1905.] Cow and Pig Clubs in Lincolnshire. 83 



'in almost every village and on the outskirts of such market 

 towns as Boston and Spalding, prosperous Pig Clubs exist. 

 Cow Clubs are not so numerous, dairying having declined of 

 late years owing to the great development of potato growing in 

 the district. 



Cow Clubs. — At Moulton Chapel, however, between Spalding 

 and Wisbech, a flourishing Society has been in existence for 

 twenty years. This Cow Club may be taken as typical of 

 Societies of the kind ; and as it was established in 1884, and 

 has at the present time a larger membership than ever before, 

 its rules and methods have been fully justified by results. The 

 object of the Society is thus set forth : — 



" This Society was formed for the purpose of assisting each 

 other in acts of benevolence when overtaken by misfortune." 

 Curiously enough, no reference is made to the form the " acts of 

 benevolence " should take, viz., the recouping of members for 

 loss sustained by the death of cows. 



The Society consists of officers and an unlimited number of 

 members, the officers being the President, Vice-President, 

 Secretary, Treasurer, Marker, and a Valuing Committee of three 

 members. The duty of the President is " To keep order during 

 meeting hours, impose fines, and to see justice done between 

 each member and the Society " ; the Marker brands each cow 

 entered with the letters " M.C." on the horn, or, if the animal be 

 hornless, on the right foot ; and the function of the Valuing 

 Committee is to determine the value in case of illness or death 

 of a cow. 



The Society does not retain the services of any particular 

 veterinary surgeon, and the members can employ whom they 

 please. If a members cow fall ill, the owner will report at 

 once to the Secretary, who forthwith advises the Valuing Com- 

 mittee, all of whom — or at least two of the three — go to see the 

 cow as soon as possible. As soon as the Committee has 

 appraised the cow and seen its condition it becomes the property 

 of the Society, and the Committee can order its slaughter or can 

 otherwise dispose of it. The full value of the cow as a healthy 

 animal is fixed, and of this sum the owner receives 75 percent., or 

 15s. in the £, the cheque on the Society's banking account being 

 drawn by the President, Secretary, and Treasurer. 



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