ding from
the United States Department of Agriculture through every state
agricultural college ... to the counties and the farmers, by which
information was rapidly disseminated and farmers were made aware of
conditions of what must be done to win the war."

It was inevitable that such an organization growing rapidly during a war
should develop an unusual solidarity, and this was but strengthened by
the difficulties which agriculture encountered with the cessation of
hostilities. During the war several states had formed state federations
of the county farm bureau associations and in November, 1919, a
convention was called at Chicago for the formation of a national
organization, which resulted in the formal organization of the American
Farm Bureau Federation[48] in March, 1920, with 28 states represented,
and a membership in county farm bureaus of 400,000. In the next two
years the southern states, which previously had developed no strong
county organizations, rapidly adopted the farm bureau idea, and when the
American Farm Bureau Federation held its second annual meeting at
Atlanta, Ga., in November, 1921, it included 35 states with a local
membership of 967,279.

I have dwelt at length upon the growth of the county agent and farm
bureau movement, because there is probably no one agency which has done
more in the last decade toward the integration of rural communities
throughout the United States or which has had a larger educational
influence on all aspects of country life. The farm bureau usually
organizes its local work by communities and in large numbers of counties
the community areas have been defined for the first time by the county
agents. The value of this organization by communities was repeatedly
shown during the war. For example, in New York State it was possible
for the county agents to organize meetings on the Agricultural
Mobilization Day called by the Governor on April 21, 1917, in 1,089
communities, with an attendance of 85,075 persons, upon only a weeks
notice. In several of the states which have encouraged community
organizations, a very definite effort has been made to develop an
all-round program of community improvement. Thus the West Virginia
extension service has invented a community score card[49] with which
several communities have scored themselves for three successive years in
order to make an analysis of their social situation and to enable them
to outline a program of work for the solutio