AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION 261 



as one student wrote, "have long drummed into his ears, that high in- 

 dustrial wages are the cause of the high prices he pays for his shoes, 

 clothing, agricultural implements, and automobiles." 1 



Equally important as a factor in the growth of the American Farm 

 Bureau Federation was the county-agent system, which played an im- 

 portant role in its organizing activities. 15 The county agent had been 

 brought into existence by the Department of Agriculture chiefly for the 

 purpose of teaching Texas cotton farmers how to combat the boll weevil. 16 

 Once his usefulness was demonstrated, the idea spread into the adjoining 

 states. From there it spread into the North and West, where the problems 

 that faced the farmers were different from those in the South. Here farm- 

 ing was more advanced and diversified. More farmers owned their farms. 

 The problem of Negro tenancy was absent, and the most urgent needs 

 were for more efficient methods of production and distribution. Live- 

 stock and fertility problems needed special attention. Incidentally, this 

 is a good illustration of how movements originating in one section of 

 the country came to a juncture with similar developments in another 

 section. 



Another agency to become involved with the county-agent movement 

 and to play a pioneering role in the farm-bureau movement was the 

 chamber of commerce of Binghamton, New York. On March i, 1911, 

 the chamber organized the first county farm bureau, a fact which the 

 enemies of the organization never forgot. 17 Time and time again this was 

 cited as evidence that the organization was dominated by the commercial 

 and financial interests of the country. 18 



The Binghamton Chamber of Commerce was prompted to act partly 

 by the report of the Country Life Commission, which had been ap- 

 pointed by President Theodore Roosevelt, and partly by the visit of 



14. Ellen Sorge, "Farmer-Labor Relationships in Wisconsin" (unpublished term 

 paper, University of Wisconsin, 1938), pp. 6-7. 



15. Kile, The Farm Bureau Movement, pp. 71-93. 



16. M. C. Burritt, The County Agent and the Farm Bureau (New York, 1922), 

 pp. 153-54; Gladys Baker, The County Agent (Chicago, 1939), pp. 25-27; A. C. 

 True, A History of Agricultural Extension Wor\ in the United States, 1789-1925, 

 U. S. Dept. Agri., Misc. Publication 15 (Washington, 1920), pp. 60-65. 



17. Burritt, The County Agent and the Farm Bureau, pp. 155-61. 



1 8. A typical example is that of Dale Kramer, Truth About the Farm Bureau 

 (Minneapolis, 1937) [pamphlet]. 



