22 RUSSIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION 



the agricultural products and the medicinal plants of their members, and 

 the purchase of ahmentary products where there are no co-operative con- 

 sumers' societies or these have insufficient resources. The course of stim- 

 ulating the activity' of consumers' co-operative societies b}" making loans 

 to them is however preferred. Thus in May 1915 a ruling allowed co- 

 operative credit societies to lend 1,000 roubles — or even more in case of 

 necessity — to co-operative consumers' societies. 



In 1915 the following sums, expressed in terms of thousands of rou- 

 bles, were employed on various purchases : 



I January i October 



Sums actually paid for purchases: 



by co-operative credit societies 7994 ^>959 



)) deposit and loan funds 397 828 



Total . . . 1,196.4 2,787 



Products of sales : 



by co-operative credit societies 736 1,886 



» deposit and loan funds no 647 



Total ... 846 2,533 



Merchandise bought • 



by co-operative credit societies 9.275 ^5353 



» deposit and loan funds 2,683 5,480 



Total . . . 11,958 20,833 



The enterprises organized b}^ the co-operative societies are, besides 

 the corn magazines, co-operative mills in Siberia near the stations of l,e- 

 begia, Cocenovo, etc. Quite recent foundations are those of tileworks in 

 the government of Kharkov, tanneries, factories for preserving fruit in 

 Dage.stan province, metallurgical establishments manufacturing the re- 

 quisites of domestic industry, experiments in realizing the value of peat, etc. 



c) Distribution of co-ot>e'rative societies according to regions. 



The following table shows the number of co-operative credit soci- 

 eties and of savings and loan funds in each region and their financial 

 importance on i October 1915 : 



