102 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



aiiiount than the bond issue must invariably be realized. The 

 Landschaft is reimbursed for the bonds issued and the bal- 

 ance goes back to the borrower. In this way the organization 

 and the bondholders are protected, and then, too, there is 

 also the surplus to fall back upon. 



All officers and directors of Landschaften are appointed by 

 the King, and the books and accounts are inspected and 

 audited every month by law officers. There is, in addition, 

 a special deputy appointed by the King to control the con- 

 duct of the Landschaft. Every possible precaution against 

 mismanagement is thus taken, and here lies the secret of 

 their success. It seems to me that this system, or some 

 variation of it, combining availability of funds, low and at 

 stable rates of interest, freedom from danger of foreclosure 

 and gradual amortization, could be and should be worked 

 out and put into practice as a solution to the problem of long- 

 term credit here in America. The system itself is sound, 

 and its success in this country would depend very largely 

 upon the reliability and capacity of its officers. 



Business Co-operatiox. 



The subject of co-operative rural credits is very closely 

 allied to that of business co-operation among farmers, as it re- 

 quires credit to finance the co-operative societies. We have 

 already made some progress in co-operative buying and sell- 

 ing in this country. The citrus fruit growers of the west, 

 the apple producers of Oregon and Washington, and the 

 dairymen of the northwest are among our foremost examples, 

 not to mention the cranberry growers of Cape Cod. The full- 

 est development, however, has as yet been reached onl}^ in 

 foreign countries. 



The co-operative societies in Germany comprise supply 

 societies, dairying associations, corn-selling and granary as- 

 sociations, cattle-selling societies, egg-selling societies, elec- 

 tricity societies, machine societies and several minor kinds. 



The supply societies deal mainly in fertilizers and feed- 

 ing stuffs. One, two or three parishes are usually included 

 in the jurisdiction of a single society, the area being gov- 



