396 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



which arise for academic debate, and many farmers act in their 

 trade as if they had come to a decision in the matter. Are new 

 mechanisms of trade required to displace the retail store of the 

 town? Should farmers band together in buying and selling? 

 How completely should this policy, already tried a little, be 

 applied? Should there be farmers' mechanisms for selling, 

 but not for buying? For selling all their products, but for 

 buying only such raw materials as enter into their agricultural 

 product ? Could the community trading town compromise with 

 farmers in trade matters to this extent, that it would agree that 

 farmers should operate in town selling exchanges, shipping 

 agencies, produce exchanges, etc. on the condition that the 

 farmers' buying agencies would deal only in articles which enter 

 into the agricultural product, such as lime, fertilizer, seeds, 

 feed, farm implements, etc. ? Under the latter plan, the town 

 retailers would furnish at retail all domestic goods, clothing, 

 household furniture, groceries, meats, jewelry, etc. Would this 

 be an equitable bargain between town and farm? 



These are some of the questions of organization of community 

 farm business. Experimentation is going on continually with 

 all kinds of trade arrangements and trade mechanisms. It 

 should be remembered, however, that the social side of farm 

 life depends upon community spirit, good will, democracy, 

 institutions, loyalty. The winning of the struggle to achieve 

 economic freedom and national cooperation among farmers 

 should not be construed by the farmer as a release from the civic 

 and social duties of community life. The problem of business 

 institutions and mechanisms, therefore, resolves itself into the 

 devising of ways and means for building up community life 

 through a system of integrated social channels and mechanisms 

 of business. 



From this viewpoint, the farm bureau shows promise of 

 developing the educational, agricultural, and business interests 

 of farmers, and preserving lines of community loyalty in a 

 county. When the farm bureau shall be completely incor- 

 porated into county government, so that the electorate of a 

 county has control of the policy of the bureau as fully as it has 



