162 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



business is just a small part of the implement dealer's business, but here 

 in Des Moines they set an example of efficient marketing and handling 

 of the twine situation. They established here last year a special twine 

 sales week, and they said to every implement dealer in the county, 'Dur- 

 ing twine sales week you will sell your twine for cash at a discount,' and 

 they advertised it co-operatively over the county, and every farmer had 

 an opportunity during the early week of April to come to his dealer and 

 get his twine at a discount for cash, and the dealer got his cash and the 

 farmer a discount. And so repair weeks can be established, at which 

 time special effort can be made to get special work done." I said, "Fur- 

 thermore, the average mercantile business in town today is no more or 

 less than a service station. The success of that service station depends 

 upon the service it can render to the people of the community, and just 

 so long as a business interest renders service at a reasonable cost and 

 with which the people are satisfied, just so long should that business be 

 left intact. But as soon as it does not render efficient service, then some 

 steps must be taken to set up some plant that will render satisfactory 

 service to that people and that community." And I believe that our or- 

 ganization has this aim, to get the product to the consumer as cheaply as 

 possible; but that does not mean setting up more stores in the com- 

 munity, more service stations, but it does mean making those service 

 stations that exist more successful. A short time ago we had up in our 

 little town the establishment of an extra butcher shop. I had consider- 

 able argument with the people of our community about it, they contend- 

 ing that it would be a fine thing for our town, while I said, "Gentlemen, 

 it will mean higher meats for your town, because it will mean more meat 

 cutters and more overhead expense," and that is just an example of our 

 system of marketing. 



Now, from the standpoint of education: Your county fair is working 

 for the development of educational features relative to community build- 

 ing. You know that when we came to examine the draft records of the 

 state of Iowa we found out that out of all those young men exempt from 

 military service, there were over 30,000 of those men who couldn't pass 

 a literacy test, and yet we boast of our excellent schools and high schools 

 and universities. I believe it is a problem that concerns our homes in 

 this state of Iowa. I am particularly interested in the matter of commu- 

 nity development. I have a little picture that I would like to paint for 

 you as to what I would like to see brought about in this state. When 

 we got to studying our draft reports we got some statistics that we hadn't 

 thought much about before. How many men do you suppose there are 

 in your county every year that take up farming for themselves? Our 

 records showed about 80 to 120 of new farmers every year. Now, take, 

 for instance, the medical profession — a fellow doesn't go out and practice 

 medicine until he has had some training along that line. He must have 

 training, and yet among those 80 or 120 farmers every year, we have 

 graduates of all kinds of schools, and some that haven't even finished the 

 common grade school or the consolidated school or the high school, and 

 some are university graduates, etc. If those men could be brought to- 

 gether for three months during the winter time, during December, Jan- 

 uary and February, and the young women as well, to rub shoulders with 



