66 FRANCE 



into existence as part of the general movement 

 was the Syndicat Economique Agricole de 

 France, a propagandist body composed of the 

 most active members of the departmental 

 syndicates, and formed for the purpose of in- 

 fluencing public opinion on agricultural questions 

 by means of publications, conferences, etc., and 

 to conduct, in general, the campaigns by which 

 the views expressed at the representative gather- 

 ings of agriculturists might be carried to a 

 successful issue. This body is especially active 

 on the eve of general elections in France, and to 

 its energy is ascribed the original formation, in 

 1889, of the agricultural party in the Chamber 

 of Deputies. 



Mention should also be made of a Syndicat 

 d'Industrie Agricole, the object of which is to 

 assist small cultivators to carry on their holdings 

 by helping them to obtain the necessary imple- 

 ments or machinery, much having been done in 

 this way to improve the conditions under which 

 agricultural operations are conducted, thus stimu- 

 lating the production. 



Besides the associations which seek to promote 

 the interests of agriculturists in general, there 

 are many which apply to special industries. 

 Among these may be mentioned the Syndicat 

 Pomologique de France, founded at Rennes, in 



