174 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



President Sykes : I am glad you raised that question. I ex- 

 pect there are a good many men here who could get in touch with 

 other counties that are not organized. It is ahnost impossible 

 for us to do that unless we can get hold of somebody to lead the 

 was to get in there. The best way to get into those counties 

 where we are not organized is through your farmers' institutes. 

 If you can get a speaker from this association on the program of 

 an institute or some public gathering of that kind in the county, 

 and let him make an address there on the value of this organi- 

 zation to the farmers, and in a general way cover its work, the 

 farmers will be awakened at once. During the past year I have 

 organized several counties in just that way. 



I have found out that some of the institute people have ob- 

 jucted to such an arrangement because they thought there was 

 some political move behind it, or something of that kind, and they 

 didn't want to mix up with it for fear it would hurt the institute. 

 If you can show those people that have charge of the institutes 

 the value of this organization and what it means to the farm- 

 ers of Iowa, you will dispel all of their fears along that line. I 

 don't say this boastingly, but I have been invited the third time 

 to speak at institutes in this state. It isn't Sykes they care about ; 

 but they want to hear what this organization is doing. 



You can't go into a new county with this five-year pledge prop- 

 osition, where they don't know anything about this organization, 

 and make any headway. You must first educate the people on 

 what you are doing, let them come in on the regular member- 

 ship plan, and after a year or two they will take up the five- 

 year pledge. That has been the history so far as I have been 

 able to canvass the counties in the last two years. We must get 

 in touch with the leading farmers who are active in this kind of 

 work, and then we will not have any trouble. 



Some of you may wonder why this membership w^ork doesn't 

 grow faster, but there has never been but one man to do any of 

 it since we started, and that has been the president of this as- 

 sociation; and all of tliat work has to be done in three or four 

 m.onths. You can't go out among farmers at any time of the 

 year and pick up someone who can go around with you. During 

 the winter we are engaged in the speaking campaign, and there 

 are only about six months of the year when canvassing can be 

 done. I will say that I have absolutely refused to go out and 

 solicit members unless with a man whom I knew was absolutely 



