Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1921-02-27
MARICOPA COUNTY
FARM BUREAU To BE
ENLARGED IN SCOPE

The work of the Maricopa County
Farm bureau is shortly to be enlarged
and the membership increased, in order
more effectively to join in the national
farm bureau movement as we'll as to
attend to such matters of local import
ance as come up from time to time
/ The present county farm bureau is
federation of six community organiZa-
lions in the Lehi, Mesa, Chandler, Gill
bert, Scottsdale and Madison districts.
respectively. 1t is planned to institute
enough additional community organ1Z2-
lions to cover the entire agricultural
part of the county with the farm bu-
reau.
Marieopa county is in line with the
nation as a whole in that its agricul-
J ture is in an evolutionary stage in
which the trend for the next few
years is of vital Importance. Factors
are at work which have as their object,
reducing American agriculture to "a
| omparable state with the European
! peasantry system. The American Farm
Bureau federation, on the other hand,
is an enormous, constructive organlza-
ton for the purpose of putting Amer
lean agriculture on a business plane,
making the American farm a paying
investment which it has never here
tofore been.
The keynote of the farm bureau
movement is conservatism. Nothing of
a revolutionary tendency is counten-
anced. No industries are attacked to
be torn down unless they are based on
| false principles, in which event proper
@ndustries are substituted for the un-
desirable
i The individual members of the unit
farm bureau are selected with care, and
no attempt is made to secure the mem
I bership of any persons except those
4 that are vitality interested in agricul-
/ nd xx-ifh radical tendencies
Agricultural conditions in Maricopa
! county are such as to practically
lnecessitate the gradual building up of
a new type of agriculture, more inten-
sive in its nature and dealing more ex-
clusively with the crops which may
/ be. grown in this locality but which can
not be grown throughout the bulk of
the agricultural area of the United
States. This necessary evolution viii
require solving many problems, and the
farm bureau is expected to, be the most
vital element N the solution of these
questions.
The county farm bureau is a commu-
nifty organization, having for its object
putting farming on a business bass.
This necessitates, often times, other
CO. operative ventures, such as cooper
alive buying and selling incident to the
establishment and maintenance OF most
agricultural industries. Realizing the
1
tails of a cooperative marketing as
ISOLATION through an organization such
as the farm bureau composed of al
the farmers rather than those just IN
terested in the particular commodity
for which a marketing association Is
desired, the farm bureau has adopted 6
plan of fostering the development o.
subsidiary organizations which are
built on the commodity plan rather
than on the community.
AS an illustration of the working o.
this ptincple, the situation of the st
Louis milk producers is an excellent
example, A few months ago the mill
distributors of the city of ST. Louis Gu
the price to the producers to a. poin
] where a living wage was not secured
from the production of milk and mill
I products The producers, in order t,
j i establish an equitable price. discontln
ued selling their milk to the dlstrIb
! utors Milk was brought in from TIL
other states by train loads, to the poin
i where the distributors were, to larg
4 degree, independent of the local supply
q The American Farm Bureau federation
! was called on and sent representative
I to st Louis to talk over the situation
d and after conference organized the mill
i producers into a marketing association
d established them and stayed with then
4 until they were operating their bushes
smoothly, after which the Farm Burea
4 federation withdrew, leaving the com
4 modify organization functioning prop
a erly.
While the program of the count
2 farm bureau is of great Importance, tn
i state and national program are equal
. vital. Consideration of the facts tina
y the American Farm Bureau federation
4 less than one year old, and has a mem
4 bership of over two million bona fid
q farmers, and has accomplished enoug
Il to have effected a saving sufficient t
4 pay running, expenses for generation:
Z is astounding. A few of their mai
4 contributions to agriculture are: tn
e investigation of the railroad relief sit
4 uation under the Esch- Cummins &C
q through which the railroads We're guar
anteed six per cent ON their investmen
i The railroads demanded interest on a
4 investment of $50, 900, 100000. The Farr
n Bureau federation hired Cliffor
n / Thorne, one of the leading statistician
H of the United States and an attorne
4 of repute.
Il AS a result of Thorne's investigation
the face value of their stocks an
q bonds was found to be not in exces
81 of seventeen billions. AS result tn