TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION F. 779 



themselves would eujoy the greatest possible security from the further inroads of 

 fire, of damp, and of other destructive agents, which have already made havoc 

 with so many of our early national records ; and a most valuable source of his- 

 torical and statistical information would be available for the student at readily 

 accessible centres. When desired by any parish, as has been done in Scotland, a 

 certified copy of the registers of such parish could be made at the public expense, 

 and this copy left in lieu of the original. 



SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14. 

 The Section did not meet. 



MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16. 

 The following Papers were read : — 

 1. Agriculture in Suffolk. By Captain E. G. Pretyman, M.P. 



2. Agricidture of Stffolk from a Tenant's Point of View. 

 By Herman Biddell, Playford, Ipstvich. 



Soils of the County. — Short description. 



Cultivation as hitherto adopted. — Corn growing ; sheep rearing. 



Dairying. — Milk trade ; butter making ; butter factories ; cheese making. 



Grazing as a substitute for corn growing. — Bacon factories. 



Proposed substitutes for corn growing. — Sugar beet ; flax ; vegetables ; market 

 gardening ; fruit culture. 



Suggestions for relief of present distress by adjustment of railway rates and of 

 local taxation. 



Imperial attention to sale of foreign for home-grown meat. 



Increased price of produce, &c. 



3. Co-operative liural Banks. By Harold E. Moore, F.S.I. 



At the present time much attention is rightly given to the extension of allot- 

 ments and small holdings, either as a useful auxiliary, or as a sole means of 

 livelihood. It is too often forgotten, however, that both skill and the assistance 

 of adequate capital are necessary if such areas of land are to be made as useful as 

 possible. Thus, a man may want additional funds before he can purchase a cow, 

 or other live stock, or plant fruit trees. Even if an individual possesses half the 

 amount necessary for these purposes, without co-operation he has no means of 

 obtaining the other half. This difficulty can now be overcome by adopting the 

 principle of co-operation in any parish in which this additional capital for pro- 

 ductive purposes is wanted. This co-operation should be applied by the founda- 

 tion of a society or co-operative bank which would lend to the individual 

 members, under proper conditions, the sums they require. These conditions would 

 provide that no loan should be lent except to members of the society, and that in 

 each case it must be for some specified productive purpose approved by the com- 

 mittee, and for which securities or sureties approved by them are obtainable. 

 The funds required by the co-operative bank would be provided from an ordinary 

 tank, the latter holding the charges given by the individual borrowers, and 

 having an additional security in the unlimited liability of the members of the 



