178 



DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



the South, and 358 in women's and girls's work, with a grand total of 1123. 

 In the North the movement commencing six years later with the appoint- 

 ment of Mr. A. B. Ross as County Agent- in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, 

 was directed in part by the United States Department of Agriculture, 

 though agricultural colleges, railroads and local organizations of farmers, 

 bankers, and commercial men were largely responsible for the spread of 

 the propaganda concerning farm demonstrations and for their general 

 direction. 



We find the agricultural colleges and associations, such as the Crop 

 Improvement Committee and the bankers associations of the various states, 

 railroads, individual banks, the commercial clubs, and farm bureaus, in- 

 tensely interested and promoting the movement until there are already 254 

 agricultural agents in the Northern and Western states, devoting their entire 

 time to teaching better agriculture by practical suggestions and demon- 

 strations. The movement is still in its infancy and there are no set rules 

 or plans by which to carry it along. 



The general tendency seems to be, however, to place upon the local 

 community where agricultural demonstration work is to be conducted as 

 much of tl^ responsibility for its direction as possible as well as responsi- 

 bility for such needed financial support as is not furnished by the United 

 States Government and the various states and counties. 



The Farm Bureau 



In the North and West the movement has centered largely in so-called 

 "agricultural clubs," or "farm bureaus," organized primarily for the pur- 

 pose of demonstrating and putting into practice modern methods of agri- 

 culture. These differ in the details of organization and management in the 

 various states, but the general plan is that of a close organization of not 

 less than one hundred farmers in a county to several hundred, paying an 

 annual membership fee ranging from fifty cents in some states to $5 in 

 Kansas and $10 in some bureaus in Illinois. The bureaus have their own 

 officers, executive committees and other necessary committees, and their 

 own offices. 



All the bureaus have practically the same primary purpose — the im- 

 provement of agricultural conditions through increased and more economi- 

 cal production and a less wasteful system of distribution of agricultural 

 products. -In practically all cases the farm bureau has secured a man 

 agriculturally trained to take the lead and devote his whole attention to 

 its work. This man usually is selected by the agricultural college of the 

 state in which the farm bureau is located and his name presented for 

 approval to the farm bureau which he is to serve before appointment is 

 made. In some states, notably Wisconsin, he is selected by the agricultural 

 college with little, if any, reference to any farm bureau. In such cases 

 he is regarded strictly as a college representative. In most states, how- 

 ever, even though the agent is selected by the agricultural college and 

 is largely responsible to it for the kind of work undertaken and for its 

 method of prosecution, in order that his work may be most effective and 



