RURAL. ECONOMICS. 



189 



There were 42,511 cattle insured iu 1909 valued at 41,613,763 francs. The 

 amount of loss was 2,659,786 francs, leaving a reserve of 709,233 francs. 



Measures proposed for the regulation of the grain trade, with, the assist- 

 ance of the Zemstvo and the agricultural cooperative societies {Internat. 

 Inst. Agr. [Rom], Bui. Bur. Econ. and Soc. Intel., 2 {1911), No. 1, pp. 99- 

 106). — This ailicle discusses the problems of marketing or exporting the agri- 

 cultural products of the small farms in Russia. 



It is shown that the farmer is compelled to sell his grain as soon as har- 

 vested in order to pay his debts, and that agents of foreign houses take advan-_ 

 tage of this necessity to compel him to sell under the most disadvantageous 

 conditions. The problem has been partially solved in some of the provinces 

 by the establishment of cooperative societies and the starting of special corn 

 warehouses where the peasants deposit their grain as security and receive loans 

 from the society. This enables them to seek the best market for their prod- 

 uce. In some of the provinces the societies have established direct relations 

 with foreign markets thus eliminating a large number of small speculators as 

 middlemen. 



General uplift and increase of agricultural labor by cooperative means 

 {M'icncr Landw. Ztg., 60 (1910), No. 69, p. 711).— A speech delivered at the 

 Twenty-Fourth Meeting of the German Agricultural Association in which are 

 discussed the social and economic advantiiges of organized effort among agri- 

 cultural laborers. It is suggested that it would tend to prevent the migration 

 of agricultural labor and be of vast economic value to the agricultural industry 

 of the country at large if each family of laborers should be allotted for a long 

 term a small holding which it could call home and be given an opportunity of 

 eventually paying for. 



Law of farm service (In Stephen's Book of the Farm. Edinhurgh and Lon- 

 don, 1908, vol. 1, 5. ed., rev., pp. 29-^t-297). — The provisions of the law of farm 

 service and the workmen's comi)ensation act of 1906 are discussed in detail. 



Farm servants and wages (In Stephen's Book of the Farm. Edinburgh and 

 London, 1908, vol. 1, 5. ed., rev., pp. 289-29-'f). — The author discusses iu a gen- 

 eral way the important element of farm labor in agricultural economy, showing 

 the general effect of increased wages upon the standard of living in the British 

 Isles from 1850 to 1900, and. the different methods of employing laborers, to- 

 gether with tables which show the average earnings per week iu various locali- 

 ties in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and the variation in wages, per- 

 quisites, and farm hours in each. The following table indicates the course of 

 wages on a large number of farms iu England, Scotland, and Ireland between 

 1850 and 1903, the rates being expressed as percentages of those for the year 

 1900, which is taken as 100 : 



Relative rise in icages since 1850. 



Crop Reporter (U. 8. Dept. Agr., Bur. Statis. Crop Reporter, 13 (1911), No. 

 4, pp. 25-32). — Statistics are given showing the condition and acreage of crops 

 in the United States and foreign countries ; the farm values and range of prices 

 of important agricultural products ; the condition of farm animals April 1, and 



