French Agricultural Warrants. 



349 



a tendency to increase the flow of milk, combined with 

 limited quantities of other foods the tendencies of which 

 are to increase the fat. 



For the production of milk to be consumed fresh, any of 

 the. foods experimented with may be used successfully if fed 

 judiciously and in moderate quantity. 



If, however, first-class butter is the object, linseed-cake, 

 grains (wet or dry), Paisley meal, and foods containing a. 

 large proportion of sugar should be discarded, or reduced to 

 the lowest limits possible. 



The principal concentrated foods experimented with 

 having a beneficial effect on the butter are oats, decorticated 

 cotton-cake, beans, and peas. 



French Agricultural Warrants Bill. 



The Board have received through the Foreign Office a 

 copy of the Government Bill for the creation of agricultural 

 warrants, recently laid before the French Chamber of 

 Deputies. 



The object of the Bill is to enable agriculturists to borrow 

 money upon the security of certain harvested crops. In the 

 preamble it is stated that it would in numerous cases be an 

 advantage to farmers if they could procure money for the 

 proper maintenance of their holdings without having to 

 dispose of their produce in an unfavourable market, as it con- 

 stantly happens that many of them are obliged to send their 

 produce to market immediately after harvest, without being 

 able to wait until conditions are more favourable. It is pro- 

 posed, therefore, to create a fresh class of negotiable instru- 

 ments, called " agricultural warrants,' 5 which will enable 

 the farmer to borrow money on the security of certain crops, 

 which he retains on his own premises. 



The warrants are to be issued by justices of the peace, 

 upon declaration of the nature, quantity, and value of the 

 produce proposed as security, and the amount of the loan. 

 These particulars are entered in duplicate in a register, 

 from which the counterfoil is detached and given to the 

 lender. This counterfoil, subject to a duty of 50 centimes, 



