390 



EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. 



Cooperative credit societies in the United Kingdom (Bd. Trade Lahour 

 Gaz., 19 (3!)ll), Ao. 1, ]). 30).— 0£ the 241 credit societies in tlio United King- 

 dom in 1900, 222 were in agricultnral districts. The following table gives 

 particulars of the societies making returns for the years 1905-1909, inclusive: 



Staines of cooperative credit societies in the United Kingdom. 



Number of societies making returns 



Number of members 



Total capital (share, loan, and reserve) 



Amount of loans advanced (including renewals). 



Repaid (including interest) 



Owing by borrowers (including interest) 



Working expenses (including interest on capital) 

 Net profit (after allowing for interest) 



241 



22, 389 



£157, 861 



72, 874 



77,923 



102, 838 



6,677 



1,119 



Agricultural cooperation in Bavaria, T. W. Teters (Daily Cons, and Trade 

 Rpts. [V. (S.], J'l (1911), Xo. 12J, lip. 833-837 ) .—The report discusses the actual 

 workings of agricultural cooperation in Bavaria and points out that the principal 

 objects are the granting of loans to farmers and investing their money, the 

 storing and selling of farm products and other articles required by members of 

 the agricultural societies, and the buying of farm machinery, fertilizers, imple- 

 ments, etc. The societies created for the purpose of carrying on the work are of 

 2 forms, one limiting the financial liability of its members to the amount of their 

 shares, the other where each member is responsible with his entire property for 

 the debts of the society. 



The central association comprises 2,479 local cooperative loan societies of 

 farmers, 217 dairy societies, and 18 others with a total membership of over 

 200,000. The total assets of the local societies in the association at the begin- 

 ning of 1909 amounted to about $71,000,000. Loans to members for the year 

 were $12,13S.0(X), and investments made for members amounted to $5,402,600. 



The agricultural storage houses have been found especially useful to small 

 farmers in selling their products and in buying fertilizers, agricultural ma- 

 chinery, building material, etc. Other statistics and data are given relative to 

 the agricultural loan banks, the live-stock associations, and other forms of 

 cooperation among farmers. 



Trade unions in Italy in 1909 (lid. Trade Labour Gaz., 19 (1911), No. 1, 

 pp. 8, 9). — The total membership of trade unions in Italy on January 1, 1909, 

 was 843,811, a decrease of 9.7 per cent as compared with January 1, 1908. Of 

 these, 405,149, or almost one-half of the membership, are connected with 

 agriculture. 



[Data on the progress of cattle insurances in France in 1910] (Internat. 

 Inst. Agr. [Rome], Bui. Bur. Econ. and Soc. Intel., 2 (1911), No. 2, pp. 147- 

 149). — This article shows that in spite of the bad weather, the poor quality and 

 high price of crops, and the increased mortality among cattle, a federation of 

 French farmers had a very good financial year in 1910. While they paid out 

 80 per cent of the amount collected, the advance in capital was the same as the 

 year before. 



It is shown that the annual sum collected in 1906 amounted to 4,301.42 francs ; 

 in 1907 to 18.032.40 francs: in 1908 to 45,095.65 francs; in 1909 to 84,147.50 

 francs; and in 1910 to 118,540.25 francs. 



Other facts and figures bearing on the rapid progress of the mutual insurance 

 companies against the death of cattle and results from hail storms are also 

 presented and discussed. 



