42 AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION 



assented to the translation of his work into Japanese, and 

 he has since been officially informed that copies of the book, 

 in that language, have been circulated among the local 

 authorities in Japan. 



THE UNITED STATES. 



Agricultural organisation and agricultural co-operation 

 have alike been developed in the United States under 

 conditions peculiar, to a certain extent, to that country, 

 yet with such success that, although definite figures are 

 lacking, competent authorities estimate that the total 

 number of societies there is about 75,000, while the total 

 membership is put, approximately, at 3.000,000. The dis- 

 tinction between " organisation " and " co-operation " is 

 not always clear, while a good deal of agricultural organisa- 

 tion is to-day being developed, or projected, in the United 

 States on capitalist rather than co-operative lines ; but in 

 either case the fundamental principle of, at least, combination 

 in agriculture is involved. 



At first there was a reproduction of the ordinary type of 

 agricultural societies familiar to European states, and these, 

 with their spread of scientific or technical knowledge, their 

 stock improvement and their shows, etc., did much good in 

 the days when agriculture in the United States was still 

 comparatively undeveloped, and provided mainly for local 

 markets. 



Then the farmers began to combine on a much broader 

 basis for the attainment of legislative and other advantages. 



They created a " Farmers' Alliance " which seemed likely 

 to become a powerful body, and might have done so but that 

 it collapsed because it was unduly political. Permanent 

 success was, however, gained by what is known as the 

 " Grange " movement. 



Originally founded in 1867, this further movement aimed 

 at advancing the general interests of farmers in almost 

 every phase of their activities, included therein being the 

 popularisation of agricultural science, the formation of 

 co-operative agricultural societies, the improvement of 



