THE AGRICULTURAL ORGANIZATION SOCIETY 1 7 



counties of Nottingham, Stafford, Leicester, Derby and Rutland and has 

 its offices at Derb}^ ; and the South Western Branch, for Devon and Corn- 

 wall, wliich has its offices at Plj'mouth. 



b) New Soieties. 



In the same period forty new societies were affiliated to the Organi- 

 zation Society. They are distributed as follows according to their objects 



Purchase of Agricultural Requirements .... 17 



Dair>' 3 



Eggs and Poultry 10 



Auctions etc 2 



Land Renting (Small holdings and allotments) . 5 



Credit i 



Miscellaneous 2 



40 



The Board of Agriculture having drawn especial attention to the use- 

 fulness of forming Village Food Societies, to increase the growing of vege- 

 tables, encourage the cultivation of allotments and gardens, and bring any 

 pieces of uncultivated land into cultivation, the society endeavoured with 

 success to bring several of these into existence. In some instances the 

 Womens' Institutes filled the part of Village Food Societies. . 



c) Women's Institutes. 



The Agricultural Education Conference on Agricultural Education 

 for Women reported in favour of the formation of Women's Institutes 

 which should stim_ulate a desire for rural education ; and at the annual 

 meeting of the .Agricultural Organization Society in 1915-1916 a resolu- 

 tion was accordingly passed recommending that the society should under- 

 take the work of such formation. The services were secured of the lady 

 who is secretarN' to the National Council of Women's Institutes of Canada, 

 a country in which these institutions play an important part, and up to 

 31 March 1916 fourteen of them had been founded in England and Wales. 

 It is their object " to study home economics, to provide a centre for educa- 

 tional and social intercourse, to encourage home and local industries, to 

 develop co-operative enterprises, and to stimulate interest in the agricul- 

 tural industrj' ". 



d) The Supply of Produce to the Army. 



The system under which the military camps obtained tlieir supplies 

 of fruit and vegetables was often unsatisfactory, the different units compet- 

 ing with each other so that prices rose while quality frequently remained 

 indifferent. In October 1915 the Agricultural Organization Society toge- 

 ther with the Purchasing Officer of the 68th Division, stationed at Bed- 

 ford, formulated a scheme for purchasing the Division's whole supply in 

 bulk ; and this was approved by the General Officer Commanding and was 



