releases 

 on tliis subject have been issued from time to time to encourage the 

 extension of this practical and economical form of insurance in 

 States where it is as yet largely or entirely lacking and with a view 

 tc encouraging improvement in methods and plans of existing com- 

 pani s. Information on this subject has also been extended through 

 correspondence and a few public addresses. 



CROP INSURANCE INYESTHGATED. 



Assistance was given to the Senate Committee on Crop Insurance 

 in arriving at sources of information and also by direct contributions 

 to the hearings of the committee. An extended article on the subject 

 of crop insurance was contributed to the October and November 

 issues of the Journal of Insurance and Financial Statistics. Ad- 

 dresses on the problem of crop insurance were delivered before the 

 National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies at Atlantic 

 City, before the State Association of Mutual Insurance Companies 

 of Indiana, at Indianapolis, and before the graduate students and 

 members of the faculty at Cornell University. 



TAXATION OF FARMERS' REAL ESTATE STUDIES. 



Taxation of farm real estate involving taxes levied, capital vahie, 

 assessed value, gross and net income from land, and the changes 

 in these various factors over a series of years form the subject of 

 a study begun during the year. Material for this study was obtained 

 in part from county records and in part through a questionnaire 

 to owners of cash rented farms, as this class of farms offers a peculiar 

 opportunity to obtain gross and net income from the ownership of 

 land. 



DIVISION OF AGRICULTURAL COOPERATION. 



Lloyd S. Tenny, Assistant Chief, in Charge. 



Economics of Cooperation, A. W. McKay ; Statistics of Cooperation, R. H. 



Elsworth. 



Three projects, namely, (1) economics of cooperation, (2) legal 

 phases of cooperation, and (3) statistics and history of cooperation, 

 have formed the work of the Division of Agricultural Cooperation 

 during the fiscal year. 



ECONOMIC PHASES OF COOPERATION STUDIED. 



Five technical employees, with headquarters in the Washington 

 office, have studied the economic phases of cooperation and rendered 

 service to members and officers of associations, or projected asso- 

 ciations, for the greater part of the fiscal year. 



Work undertaken by this project included a comprehensive study 

 of the California Fruit Growers' Exchange. Results of this study 



