92 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



code, makes a general survej^ of the state codes, and calls attention to tlieir 

 special features. The author considers that the greater part of the annual car 

 shortage is due primarily to a lack of breadth of vision on the part of shippers, 

 railroad officials, and legislators. 



Farm accounts, C. S. Okwin (Cambridge: University Press, 1914, pp. 209).— 

 The author outlines the methods of making the farm valuations, types of rec- 

 ords to be kept, forms to be used in the bookkeeping, and methods of closing the 

 accounts and obtaining the profit and loss and the balance sheet. 



Farm credit in Kansas, G. E. Putnam {Amer. Econ. Rev., 5 (1915), No. 1, 

 pp. 27-37). — In 1914 a schedule of questions relating to rural credit was sent 

 to representative bankers, merchants, and farmers in each of the 105 counties 

 in Kansas. Among the conclusions drawn from the replies were that the cost 

 of borrowing was from 1 to 2i per cent higher than the rate recorded in the 

 mortgage contract, and that practically all short-term loans were made on the 

 fall settlement basis. If the farmer had no funds to make full payment his note 

 was taken for the balance. There seems to be dissatisfaction with the interest 

 rate in those counties where agricultural production is uncertain and land 

 values speculative. The bankers indicated that the rate paid by farmers and 

 merchants was practically the same, but that the rate was higher on city real 

 estate than on farm mortgage loans. The author points out that several of the 

 State laws have a tendency to make the lender's risk greater and thus force up 

 the interest rate. The replies also indicated that farmers would not be willing 

 to unite in a cooperative credit association. 



Beport of the Bureau of Marketing and Supplies of the Maine Department 

 of Agriculture, C. E. Embree (Rpt. Bur. Marketing and Supplies, Maine Dept. 

 Agr. 1913, pp. 17). — This rejwrt sets forth the work of the year. The bureau 

 believes that the farmers, instead of shipping their produce through the farm- 

 ers' union, should consign their products direct to their selling agents in the 

 marketing centers, since this procedure places more responsibility upon the local 

 organization and would more quickly bring about better business methods. 



[Agricultural associations in Italy] (Bol. Min. Agr., Indus, e Com. [Rome}, 

 8er. B, 13 (1914), I, No. 5-6, pp. 175-222; II, No. 6, pp. 181-264).— There are 

 listed the name, location, type, date of organization, membership, and other 

 facts for practically all the agricultural organizations in Italy. 



The agricultural laborer in Belgium, B. Bouche (Les Ouvriers Agricoles en 

 Bclgigae. Brussels: Misch d Thron, 1913, pp. YIII-\-265). — The author discusses 

 the origin of paid agricultural workers, the types found, agencies for their dis- 

 tribution, contracts and agreements, and wages received, and suggests that 

 there be an organization for their proper distribution, and that the agricul- 

 tural laborer be represented on committees dealing with agricultural subjects. 



The leasing of land in Belgium, E. van Dievoet (Le Bail a Ferme en Bel- 

 giquc. Lourain: C. Peeters, 1913, pp. yiI-\-458, pis. 4). — This book points out 

 the relationship between the landowner and tenant, the length and termination 

 of leases, and methods of recompensing the tenant for an increase in the value 

 of the property. 



Distribution of land according to crops and tenure (Internat. Inst. Agr. 

 [Rome], Mo. Bui. Econ. and Soc. Intel., 6 (1915), No. 1, pp. 83-101, figs. 2).— 

 This article ix)ints out that in 1910 the total population of Bulgaria was 

 4.235,575, of which 3,108,816 were engaged in and dependent upon agriculture 

 and 1.739,181 actively engaged. The total land devoted to agricultural pur- 

 poses in 1008 was 7,982,450 hectares, of which 3,028,016 hectares were in fields, 

 2,834,403 in forests, 913,081 in pasture land, and 399,412 in meadows. Of the 

 total, 4,625,787 hectares belonged to private persons and the remainder to the 



