Belgian Co-operative Societies. 



25 



established under Government auspices. Its object is to 

 promote the progress of different branches of horticulture. 

 The means employed comprise regular meetings of delegates 

 from the societies, the publication of an official journal, and 

 organisation of horticultural conventions and competitions. 



The movement for the improvement of the native races of 

 cattle by careful selection of breeding stock is of compara- 

 tively recent growth in Belgium, and nearly all the societies 

 formed with this object were founded in 1897. According to 

 the returns collected last year there were 71 of these bodies 

 established by the beginning of 1898, with a gross 

 annual income of £1.250, and their combined lists of 

 members gave a total of 3,945 farmers and stock-raisers. 

 The number of breeding stock inscribed in the herd books of 

 the societies was 10,396. 



Societies for the mutual insurance of live stock are common 

 in the rural districts of Belgium. As a rule, cattle are the 

 only animals with which these associations are concerned ; 

 only in a few instances are horses, asses, and sheep also 

 included. The usual compensation allowed to members in 

 the case of the loss of an animal is two-thirds of its value, 

 and this is paid out of the funds of the society, to wmich all 

 the members make periodical contributions. Another method 

 adopted by some societies is to pay the compensation out ot 

 the common fund only when the animal is declared unfit for 

 food ; but if the meat is suitable for human consumption it 

 must be purchased by members of the society, each con- 

 tributing to the price a sum proportionate to the number of 

 animals he has insured in the society. In some societies 

 there is, however, no common fund, and then the practice is 

 to compensate the owner of a condemned animal by paying 

 him the value of the carcase if the meat has been declared 

 unfit for consumption ; or if the meat may be used for food 

 then the society purchases the carcase from the member at an 

 agreed price. 



The greater number of the local cattle insurance societies 

 in the provinces of East Flanders and Limbourg are affiliated 

 to larger insurance societies, which guarantee their stability 

 by means of subsidies. Thus, at the beginning of 1898 there 



