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The DBnoM Agricultmral Anocwrion Record 



OdoUr 25. 1924 



THREE-YEAR CYCLE 

 OF REORGANIZATION 

 WINDS UP THIS YEAR 



Memberahip Drive* by Local 



Fann Bureau People Is One 



L A. A.'( best Assets, 



Thinks Metzger 



Edilorfs Note: This i» tJu fifth of 

 a »«ri«t of nmiiar article* to be 

 ipritten by I. A. A. department di- 

 rectore telling of the work done in 

 each department. 



I By G. E. Metzger, 



rtor. Organization 

 Department 



The Organization department oc- 

 cupies a responsibte position 

 among the other departments of 

 the lUilnois Agricultural Associa- 

 tion. Since the 

 income' of the 

 Associaltlon 1 s 

 dependent e n- 

 tirely Opon the 

 m e m 1> e r s hip 

 dues, the size of 

 the membership 

 in the Associa- 

 t i o n controls 

 pretty largely 

 the finances of 

 the Organiza- 

 tion, ttie size of 

 the buldget, the 

 amount and G, E. Metaser 

 kind of services and the general 

 moral strength which every or- 

 ganization must have to make it 

 a successful going institution. 



The policy of the Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association is such that 

 any farmer residing in any county 

 which has an organized county 

 Farm Bureau must be a member 

 of that county Farm Bureau to 

 become a member of the state As- 

 sociation. In counties without 

 county Farm Bureau organization, 

 or in a few counties with county 

 Farm Bureau organizations which 

 are nolt afllliated with the I. A. A., 

 a farmer may become a member 

 of the state Association indepen- 

 dent <>f membership in a county 

 Farm Bureau. 

 Co-operation with Local Bureaus 



Such being the policy of the As- 

 sociation it becomes qecessary and 

 desirable that the organization de- 

 partmient in all its membership 

 work co-operate very closely and 

 thoroughly with the county Farm 

 Bureau organizations. In the past 

 that co-operation has been both 

 pleasant and fruitful. Joint mem- 

 berships are written in the county 

 and national organizations for a 

 period of three years. In 1922, 

 39 counties came up for reorgani- 

 zatioS, in 1923, 45 counties, and 

 1924 is considered by the depart- 

 ment as a lean year, as only eight 

 counlties had to reorganize so that 

 at this time the three-year cycle 

 of reorganization Is almost com- 

 pleted. 



The Reorganization Plan 



It necessarily follows that where 

 the reorganization of ninety-two 

 county Farm Bureaus is involved, 

 conditions in those counties will 

 vary somewhat and any plan that 

 is going to be successful must nec- 

 essaiiily be general in Its terms and 

 must be broad enough to be adapt- 

 ed to fit local conditions. It is 

 the work of the organization de- 

 partment to make a survey of the 

 field and determine as accurately 

 as posErtCle what the conditions 

 are in the various counties and, 

 after the survey has been com- 

 Plet4d, formulate a plan whioli 

 can be followed throughout the 

 Stat* and be workable In all coun- 

 ties and will meet with general 

 satisfaction In the north end of 

 the state or the south end, or on 

 the east or west sides. 



TWo general plans have been 

 followed during the past six years 

 in Hhe organization work in this 

 state. The first plan involved a 

 number of paid state solicitors 

 who went out in teams ani} signed 

 up membership in the county. 

 This plan was successful in build- 

 ing a strong organization which 

 functioned throughout the first 

 three-year period in a very satis- 

 factory manner. 



Local People Sell Bureau 



The second plan, which is now 

 in ise. in fundamentally different 

 from the first in that It provides 

 that the local people in any given 

 community should take care of the 

 signing up end of the work. In 

 :. - ■ { 



the first place It places th« re- 

 Bponsibility where it t>elongs, on 

 the local community. Secondly, 

 if properly administered It tends 

 to bring before the leaders In va- 

 rious communitios of the state the 

 active work of the county and 

 state organizations and get it so 

 clearly defined in their minds that 

 these leaders function more or 

 less in the capacity of a walking 

 encyclopedia who can give out a 

 lot of goneral Information to the 

 inquiring Farm Bureau members, 

 Non-Farm Bureau members or 

 business men. 



