The Courier from Waterloo, Iowa • 24

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1937 WATKHfiOO SUNDAY COURIKR, WATKRhOO, IOWA Burger, First Agent, Recalls Farm Bureau History Pictures Illustrate Early Black Hawk Farm Bureau Activities PIONEER LEWIS BUREAU CARAVAN WILL VISIT CLDAA 1 II OPPOSITION Ill i j-1 if '4 II 4' I FILLS, WATERLOO i' 1 sharp coin "Crack-Pot Notions," They Were Told; Education Was All-Important. VvW.rX "J- -rV-T, 11 Parade to Open Program; I ifsiiiiai'; -A i if 'if O'Neal's Speech to Be About 2:45 M. iv yx The Black Hawk Farm Bureau's 1 Silver anniversary festivities Sept, 11 will open at 9 of 9:30 a. when the parade will move out of the Waterloo Dairy Cattle Con. gress grounds, following Rainbow drive to Cedar Falls.

The exact time will be set aft er officials make a mote exact check of the time required to When ihe Black Hawk County Farm Bureau observe its twenty-fifth anniversary with a parade and program on Sept. 11, it will mark a quarter of a century in which there has been organized effort along a new educational path. It was pioneering those first few years, when most of the public was thumbing away new developments in agriculture "crack-pot notions." And it wasn't entirely the public, either. "Cold-Pack Won Work." A. A.

Burger of Cedar Falls, who was the first paid agent of the Bluck Hawk organization, at first the Black Hawk County Crop Improvement association, recalls cover the parade route. The caravan will proceed Over Main street In Cedar Falls, across the bridge thru Cedar City, and back to Waterloo on highway 20, On Fourth, Fifth Streets. In Waterloo the parade will follow highway 20 to Fourth and 'f Franklin streets, and then will turn down Fourth thru the bust Above Is a arene typical of tvhat was beinic done In the early days of the Black Hawk County Crop Improvement association, forerunner of the Farm Roreau, A. A. Burger, Cedar Falls, who then was rounty says It Is a meeting near Hudson, and Hie siibjert waa vaccination of hogs to prevent cholera.

The method then Mas retarded as being In the experimental state. Burger thinks the picture was made in 1912 or 1913. ness section, proceeding to Wash, ington. Then it will move over to Fifth and down Fifth amt across the business district to Mulberry. From there It will go back to IMPORTANT PART.

"NewspHpcrs have played an important part in building a better farm industry," according to A. A. Burger, first county agent in Black Hawk. "The most important phase of the early-day Bureau work was educational as it still is today and from the first the Waterloo Courier co-operated wholeheartedly in the projects," he said. 7 the Cattle Congress grounds, probably by Way of Mullan avenue.

Pm Jefferson street, Miles street and Westfleld avenue. Other events In the schedule announced by County Agent Paul Barger were as follows: Meet the "II. 1). The first county Bgent must have been helpful fellow around Ihe house for he had to learn to function as the home demonstration agent as well as the county agent. This picture shows A.

A. Burger, the first county agent, demonstrating the mid-pack method of ranning. The picture Mas reproduced In bulletin of the United Slates department of agriculture about 1913. 1 BLACK HIK 4-H GIRLS COMPETED I STATE 1 1923 i-i" a': ii Hi I jtt -s 4 JH I if -V I fV fci -A -W J'' -V II t' i U- that he wrote home economics divisions of three colleges before he set out to introduce the cold-pack method of canning fruits, vegetables and meats in Black Hawk county. "There's nothing to it.

It won't be satisfactory," he was told. Now it's recognized as the efficient method of "putting up" foods. And also in 1912, when Burger began hl work in Black Hawk county, veterinarians' doubted if the "Niles Waters treatment," the vaccination of hogs against cholera, would prove effective. Some advised farmers against "experimenting" with it. Now, of course, hog vaccination is standard practice.

Introduced Alfalfa. Likewise, the theory that tuber culous cows ought to be eradicated was scoffed at at first, and later was vigorously fought. Alfalfa, now grown on every farm, was accepted rather hesitantly, and liming was experimented with only by a handful of more progressive farmers. The Black Hawk County Crop Improvement association was formed in 1912 by business men and farmers to promote the agricultural Industry, Of the group of Interested farmers, perhaps the most active was Ethel Reft, Vera Sanders First County Team; Victory in '25. Y- Black Hawk county 4-H club girls began entering into state competition in 1923, according to records In the Black Hawk Coun At 11:30 a.

picnic dinner at the Congress grounds. Speaking at 1:30 P. M. At 1:30 p. the afternoon program, in charge of Earl Douglass, county Farm Bureau president, It will begin with Introduction of the first officers of the Black Hawk County Crop Improvement association, and former agents and leaders.

