192 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. 



article enumerates and describes briefly some of the diflSciilties experienced in 

 organizing farmers' cooperative associations under existing laws in tlie United 

 States and calls attention to special provisions made for such associations in 

 the States of California, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Nebraska, and Texas. 



Agrarian reforms and the evolution of the rural classes in Russia, P. 

 Chasles (Rev. Econ. InternaK, 10 (1913), IV, No. 1, pp. 55-85). — This article 

 discusses and illustrates the significance of various agricultural questions in 

 Russia, as, for example, the work of the rural bank and its relation to emigra- 

 tion in Russian Asia, the growth of rural estates, transition from agricultural 

 collectivism to individual property, the redistribution of land and the breaking 

 up of the village community, the results of agricultural organization, and the 

 progress of rural agriculture during the last few years. 



United effort for farm betterment and rural progress (Farm and Home 

 [Mass.], 34 (1913), No. 731, pp. 639, 643, figs. 4).— This article outlines the plan 

 and describes the efforts of the Hampden County Improvement League of 

 Massachusetts to consolidate the various agencies in the county for economic 

 social progress in the small villages and rural districts. In the 6 months since 

 the league was formally organized, pledges of financial support aggregating 

 over $10,000 have been obtained and a corps of 3 advisers appointed. ^Slore than 

 300 farmers have been visited and advised as to methods, fertilizers, land 

 drainage, seeds and seeding, testing milk, judging and selecting dairy animals, 

 etc., and 442 farmers about general orcharding. The advisers have also aided 

 in purchasing lime and fertilizers, introducing alfalfa and other crops, and 

 forming local organizations. In one of these, the fruit growers' association in 

 Granville, the members have received from $3.75 to $4 per barrel for apples this 

 year while nonmembers received from $2.75 to $3. Other illustrations of the 

 work are given. 



Agricultural credit banks of the world (Banking Law Jour. Yearbook, 

 1913, pp. 40, figs. 12). — ^A brief but comprehensive discussion of the actual 

 operations of foreign mortgage loan systems and the cooperative agricultural 

 credit system is here presented. Accounts of typical mortgage loan banks are 

 given which serve to illustrate the relation of agriculture to the credit facili- 

 ties in the various countries. 



Cooperative credit associations in Canada, T, K. Doherty (Internai. Inst. 

 Agr. [Rome], Mo. Bui. Econ. and Soc. Intel., 4 (1913), No. 6, pp. 16-22).— This 

 article presents a brief summai'y of the conditions leading to the establishment 

 of cooperative credit banks or associations in Canada, describes their system 

 of administration, and submits a statement as to the amount of business done 

 by a number of them. 



There were 98 such associations in the Province of Quebec in 1912, besides 

 several in Ontario. The capital is raised by selling shares and by utilizing 

 the profits. A member's liability does not exceed the limited amount of stock 

 he can hold, and he has but one vote. Loans for purposes which conform with 

 the aims of the association are granted on the note of the borrowing share- 

 holder alone or may be guarantied by other solvent members. The running 

 expenses of these associations are found to be light, the only ofllcial being the 

 business manager, who is paid according to the time he devotes to the work. 

 Further details are presented by notes and tables. 



The work of the special agricultural credit institutes in 1912 (Internat. 

 Inst. Agr. [Rome'], Mo. Bill. Econ. and Soc. Intel., 4 (1913), No. 10, pp. 55-63).— 

 The work of the special agricultural credit institutes in 11 Provinces of southern 

 Italy and Sicily which under the law of 1911 came under the management of the 

 savings department of the Bank of Naples and the agricultural credit depart- 

 ment of the Bank of Sicily, respectively, is briefly summarized. 



