AUSTRIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION 



The Government, iu, order to alleviate the situation, assigned subven- 

 tions of some thousands of florins for several years in succession and the 

 money was largely used to promote the institution of wine societies. Thus 

 aided, there first of all arose the Riva wine societ}^ v.'hich liad an endow- 

 ment of 11,000 florins (22,000 crs.) : then followed that of Borgo, endowed 

 with 6,000 fls. , then that of Revo with 4,000 fls. and, later on, those of Xanno, 

 Campo TassuUo, Rallo, Tuenno, Pederzano, Mezocorona and Cloz, with small- 

 er grants. Some of these were able, through their fortunate position, to over- 

 come their initial difficulties successfully enough; others, however, with no 

 working capital, had a severe struggle, owing to the low prices due to the 

 competition of Italian wines, and some at last had to succumb. 



The situation of the wine trade in the Trent district is now much 

 improved ; this is largely due to the abolition of the clause favouring Ital- 

 ian wines, in the last commercial treaty entered into between Austria and 

 Italy in 1906. 



This naturally had its effect also on the wine societies; many of them 

 were transformed into co-operative wine societies, which means that anyone 

 may become a member and enjoy the advantages offered, whilst, generally, 

 in the other wine societies, membership is limited to the founders; the latter 

 societies have more than anything else the character of profit seeking in- 

 dustrial undertakings, the former that of co-operative undertakings for the 

 best possible utilisation of the viticultural produce of a larger circle of 

 persons. 



The Vienna Agricultural Department has recently proposed the instit- 

 ution of a I^ederation of the Wine Societies of the Italian part of the pro- 

 vince; indeed, the Council for the Development of Co-operation in the Trent 

 District, of which we have already had occasion to speak, has studied this 

 important question with the object of discovering whether it would not be 

 advisable to found a Federation to exercise supervision over the producers 

 in their technical and financial business. The Trent Provincial Council of 

 Agriculture has indeed drawn up the rules for the federation, and completed 

 the arrangements for its foundation. 



Dairies and Livestock Improvement Societies. — According to the census 

 returns for 1910, the Trent District has 98,558 head of horned cattle which 

 are kept for about 9 months on 44,315 ha. of meadovv^ land and 39,116 ha. of 

 pastures. Without considering the milk treated on the mountain, about 

 28,000,000 kgs. of milk are annually transformed into 750,000 kg. of butter, 

 1,500,000 kg. of cheese and 200 hi. of buttermilk, of a total value of more 

 than 3,500,000 crs. To aU tliis we must add the large area of the Alpine graz- 

 ing grounds, of which there are more tham 700, with about ^0,000 head of 

 homed cattle on them ; the average 3deld of these animals, in dairy produce 

 alone, is about 1,000,000 crs. 



The Trent Division of the Provincial Council of Agriculture has always 

 had at heart the promotion of the dairy industry ; its action in behalf of 

 horned cattle improvement has kept pace with that in behalf of the improve- 

 ment of Alpine farms and pastures ; for this purpose, the Di\'ision has 

 constituted among its members a " Council of Alpine Grazing Grounds, " 



