Agricultural Credit in France. 



[JUNE, 



terms. In general, however, it is the farmer in a small way 

 whose resources are limited and who is farming on an insufficient 

 capital, to whom a temporary loan for the purchase of cattle, 

 fertilisers, or seeds may be of invaluable assistance. It frequently 

 happens that an immediate want of money necessitates the sale 

 of crops at unfavourable prices or of stock in an unfinished 

 condition, whereas a loan easily obtained would enable the 

 cultivator to postpone the sale till a more suitable occasion. 



Though essentially a country of small holders, it was not 

 until recent years that agricultural banks began to be introduced 

 into France, and according to a Report* by the Ministry of 

 Agriculture, there exists in many districts a reluctance to 

 adopt any system of credit. Attempts to establish a bank are 

 often met with the observation : " There are only two classes 

 of farmer in our district : the well-to-do who would never 

 borrow, and the needy who would never repay." When a 

 society is formed, however, the better-off find it both profitable 

 and convenient to have resource to a co-operative bank, while 

 among the other class the Report observes that those who are 

 unable to pay their debts are much more rare than might be 

 supposed. The Ministry of Agriculture gives several examples 

 of the advantages accruing from the existence of a co-operative 

 bank, of which the following may, perhaps, be quoted : — " A 

 farmer had to pay a sum of £60 in November, 1902, and he had 

 for sale 500 bushels of wheat, which was then very low in price. 

 By applying to the local co-operative institution he received 

 an advance repayable in three months. He sold his wheat in 

 December, when it had risen about 3d. per bushel, thus receiving 

 about £6 more than would have been the case in October. 

 The bank charge was 14s., so that he made a net gain of 

 over £$" 



The earliest attempt at the establishment of a co-operative 

 credit bank was made in 1884, when a society was formed at 

 Poligny with a capital of £Soo, of which one-half was paid up. 

 Notwithstanding its small capital, this society was very success- 

 ful, but its example was followed in only a very few instances. 

 In 1893, rural banks (caisses rurales) on the Raiffeisen system 

 began to be introduced, and in 1901 there were 543 of these 



* Btilletin Mensuel, Dec, 1904. 



