MLSCEIvLANEOUvS INFORMATION RELATING TO CO -OPERATION 

 AND ASvSOCIATlON IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES. 



BRITISH INDIA. 



I. THE ACTIVITY OF CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT vSOCIETIES IN CEYI,ON IN 1916. — 

 Supplement to Tropical Agriculturist. July 191 7- 



Fourteen new societies registered in 1916 brought the total number 

 of co-operativ^e credit societies in Ceylon up to 68. They are distributed 

 as follows : 19 in the Western Province ; 9 in the Southern Province ; 

 10 in the Central Province ; 17 in the Northern Province ; 2 in the North- 

 western Pro\dnce ; 4 in the Province of Uva ; 3 in the Province of Sahara - 

 gamuwa ; 2 in the North-Central Province ; and 2 in the Eastern Province 



The total ■membership of these societies is 6,488, having increased by 

 2,230 in 1916. Their total paid-up capital is Rs. 29,040 (i). During 1916 

 they lent to members Rs. 25,168 and recovered Rs. 13,018.82, while thej- 

 received altogether in government loans Rs. 2,135. 



Thirt3^-four societies were inspected during the year. 



All the societies, except three which are industrial, have agricultural 

 improvement as their main object. Several of them have tried to grow new 

 strains of paddy, received through the Ceylon Agricultural Society, and a 

 few are starting experimental gardens with outside help. Seven have bought 

 79 tons of manure, of the approximate value of Rs. 8,000, for paddy and 

 cocoanut plantations. 



2. CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN BENGAIy IN igi5-igi6.~ Report on the Working of the 

 Co-operative Societies in Bengal for the year 1915-1916. Calcutta, Bengal Secretariat Book 

 Depot, 1916. 



The conditions of 1915-1916 were not uniformly favourable to co-ope- 

 ration in Bengal. Floods caused considerable damage to the jute and the 

 winter rice crops in many districts of Eastern Bengal. In the Bankura 

 district famine prevailed. In Tippera district the low price obtained for 

 jute in 1914-15 brought about a want of ready money among the labour- 

 ing and cultivating classes ; and high floods in June, July and August 1915 

 destroyed the crops on the ground and with them the visible security for 

 credit, and thus induced wide-spread distress although there was never a 

 shortage of food supplies. 



(i) I Rupee = IS. 4d. 



