Agricultural Finance & Co-operation. 246 [September, 1911, 



BELGIUM. 



Housekeepers' Clubs. 



We reproduce the following inform- 

 ation from the Bulletin of Economic and 

 Social Intelligence (31st. May, 1911) 

 published by the international Institute 

 of Agriculture. 



The beneficent influence women may- 

 exercise in the field of rural economics is 

 now universally recognised ; but up to 

 the present their participation in agri- 

 cultural concerns has only been exem- 

 plified in individual cases, without there 

 being any special organ uniting these 

 new forces for definite and continuous 

 action. 



Belgium, aland very fruitful in social 

 experiments, has been among the first 

 to give us an example of what may be 

 effected by the organization of the farm 

 women. Side by side with the very 

 numerous agricultural associations, the 

 large majority composed of men, in the 

 last five years there have appeared in 

 this country, where they have rapidly 

 extended themselves, also the so-called 

 housekeepers' clubs of which Canada 

 furnished the first example. 



The principal motive for the found- 

 ation of such institutions was the desire 

 of arresting the exodus from the country 

 that is continually assuming more 

 alarming proportions, and now has 

 extended to the women. 



It was thought that one of the most 

 effective means for combatting this 

 movement would be to appeal directly 

 to the women, to the mothers, and induce 

 them to appreciate the advantages of 

 country life, and warn them against the 

 dangers and disappointments of the city, 

 as well as to supply them with profes- 

 sional education, by means of which they 

 may become better fitted for the occu- 

 pations specially entrusted to them, such 

 as the work of the dairies, farm yards, 

 gardens, etc, 



The itinerant housekeeping schools 

 that have now been many years at work, 

 have already in part provided for this 

 need ; but it was necessary that their 

 work should not be lost. 



For this purpose, the farm women had 

 to be united in permanent associations. 

 Thus, there arose in 19U6 the first farm, 

 womens' clubs, which rapidly extending 

 themselves throughout the whole of 

 Belgium, and especially through the 

 efforts of the Catholic party, now have 

 reached the number of 75 and contain 

 7,000 members. 



Their organization is simple. Members 

 are recruited among the housekeepers of 



the neighbourhood, during the term of 

 the agricultural womens' school, with 

 the help of the pupils themselves, and 

 so the club is formed. The club is 

 managed by a President, two Vice-Presi- 

 dents, three Councillors and a Secretary 

 and Treasurer. The contribution to the 

 club is 50c. Out of the fund so formed 

 the needs of the club are provided for 

 and articles of domestic utility, selected 

 seeds, etc., are purchased. 



At the time of the meetings which are 

 heldfouror five times a year, lectures are 

 given, agricultural competitions are held, 

 and practical lessons are also given. 

 Almost all these clubs possess libraries 

 composed of books on domestic economy 

 — hygiene, agriculture.dairy work, cattle, 

 rearing, etc. Two papers, the Fermiere 

 (Farm woman) for the Wallon districts 

 and the Boerin for the Flemish dis- 

 tricts, are the most widely diffused 

 organs for the extension of this move- 

 ment. 



The results attained by these interest- 

 ing womens' organizations have been 

 very happy : the housekeepers attend 

 the meetings most assiduously, take a 

 lively interest in the lectures and derive 

 great profit from them : as appears in no 

 doubtful manner in the remarkable pro- 

 gress already observed in the rearing of 

 fowls, in cheesemaking, gardening, 

 manufacture of preserves, in every 

 department, finally, in which women's 

 influence is sensibly exercised. 



(Summarised from the Bulletin of Eco- 

 nomic and Social Intelligence of the I.I. 

 of A. Year II., No. 5, 31st May, 1911.) 



BULGARIA. 



The Work op Agricultural Credit. 

 There are three institutions in Bulgaria 

 which more particularly provide for 

 agricultural credit: the National Bank 

 of Bulgaria, the Agricultural Bank and 

 the Co-operative Society for Agricultural 

 Credit, The National Bank, which is a 

 State institution founded in 1870 under 

 the provisional Russian Government, 

 grants loans to farmers, either directly 

 or indirectly, through the Agricultural 

 Bank; in fact, in 1908, it received in 

 deposit or discounted 2,217 bills for far- 

 mers for 1,459,962 54 Fi\, and granted 

 loans to the Agricultural Bank to the 

 amount of l,116,9lo-26 Fr. 



The real institution for agricultural 

 credit, however, is the "Bulgarian Agri- 

 cultural Bank," which has branches 

 throughout the Kingdom in the chief 

 towns of 85 districts, and agencies in 

 75 of the principal villages. It was insti- 



