THE REGIONAL ORGANISATION OF AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATION 



available money and to borrow exclusively from the federation when in 

 need. The new rules also provide for the comprehension of a goods 

 business in the work of the federation. Since this change, co-operation has 

 made very rapid progress, and to day the whole of Austrian Friuli is co- 

 vered with a close network of agricultural co-operative societies. At the 

 end of 1 91 2, there were 99 societies adhering to the federation and they 

 had altogether 9,600 members. 



(i) Raiffeisen Banks 34 



(2) Agricultural Distributive Co-operative Societies . 17 



(3) Co-operative Societies for Purchase and Sale . . 10 



(4) " Dairies 2 



(5) " Societies for the Improvement of Vine- 



yards 2 



(6) " Fishing Society i 



(7) " Sericicultural Society i 



(8) " Livestock Insurance Society .... 21 



(9) Other Co-operative Societies 11 



A very important department of the work of the federation is the 

 scientific improvement of silkworm breeding, which is carried on very 

 extensively in Austrian Friuli. The federation, aware that the period 

 of incubation is the most important in silkworm breeding, as on the 

 incubation the success of the silk crop depends, in good time decided on 

 giving its attention to this branch of agricultural industry. The feder- 

 ation, first of all, caused the formation of an association of silkworm 

 breeders among the peasants ; this was afterwards transformed into a 

 co-operative society of silk producers and is w^orking satisfactorily. The 

 object of the society is to purchase eggs of excellent quaht^^ and to 

 provide for their scientific incubation and the collective sale of the 

 cocoons. 



The federation does not confine itself to this ; with the help of its gen- 

 eral secretary, who had had the opportunity of studying silkworm breeding, 

 both theoretically and practically for many years, it organized the collect- 

 ive purchase of silkworm eggs, proceeded with the installation of incub- 

 ation chambers and ovens for drying the cocoons, undertook instruction in 

 the art of breeding silkworms and finally organized the collective sale of the 

 cocoons. 



The great success obtained in recent years in other regions by the 

 use of incubation chambers for the scientific rearing of silkworms determined 

 the federation to proceed with the installation of such chambers in the inter- 

 est of silkworm growers. In 1907, the first was fitted up at Lucinico, un- 

 der the management of a pupil of the Trent Landeskulturrat Institute and 

 the immediate supervision of the federation, which provided all the necess- 

 ary implements. In the following years, similar chambers were installed 

 at Ajello, Capriva, Mariano and Romans ; there are now eight incubation 



