Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread." 



417 



work of practical application and model farming. 

 These would obtain a certain amount of State 

 aid. The local authorities would maintain 

 other experimental stations, and lesser stations 

 also for exf)eriments should be established by 

 towns or villages, or by a body of farmers' sons. 

 Thus we see the whole gradation, from the 

 central authorities to the farmers' sons, all acting 

 together for the improvement of agriculture and 

 the fulfilment of their national duty. Connected 

 with this idea, but not devoted purely to experi- 

 mental work, should be two other branches : 

 agricultural institutes and the delivery of lectures 

 on farming throughout the country. These 

 should be maintained from local funds and sub- 

 ject to the supervision of the Board of Agri- 

 culture. Their object would be to give to 

 farmers' .sons and farming people generally 

 some elementary knowledge on general principles 

 of agriculture, surveying, meteorology, physics, 

 chemistry, natural history, veterinary science, 

 etc. The second and final branch is of great 

 importance also, as these lectures would do an 

 immense amount of good work amongst the 

 farmers, who might otherwise be untouched by 

 the march of scientific learning. 



AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 



Agricultural societies should be formed by the 

 farmers and landowners in each county and run 

 by members elected by the subscribers, together 

 with experts. These societies should receive 

 State aid and form the link between the Govern- 

 ment and the farmers, with a certain amount of 

 State control. This could be secured by grant- 

 ing Slate aid only to those societies formed 

 according to the special laws. This would also 

 prevent the societies from taking on a fxjlitical 

 basis. There would be fifty-two societies, with 

 subordinate societies in cities or rural districts, 

 and also in towns and villages. The object of 

 these swicties would be to develop agriculture 

 by the following means : — 



1. Meetings, congresses, exhibitions, sale of 

 seeds and plants, agricultural museum and 

 handicraft conferences. 



2. Reports, lectures, and analyses. 



3. Distribution and exchange of seeds, of 

 fertilisers, of agricultural machines and breeding 

 animals. 



4. Preventive and destructive measures 

 against pests. 



5. Dr.iinagc and irrigation, and the adjust- 

 ment of lan<ls. 



6. Encouragement and preparatory work. 



7. Agricultur.il anrl industrial output. 



8. Agricultural statistics. 



g. Replying to the ofTiciai questions. 



10. The question of inaprovement and develop- 

 ment. 



Under certain conditions the local authority 

 should have the power, by law, of making the 

 minority of farmers or landowners in a certain 

 district join a society formed by the majority. 

 This, however, only when there is felt to be 

 need of unanimous endeavour in that locality. 



STATE MORTGAGE BANKS. 



The capital at the disposal of the farmers 

 being small, the Government should found a 

 system of mortgage banks and joint stock com- 

 panies, whose object is to advance money at a 

 reasonable rate of interest for the development 

 of agricultural industries. The Government 

 control would enable the rate of interest charge- 

 able to be fixed. 



Such a bank would have a mission which can 

 be described as follows : It admits of no doubt 

 that the comparative lack of development of our 

 agriculture is mainly attributable to absence of 

 proper facilities for supplying funds on the 

 security of real estate. Now, in order to carry- 

 to greater prosperity the agriculture of our 

 country, and to promote its productive capacity, 

 there are many things to be undertaken, these 

 being the reclamation of new land, the control of 

 rivers, planting of woods, providing of better 

 facilities for irrigation or drainage, improvement 

 of the mode of tillage, supply of cheap fertilisers, 

 and sundry other things. But these improve- 

 ments cannot from their very nature yield 

 returns until after the lapse of ten or a score 

 years, so that funds which in trade can yield 

 returns in a very short space of time are entirely 

 out of place in undertakings connected with 

 farming. The funds advanced to farmers must 

 be of longer term and at cheaper rates. 



THE SCOPE OF SUCH BANKS. 



The chief lines of business transacted by the 

 bank would be : — 



To make luans on the security of immovable 

 prop>erty, redeemable in annual instalments 

 within a period of not more than fifty years; to 

 make loans on a similar security, redeemable at 

 a fixed term within a period of not more than 

 five years, provided the total amount of such loans 

 does not exceed one-tenth of the total amount 

 redeemable in annual inst.ilments (the amounts 

 of loans made on the security of any immovable 

 property may not exceed two-thirds of the value 

 thereof, as appraised by the bank); to make 

 loans without security to prefectures, districts, 

 cities, towns, and other public bcnlies 

 organised by law; to take up the mort- 

 gage debentures of agricultural and industrial 

 banks , to accept the custody of gold and 



