344 RURAL NEW YORK 



gether with the other sources of support. It be- 

 came a real bureau directed by a representative board. 

 A little later followed the organization of the farmers 

 of the county into a farm bureau association, with 

 annual contributions from each member, and with 

 advisory members or committee-men in each commu- 

 nity center in the county. When all these local and 

 state forces were finally tied together by a state 

 leader and advisor, the present Farm and Home 

 Bureau system was completed. The most recent de- 

 velopment has been the home bureau for women and 

 with a woman demonstration agent coordinate with 

 the organization for men. 



The organization of a Farm and Home Bureau as- 

 sociation, with one or more trained men and women 

 in charge, is a matter for local initiative. The ad- 

 vice and help of the state leaders may be sought, but 

 the responsibility for its inception and support rests 

 with the people of the county which is now made the 

 unit. The county leaders are chosen from an ap- 

 proved list of candidates supplied by the state leader, 

 by the county organization which provides the physi- 

 cal equipment of the Bureau. The bureau agent is 

 now made the medium for the aid furnished by the 

 several governmental institutions — the experiment 

 stations, colleges of agriculture, the state departments 

 of agriculture, and the federal Department of Agri- 

 culture. All the bureaus are drawn together and the 

 experience of one made available to others through 

 the state leader's office which is established at the 

 State College of Agriculture as a regular part of the 