Outside speakers will Include C. E. Friley, president of Iowa State college, and K. Bliss, dl. rector of the extension service.

Edward A. O'Neal. Alabama farmer, president of the American Farm Bureau federation, and headline speaker of the day, probably will address the group about 2:43 p. m. Others on the program will be the Iowa Farm Bureau federation president, Francis Johnson of Carroll, and the state commit teewoman, Mrs.

Raymond Sayre of Ackworth, Hearst Wrltea Pageant. The speaking will take place in the hippodrome. At 8 p. m. will be the pageant, being written by James Hearst, son of the late Charles Hearst, former president of the Iowa Farm Bureau federation, and which will be directed by Mrs.

Ralph Mitchell. It will depict varies phases of the bureau's history. A parade of about 50 floats is expected, County Agent Barger reported. Some are being prepared by bureau and 4-H club groups, and othera by commercial firms. Bernard Dammerman, a former president of the county bureau, is general chairman for the anniversary event.

Others are Glenn W. Morris, parade chairman; Mrs. E. E. Blough, exhibits; Earl Douglass, Mrs.

A. J. Hansen and Floyd N. George, afternoon program; Paul Neubel, recreation; J. E.

Entz, concessions, and A. L. Kreger, grounds. ty Farm Bureau office. Ethel Reft and Vera Sanders of The early Bureau organization took an interest In promoting beef tattle growing, and one of the active members Mas B.

S. Ktrayer of Hudson. The pirture was taken before Strayer had transferred his Interest from Shorthorn beef cattle to Holstein dairy animals. And the boy, Strayer said, is his son, Gordon, revealing that the Strayers began to learn livestock raising and showing at a tender age. Strayer thinks the picture was taken at a late fall or early winter show and aale held at the Cedar Valley fairgrounds in Cedar Falls about 1915 or 1916.

Washington township were the county champion demonstration team in 1923, using a clothing proj The late Charles E. Hearst (above) of Cedar Falls township helped organize the Crop Improvement association, and headed It and the Farm Bureau every year except one until 1923, when he became president of the Iowa Farm Bureau federation. cct, and in 1924 Grace and Alice Heidt of Waterloo township won on "A One-Hour To National Meet. Helen Hansen and Louise Mun Black Hawk county. He served un i tt -f nil I ,3 V- I U'l L' 1 to I :1 lb i 1.

cy of Cedar Falls township were the first to win an award at the state fair, and went to the National Club congress in Chicago for national competition. til 1925. He now is an appraiser for the Federal Land Bank. Despite the Bureau having been established here a quarter of a century, there have been only three agents. John L.

Uban, manager of the Members Mutual Oil company, was agent from 1925 to 1930, and then was succeeded by the present agent, Paul B. Barger, Township clubs joined to form a county organization in 1924, according to the records, and the of ficers that year were Mildred Mi nish, president; Daisy Howard, vice president, and Erma Glasener, sec retary. Vivian Noltensmeier of Waterloo township went to the state fair as the health girl contestant in 1927 Black Hawk county has had beef production clubs, and sow-and-litter clubs. With no state or national organization, there were no trips awarded, and competition ended with the county events, in which prizes were given. It was about that time that chol-era brought unusually heavy losses among hogs.

Government veterinarians had been testing the vaccination methods of immunizing hogs, and were beginning to advocate it as effective. Practicing veterinarians Mere hesitant to leap into indorsement of vaccination until further tests had proved the worth of serum, and the crop Improvement association had little cooperation from them the first year. Burger, Hearst and others who believed a way to check cholera really had been found, toured the county with their brass-trimmed automobiles of 1912, arranged meetings, and Burger stood tip in a parked auto to address groups of farmers. The pre-Farm Bureau group really touched off some fireworks when they began saying that dairy farmers ought to purge their herds of tuberculous animals. The majority of dairymen denounced the idea at first.

Many Reactors In County. But, as departments of agriculture and state colleges went into research on the question and announced their findings, more and more adherents joined those ad eight home demonstrators, the first being Miss Tura Hawk, in 1916, She now resides in California, Miss Clara Sutter, the next, became in tercsted in poultry as a demon stration agent, and now operates SOUTH INCREASES HOG POOH! the late Charles E. Hearst, president of the association the first few years, and later president of the Iowa Farm Bu-rear federation. Hearst Led Movement. Hearst and his associates had the co-operation of Prof.

P. G. Holden, head of the extension service at Iowa State college. Holden had been brought to Ames from Michigan thru the efforts of Henry Wallace (uncle of the secretary of agriculture), and was an active advocate of rural organization for educational purposes. A forerunner of the agricultural associations with paid agents was the special agricultural train, which, with displays and pamphlets in a baggage car, was run over all Iowa railroads, making half-hour stops while extension workers gave lectures to little groups of farmers on the depot platforms.

