N. E. OFFICIALS MEET 



THE FARM BLOC'S RECORD 



FEDERATION AT CHICAGO 



Conference at Concord, N. H., Dis- 

 cusses Organization, Milk Pool, 

 Lime Rate and Taxation Matters. 



Executive officers from Vermont, 

 New Hampshire and Massachusetts 

 Federations met in conference at 

 Concord, N. H., October 7th. Prob- 

 lems of organization were thoroughly 

 discussd. The following vote was 

 passed: — "The conference learns 

 that, where membership and organ- 

 ization work has been attended to 

 promptly and in a systematic and 

 business-like way by the local offi- 

 cers, it has been successful." 



N. E. Milk Pool 



The New England Milk Pool was 

 taken up, and it was voted that the 

 conference urge the New England 

 Pooling Committee to make a defi- 

 nite report as soon as practicable, so 

 that there may be a definite project 

 for the consideration of the dairy 

 farmers of New England. 



It was decided to arrange for 

 berths in the same car for all New 

 England repi'esentatives to the Chi- 

 cago convention. 



Lime Rates 



The officers present agreed that 

 an attempt should be made to co-op- 

 erate with the lime manufacturers 

 in seeking lower rates on agricul- 

 tural lime and limestone before the 

 New England Traffic League, and if 

 the requests were refused, that the 

 matter should go before the Inter- 

 state Commerce Commission. 



It was the sentiment of the meet- 

 ing that the New England officials 

 are opposed to the entering by the 

 American Federation on a campaign 

 to promote the greater use of any 

 particular agricultural product, as 

 had been done in the case of meat. 

 The members felt that, since all food 

 products compete to a considerable 

 extent with each other, this is a prov- 

 ince of the commodity organizations 

 and not of the national federation. 



Automobile Taxes 



Regarding taxation, the following 

 vote was passed: — 



(a) This conference favors a 

 reasonable registration fee on auto- 

 mobiles plus a uniform tax on gaso- 

 line for the purpose of highway 

 maintenance. 



(b) The conference favors the 

 limitation of all tax-exempt securi- 

 ties, — local, state and national. 



(c) The conference urges the in- 

 vestigation of tax-exemntion laws in 

 the New England states for the pur- 

 pose of having uniform practices in 

 all states. 



Virgil said 2000 years ago, "I 

 have seen those seeds on whose se- 

 lection much time and labour had 

 been spent, nevertheless degenerate 

 if men did not every year vigorously 

 separate by hand all the largest 

 specimens." 



Members of the Farm Bloc in 

 Congress are meeting a hearty re- 

 ception in their respective congres- 

 sional districts from "the people back 

 home," who appreciate their activi- 

 ties and know that more agricultural 

 legislation was passed this session 

 than ever before — legislation that 

 not only is of value to agriculture but 

 to all of tHe people. 



The bill which corrected the former 

 law regulating the trading in grain 

 futures, passed just before Congress 

 adjourned, should mean a saving of 

 thousands of dollars to farmers 

 through the making less easy wide 

 fluctuation in the grain market due 

 to speculation. 



Stock Yards Act 



The act regulating the packers and 

 stock yards has been in force since 

 August, 1921. It undoubtedly will 

 result in a better regulation of the 

 stock yards and will give the public, 

 through the studies made by the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, the infor- 

 mation which it desired regarding 

 the business methods of the packers. 



The co-operative marketing law, 

 parsed last February, took the hot 

 breath of the sheriff off the neck of 

 the farmer and permits him to join 

 with his neighbor in the orderly mar- 

 keting of his products. 



Highway Program 



The highway program enacted will 

 give farmers roads from farm-to- 

 niai'ket instead of boulevards across 

 the country which were advocated by 

 many. For this year the sum of 

 $50,000,000 was voted for the con- 

 struction of roads. The money will 

 be used on a definite plan, starting 

 with 7 per cent of the roads in each 

 state, thus insuring at least connect- 

 ing roads between the county seats. 



One of the greatest aids which the 

 last Congi-ess provided was the re- 

 vival of the activities of the War 

 Finance Corporation and its exten- 

 sion for another year. The War 

 Finance CoiTJoration saved thousands 

 of banks from failure, gave new life 

 to many industries, and brought ag- 

 riculture back from despair. The to- 

 tal loans to date aggregate more than 

 $470,000,000. 



The Farm Bloc insisted upon agri- 

 culture being represented along with 

 other industries, commercp and fin- 

 ance on the Federal Reserve Board 

 and passed a bill to that end. 

 Federal Land Bank 



In June, 1921, the Farm Bloc took 

 up the question of increasing the ac- 

 tivities of the Federal Land Bank 

 through the more rapid sale of bonds 

 on the part of the Federal Farm Loan 

 Board. To facilitate this they passed 

 two bills, one permitting the rate of 

 interest on the bonds to be increased 

 one-half of one per cent to as high 

 as 5 Va per cent, and the other in- 

 creased the woi'king capital of the 

 Federal Farm Loan System by $25,- 

 000,000. 



Reduced Rates on All Railroads 



Secured from December 5 to 18 



for Annual Farmers' Meeting. 



Secretary J. W. Coverdale an- 

 nounces that the Sherman Hotel in 

 Chicago will be headquarters for the 

 fourth annual convention of the 

 American Farm Bureau Federation, 

 December 11-14. Arrangements 

 have been completed for taking care 

 of the delegates and housing the con- 

 vention. A block of 200 rooms has 

 been reserved for the delegates. 

 Those who want reservations should 

 Vfrite at once to A. R. Simpson, 

 American Farm Bureau Federation, 

 58 E. Washington Street, Chicago. 



Reduced rates on all railroads 

 leading into Chicago have been se- 

 cured. Delegates may make the 

 round trip from any point in the 

 United States at the rate of a fare 

 and a half. The rates are made 

 available by the certificate plan which 

 was used last year. Purchasing 

 dates have been set far enough ahead 

 to permit arrival in Chicago in time 

 to attend a part of the International 

 Live Stock Exposition. 



Purchasing dates are from Decem- 

 ber 5 to 11, inclusive. Tickets from 

 distant points may be purchased on 

 the 4th to 10th, inclusive. December 

 18 will be the last day on which 

 tickets may be validated at the re- 

 duced rate for the return trip. 



Tickets at the regular one-way tar- 

 iff fare for the going trip may 'e ob- 

 tained only on the dates named. Be 

 sure that when purchasing your 

 ticket you ask for a certificate. Do 

 not make the mistake of asking for 

 a receipt. The certificate entitles 

 the holder to a return trip at half 

 fare. 



All New Englandors plan to go in 

 a body. Write to Secretary Russell 

 for information. 



Average Cow Poor Beast 



The year book of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture for 1920 

 makes the statement that "According 

 to careful estimates, the average 

 dairy cow in the United States pro- 

 duces annually about 4,000 pounds of 

 milk and 160 pounds of butterfat. Ac- 

 cording to 40,000 yearly individual 

 cow records just tabulated by the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, the average 

 cow-testing association cow produces 

 5,980 pounds of milk and 246 pounds 

 of butterfat a year. The world's rec- 

 ords are 37';81.4 pounds of milk and 

 1,205.09 pounds of butterfat. The 

 average dairy cow seems to have plen- 

 ty of room for improvement." 



There is more to be accomplished 

 by raising the grade of the cows than 

 by legislation at Washington. 



Bridges Nevr Secretary 



H. S. Bridges of Ellsworth, Maine, 

 has been appointed state secretary of 

 the New Hampshire Farm Bureau 

 Federation. 



