AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION 271 



Distinctly businesslike was the creation of the department of informa- 

 tion to keep the general public "sympathetically informed" about the 

 Farm Bureau. This department kept "the closest possible co-operative 

 relationship" with the publicity departments of the state federations. The 

 latter, in turn, were expected to localize the publicity materials coming 

 from the national headquarters and to build up efficient publicity 

 departments. 



The department of information was divided into various divisions 

 with special duties to perform. The news service, one of the subdivisions, 

 issued the Weekly News Letter, which summarized the work of the 

 federation. In addition, the Weekly News Bulletin was issued to the 

 agricultural press and to weekly publications in those territories in which 

 the state federations did not have publicity directors. News releases were 

 issued several times each week to the Associated Press, the United Press, 

 the International News Service, the Universal News Service, the News- 

 paper Enterprise Association, Scripps-McRae, and the Publishers' Auto- 

 caster Service Company. The editorial service, another subdivision, as- 

 sembled information and collected figures of interest to editorial writers 

 on agricultural problems. The feature service furnished and distributed 

 to magazines, newspapers, and county farm bureaus special articles writ- 

 ten by Bureau leaders. A publishing department printed pamphlets, 

 reports, and other publications of the federation. A project was also under- 

 taken to publish, through a reputable publishing firm, a series of Farm 

 Bureau books. A farm films service, indeed novel for those days, was 

 established through an arrangement with the Illinois Agricultural As- 

 sociation to take advantage of motion pictures as an educational medium. 

 Upon failing to obtain bona fide farm films from established firms, a 

 Farm Bureau motion picture division was established. Complete informa- 

 tion on this novel experiment is lacking, but it is known that a number 

 of pictures, a series of newsreels and animated cartoons were produced. 40 



The department of cooperation was charged with the study of coopera- 

 tive methods both here and abroad, with a view toward evolving standard 

 forms and procedures for cooperative agencies. This department worked 

 closely with the Farmers' Grain Marketing Committee of Seventeen, the 

 Livestock Marketing Committee of Fifteen, the Farmers' Dairy Commit- 



40. Ibid., pp. 9, 37-38. 



