28 



INFORMATION REI^ATING TO CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION 



Year 



of 



Foundation 



Number 



of 



Co-operative 



Unions 



combined 



Sums spent on' 

 Agricultural 



Machines 



of Kiev 



Jekaterinburg . 

 Melitopol. . . 

 Berdjansk . . 

 Tersk .... 

 Nikolaiev . . 

 JekaLerinoslav 

 Nijni-Novgorod 

 Kiibanj. ... 

 Zlatoust . . . 

 Blagodarinsk . 



1907 

 1907 

 1903 

 1901 

 1911 



1915 

 1911 

 1911 

 1911 

 1911 

 1907 



190 

 74 

 34 

 25 

 86 



9 



60 



106 



23 

 20 



27 



140,000 roubles 

 333.760 



79,484 

 55.690 

 10,438 



20,012 

 26,829 

 59.278 

 93.747 

 73.959 



723 



975,197 roubles 



The co-operative supply of agricultural machines has developed most 

 importantly in the east in the federations of Jekaterinburg and Zlatoust, 

 and in the south in the federation of Kiev. The amount of the sums spent 

 on agricultural machines is not alway directly related to the number of 

 single co-operative unions which a federation combines, a circumstance to 

 be explained by the fact that unfederated co-operative unions also supply 

 their demand for agricultural machines by availing themselves of the ser- 

 vices of the federations as central purchasing organizations. This practice 

 becomes increasingly prevalent as the co-operative instinct grows and the 

 co-operative unions spread. In 1914 the co-operative federations were 

 responsible for seven per cent, of all the co-operative supply of agricultural 

 machines. All signs point to a ver^^ notable increase of this percentage 

 in the near future ; for the whole course of co-operative supply tends indubi- 

 tably to the formation of co-operative federations and thus assures the 

 fruitful development of the co-operative supply of agricultural machines. 

 It is symptomatic in the case of several federations — those of Kiev, Je- 

 katerinburg, Tersk, Nijni-Novgorod and Kuban j — that the}' are not content 

 merely to supph^ machines, but wish also to teach the scientific use of 

 these, after they have come into the hands of the peasants, and thus to bring 

 about good methods of farming. To this end they engage agricultural 

 experts, set up stations where advice may be had as to agriculture, initiate 

 co-operative tmions for machines and so forth ; all of which measures are 

 calculated, like the machines themselves, to intensify and improve agricul- 

 ture on the peasants' farms. 



An effort which is now being made by the co-operative unions to aim 



