MUTUAI, FUNDS FOR INSURANCE AGAINST THE ACCIDENTS OF AGRICULTURE 47 



inated its year of business, it had 768 enrolled .members, and insured g6i 

 farms which comprised 12,634 pieces of land having a total area of 318,607 

 hectares. The distribution according to the kinds of cultivation was as 

 follows : 



Sowed land, vines, olives hectares 86,404 



Sowed land only " 53,650 



Vines and special crops " 2,464 



Underwood " 94,452 



Forest trees " 30,261 



Fallow, pasture " 51,376 



This fund insures all persons, whether compelled to insure or not, who 

 are employed* in any kind of agricultural labour, permamently or casually ; 

 and since almost everywhere lands are held on the metayage system, the in- 

 surance comes to comprise not only all the members of the cultivators' fa- 

 milies but also all the casual labourers, the hraccianti, and the labourers 

 employed on building, forestry, threshing etc : 



The total number of these persons was computed on 28 February 1915 

 to be 119,938 cultivators, of whom 44, 455 were males over thirteen, 34,931 

 adult women, 32,192 men and women over sixty-five, and 8,360 boys under 

 thirteen whom the insurance did not cover. There were also about 6,800 

 casual labourers who were enrolled by the fund. 



The annual premium is fixed according to the area of the farm, the va- 

 rious types of ctdtivation being taken into account, as well as the relation 

 between the area and the rural population, and special risks attaching to 

 any type of cultivation, to operations for the conversion of products, or 

 to the use of machines etc. 



The complexity and the variety of agrarian conditions in the different 

 Tuscan provinces has rendered it necessary to establish tariffs or premiums 

 var^ung from 0.30 lira to 1.50 liras a hectare for lands bearing grass crops, 

 and joined to lands on which plants of the tree family are grown ; while 

 fixed premiums of 0.40 lira and 0.20 lira have been adopted in the case of 

 woods and underwoods. 



Since I914 premiums have been reduced by 20 per cent., the result of 

 previous years allowing svich reduction to be effected without danger to 

 the safety of the Mutual Fund. This fund has further provided for the 

 constitution of a reserve formed from admission fees of o.io lira for each 

 hectare of cultivated land and of 0.05 lira for each hectare of woodland and 

 pasture, and from the interest on the sums on deposit. At the end of the 

 seventh year of the Mutual Fund, that is on 29 February 1916, such reserve 

 amounted to 124,035.44 liras, and this when joined to a special reserve of 

 10,000 liras gives a sum of 134,035.44 liras. 



The Mutual Fund of Florence indemnifies, in cases of death and total 

 or partial permanent disablement, anyone incurring such in the course of 



