RURAL ECONOMICS. 



787 



:ulvantages Ihat liavr rcsulttHl to farmers in European countries tlirou^'li 

 cooperative and credit societies, shows the difliculties in the way of agricultural 

 (a-ganization in Brazil, and urges upon the government the advisability of 

 improving rural educational conditions. The establishment of research stations 

 and cooperative societies he maintains would be of great advantage- to the 

 agricultural class and to the economic welfare of the countiy at large. 



The use and objects of agricultural societies, E. B. Denham (Troi). Ayr. 

 iiiid Mug. Ceylon Ai/r. 8oc., 27 (1906), A"o. 6, pp. 500-503).— The author dis- 

 cuss(>s the origin, development, and aims of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



This society was founded in November, 190-1, and at the close of 1906 had 

 1,120 members and 4.") branches with a membership of about 3,500. Besides 

 publishing leaflets from time to time on agricultural topics in the Singhalese, 

 Tamil, and English languages, the society has selected the Tropical Af/rkitlturist 

 as its official organ. This publication is issued in English and Singhalese, and 

 is sent free to members of the society. 



Among the aims of the society are the introduction of new varieties of paddy 

 from India and Japan, the introduction of new products, the encouragement of 

 cotton cultivati(m. and the distribution of vegetable seeds. " The use of the 

 branch societies as cooperative centers for experiments and for the adoption of 

 the cooperative credit system is another side of the society's work." In gen- 

 eral, the main purpose of the society and its branches is to accumulate and 

 disseminate among Singhalese farmers the most advanced and practical infor- 

 mation on all phases of agriculture. 



The " Dong-Loi " native cooperative societies in Tonkin, C. PRiiTRE {Bui. 

 I'jcon. Indo-Chiiic, u. xcr., 9 (1906), No. 58, pp. 1025-1051). — This is a report 

 by the civil-service administrator to the governor-general of French Indo-China 

 regarding the progress of the cooperative agricultural societies of Assam 

 during the 4 years of their existence, with suggestions iis to the best means 

 of promoting the welfare of the native farmers through cooperative societies. 



It is shown that the native farmers have been for years at the mercy of 

 un.scrupulous money lenders, who charge high rates of interest, and the soci- 

 eties were organized for the purpose of enabling the niemlxn's to buy seed 

 rice and other agricultural necessities at reasonable rates and to sell their prod- 

 ucts at better advantage. For the future development of these societies it 

 is recommended that the government encourage the establishment of district 

 cooperative banks, as has been done in France, for the purpose of accumulating 

 the savings of the peasants and of purchasing and supplying seed rice to the 

 members at an amount equal to the value of their deposits, and also for the 

 establishment of a rice granary under government control to provide seed and 

 food to the natives at reasonable prices in times of scarcity or famine. 



A series of appendixes give the by-laws of representative societies, a state- 

 ment of accounts showing their financial condition on December '?>\. 190.5, and 

 a table showing the (piantity and value of paddy sold to the society by pro- 

 ducers in the province of Kien-an in 1905 and 1906. 



Crop Reporter (C7. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Stat is. Crop Reporter, 9 (IfTOy). Nos. 

 1, pp. 1-8; 2, pp. 9-16). — These numbers for January and February, 1907. 

 contain, in addition to the usual statistics on the yields and condition of crops 

 in the United States and foreign countries, special articles on : Tobacco crop 

 h.v types — average price: exports of wheat. July to November. 1906; stocks of 

 -Vmerican cheese, Dec(>mber 81 ; high price of India jute ; numl)er and value of 

 farm animals, January 1, 1907; colonial cotton production; the 1906-7 wheat 

 and flaxseed crops of .\rgen(iTia; foreign trade in farri. and forest products, 

 1905 and 190(i ; and other agricultural topics. 



27046— No. 8—07 m 7 



