222 BACKGROUND AND MEANS OF SERVICE 



membership " drive" and frequently at an annual dinner, 

 with outside speakers, great enthusiasm is aroused and the 

 whole piece of work enlivened. At least one meeting of the 

 council annually is indispensable alike to good farm bureau 

 or county agent work. 



THE COUNTY FARM BUREAU NEWS 



An important need in any organization, sometimes over- 

 looked, is that for a regular medium of getting the organi- 

 zation news and information pertaining to the work to the 

 entire membership a house organ. This is especially need- 

 ful in cases where the membership is widely scattered and 

 gets together in meetings but infrequently. The members' 

 interest in the organization can only be consistently sus- 

 tained by keeping them constantly and fully informed about 

 what is being done. The plans of executive committee and 

 agent, immediate and future, what other farmers and other 

 county organizations are doing, news of the college and the 

 Department and of state and national federations, together 

 with results accomplished, farm organization news gener- 

 ally, local agricultural information and advice, especially 

 that which is purely local in character and which the farm 

 journals and weekly papers are not apt to carry, should be 

 printed and sent to members at least monthly. 



A large and increasing number of county farm bureaus 

 now have their little monthly papers known as "Farm 

 Bureau News " or ' ' Farm Bureau Bulletin. ' ' These usually 

 have departments of special interest to men, to women and 

 to boys and girls. They often carry local advertisements 

 for their members at a low rate, especially of pure-bred 

 seed and livestock, and exchange columns for the conveni- 

 ence of their members who have articles they want to trade 

 for others. They also carry some local merchants' adver- 

 tising. This, it is claimed by some, is unfairly in competi- 



