Sept. 1894.] AGRICULTUEAL CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN FRANCE. 11 



"la petite culture." A number of syndicates have devised 

 schemes for bringing consumers into direct communication with 

 producers by means of the parcel-post and express railway 

 delivery service. In this way quite a large trade has sprung up 

 in some districts in butter, cheese, honey, olives, and similar 

 articles. As a further inducement to purchasers, several societies 

 guarantee the quality of the goods supplied. 



An extensive parcel-post trade is done in butter by the 

 co-operative societies in Normandy and other dairying districts. 

 Orders are addressed to the central offices and distributed 

 for execution among the members, the syndicates guaranteeing 

 the purity of the article supplied. It is usual to furnish 

 the consumer with the name and address of the producer 

 of the article, in order that further transactions may take 

 place between the parties without the intervention of the 

 syndicate. 



Cheese, olive oil, honey, and wax are similarly distributed in 

 postal parcels up to 5 J lbs. in weight. The same medium is 

 likewise made use of for the conveyance of samples of the 

 bulkier forms of produce. 



Fruit and vegetables, fresh and dried, are supplied by several 

 syndicates direct to consumers by rail or parcel delivery, and in 

 one or two instances these bodies have established permanent 

 markets for the sale of this form of produce in the small 

 towns. 



Large quantities of cut flowers are distributed through the 

 post by the syndicates of the southern Departements of the 

 Republic. In the vine-growing districts, sample bottles of wine 

 are similarly conveyed to intending purchasers, and an im- 

 portant parcel-post trade in fresh raisins has recently been 

 started in these regions. 



It should be observed, also, that there is a large and growing 

 inter-syndicate trade in seeds, potatoes, fruit trees, and similar 

 articles. 



Of the land banks which have been opened by five associa- 

 tions, two only are of any importance ; one established by the 

 syndicate of Poligny in the Jura, the other .by a syndicate at 

 Genlis in the Cote d'Or. These two banks are constituted on 

 the basis of mutual credit ; that at Genlis was opened some 

 three years ago, but the Poligny bank was established in 1851 

 and amalgamated with the syndicate in 1884. The older institu- 

 tion was founded with a capital of 4001. in shares of 21. and 

 each. 



Members of the Poligny Syndicate can obtain loans not 

 exceeding 24L on condition that the money borrowed is intended 

 solely for the purchase of seeds, manures, or implements. In 

 1885 the loans amounted in all to 217/., and in 1891, with the 

 assistance of the Bank of France, to 6,360^. In 1891 the 

 capital was increased by 436/., so that the subscribed capital 

 amounted to 1,640/., of which about 1,100/. was paid up. 