After a three-year trial of this 

 plan. I consider that the partici- 

 pation of 3.500 to 4,000 farmers, 

 who actually put over the mem- 

 bership drives in this state, is one 

 of the greatest assets of the Illi- 

 nois Agricultural Association. 



I heard a writer of the econo- 

 mist's column of a great news- 

 paper say the other day, that it 

 was largely his business to gather 

 the information published by other 

 economists and jazz it up in such 

 a way that a greater per cent of 

 the reading public would digest 

 these facts. 



Assembles Selling Points 



I believe the position of the di- 

 rector of organization is some- 

 what similar to this writer, as It 

 seems to be necessary that the de- 

 partment assemble the detailed in- 

 formation from the other depart- 

 ments of organization and from 

 the county Farm Bureaus and put 

 it in such form that it can be used 

 as a talking or selling point. 



It has been said that to sell 

 well one must be thoroughly sold 

 himself. This is exactly what the 

 department of organization tries 

 to do at all times and it is the 

 fundamental principle upon which 

 the department is based. 



To be a good Farm Bureau 

 member every farmer should at 

 least have an understanding of the 

 general problems which confront 

 him. I believe these problems 

 can be well sized up under about 

 four heads: 



Legislation -^ One Big Problem 



First, is the matter of legisla- 

 tion. Up until the last few years 

 the middle west farmer has not 

 thought much of the importance 

 of legislation with respect to his 

 business. Through organization 

 industries learned this lesson long 

 ago. It was not until the farmer 

 attempted to solve some of the 

 big problems in an organized way 

 that he conceived the importance 

 of legislation to his industry. 

 Many of the failures of farmers' 

 co-operative organizations in the 

 past have been largely due to the 

 fact that they did not have ade- 

 quate legislation for legal protec- 

 tion. A great deal of that imme- 

 diately necessary legislation has 

 been secured by farmers' organi- 

 zations presenting such needs be- 

 fore national and state legisla- 

 tures. 



Distribution — Second Problem 

 Perhaps the second great prob- 

 lem of the farmer is the matter of 

 distribution of his own products. 

 This matter might be approached 

 from several angles, the most im- 

 portant of which perhaps is co- 

 operative marketing. The trans- 

 portation of these products is an- 

 other important phase of distri- 

 bution. It has long been recog- 

 nized by asiicultural leaders that 

 if the farmer is to succeed in sta- 

 bilizing the commodities of his 

 own production that It Is KOing to 

 be necessary that he accept and put 

 Into operation the principle of other 



freat industries — namely, -that he 

 oUow his commodities at 4ea8t part 

 of the way to the consumer. Such 

 Is the aim of co-operative marketing 

 by which the farmer comes Into In- 

 timate relation with the problem of 

 transportation. 



The third great problem I believe 

 to be the matter of taxation. The 

 percentage of the farmer's income 

 which is consumed by taxation of 

 one icind or another has greatly in- 

 creased during the past few years. 

 A study of the situation has re- 

 vealed some important points which 

 have heretofore been discussed quite 

 fully through the columns of this 

 paper. It will always be one of the 

 problems of farmers as well as rep- 

 resentatives of other industry to 

 study the cost of government as It 

 affects their business and the citi- 

 zenship of the country In general. 

 Mast Cnt Prodaetloa Coats 



The fourth great problem of the 

 farmer is the matter of economy In 

 production. These problems every 

 producer will always have before 

 him. There seems to be some rela- 

 tive standard as to what the con- 

 suming public can afford to pay and 

 will pay for a given commodity. 

 Such standards are not fixing prices 

 In any sense of the word but they 

 bear direct relationship to the earn- 

 ings of labor and other Industry. 

 Thus It Is important that the lowest 



possible cost of production price 

 prevails on their individual farms. 



