446 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



on in a feeble sort way. I say feeble way because of the lack of compe- 

 tent workers to build up the county memberships. 



The Federation of the county farm bureaus in Iowa had been formed 

 at Marshalltown in December, and that gave us a powerful talking point 

 that we had never had for securing members out in the counties. We were 

 going on and in some cases had been remarkably successful in getting 

 men interested in this larger phase of organization work, the State 

 Federation. 



I recall with what pride we sent the news out over the state that one 

 county in Iowa had 1,000 members. That was Jasper county. I remember 

 the meeting we held over in Newton when we started that drive. We 

 went about it in a very systematic way. We planned a little better than 

 we had ever planned before and we were getting on fairly well, con- 

 sidering that we had to work with just a few men. 



Then the Federation officers conceived the idea of holding a meeting 

 of farmers at the state fair the last of August. How many of you were 

 there? You remember what a goodly number of farmers gathered in the 

 big tent to hear your president, Mr. J. R. Howard, President Strivings 

 of New York, and others, and how they all voiced the thought that we 

 needed organization, and of how they were instructed to take hold of 

 that work and push it 



Mr. Coverdale came to me during the fair and asked me to help in 

 this organization work. I had a county all arranged for the drive, every- 

 thing ready, and I was to go into the county to hold a booster meeting to 

 start the work when I went on a vacation. While I was gone the Federa- 

 tion stole my preparations, went into Hardin County and started the drive 

 on the 22nd day of September. 



I have heard many men tell with what anxiety they started that drive 

 in Hardin county. Hardin, as I recall, had about 150 farm bureau members. 

 The plan provided one week's time in the county, with a man to go into 

 every township who would call on the farmers and invite them to become 

 members of this organization. At the close of that week they had 

 something like 1100 members signed up, and then a vision opened before 

 us that we had never even imagined before, for the most optimistic of 

 us had never been able to picture a success jike that. 



From that time the campaign went forward. The next week a drive 

 was put on in Butler county, a county that had never been very strong 

 in farm bureau work. I suppose there are representatives here from 

 Butler county and they will bear me out when I say that about four or 

 five months before this drive started I went over there to help in the 

 obesquies of the farm bureau of Butler county. They had decided that 

 they couldn't keep it going and were ready to close it up. Then came 

 the drive the last week of September. At its close they had something 

 like 1300 members, and from being one of the most backward farm bureau 

 organizations in the state Butler county had forged far ahead and become 

 the most progressive. 



So the drive continued, week after week, adding a little each week, 

 taking on a little more work until the last week, beginning December 20, 



