2 4 



Belgian Co-operative Societies. 



the Borsbeke-les-Alost creamery. In this society each mem- 

 ber is required to deposit £2 16s. for each cow from which he 

 furnishes milk to the dairy. He is not required to pay the 

 whole sum at once, but may arrange to have it reserved in 

 the form of instalments from the price for the milk delivered. 

 The labour and other expenses are also covered by deducting 

 a small percentage from the price of the milk. Each mem- 

 ber receives back his skim milk. The profits from the sale of 

 butter are divided among the members in proportion to the 

 amount of cream furnished by each. The milk is tested with 

 the Babcock apparatus. In 1896 the Borsbeke-les-Alost 

 Society numbered 70 members, owning 150 cows, and the 

 annual profits of the society were estimated to work out to 

 about 56s. per cow. 



The co-operative apicultural associations, which numbered 

 210, with a membership of 8,688 bee-keepers, are, with the 

 exception of 16 of them, grouped in 7 federated societies. 

 Their total receipts in 1897 amounted to £1,000, and their 

 outgoings to £830. 



As a type of this form of co-operation, the Apicultural 

 Society of Hainault deserves special mention. It was 

 formed in June, 1890, with 19 sections and 650 members. 

 At present it has 41 branches, and numbers 2,000 members in 

 Hainault, Namur, and Brabant. The work has been 

 developed by theoretical and practical conferences (about 200 

 a year) ; by lotteries for the distribution of books, imple- 

 ments, etc.; by the purchase of apicultural materials for 

 mem bers ; by the establishment of honey depots ; and by local 

 and general exhibtions with competitive awards. It has 

 published, inter alia, a manual of apiculture, a work on 

 floriculture, two pamphlets on the wintering of bees, one 

 technical and the other popular, and a regular monthly 

 bulletin. The society exchanges publications with similar 

 societies in Belgium and other countries. 



In the 132 horticultural societies there were enrolled 

 17,871 members. The receipts of these bodies amounted in 

 the year to £6,130, and their outgoings to £5,200. 



There is a federation of horticultural societies which may 

 be numbered among the official associations, since it was 



