ADVENTURES IN PHILANTHROPY 



them to ship their grain to the Chamber of 

 Commerce and for little else, except as a 

 good, reliable advertising medium for the 

 Chicago mail-order house most interested in 

 this form of education. The revelation that 

 this house had sent fourteen carloads of its 

 catalogues to Fargo to be distributed by the 

 agents of agricultural elevation caused a chill 

 to go over the movement so far as the farmers 

 were concerned. Also, the discovery that one 

 of the milling firms equally inspired to the 

 uplift was using the frank of the Department 

 of Agriculture to distribute glowing circulars 

 concerning the superior qualities of its flour 

 served to complete the measure of disgust, 

 and when the movement became involved in 

 a scandal in the North Dakota State Agri- 

 cultural College, a scandal involving distress- 

 ing charges of graft and manipulation, "Better 

 Farming" as a cult died away and the farmer 

 was left to follow his own devices unenlight- 

 ened by the kindly cheer of the Lumber or 

 any other Trust. 



But the fact had been noted, and long re- 

 mained in the minds of many farmers as sin- 

 ister, that local banks had been fervid sup- 

 porters of the scheme. Taking their grain 

 to market and calling upon the town bank to 

 cash their elevator orders, they had generally 

 been introduced there to "Better Farming." 

 It was plain that this had been done by in- 



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