Four types of farm labour co-operatives are examined. They pool one or more means of production and are subject to rules set up by those belonging to them. Three out of four also have legal status. They are. a means if not an end of agricultural policy. Functioning on a voluntary basis, the farm-labour co-operatives are specific economic and social units. Their workers behave differently from individual farmers. In each co-operative, a policy-making body fixes their aims, controls their means and penalises failures. By giving them certain attributions, government departments, in addition to the initiatives taken by the farmers, give them certain aims which help to orientate agricultural policy. Whatever its form, the farm-labour co-operative is a sociological phenomenon. It helps to make a profession of farm labour, thus changing rural society. Will it be able to make possible the social progress of the greatest number?
