l8 AUSTRIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION 



Ivanded property in the Trent district is subdivided ; there are no 

 latifundi. The very great majority of the population consists of peasant 

 farmers. 



Small holdings, elementary education and emigration have been the de- 

 termining factors in the intellectual and material development of the popul- 

 ation and have constituted the group of physical, economical and psyco- 

 logical forces to which the rapid spread of co-operation in the district is due. 



As the district of Trent is above all agricultural, it is agricultural co-oper- 

 ation that is the most widely spread there; but there are also other forms 

 especiaU}?' those of distribution and production. Of these other forms we 

 shall also speak shortly, beginning our account with a brief historical 

 introduction. 



§ I. History. 



The history of co-operation in the district of Trent is intimately con- 

 nected with the work of the Provincial Council of Agriculture, instituted by 

 virtue of the Provincial Law of November 8th., 1881. The Provincial Coun- 

 cil has two divisions, one of which has its head quarters at Innsbruck, the 

 other at Trent ; this latter has for its district the area formerly belonging 

 to the division caUed the Luogotenenza, which no longer exists, that is to 

 sa> , the whole of the district of Trent. The district agricultural consor- 

 tiums founded in the different legal districts are under the control of the 

 Trent division. 



The division is composed of a President appointed by the Emperor, a 

 Vice-President, member of the Provincial Executive Council; an employee 

 of the political administration nominated by the lyieutenant Governor 

 of the Province; two members appointed bj'- the Agricultural Department; 

 two appointed by the Provincial Executive Council and the Presidents 

 of the District Agricultural Consortiums. 



There is a Committee or Permanent Executive body composed of 

 members of the division, that is, of the President, the Vice President, the 

 Lieutenant Governor's nominee, and the four members appointed by the 

 Agricultural Department and the Provincial Executive Council and the 

 delegates of the Presidents of the District Agricultural Consortiums. 



The Provincial Council of Agriculture acts as follows : 



It gives its opinion on agricultural questions when requested by the 

 Government or the Province ; makes independent proposals in regard to 

 agricultural matters to the Government and the Provincial Executive Coun- 

 cil, according to the subject and the competent authority, and assists the 

 work of the District Agricultural Consortiums and those provincial societies 

 that, according to their rules, have it for their object to concern themselves 

 with and extend agriculture generally, or particular branches of it, and 

 particular agricultural industries. 



By means of its permanent Executive Councils, the Provincial Coun- 

 cil must further co-operate in the carrying out of measures for the pro- 



