9 8 BELGIUM 



and others, followed in July, 1890, when it 

 was decided that there ought to be in every 

 commune in the province an agricultural asso- 

 ciation similar to the one at Goor, and that, 

 when formed, all of them should be connected 

 with one central body. By the following year 

 there were 89 local associations of different 

 kinds ready for incorporation into an organiza- 

 tion to which the name of " Boerenbond " was 

 given. By 1893 the number of affiliated asso- 

 ciations in this federation was 130. In 1897 

 the total increased to 380, and in 1900 to 450, 

 representing upwards of 26,000 members, and 

 covering the provinces of Antwerp, Brabant, 

 and Limbourg. The federation publishes a 

 monthly agricultural review, holds innumerable 

 conferences and periodical meetings, conducts 

 experimental fields, has a central office from 

 which a vast amount of gratuitous practical 

 advice is given, exercises a useful influence in 

 regard to legislation affecting agriculture, and 

 carries on so big a business in grouping the 

 orders of the local associations that it has 

 organized a separate section for each commodity, 

 set up a mill of its own for the preparation of 

 feeding-stuffs, and established a wholesale ware- 

 house of substantial proportions in the city of 

 Antwerp — all this being done in little more 



