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Mr. Bickford states that the introduction of the coal burning brooder stoves had considerable to do with his expansion of the business. This new apparatus enables a man to take care of much larger flocks of chicks than does the old style of brooder with lamps. Another man who was a pioneer in the business in Epsom was Mr. W. C. Burnham.

Another thing that has been of great importance in the development of the industry is the fact that Senator Walter Tripp of Short Falls, for years a merchant in the community, watching the developments taking place, noted with deep concern that there was less and less milk being shipped out each year. Realizing that a decreased output from the town meant a decreased income and consequent hardship and perhaps failure in the end, his voice was soon upraised in encouragement of the poultry enterprises that were starting in a small way. Mr. W. C. Pickard, employed in Mr. Tripp's store, was also spreading the gospel of poultry

raising, with good success. There undoubtedly were others in the community pointing the way toward a happier economic situation.

These men were among the first to recognize that Epsom was not holding its own with the old type of agriculture, and with considerable courage and initiative they launched into something that from the evidence looked more profitable. And subsequent developments seem to have proved the wisdom of their choice.

Today Epsom is known far and wide as a poultry center. The assessors' figures give it the largest number of hens of any town in New Hampshire. In January, 1923, one thousand and eighty-five cases of eggs were shipped from the two railroad stations of the town, bringing in close to $30,000.00. The buyers of baby chicks from many states come to Epsom, and even New York City commission men accorded it distinction by establishing buyers at its two shipping points, Epsom Depot and Short Falls.

Within the past six years, Professor

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A. W. Richardson of the State University, with his sound advice, infectious enthusiasm and substantial help in improving methods and meeting the problems of the business, has rendered. a splendid service.

The store-keepers report that the increased prosperity is clearly reflected in the improved business and the prompt payment for goods. And they tell stories of laboring men and others who, once having a pretty stiff fight to keep even with the world, now have from 500 to 2,000 hens each and are rapidly getting ahead. One of the leading poultrymen is quoted as saying that with 300 hens well managed a laboring man would find himself as well situated as with steady work at good wages working out.

The writer, having the prosperity of the community as a whole in mind, did not investigate cases of individual poultrymen to see what the profits

are.

But the success of this community is significant because New Hampshire needs encouragement. And she also needs examples. What do we get from the success of Epsom that will

turn other towns from their drift toward failure, right-about-face toward permanent success?

In the first place many communities will have to make radical changes to adapt themselves to changed conditions. Once the cities of Southern New England were under the necessity of buying their dairy products near-by. That practically settled the question of the type of agriculture for thousands of farmers near the cities. Now dairy products are easily secured from a more distant zone, and at the same time strong demands for vegetables, fruits and other heavy perishable products make their production relatively more attractive. That calls for readjustment of agriculture in many communities. The writer does not imply that there is no longer a place for dairying, but he does insist that in view of the rapid and decisive. changes that have taken place in industry-including agriculture-every farmer needs to subject his farming enterprise to a most vigorous test to see whether it does shape up well with the new conditions. Try to see where one is likely to arrive in twenty years.

Such a forward view by a prominently successful dairyman in Peterboro has led him to the policy of starting an orchard on some of his rough fields that are difficult to cultivate. In his case dairying has been and still is profitable, but he is looking forward to the time when he will no longer want to wage the stubborn battle with boulders in a rock-strewn field, and when that time comes he wants to be prepared to fall back on a crop that will give him returns and satisfaction comparable with the business he has for years handled so successfully.

In the second place Epsom community forcefully emphasizes the fact that our fortunes are very closely bound up together. Failure for a part of any community is in some measure failure for all. And success for many also betters the fortunes of all.

Take the matter of production. There is no place so favorable for a beginner to start as in Epsom or some other community where there are many successful poultrymen. He can get his stock easier, can watch the methods employed and learn from the failures as well as the successes. In such communities new discoveries and better methods make their first appearance, and there also warnings of danger are first sounded. The

writer believes also, from his brief survey of the community, that Epsom realizes that any failure in the community hurts all of the members. There is, therefore, a sympathetic interest in the new ventures and a hope that they will meet with success.

And marketing, that great unsolved problem of the farmer, becomes much simpler where a large volume of business develops in a given community. One man said it amused him this past summer to witness the discomfiture of hucksters who previously had done a flourishing business there, who now return to their home towns in Massachusetts almost empty-handed, because local representatives of two large wholesalers from New York, recently established established in Epsom and Short Falls, have put the market above what it had been. There are rumors that these firms plan to establish a service of carload shipments of poultry. That means reduction of handling and shipping costs, which will at least in some measure benefit the poultry raiser.

