246 AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION 



Such a man generally buys a young pig about ten weeks old 

 in early spring, fattens it through the summer, and kills it in 

 winter for consumption by himself and family. The pig originally 

 costs him from los. to i, and its value gradually increases as 

 it grows fatter, until at the time of slaughtering it may be worth 

 5 or more ; and it is a great advantage to him to feel that if 

 his pig should die from disease or accident he will get its full 

 value at the time, or a large proportion of it, from his pig club. 

 The low death-rate amongst pigs of this class is no doubt chiefly 

 due to the fact that each pig is usually kept in a solitary sty, 

 away from infection, under the eye of the owner and his wife, 

 and is slaughtered while still in its lusty youth. 



The article concludes by affirming that 



According to the experience of these thirty-one societies in 

 different counties of England and Wales, it is possible for small 

 holders and labourers in any healthy part of the country, by 

 co-operation and mutual trust, to insure themselves against the 

 loss of their pigs from disease or accident by a total payment 

 of something like 2s. 6d. a year, which can be much reduced when 

 the club has built up a substantial reserve fund. 



It is a matter of great interest to find that these somewhat 

 primitive cow and pig insurance societies or clubs, operating 

 on strictly co-operative lines, have not only already been 

 carried on so long, but have been the result of a spontaneous 

 movement among village dwellers who, having a common 

 need, and acting in complete accordance with " mutual 

 help " principles, have brought into existence an excellent 

 organisation, managing it, also, without any extraneous 

 assistance, and operating so much among themselves that 

 much trouble appears to have been involved in ascertaining 

 what they are really doing in their unpretending but 

 thoroughly practical way. 



The whole subject is of the more importance at the 

 present moment because, with the settlement on the land of 

 a greater number of small holders, insurance of the live 

 stock on which they may partly depend for the success of 

 their efforts may be a matter of material concern. Village 

 societies and clubs clearly offer to them advantages over 

 insurance with large commercial undertakings, although it is 

 no less obvious that they are suitable for villages only. 



It is suggested that the matter should be carefully watched 



