RURAL ECONOMICS. 397 



follows: (1) To hold fast to the present regulated penalties until some more 

 efficacious means are suggested and to refrain from enlarging or making more 

 severe the present criminal forms of punishment for contract-breaking; (2) to 

 attempt to realize the present right of damages by so regulating the bondman's 

 obligations and the amount of back wages that the burden shall rest on the 

 new employer of the contract-breaking laborer; (3) a general introduction of 

 workmen's record books, together with a prohibition of employing or assisting 

 laborers without a thorough examination into the earlier work relations as 

 shown by this book. 



Agricultural contracts and the condition of the peasants in Upper Milan 

 {Bui. Ayr. [MUun], 4't (IVIO), Xo. 11, p. I). — This is a summarized account of 

 the salient features of a book by A. Serpieri, professor of rural economy in the 

 agricultural school of Milan, dealing with the economic and social conditions 

 of farm laborers in that province. 



The investigations were made by the professor in person, assisted by some of 

 his students, on 114 proi)rietary holdings and 206 colonies during the years 

 1904-lfM»(i, inclusive. The inquiries related not only to the labor and rent 

 agreements as practiced, but also to the intellectual and moral condition of the 

 peasants, their mutual aid and assurance societies, cooperative organizations, 

 and their standard of living. The remedies suggested for improving conditions 

 are many and take into consideration the long-standing and various customs 

 which prevail in different parts of the province. The investigations are re- 

 garded as the most thorough yet made on the economic and social life of the 

 peasant classes in Italy. 



Small holdings in Surrey, G. H. Grellieb (Jour. Bd. Agr. [London]. 17 

 (t!UO). \o. 1. pp. 9-lJ). — This article discusses the small holdings in Surrey, 

 which consist largely of dairy, market-gardening, and mixed farms ranging from 

 5 to 50 acres in extent, with illustrations of successful cases and of the organi- 

 zation and operation of the Small Holdings Association at Newdigate, which 

 purchased a non-profitable farm of 367 acres and divided it up into small hold- 

 ings ranging from 1 to 30 acres. 



"The geueral results of the undertaking seem to be (1) that some thirty or 

 forty proiirietors have taken the place of one farmer, who could not work the 

 land at a profit; (2) that the new owners are. on the whole, healthy, and fairly 

 prosperous; (3) that the shareholders may expect to receive back their capital 

 intact, and have a surplus to spend on the estate in road-making or other 

 improvements." 



State aid to agriculture in Switzerland (Dept. Agr. and Tech. Instr. Ireland 

 Jour., 10 umO). Xo. .3. pp. 'iHH-oOiJ) . — The phases of government aid briefly 

 discussed are agricultural instruction, experiment stations, live stock breeding, 

 soil im])rovement, protection against agricultural risks, encouragement of 

 agricultural societies and associations, agricultural exhibits, and the organiza- 

 tion of statistics. 



Beports on the work of the International Agricultural Institute, E. Faina 

 and L. Dop (Jour. Bd. Agr. [London]. 17 (1910), Xo. 1, Sup., pp. .i7).--The 

 report by Count Faina, president of the institute, read at the general assembly 

 in December, 1909, summarizes the results obtained during the year in the 

 organization and work of the different divisions of the institute. The report by 

 L. Dop has been noted from another source (E. S. li., 22, p. 396). 



Cooperation, E. \'. Wii.cox t Ifairaii Forester and Agr.. 7 (1910), Xo. ,7, pp. 

 82-97). — This article calls attention to the growing demand for home-grown 

 agricultural produce in Hawaii and to the advantages to farmers of coopera- 

 tion in producing and marketing sweet potatoes, limes, eggs, beans, pineapples. 



