the tariff of a foreign country forces the producer either to find a new outlet for his wares, or to abandon a hitherto profitable employment.  A striking instance of the value of organisation and connection with a central advisory body occurred in 1887, when swine fever broke out in Denmark, and the exports of live swine fell from 230,000 in one year to 16,000 in the next.  The organisation of the farmers, however, enabled them easily to consult together how best to meet the emergency, and their decision to start co-operative bacon-curing factories was the foundation of their present great export trade in manufactured bacon.

I must not overburden with details a narrative intended for readers to whom I merely wish to give a deeper and wider understanding of Irish life than most of them probably possess.  But there is just one form of agricultural co-operation to which I can usefully devote a few paragraphs, because it throws much light upon the associative qualities of the people and also upon the educational and social value of the movement.  I refer to the Agricultural Banks, more properly called Credit Associations, which have been organised upon the Raiffeisen system.  Before the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society was formed we had read of these institutions, and of the marvellously beneficial effect they had produced upon the most depressed rural communities abroad.  But only in the last few years have we fully realised that they are even more required and are likely to do more good in Ireland than in any other country; for on the psychological side of our work we formerly but dimly saw things which we now see clearly.

The exact purpose of these organisations is to create credit as a means of introducing capital into the agricultural industry.  They perform the apparent miracle of giving solvency to a community composed almost entirely of insolvent individuals.  The constitution of these bodies, which can, of course, be described only in broad outline here, is somewhat startling.  They have no subscribed capital, but every member is liable for the entire debts of the association.  Consequently the association takes good care to admit men of approved character and capacity only.  It starts by borrowing a sum of money on the joint and several security of its members.  A member wishing to borrow from the association is not required to give tangible security, but must bring two sureties.  He fills up an application form which states, among other things, what he wants the money for.  The rules provide—­and this is the salient feature of the system—­that a loan shall be made for a productive purpose only, that is, a purpose which, in the judgment of the other members of the association as represented by a committee democratically elected from among themselves, will enable the borrower to repay the loan out of the results of the use made of the money lent.