As I see It. this Is largely the 

 work of the county Farm Bureau. 

 Information, which does not neces- 

 sarily tend to Increase the total pro- 

 duction but to cut the cost of pro- 

 duction. Is available at these various 

 county Farm Bureau offices on the 

 best systems of farming. 



Department Ready for Service 



Farm organizations should always 

 keep In mind that a part of their 

 work Is a campaign of education 

 and that the campaign should go 

 forward in an organized way so 

 that satisfactory results may be ob- 

 tained at the lowest possible cost. 



The organization department also 

 functions under the general policies 

 of the I. A. A. In securing satisfac- 

 tory memberships In co-operative 

 marketing organizations after a 

 proper survey has been made and 



g roper forms of organization have 

 een recommended by other depart- 

 ments of the Association. 



This is a brief outline of the work 

 of this department and we make It 

 a point to stand ready at all times 

 to be at your service. 



The Mason Coimty Farm Bu- 

 reau board has set five cents per 

 bushel as a fair price for paying 

 corn buskers. Free board is to go 

 with the five cent wage. 



ILLINOIS HGHTERS 



WHIPPING ENEMY 



(Continued from pa^e 1) 



cured from the books of the U. S. 

 D. A. inspector in charge of tuber- 

 culosis eradication in Illinois. 

 Since grade cattle were not tested 

 previous to July 1, 1921, no rec- 

 ord is available on them, but a 

 comparison of the nun>ber of re- 

 actors among purebred cattle dur- 

 ing the two three-year periods 

 shows that 40.5 per cent less re- 

 actors were found during the lat- 

 ter period. 



Angus Are Lowest 



A study of the accompanying 

 table reveals for the first time 

 percentage of reactors found in 

 each breed. It will be seen that 

 the Aberdeen Angus have the low- 

 est per cent of reactors. This is 

 explained by the fact that most of 

 the purebred Angus herds were 

 tested under the accredited herd 

 plan and got fairly well cleared 

 up before July 1, 1921. 



Holsteins have shown the larg- 

 est number of reactors, but, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Petersen, there is 

 good reason for their leading. He 

 enumerates the reason for their 

 leadership as follows: (1) Hol- 

 steins have been the chief breed 

 brought into dairy districts where 

 infestation has been worst; (2) 

 Cattle bootleggers have made it 

 a practice of picking up reacting 

 Holsteins in other states and sell- 

 ing them in Illinois; (3) Hol- 

 steins are the most numerous in 

 the Chicago milk district where 

 the infestation is the worst. Bad 

 cattle have been brought in this 

 area, infesting the cattle already 

 there. 



Mr. Petersen in interpreting his 

 figures, and comparing the first 

 three-year period with the second, 

 points out that as a state. Illinois 

 is at least well on the way toward 

 practical eradication of bovine 

 tuberculosis. 



Mississippi Valley 

 Is America's Food 

 Basket, Says Fox 



Many I. A. A. folks beard Sec- 

 retary Geo. A. Fox when he spoke 

 from station KYW recently in be- 

 half of the Illinois Chamber of 

 Commerce and told of the Illinois 

 Products Exposition, the magnifi- 

 cent industrial show of Illinois 

 which was on in Chicago, Oct. 9 

 to 18. 



"The basic resources of Illinois 

 are its splendid people, its natural 

 wealth and its advantageous posi- 

 tion in the nation," he told his 

 distant listeners. "In all three it 

 is favored beyond estimation. The 

 Mississippi Valley is the food bas- 

 ket of America. The possibility 

 for future development and ex- 

 pansion of Illinois widens the hori- 

 zon of present achievement Into 

 a vision which thrills the active 

 leadership in all industry through- 

 out the state." 



A Diversified Wealth 



The I. A. A. executive referred 

 to the vast mineral wealth of Illi- 

 nois, its net-work of railroad sys- 

 tems, the Immense wealth of its 

 manufacturing centers and its 

 ever growing population, each of 

 which he linked with the impor- 

 tant agricultural Industry in Illi- 

 nois, of which he said: 



May Produce Indefinitely 



"In the past, the farms of Illi- 

 nois have furnished much of the 

 food for its people with a sur- 

 plus of some crops. The 237,000 

 farm units consume large quan- 

 tities of manufactured products. 

