El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-11-28

to institute work for women were dis
! cussed, looking toward Tightening the
! burdens OF farmers wives and making
our rural home more attractive, better
I and happier places in which to rear our
! rural children.
7 say, it would have been a great
privilege to listen TO such discussions
/ which are so vitality linked with our
I wen being, but let US consider how
! these very things may be real to US
/ here in this community.
In the first place, permit ne to say
I that the greatest benefit can come, and
! viii come. to our country communities
only through organization and cooper
alton We can not be and do our best
when each man and woman Of the
community is selfiShly working for self
and carelng little as to what his
neighbor is and does. There must be
community interest and cooperative eff
fort to build up the community as
whole. The oneness must not be CEN
tered in any one individual but in the
community as , whole and every indI-
Vidual must be a live working factor
for the uplift of the negihborhood.
Community Interest.
This community interest, it may be
said, expresses itself in the good viii
Of man to man in seeing his neighbor
succeed IN the building Of COED public
roads, in establishing and maintaining
good public school houses and churches,
and IN trying TO better the Intellectual
the social and religious life Of the
comm unity This public spirit can be
fOstered through cooperation and or
ganization, and the Farmers institute
IS splendid medium through which
the community may work.
Not only VIII the Community inter-
est be considered and the good will
maintained by an organization like the
Farmers institute, but in order that
our material Interests may develop TO
their best, there must be organization
No
himself and accOmplishcs his best
work We are members each one OF
US, and the whole bOdy-the commun-
ity-is in healthy, growing condition
only when its individual members per
form their functions properly.
But some one may ask, how may
the Farmers institute meetings be a
help to the individual men and wom-
emp To answer this question, 1 can do
no better than to quote a lew thoughts
from W c. Latta, Of Indiana. in his
report to the convention of 1912. He
says the Farmers institute IS the piO-
neer in all extension work, and it has
been the pioneer because 1t is fitted
for that particular work 1t IS of the
people, II IS for the people and, in a
large measure. II has always been BY
the people. It serves as clearing
house for the common experiences OF
the farmers and as a public forum for
the consideration and discussion OF
questions Of common moment to the
people OF the locality
Is for All the People.
"Tt is not for any special clique or
clan, but for all the people. It brings
out the experience Of the people; il
lncites to observations. experiment, Z
reading, and study. This is specially
true OF those who take part on the
program, because the local worker
wishes to measure I'D to the visiting
speaker, and, that local worker who
does measure up always receives the
cheers and hearty approval Of his fel-
lows.
The institute meeting affords an
opportunity for self measurement as
well as self development It is social,
1t is altruistic in spirit and in view.
All through these years there have
kind Of another, sometimes sectional
sometimes along class lines, but the
farmers institute has stood for the de-
velopment OF all that is good in the
community. It is a flexible institution.
because it reflects community intelli-
gence. community spirit and cOmmun-
ity progress The old time slogan OF
corn, cattle and cash IS giving way to
cash and culture and that puts the
whole thing IN a new relation anu
gives it a new spirit and g new aim
In general way that expresses the )
purpose Of the institute.
.I agree with Mr. Latta that the IN
stitute is the pioneer and prepares the /
way for other and more special work |
The success Of the other work viii de- !
pend on how wen the farmers insti- /
tuIe meetings nave done theirs. In my I
opinion, We should have had just such /
an organization here before beginning /
our short course work and then we /
would have known better what the /
people wanted, because they would /
have freely and fully discussed their I
needs among themselves Then our 4
short course would have been tar more /
eL1ectlve both IN reaching a greater !
number and in the intensified interest. I
But we are aiming at the same thing, /
and that is Better farming for this I
community. The organization may fol- 1
low, as we trust il VIII which organi- I
zatlon should keep np the interest be- I
tween such meetings as this. and even
start something more for the promo /
ton Of the community's interest.
Is Clearing House for Opinions {
"The institute meeting is the clear !
ions. II one farmer has special prob /
lem of his soil that he can not quite /
solve, he can bring it before his fellows 4
IN the institute meetings. If no one /
there is able TO give him a satisfactory I
solution in the discussion. then the /
institute may get an expert from the
Exp station. or from other 4
source. who may assist in solving the 4
problem In the same way with mat
ters pertaining to prOfita BILE crops and J
vague and uncertain viii become crys-
tailed and take definite form and in
spire some one to action In like man
ner the question Of proper kinds OF live
stock adapted TO the conditions will
come up, and also the question Of how
to improve what we have so as to get
the greatest rturns from them.
Ihen,too, there are the questions OF
keting=the ali important ques-
tons when II comes TO disposing OF
surplus products OF the farm for pro-
fit. The farmer is a trader as well as
a producer, and like the dealer in the
city and town. he must offer his goods
In the most attractive form in order to
command the besr prices.
"Along these lines Of marketing. the
Farmers institute offers an opportun-
lty to organize cooperative associa-
tions Of various kinds. such as CO.
operative creameries, cheese factories.
poultry associations, truck and fruit
growers. associations. These organi-
cations standardize the products Of
community, permit of bulk sales and
get concessions in freight rates that