RURAL ECONOMICS. 691 



suggested for tlie improvement of rural conditions are agricultural organization, 

 rural credit, the breaking up of the large estates (" latifundi "), and agricul- 

 tural education. 



Leongatha labor colony, E. J. Nevell et al. (Jour. Dept. Agr. Victoria, 7 

 (1909), No. 11, pp. 10.'i-122, figs. 13). — This is the report of the trustees for the 

 year ended June 30, 1909. 



The colony is established for the purpose of giving work to the unemployed 

 in Victoria. Of 482 men admitted in 1909, 48 different trades or occupations 

 were represented, but many of these men go to the colony for the express pur- 

 pose of learning something about agriculture. They receive board, lodgings, 

 and pay for their labor, and are free to seek work at their respective callings. 

 During the year there was a great demand for the colonists by the local farmers. 



The colony receives government aid at present, obtaining nearly £544 in 1909, 

 but the aim is to make it self-supporting from the sale of live stock and prod- 

 uce raised on the farm which at present comprises 420 acres. The different 

 lines of work and the care and training of the colonists are described and 

 illustrated. 



Cooperative agricultural credit, E. H. Godfrey {Canad. Farm., 2 {1910), 

 No. 3, p. 8). — This article describes the origin, development, and present status 

 of the Raiffeisen and Schulze-Delitzsch credit banks in continental Europe, and 

 the introduction, modification, and growth of similar credit banks in Great 

 Britain, Ireland, and Canada. 



A bank for the encouragement of farming, T. Poggi {Coltivatore, 56 

 {1910), No. 3, pp. 6')-<JS). — This article points out the advantages of a bank of 

 credit for the encouragement of farming in Italy. 



A plan is outlined for the cutting up of the " latifondi " or large estates into 

 large, medium-size, and small farms, the function of the bank of credit being 

 to assist the unemployed to settle on the small holdings by supplying them with 

 houses, buildings, live stock, and implements, with the ultimate object of 

 enabling the tenants of the small holdings to become the owners. This plan 

 it is believed would make the large estate more profitable than at present, 

 stop emigration, encourage agricultural labor, and increase the resources of 

 the country. 



The possibility and significance of determining the cost of producing 

 agricultural products, Stieger (Jahrlt. Dent. Landiv. GeselL, 2-'i {1909). No. 

 /f, pp. 950-989, figs. //). — This paper, delivered before the German Agricultural 

 Society at fierlin, October 21, 1909, brings together a vast amount of data that 

 have been secured within recent years in Europe and America as to the cost 

 of raising farm products under various conditions of climate, culture, fertilizing, 

 cropping, stock raising, etc., and discusses their significance from the economic 

 point of view. The complex nature of stock and crop raising renders the prob- 

 lem of determining their cost of production an exceedingly difficult one to 

 solve on a strictly scientific basis. 



North Dakota farm account {Parmer, 28 {1910), No. 6, p. 180).— The farm 

 contained 1,112 acres, of which 485 acres were in crop in 1909. The total cost 

 of raising wheat, barley, and oats was $1,955, and the value of the crop $5,300. 

 This gave the cost and value of raising small grains at $4..55 and $12.32 per 

 acre, respectively. Corresponding figures for corn were $5.30 and $14.12. The 

 net profit for the year was $4,10G, or an interest rate of 9.92 per cent on a farm 

 valued at $37.50 per acre, or a total value of $41,400. 



Cost of corn production, T. P. Cooper {Farmer, 28 {1910), No. 6. p. 172). — 

 The average cost of corn production for the last five years as determined on 

 several farms in Minnesota is given as $13.75 per acre, the details both for com 

 and other crops having been noted from another source (E. S. E., 21, p, 188). 