 Will the consumptive power of its 

 farms continue as industry de- 

 velops? 



"The answer is written in the 

 pages of our splendid educational 

 institutions and in an intelligent 

 farm population. Education and 

 experimentation have discovered a 

 new resource in these rich lands. 

 Illinois farm lands may be made 

 to produce food indefinitely but 

 not without scientific methods of 

 production. Without scientific 

 farming, these lands can be mined 

 and become waste places as has 

 been done in many other sections. 

 Modern education has discovered 

 how to preserve productivity. 



"It is cheering information to 

 know that intelligent farmers may 

 perpetuate this source of the 

 State's wealth. The universities, 

 high schools, extension service of 

 the state and nation. Farm Bu- 

 reaus, through their leaders and 

 their specially trained Advisers, 

 are making a substantial program 

 in maintaining a system of agri- 

 culture which will perpetuate this 

 great natural resource and insure 

 to the State a prosperous, intelli- 

 gent and contented country-side. 

 Industry and commerce may well 

 join hands with the farmer in 

 building for a healthy, economic 

 balance of prosperity for all time." 



TABLE 1 



(Showing record of T. B. tests made in Illinois from April 1. 

 1918 to July 1. 1924.) 



No. Pnrcbrcda Per Cent 



Brr«d Teatcd Reacted Rcaetora 



Aberdeen-Angus 1.080 S04> 18.50 



Brown Swiss 811 M 10.30 



Guernsey 1.604 . M 6.29 



Hereford-Horned 1.5S0 ' T» 4.65 



Hereford-Polled S.27S 18 0.79 



Holsteln 8.901 1,G10 16.96 



Jersey 2,4*8 181 5.24 



Red Polled 679 67 9.84 



Shorthorn 9.167 927 10.11 



28,470 S,<W3 •.07 



Beglnnlg on July 1. 1921. all cattle, whether purebreds or grades 

 were tested under the co-operative plan. The following table 

 shows the Increase In testing for the three-year period from July 

 1. 1921 to July 1. 1924. The average per cent of reactors among 

 purebreds in Table 1 Is 9.07% and In 'Table 2 Is 5.4%. a reduction 

 of 40.5% In the number of reactors In three years. 



The average per cent of Infection of both grades and purebreds 

 on July 1. 1924 was 9.1%. 



TABL,E a ' 



Per ceat 

 rattle Tested Reacted Reactors 



Pore- Pore- Porc- 



Brccd bred Grade bred. Grade bred Grade 



Aberdeen-Angus 3.255 3.685 150 236 4.600 6.40 



Ayreshire 587 125 5 9 0.085 7.20 



Brown Swiss 2,660 2.917 85 318 3.200 10.90 



Dutch Belted 29 19 1 1 8.800 5.30 



Galloway .> 1 9 0.000 D.OO 



Guernsey 2.380 4.645 74 412 2.700 9.00 



Hereford-Horned . . . 6,574 6.069 122 339 1.800 6.70 



Hereford-Polled 1.970 395 10 2 0.050 0.06 



Holsteln ..■. 33,730 64.775 2.991 9.369 8.900 14.40 



Jersey 7,880 16.924 152 1.266 1.900 7.40 



Mixed , 427 63 14.70 



Red Polled ...I 1.890 1.115 29 95 1.500 8.50 



Shorthorn-Horned ..29.612 60.208 1.307 4.870 4.400 9.70 



Shorthorn-Polled ... 104 2.262 2 350 1.800 15.00 



Total, all breeds ... 90,871 152,578 4,S28 173,t0 5.400 II.SO 



A comparison of the percentage of reactors among the pure- 

 breds in Table 1 and Table 2 shows the progress made In ridding 

 these herds of tuberculosis where a systematic, thorough cleanup 

 has been practiced. 



