290 EXPERIMENT STATION KEC'OHD. 



31, I'JOG, the societies imuibered S7.'>, a net pi in of .'is, and had conducted a busi- 

 ness exceeding £2,000,000 during the year. Of tliis number tlie cooperative 

 creameries and branclies lunnbered .'MO and the mutual credit societies 240. 



An uplifting negro cooperative society, II. L. Smith {World's Work, 16 

 (IHOS), \<). ,j, PI'. lO'iihl-lU'iHH). — This is an account of the development of the 

 Farmers' Improvement Society of Texas from 1890 to 1907, and of the economic 

 and social improvement brought about among negro farmers by means of this 

 cooperative organization which was fostered by the author. Fi'om a state of 

 general poverty among farmers due to the prevailing ci-edit system, the society 

 has established a class of negro farmers who are self-reliant, progressive, and 

 property owners. The returns to October, 1907, are as follows: Number of 

 groups 475, with 9,256 members; acres owned by members 71,439, valued at 

 $1,071,585; value of live stock owned by members .$275,000; and value of im- 

 provements made during the year ended October, 1907, $58,148. 



Jews as farmers (Amer. Cult., 70 (1908), No. 28, p. 2). — It is estimated that 

 about 5,000 Jews are engaged in agriculture in the United States, and the farm 

 colonies started in many parts of the country, particularly in New Jersey, are 

 briefly described. The Jewish Agricultural Society of New York received 1,345 

 applications in 1907 from Jews wishing to engage in agriculture and since its 

 organization has assisted 764 farmers in 19 States with loans aggregating nearly 

 $500,000. About one-fourth of this amount has already been repaid, and the 

 farmers assisted now own property with a valuation of about $1,250,000. 



Agricultural colonies in Palestine (Economist, 66 (1908), No. 3380, pp. 

 1189, 1190). — This article describes the revival of agriculture in Palestine, 

 largely by Jewish colonists from Russia and Roumania, who have adopted mod- 

 ern implements and methods of culture. The crops raised are oranges, olives, 

 almonds, grapes, and cereal crops, the bulk of which is exported, chiefly to 

 England. 



The internal colonization of Prussia and its application to the agrarian 

 problem in Mexico, H. J. Ludewig (BoJ. Sec. Fomcnto \Mc.rico], 7 (190S), No. 

 6, pp. 7-83, map 1). — This bulletin discusses the causes of rural depopulation 

 which took place in Prussia during the last part of the nineteenth century, gives 

 the results of the work of the colonization commission in the establishment of 

 small farms which in 20 years amounted to 18,870, with houses accommodating 

 75,500 occupants, and points out in what ways such a commission would be help- 

 ful to native and immigrant farm laborers in IMexico. 



[The relation of the government to agriculture in Russia], Torne (Bui. 

 Mens. Off. Rcnseiff. Agr. [Paris], 7 (1908), No. 5, pp. 592-60 t).^The author 

 describes the methods of securing and publishing agricultural statistics in Rus- 

 aia, the govenmient measures for encouraging the exportation of agricultural 

 products and assisting the industry as a whole, the territorial, administrative, 

 and communal organization of the rural population, 'and the establishment of 

 schools for the teaching of agricultui-e. 



The assistance rendered by the government to the agricultural population con- 

 sists in aiding colonists by advancing money, seed, instruments, lumber, and 

 other forms of capital, in encouraging the peasants to become landowners, and 

 in so redividing and reassigning the communal lands as to assign to each peas- 

 ant a single piece of land equal in extent to the many separate parcels formerly 

 held by individuals or families under the old connnunal system of land tenure. 



State aid to agriculture in foreign and colonial countries, W. E. Bear 

 (Trans. Highland and Agr. Soc. Scot., 5. ser., 20 (1908), pp. 1-36). — The amount 

 of money expended by various governments for different lines of work relating 

 to agriculture are tabulated and discussed. 



