around which practically every meeting 

 should be planned. 



The sixth principle is that the person 

 for whom the organization chiefly exists 

 should be enrolled in that organization 

 on the basis of specific membership. 

 Every person in an organization should 

 feel some responsibility towards that or- 

 ganization. The officers and program- 

 building committees should use every 

 means possible to challenge the members 

 to feel a personal responsibiUty for mak- 

 ing the organization eflFective. One way 

 used by a number of organizations is to 

 pass out a participation card on which 

 the individual says, "I, John Doe, feel- 

 ing that this meeting can be of most 

 value to me as a result of my taking part 

 in its activities, hereby express my will- 

 ingness to take part when called upon. 

 My special interest is (so-and-so)." If 

 every one of the members is given an 

 opportunity to sign a pledge of participa- 

 tion card, the program-building commit- 

 tee and the officers can use them as a 

 basis for getting every member into the 

 activities of the organization. 



Seventh, organizations should main- 

 tain relationships with other groups and 

 with service agencies if they hope to get 

 the greatest benefit from their own or- 

 ganization. This can be done by trading 

 meetings, inviting officers and speakers 

 from other organizations to be on the 

 programs of your own organization, and 

 cooperating with other organizations in 

 carrying out projects of community bet- 

 terment. A community unit might co- 

 operate with a 4-H club in holding a 

 judging contest, or develop a discussion 

 team tourney or home talent tournament, 

 or organize an orchestra, chorus, or choir, 

 or conduct field experimentation in soil 

 testing, seed culling, or in numerous 

 other ways, all enhancing farming and 

 farm life. In this way the members get 

 a true understanding of the meaning of 

 cooperation. They get a greater apprecia- 

 tion of what other organizations are do- 

 ing and among their activities find many 

 fine things which they themselves, as an 

 organization, have not done but could be 

 doing. This principle is based on the 

 old saying, "Get to know your neighbor; 

 you may like him." 



Your community unit also must realize 

 that there are many service agencies from 

 which it can get considerable help. Space 

 does not permit an enumeration of all 

 the service agencies available in a com- 

 munity, but mention of only a few will 

 suffice to drive home the point. For ex- 

 ample, have you ever thought to have the 

 local health official appear before your 

 unit to tell how health protection meas- 

 ures are worked out? Did you ever go 

 nurse to come to one of your meetings? 

 Doubtless many of you have had the 

 farm adviser or the home adviser speak 



FOR FLOOD RELIEF 

 Geo. Roube and LeRoy Pike, left, shoveling 

 corn from cr!b of Hamilton Algoe of Livingston 

 county. 



before your unit. You may have access 

 to farmers bulletins and know what they 

 mean. However, I would venture to say 

 that you have by no means plumbed the 

 resources of the U. S. Dept. of Agricul- 

 ture, the College of Agriculture, the Ex- 

 periment Station, much less made effec- 

 tive contacts with such an agency as the 

 Extension Division of the State Library 

 at Springfield. You might send a repre- 

 sentative to determine just what they 

 have there and of what use it could be 

 to your members ; subagencies have many 

 fine things of which the average officer 

 of community units in Illinois has no 

 conception. A special committee might 

 be set to work to list the service agencies 

 in the community, the county, the state, 

 and the nation which might be of as- 

 sistance to the local unit. In this way 

 the vision of the local organization is 

 broadened and the members get a finer 

 appreciation of what is being done in the 

 interest of and for the benefit of the na- 

 tion's agriculture. 



Eighth and last, every organization 

 must recognize and readily adapt itself to 

 changes which may affect the organiza- 

 tion. The usual organization tends to 

 get into a rut and continue in its ac- 

 tivities on the same basis used for many 

 years past. If the officers or the member- 

 ship realize that the organization is get- 

 ting into a rut, the chances are that 

 something needs to be done to change it 

 so that it will more nearly meet the 

 needs and interests of the people who are 

 its members. For that reason the officers 

 and the program-planning committee 

 must be alert to new things coming along 

 and introduce them into the programs of 

 the meetings at every opportunity. More- 

 over, they should use every means to feel 

 out the members as to new ways in which 

 they think things can be done by the 

 organization. 



This article is based on principles 

 found in a study of local group organiza- 

 tion among Illinois farm people as re- 

 ported in Illinois Bulletin 392. 



Squeeze 

 every drop of 



POWER 



from your fuel 



Change to EDISON SPARK 

 PLUGS for your car, truck and 

 tractor. Intensify the power 

 qualities of modem fuels by se- 

 lecting EDISON PLUGS which 

 are engineered to proper sizes 

 and "heat range" for modem 

 engines. ~ 



Power-up with 



EDISON SPARK PLUGS 

 BUY Edisons today from yoiu 

 Truck Salesman. Distributed 

 by 63 County Service Com- 

 panies affiliated with 



ILLINOIS FARM SUPPLY CO. 



608 SO. DEARBORN 



CHICAGO, ILL 



24 



L A. A. RECORD 