FARM CO-OPERATION 

 URGED BY BRADFUTE 



(Continued from Pace One) 

 ricultural Association, and push, 

 push, push, he said. 



"Do you know that since the 

 American Farm Bureau Federa- 

 tion has been organized, more fa- 

 vorable farm legislation has been 

 passed in Congress than there was 

 in 20 years previous? And that 

 farmers are represented on impor- 

 tant federal boards now whereas 

 before the farmers had a real 

 functioning organization the farm- 

 ers were left completely out? 

 Bureau Represents Farmer 



"The farmer, through the Amer- 

 ican Farm Bureau Federation and 

 your Illinois Agricultural Associa- 

 tion, has been able to present his 

 viewpoint in places where he has 

 never been heard before. And 

 the other classes want to know 

 the farmer viewpoint. I, as your 

 national president, have been in- 

 vited to speak Iwfore such varied 

 groups as retail drygoods people, 

 railroad executives, bankers and 

 even a marine organization. What 

 interest can a farmer have in ships 

 you ask? 



"Do you know that right now 

 10,000,000 bushels of wheat are 

 leaving the United States every 

 weak for Europe? And do you 

 know that the farmer pays the 

 transportation cost on this wheat 

 as it goes across the sea? And, 

 above all, a large percentage of 

 that wheat is carried in vessels 

 sailing under flags other than Old 

 Glory. Surely the farmer is Tital- 

 ly interested in such things which 

 seem so distant as sea transporta- 

 tion. And your county Farm Bu- 

 reau, the Illinois Agricultural As- 

 sociation and the American Farm 

 Bureau Federation are the means 

 of the farmer speaking his part in 

 the nation's affairs. 



Power In United Action 



"Last Saturday I sat in confer- 

 ence with President Coolldge upon 

 his invitation. He wanted the 

 farmers' viewpoint, and I told him 

 what over one million farmer- 

 members of the American Farm 

 Bureau Federation had expressed 

 through their representative or- 

 ganization. He listened. And 

 what may be surprising to you, he 

 talked back. Many call him 'Si- 

 lent Cal,' but I found him holding 

 up his end of the conversation. 

 As an individual farmer from my 

 own farm near Xenia, Ohio, I 

 would never have had so much aa 

 an audience with the President, 

 much less an Invitation to go see 

 him. Without the power of united 

 action behind me, President Cool- 

 ldge would not have had our view- 

 point on agricultural conditions. 

 Presidents Say Co-operate 



"Do you know that the last 

 three presidents of the United 

 States have said that farmers must 

 organize and co-operate to pro- 

 tect themselves? The supreme 

 court has said so, as have gov- 

 ernors of many states. 



"Since the beginning of the 

 American Farm Bureau Federa- 

 tion, Co-operative organlzationa 

 have been formed in a national 

 way to handle such commodities 

 as cotton, tobacco, wool to some 

 extent, fruit and vegetables, lire 

 stock, and our latest venture is in 

 grain marketing. The Grain Mar- 

 keting Company is open to criti- 

 cism by the membership and they 

 can change it any way they see 

 fit." 



Our agricultural problems will 

 never be worked out unless the 

 farmers themselves take an active 

 part in affairs, both in and by 

 means of their organization. 



Earl C. Smith On RacEo 



Illinois Farm Bureau people, 

 who tune in on station KYW Nov. 

 7, at 8:20 P. M., will hear Earl C. 

 Smith, Detroit, III., I. A. A. execu- 

 tive committeeman from the 20fb 

 district. KYW will be broadcast- 

 ing his talk on "Farm Bureau 

 Loyalty." 



The boqrd of supervisors in 



Lake county have voted to renew 

 a $4,000 appropriation to con- 

 tinue the work of eradicating bo- 

 vine tuberculosis. 



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 day 

 pea 

 Jun 

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Schuyler County Farm Bureau 



has ordered 730 tons of lime- 

 stone this fall for farmers in 

 that county. 



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 tur 

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 pla 



