EURAL ECONOMICS. 593 



holders of banks in rural communities in the organization in their respective 

 localities of small unit land-mortgage associations. Each association would be 

 organized upon the share capital plan, cooperative or noncooperative as might 

 be desired. It is to become affiliated with and have close interrelationship 

 with the rural bank, which may be owned by some of the same shareholders, 

 in that it may have its office with the affiliated bank and be officered, managed, 

 and directed by some of the same men, to which could be added other desirable 

 farmer directors, if such rural banks are not already dominated by that interest. 

 (See also previous notes E. S. R., 30, p. 702; 31, pp. 293, 389.) 



Agricultural cooperation and rural credit in Europe, III {U. S. Senate, 63. 

 Cong., 1. Sess., Doc. 214, pt. 3 (1913), pp. 95).— Part three of the report noted 

 above contains a brief statement submitted to the American commission by 

 the different States of the United States and Provinces of Canada regarding 

 their agricultural needs, especially as they relate to the furnishing of proper 

 credit facilities to the farmers. Rural credit laws of Texas, Wisconsin, New 

 York, and Massachusetts are included, together with a description of the work 

 of the Jewish agricultural aid societies. 



Report of the Irish Agricultural Organization Society, Limited, 1914 

 (Rpt. Irish Agr. Organ. Sac, 1914, PP- 163). — This report reviews the work for 

 the year and points out methods that may be used to meet the exigencies caused 

 by the war. The reix)rt is mainly devoted to statistical tables indicating the 

 extent of the business transacted during the year. 



Social and economic survey of a community in the Red River Valley, L. D. 

 H. Weld (Univ. Minn. Current Problems, No. 4 {1915), pp. /F+86, figs. 32). — 

 The author gives a historical sketch of the community and describes the general 

 farming conditions, the methods of living on the farm and in the village, the 

 methods of marketing farm products, and the stores and industries in the 

 village. He found that the community was dependent mainly upon grain crops 

 which meant a more or less fluctuating income and a partial exhaustion of the 

 soil. These facts had an important bearing not only on the economic well-being 

 and standard of living of the farmers, but also upon the social activities of the 

 community. 



He points out that the long distances between farmhouses, the mixture of 

 nationalities and religions, the cold winters, and the long hours of work, all 

 stand in the way of the development of social intercourse among farmers. The 

 flour mill has an important and beneficial influence on the local wheat market, 

 and the local elevators offer a satisfactory market for grains, yet some saving 

 might be obtained through a cooperative company which could purchase sup- 

 plies in carload lots for its farmer members. Too much butter is made on the 

 farm and not enough cream is hauled to the creamery. Eggs are still traded 

 at the store with little attention to production, grading, etc. The number of 

 stores in the village is much larger than necessary to supply efficiently the 

 population of the section. The mail-order business amounts to only about 3 

 per cent of the total business of those stores which are open to this sort of com- 

 petition. The social life of the village is very pleasant and the people form 

 close friendships, yet they seem to be divided into well-defined groups and lack 

 contact with the outside world. Their standard of living is high and their 

 homes comfortable and attractive. The cost of living is considered lower than 

 that of larger cities. 



The study of a rural parish, R. A. Felton {New York: Bd. Home Missions 

 Presbyterian Church, 1915, pp. [232'\). — This book contains directions and forms 

 for making and summarizing a rural survey, and a brief bibliography relating 

 to special features of country life. 



