474 IOWA DEPARTMEx\T OF AGRICULTURE 



So they invited in a few farmers and discussed the possiblities of a 

 farmers' aid thru an efficient, scientific helper. In the end they organized 

 another department, or bureau, of the commercial club and called it a 

 farm bureau. Then they employed a man to take charge of the depart- 

 ment, to go out among the farmers and to carry on the work of the new 

 bureau and he was called a county agent. So we have the terms, farm 

 bureau and county agent. 



From Broome county it spread to other counties, and then to other 

 states, until at the present time we find farm bureaus and county agents 

 in every state in the Union. In some few states these organizations are 

 called "county councils of agriculture," but their operation and functions 

 are exactly the same. 



While the growth in other states has not been so rapid as it has 

 in Iowa, the farm bureau has, on the whole thruout the country, m*de 

 astonishing progress. They told me last winter in New York that they 

 could not hope to accomplish anything in that state if the membership fee 

 was more than $1 a year. I told them of our plan, that we are paying $5, 

 and that Illinois is paying $10, but they said: "If we attempt to raise 

 the membership dues above a dollar in New York the whole thing will go 

 to pieces." Now they are putting on a new campaign for members with 

 the fee ranging from $2 to $10, according to counties, and they are getting 

 almost twice as many members as they had last year when the fee was 

 only $1." And the same thing is true in nearly all the New England states. 



At Chicago in November there was a feeling on the part of some that 

 membership in the state organizations should be almost like salvation — 

 it should be free. And some of them talked even of a 10 cent fee, but 

 the states that were so very conservative at that time have become wide 

 awake on the proposition and are putting on active membership campaigns. 



The movement is spreading rapidly in the South. Georgia held a state 

 meeting only the day before yesterday, called for the purpose of perfect- 

 ing the state organization and ratifying the constitution of the American 

 Federation. Kentucky has a farm bureau. Tennessee has organized a 

 number of counties. A strong movement is on in South Carolina. Okla- 

 homa is lined up and Texas is coming on rapidly. In the North practically 

 every state, with the exceptions of Wisconsin and North Dakota, is well 

 organized. And we are getting an average of a letter a day from Wis- 

 consin asking us about the work. 



Now, why are we having this wonderful growth of these farm organiz- 

 ations? There are three reasons: One is that the farmers realize their 

 helplessness as individuals when it comes to solving their problems of 

 production, marketing, etc. They have learned that great things can be 

 accomplished by co-operation. 



In connection with production it is an established fact that production 

 of farm crops cannot be maintained unless stimulated by some different 

 and unlooked for movement or influences. It is useless for me to take the 

 time to tell you what they are. They go into the problems of labor 

 upon the farm; the ever-advancing wage of city workers; the ever- 

 shortening hours of labor; the lure of commercialism and of the white 

 lights of the cities. 