It appears, therefore, that Epsom has prospered. That should encourage every community in the state and should suggest the means of turning the tide where it is now flowing in the wrong direction.

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BY H. STYLES BRIDGES

TH

We know of the "farm bloc" in Congress. We have seen the upheaval of the wheat farmers of the middle west. We have even heard that the farmer is demanding that moving picture producers shall cease to represent him as a "hick.”

Here you have the story of the growth of the N.H. Farm Bureau, one of the most important factors in the Agricultural movement in this state.

HE farmer's job as a producer and his environment have tended to make him an individualist. This has been true for generations, more especially so in the early days of this country. The farmer was practically self-sufficient, raising his own food and making his own clothing. As the country developed, great centers of industry grew and gradually but surely the farmer became more dependent upon the town. The centralization of the various industries into great and strong corporations meant that the individual farmers must deal with powerful units with which they were not fitted to cope. Time after time big business has had the upper hand in their dealings with the farmer. On all big questions, industry and various forms of business has been always represented. Capital and Labor have organized and their voice is heard on all questions concerning the general public or themselves, but in the past the voice of agriculture has either been silent or has been so weak as to be only faintly heard. The farmer has sensed the situation and a desire for organization has crept into being. He is attempting to meet the conditions brought about by consolidation in other lines of business by by co-operation with his fellow producers in an organized

way.

During the past few decades, many movements have stirred in the breasts of the farmers of this state and Nation,

but none have had more significance than the great Farm Bureau movement. This has seen its tenth anniversary in New Hampshire during the past summer. The Farm Bureau is outstanding in the fact that it is one of the few great organizations that have been built from the bottom up rather than from the top down. The root of this organization lies in the rural communities. The communities function with a community program. The communities in turn are united in county units which are in turn united in State Federations that deal with problems of a state-wide nature which are in turn united in the American Farm Bureau Federation, the voice and champion of American Agriculture. Any organization built from the bottom up is on a firm foundation and with this stable beginning the Farm Bureau has been making steady progress since its birth.

The Farm Bureau is a non-political organization. An organization that takes the place of no other, but fits in a place all by itself.

The mission of the Farm Bureau is to render service. It is not an uprising of outraged farmers, nor is it an organization to accumulate strength to fight the other fellow. It simply renders service to the agriculture, that basic industry of this State and Nation on which all other industries depend. Without a prosperous agriculture other industries cannot enjoy prosperity, so the

H

Farm Bureau not only is a service organization to agriculture, but to the whole Nation.

The first Farm Bureau in New Hampshire was organized in 1913 in Sullivan County, and the second in 1914 in Cheshire County. Belknap, Coos, and Merrimack in 1915. Grafton, Rockingham, Grafton, Rockingham, and Hillsborough in 1916, and Strafford and Carroll in

1917.

The County Farm Bureau is primarily an organization through which Extension work in Agriculture and Home Economics is done. The problem of an adequate food supply at fair prices is one of the biggest if not the biggest before the country. The

farms are the source of the country's food supply and this source therefore must be protected and developed to meet the increasing needs of the Nation. The county Farm Bureaus through their Agricultural Extension work are on the job at all times in helping solve the farmer's problems of production. Farming as a business differs

hopes of a future for New Hampshire.

The New Hampshire Farm Bureau Federation saw its birth in December, 1916. The State Farm Bureau Ferertion acts as the mouth-piece of the farmers of the State on all matters concerning agriculture. The American Farm Bureau Federation was organized in the winter of 1919-20 and with its organization the farmers from New Hampshire to California were bound together in an organization that was national in character as well as name. The American Farm Bureau Federation is the national spokesman for the farmer. When President Calvin Coolidge wants to know the real agricultural situation and learn the desires of agriculture, he calls in Gray Silver, the Washington representative of the Farm Bureau.

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O. F. Bradfute, President American Farm Bureau Federation

from other lines of business in that the home is an essential part of the enterprise and therefore the county Farm Bureaus through their Extension work in Home Economics are playing a very important part in the upkeep of the rural

home.

The boys and girls of to-day will be the citizens of tomorrow. So with this in mind, the County Farm Bureaus are promoting boys' and girls' club work. In this work lies one of the brightest

One of the things often asked regarding the Farm Bureau, is what line of Farm Bureau work are public funds devoted to? This can be easily answered as every cent of public money used by the Farm Bureau is for Extension work or educational work and open to all citizens. The funds from memberships are used in supporting county, State and National organizations, and in most cases many thousands of membership funds are contributed annually to support Extension work.

One of the main reasons for the utmost confidence of the farmers in the Farm Bureau is the fact that from its start it has had the leading men of the

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