STATE AND NATIONAL FEDERATIONS 237 



PURPOSES AND WORK 



The purposes of the state federations, as stated in their 

 constitutions, are most commonly as follows: (1) to cor- 

 relate, strengthen and promote the work of county farm 

 bureaus and to develop their work as a state-wide program, 

 (2) to advance, protect and promote the interests of agri- 

 culture "to improve agriculture economically, education- 

 ally and socially/' (3) to study and to seek the solution 

 of economic marketing and production problems, (4) to 

 secure agricultural legislation necessary to protect and to 

 promote farming interests, (5) to cooperate with the ex- 

 tension service in promoting a program of work. Still 

 another object mentioned is "promoting understanding 

 and responsibility of the farmer to society and of society 

 to the farmer." The first and the last objects mentioned 

 (numbers 1 and 5) are the most characteristic of the East- 

 ern states. Objects (2) and (3) are usually those written 

 in the constitutions of the corn-belt states. Legislation 

 (4) is not very often mentioned, although it has proved 

 to be an important part of the work of many state fed- 

 erations. 



It is not always statements in constitutions that deter- 

 mine what an organization will do. Its real objects are 

 more likely to be shown in the actual work which it does 

 in practice. 



The promotion of the work of the county agents has 

 been from the very first the principal item in most of the 

 state federation programs. In the words of President 

 Howard of the American Farm Bureau Federation, "the 

 county agent is the keystone of the federation," i.e., he 

 largely determines by his leadership whether the local 

 county unit or member bureau really performs its func- 



