132 THE FUTURE OF OUR AGRICULTURE. 



ists." They may be so. But you do not find any trace of 

 Royalist politics in their proceedings. There is in truth 

 no greater foe to professional progress than political suspi- 

 cion. Agrarians, lookers after their own class interests, 

 the members of the Agricultural Syndicates certainly are. 

 But they have given French Agriculture a new and better 

 face in the thirty odd years of their existence.^ Under a 

 curious misapprehension of the meaning of the word " Co- 

 operation," they pride themselves upon not being " mere 

 co-operative societies." " We are not mere co-operative 

 societies," so insisted the late M. Duport, one of the leading 

 men in the movement, at the last Congress that he attended ; 

 " we aim at the raising of the moral, intellectural and social 

 status of those whom we lead." That necessarily includes 

 teaching. However, we ought to bear in mind that all 

 Co-operation is education. Men cannot buy or sell things 

 in common without thinking, talking and exchanging their 

 opinions about the several values of the articles bought 

 and of the best way of making a marketable commodity 

 out of the produce to be sold. Things must be talked over 

 and thought out, notes must be compared, opinions 

 exchanged. The co-operative society automatically becomes 

 an agricultural discussion forum, stirring up minds and 

 diffusing knowledge. Really, co-operative societies, agri- 

 cultural syndicates and agricultural societies proper do 

 very much more in a didactic way than this. Some of 

 them, while doing it, indeed, have politics in their mind, 

 some think of denominationalism, some are genuinely 

 agricultural. Nevertheless, for all of them alike the perfect- 

 ing of agricultural practice is either the aim made for, or else 

 the main means employed. And so by their action, whatever 

 ultimate aim they may pursue, Agriculture is improved. 

 That is now done in the main by itinerant lecturers, sent 

 to scour the country, deliver lectures and hold private 

 discourses, and by organising discussions in the winter 

 months, to lead farmers to think and study for themselves. 



^ The first " Agricultural Syndicate " was formed in 1883 (one 

 year before the passing of the law which authorises them) at 

 Blois, by Professor Tanviray. 



