Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 345 



pamphlets on it. This summary, however, will prove sufficient in 

 view of the short time we have to discuss our work. The slogan of 

 our commercial club in Trenton is "The Trenton Idea is not lazy ; it 

 works." 



What is the "Trenton Idea?" A brief, concrete answer to this 

 question will be of interest not only to those in various parts of the 

 country who have made inquiries, but also prove valuable, we hope, 

 to the many communities which will eventually become interested 

 in "The Trenton Idea." 



"The Trenton Idea" is not a spontaneous thing. It is the 

 natural fruitage of time and conditions. It simply means that in 

 this twentieth century of commercial supremacy and agricultural 

 efficiency, the farmer and the citizen of the town must unite and co- 

 operate in the fullest sense of the term. 



The operation of the idea in our community was successful 

 from the start. Trenton, Missouri, with a population of 6,000, 

 became the field of activity for a commercial club of 500 members, 

 about half of whom were farmers. Thus, from the very beginning, 

 "The Trenton Idea" was put to work and the slogan of the aggrega- 

 tion naturally grew out of the development of the idea. 



In February, 1912, the Commercial Club of the city of Trenton, 

 Mo., decided that the results obtained in the past were not entirely 

 satisfactory. After a general discussion and an exchange of ideas, 

 between the individuals composing the organization, "The Trenton 

 Idea" was evolved. The thought is by no means new, but its suc- 

 cess in appealing to the intelligence of the community seeking for 

 the highest form of commercial development has awakened the 

 interest of industrial thinkers throughout the country. Leading 

 trade journals and periodicals of importance have featured its 

 origin, history and future significance, as a result of which Trenton, 

 Mo., is in the limelight. 



"The Trenton Idea" proclaims in practical terms the reaching 

 out for wider fields hitherto untouched ; eff'ects a closer co-operation 

 of the agricultural and commercial communities, and promotes the 

 permanent union of the interests of all the people in the trade terri- 

 tory. 



"The Trenton Idea" obliterates the established legal but 

 imaginary line between the town and the country. It extends the 

 zone of activity from the central point of the real town to the 

 circumference of the community at large. It ignores the tendency 

 to confine the trade and commsrcial activities within the Kmits of 

 the town or city, and works to the end that the interests of all are 



