290 Cooperation in Agriculture 



central banks. These banking federations and the fed- 

 erations for propaganda, protection, and education are 

 closely affiliated and are members of each other's organ- 

 izations, the officers of the one frequently managing the 

 affairs of both. The function of the provincial banks and 

 of the central banks is to furnish capital to the local banks 

 and other cooperative societies within the federations and 

 to the provincial banks on the same principle that the 

 local bank furnishes capital to its members. It is the 

 means of making the cooperative rural banking system 

 provincial and national in scope. 



THE SCHULZE-DELITZSCH BANKS 



The Schulze-Delitzsch banks are formed to meet the 

 commercial and industrial needs of the towns and cities, but 

 they are utilized to a large extent by the better class of 

 farmers who are also members of the banks. Their busi- 

 ness is conducted more like modern banking institutions. 

 They have a large capital, pay good dividends, and have 

 either limited or unlimited liability. Most of the Schulze- 

 Delitzsch banks are affiliated into provincial federations. 

 There were 939 of the Schulze-Delitzsch banks in Germany 

 in 1910 with a membership of 600,000 and loans amount- 

 ing to 4,015,900,000 marks. The average membership 

 of the Schulze-Delitzsch banks in 1910 was 639, of the 

 Raiffeisen banks 92, while the total membership of 

 the latter banks was 1,163,186. The membership of the 

 Schulze-Delitzsch banks is made up of farmers who cul- 

 tivate medium-sized places, wage earners, professional 

 men, artisans, merchants, and others, the farmers forming 

 the largest single class. About 60 per cent of the Schulze- 



