Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-07-15
IN TOUCH With
AGRICULTURE
Austrian Farmers Have 40
Organization That Is Of
Much Benefit

Vienna, July 14,-By means Of
semi-otiicial status given to the prin'
cipal agricultural association of the
kountry the Austrian farmers pos
sess an organization which maintains
a constant and intimate touch be-
/, tween themselves and the Ministry
Of Agriculture. "Details Of tho organ.
ization were explained to the mem.
bers Of the American Commission on
Agricultural Cooperation during their
stay here, and many OF the Americans
believe that the United States Depart.
cnent of Agriculture and the Ameri.
can farmers might consider the bene.
fits OF this system.
The association which thus con.
meets the farmers directly with the
government Is the Royal and Imperial
Agricultural Society OF. Vienna. All
OF the local agricultural societies Of
the small CON nunities are affiliated
with tho central society. Through 4
system OF general assemblies held for
members Of the various affiliated 50.
cieties an executive committee Is
elected to carry on the affairs OF the
central society. The government is
given representation upon this COM
mittee and the. society enjoys subsi-
dies for certain classes of work from
the government.
Although the plan of government
support, and even of direct leader
ship in agricultural affairs is as thor
oughly accepted in Austria as in 9th.
or European countries, this semi-of1.
cial society carries on work which
nc American would consider without
the province Of the department of az
riculture. Undoubtedly the strong
representation of individual interests
in the society enables it to do its
work with greater freedom than
would be possible for a department
of the government. For instance,
this society studies the. question of
cost Of production Of agricultural
products and based upon this data
makes direct recommendations of a
semi-oticial character to the govern
ment regarding the tariff. to be fixed
upon agricultural products. 1t pro-
tects the rights Of the farmers in le.
gal matters,y and ever works to Sc
u + him a fair freight charge on
shipments of his produce to market.
Work of this character could hard.
ly be carried on Gby a department Of
the government. At the same time
the society carries on experimental
work for the b%etter.nent of a%gricultur.
al methods and breeding of cattle,
distributes farm literature, furnishes
expert advice TO. farmers and does
many other things which in. the Unit
ed States are carried on directly by
the government. David .Lubin, dele
gate of the United States to the IN
%ternational Institute Of Agriculture
at Rome, believes that through such
a society the government cantbe kept
in closer touch with the. work of the
farmers than it could be when it de.
Ponds solely upon a department of
the government. Such an organiza-,
ton. he believes, could be formed to
serve as a connectiong link between
the government and important agri-
cultural societies which directly rep
resent the individual farmer. 1t would
prove he believes, a great force in
the propaganda work necessary to
spread cooperation among American
agriculturists.
Work Of the Royal and Imperial AZ.
ricultural, society OF. Vienna, which
proved OF greatest. interest. to- 1.-The
Americans was the method Of farm
bookkeeping. The greater part of the
administrative work Of the society is
carried on by the general secretari,
at.
Undoubtedly the Austrian farmers
have determined just where they
stand. In every community a repre-.
sentative number OF farms are chos.
en- and the owners of these farms are
instructed in a simple system Of &C.
counts. which are turned in every
week to the central society in Vienna.
When a farm is listed in the book
keeping department for the return OF
these accounts, an inventory is taken
by an expert Of the "plant" operated
by the farmer. Thus it is known at
the start just what the farmers in.
vestment has been and his returns
are figured upon this basis. Weekly
reports are sent to the society show.
ing the progress Of the various crops
together with statements of cost of.
material, labor, etc. Everything is
subdivided according TO crop or ac-
cording to the stock raised. In this
way the central society can deter
mine accurately just where the farm
er is making If losing, and; because
of comparisons with the returns Of
other farmers, the. society car advise
him of any changes in methods likely