16 Village Chibs and Associations. 



2. Cow Clubs. 



There are now 157 clubs for the co-operative insurance of 

 cows in England and Wales, distributed over fifteen counties. 

 Of these 117 have 4,582 members, with 14,316 cows and calves 

 insured, and assets amounting to 32,65(;/. They are organised 

 on much the same principles as the pig clubs, membership 

 being confined to one large parish or a small well-defined 

 district. Most of them probably originated in the latter half 

 of the nineteenth century, but some few were formed earlier, 

 and one at least has had a continuous existence for over a 

 century. Out of the total number only twenty-two are 

 registered, but they appear to be more permanent in character 

 than pig clubs, probably because of the greater volume of 

 their financial business. 



It is rather striking that cow clubs are generally found 

 where small holdings, especially of an old-established character, 

 exist in unusual numbers. For instance, a very prosperous 

 club exists at Whixall, in Shropshire, where there are 170 small 

 holdings in a parish of 2,300 acres, and at Friskney, in Lincoln- 

 shire, where a good club has existed for over half a century, 

 holdings between 1 and 50 acres constitute 78 per cent, of the 

 total number. The number of animals insured by the clubs 

 may vary between 40 and 1,400, the average for 21 registered 

 societies ])eing 220, and for 86 societies, including both regis- 

 tered and unregistered, 115. The membership varies between 

 20 and 300, the average for S6 societies being 41. 



The method of collecting premiums in cow clubs differs 

 somewhat from that adopted by many pig clubs. When the 

 member of a pig club has paid his entrance fee he pays a small 

 subscription every quarter irrespective of whether he has 

 animals insured or not. This arrangement has doubtless been 

 made to preserve the continuity of the club when there is no 

 continuity of possession of pigs by members thi'oughout the 

 whole year. But in the cow clubs an annual membership 

 subscription is paid, and generally an entrance fee, and a 

 quarterly subscription for each animal, fixed accoi-ding to age 

 or rate of insurance. The annual premium for an adult animal 

 varies between 4s. and 8s. per annum. Few, if any, of the 

 societies insure the full value of all animals. Some societies 

 pay full value for some animals, but fix a maximum amount 

 for insurance ; others pay a fixed proportion of the value of 

 each animal. The average death rate varies considerably, some 

 localities being apparently unhealthy for cow stock, but the 

 average is about 25 per cent. In 1912 the average loss per 

 animal incurretl by twenty-two registered societies was 4s., while 

 the average compensation per animal dead was S/. 5.s. This 

 includes a small ])ercentage of immature stock, amongst which 



