498 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



A lively discussion followed this ])a]ier. Dcde^ate Wixoni said the 

 farmers themselves are largely to blitine because they do not receive more 

 at the hands of the legislature. Their work should first be done at the 

 primaries. No class of people could ex])ect that their interests could be 

 well guarded unless men were selecled for that purpose. Wherever evil 

 existed, there was a leiuedy that united action would bring about. 



Mr. Lockwood of Monroe said the reason more farmers were not in 

 the legislature was because they could not stand the expense. He 

 averred it cost all a man got out of it to spend a winter in the legislature, 

 to say nothing of the |5()0 or .^{fOOO it cost to make the canvass. 



Another delegate said he thought the Association should guard against 

 selfishness. The members should remember that they are citizens of 

 the State, that it was a large commonwealth of varied interests. The 

 Associatioji should know its own mind before it ui'ged any measures 

 upon the legislature. When the members know wdiat the farmers really 

 wanted, and were united on, they would be glad to comply w'ith any 

 reasonable request. 



Mrs. R. F. Johnston of Detroit read a paper on "Woman's Influence in 

 Farmers' Organizations." She said in part, "There are many good rea- 

 sons why women should share in the work, the responsibilities and the 

 benefits of the club, and I have yet to hear a valid reason assigned why 

 the}' should not. One of the best reasons for their presence is that the 

 farmer's familj^ — a little isolated commune, the one and only syndicate 

 of which the farmer is the head — cannot afford to disintegrate socially. 

 In the cities, husbands and wives go and come independent of each other. 

 But on the farms, the social ph^asures must, by the circumstances and 

 conditions of farm life, be such as both can enjoy, for they must be 

 shared together. 



Perhaps woman's direct influence is not as great as that she exer- 

 cises unconsciously; indeed, we know that it is often true that the power 

 of personality is stronger, though much less in evidence, than the force 

 of advice and precept through direct speech. 



It seems to me that woman's influence in farmers' organizations is 

 not so verv different after all from her influence in the farmer's familv. 

 Just as she can create a cheerful, refined, elevating atmosphere in the 

 home, so she can engender these qualities in the club. Her presence 

 tends to make discussions moderate in tone and temperate in expression, 

 and in those discussions she can lift her voice for truth and purity and 

 right. 



It is my firm belief, that though there is no doubt woman's influence 

 in farmers' organizations is both valuable and beneficicnt, the real gist 

 of the question runs the other way. The influence of the organizations 

 upon woman is greater than woman's influence in the organization. I 

 repeat, I believe woman needs the club more than the club needs her. 



It does us all good to meet and mingle with our kind. To do so helps 

 to establish a bond of human sympathy between individuals and makes 

 the brotherhood of man something more than empty Avords. It breaks 

 the monotony and enlivens the isolation of farm life. 



Many of you know that I do not believe in public life for women, but 

 I do regard it as every woman's duty to be interested in, and to the 

 extent of her opportunities, be conversant with our great national ques- 

 tions. We shall never have social or moral purity until women know 



