1904.] Co-operative Granaries in Germany. 475 



in the permanent German Corn-house Commission. Conferences 

 •are also held, at which subjects connected with their con- 

 struction, mechanical installation, and management are discussed. 



The question of how far these associations have justified 

 •expectations seems, however, to be a matter of opinion. In a 

 recent Foreign Office Report*, dated June 13th, 1904, Mr. 

 ConsuUGeneral Oppenheimer observed that " the corn-houses 

 were intended to afford the farmers the opportunity of storing 

 their grain in a rational way against advances in cash until the 

 time for profitable sales might have come. Several of these unions 

 publish very unfavourable balance-sheets : the Pomeranian 

 Union closes its accounts with a loss of more than ;£ 10,000, 

 with a reserve fund amounting to only .£10,750 ; the Pyritz 

 Agricultural Union closes with a loss of ,£2,750, with very con- 

 siderable outstanding liabilities, and several others are in an 

 •equally precarious condition. The prohibition of time bargains 

 in grain and mill products undoubtedly indirectly contributed 

 to these disappointing results, for the unions were deprived 

 •of any possibility of protecting their stores against losses by 

 sales for future delivery." 



At the same time, however, as was pointed out above, they 

 liave succeeded, in the opinion of their promoters, in enabling 

 agriculturists to sell their grain under better conditions than 

 when they had to deal with merchants alone, and at the third 

 German Corn-House meeting a resolution was passed pledging 

 the meeting to replace the corn exchanges in Germany by an 

 •effective organisation and practical system of corn-houses. Mr. 

 Oppenheimer observes, however, in regard to this resolution, 

 that " past experience hardly justifies any great hopes in that 

 direction." 



Included in the 36 granaries referred to above, is the experi- 

 mental elevator or grain warehouse at Berlin, which receives a 

 grant of £500 per annum. The objects of this experimental 

 station are to undertake: (1) experiments with silos and 

 open floors, with a view to ascertaining the cost of warehousing 

 and dealing with the grain ; (2) experiments with new apparatus 

 for transport, loading and unloading, movement in the ware- 



* Annual Series, No. 3.221. 



