/ 

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and still has, the agricultural societies (see below) as its sub-sections, 

 but these societies according as the state grants have been increased, 

 have by degrees come into more direct connection with the State. 



The v.'ork of this society has been directed towards the taking up 

 of new questions for discussion and the starting of new undertakings in 

 order, when they are well under way, to hand them over to the State. 



Of late years, however, the society has also begun to work on tasks 

 of a more permanent nature — in part scientific investigations. 



It carries on a comparatively important activity in lecturing and at 

 regular intervals holds meetings with lectures followed by discussions on 

 agricultural questions of present-day interest. It issues a monthly pub- 

 lication: »Tidskrift for det norske landbruk* (Magazine for Norwegian 

 Agriculture). 



2. The Agricultural County Societies. The origin 

 of these societies is of old date, but they have lately been re-organized 

 so as to answer better to the conditions prevailing at the present time. 



There exists i agricultural county society m each of the i8 counties 

 of the Kingdom. The funds for their activities are provided half by the 

 State and half by the district concerned (mainly a grant from the 

 county). 



The object of these societies is to work for the advancement of 

 agriculture and its by-industries in their county. This object they seek 

 to attain by means of officials who, like the state officials, give gratis 

 instruction to the farmers, by the holding of exhibitions of the various 

 kinds of live-stock and of farm and garden produce, by local experiments 

 and by contributions to different useful undertakings. 



The societies have sub-sections consisting of local unions of farmers 

 and smallholders in the separate rural districts. These appoint represen- 

 tatives to the annual meetings of the societies, at which the executive 

 committees are elected and especially important matters on which the 

 societies are working are discussed. The State has made the following 

 conditions for the granting of its contribution : 



»Every agricultural society shall have an executive committee of 

 5 or 7 members, of whom i is to be elected by the County Council and the 

 remainder by the annual meeting. The committee itself elects a chair- 

 man and vice-chairman. In so far as is feasible, the annual meeting shall 

 elect its representatives first. 



In the election it is to observed that the committee — leaving out 

 of account the member elected by the County Council — shall at every 

 time consist of an equal number of smallholders and larger farmers. 



In counties where the smallholders and the larger farmers have each 

 their local union the election shall, provided at least 5 representatives 

 for each group are present at the annual meeting, proceed by groups, so 

 that the smallholder group elects representatives for the smallholders 

 and the other group representatives for the larger farmers.* (Parlia- 

 mentary Proceedings 1919.) 