Worked Thru Schools. There were "alfalfa specials," "pork specials," "seedcom specials" and many others, fitted up and sent out by the Iowa Slate college extension service. The first work of the Black Hawk County Crop Improvement association was done hrgely thru schools, with cooperation of teachers and county superintendents. The first county agent also was something of a culinary expert, functioning as a home demonstration agent, Burger revealed. One of his first projects was to don a kitchen apron and give demonstrations of the cold-pack method of canning despite the discouraging words of college home economics authorities.

Burger Taught Canning. Some of those demonstrations a poultry ranch at Monona, Ia Jf. Miss Elizabeth Hudson is in busl ncss at Ladora, Ia. Home Demonstrators. Others were Mrs.

P. L. Fried ley, Miss Merle Shover, Miss Mae Anderson (now with the extension service), Miss Helene Dilger (now Produces Million More Hogs While -Xational Output Drops About 763,000 Head demonstrator in Winneshiek coun 4 tv). and the incumbent, Miss Gladys Johnson. Golinvaux First 4-H Boy in Black Hawk to Get Trip Award Gerten Golinvaux, son of Mr.

and Mrs. Joseph Golinvaux, East Waterloo township, was the first Black Hawk county boy to win a trip as a state 4-H club award, according to records in the Farm Bureau office. He was awarded a trip to Washington, D. for all-around club work for the year of 1926. He did not, however, make the trip.

At that time he was operating a milk route and was too busy to go to the capital. Golinvaux now is an expert automobile body and fender repairman in Waterloo. There had been club work for gome years before 1926. The first county agent launched club projects, and in 1918 the first club agent, John Slacks, was employed for part of the year. Then it was carried on by the agent again until 1926, when Fayette and Black Hawk joined in hiring a club agent to serve both counties.

Wayne Irwin was the club agent in 1930. There was none then until 1934, when A. J. Marken, Franklin county youth, came here. When he resigned to go to Jefferson, as county agent he was succeeded by G.

A. Lincwcavcr, the present club agent. A volunteer worker who contributed a great amount of time in Dromoting girls 4-H club activi Washington, D. (P) The south has stolen a march on the corn belt in hog production, agriculture department reports disclose. Officials say the south has increased or continued normal awine ties was Mrs.

Lulu Moser Plum, vocating the tuberculin testing. Eventually the state legislature now of Polo, 111. Before her mar riaee she resided in Orange town Above Is the first Black Hawk county 4-H girls demonstration team to be awarded a trip to the National Club Congress after winning the state contest. They were the 1925 team, showing making of whole wheat bread. At the left Is Louise Muncy, now Mrs.

L. E. Hasbrook of Spirit Lake, and at the right, Helen Hansen, now Mrs. George Levenee of Cedar Falte township. They were members of the Cedar Falls Ferris Wheel 4-H club.

Mrs. Roy Torter was the leader. I production in the past several years when the drouth-hit middlewest- took action to subsidize the disposal of reactors. One year, according to Burger's memory, $59,000 came to Black Hawk county for the tuberculin work, and other counties, particu ship, and for years was chalrm- of the 4-H club committee ol Farm Bureau. Her most recent cessors in that work have been Mrs.

Floyd N. George and Mrs. John Briden. testing station, with George Larscn, who then operated an acreage on the site of the present Iowa State larly those in southern Iowa, were rather vociferous in their assertions that Black Hawk was getting more crn states and most of the country have reduced their output. Their records showed, for example, a decline of about 763,000 head in national hog numbers in 1936 from 42,837,000 to 42,774,000 and an increase In the south of around 1,000,000 head from to 12,978,000 Teachers college athletic field, as were given in the home of Mrs.

J. 3. Knowlcs at Castle Hill. Mrs, the tester. There was a freeze again in 1917 and Burger recalls that the seed' Knowles' brother, O.

H. Benson, than its share. Tuberculin testing got a good start, however, before owners were idemnified for their reactors. Bur a former Wright county supenn tendent of schools, was In Washing corn situation was threatening until the war-time governor, William ton, D. as head of rural youths club work for the department of Ames Drama Expert to Help on Pageant Preparations for the pageant to be given Saturday night in connection with the silver anniversary of the Black Hawk County Farm Bureau will go into its final stages Tuesday with the arrival here of Miss Claudine Humble, drama specialist of Iowa Slate college.

She will be the technical supervisor of the pngcarit and the working with Mrs. Ralph Mitchell, in charge of the presentation, and James Hearst, who wrote it. Miss Humble will remain until after the pageant is presented. service visit the county to give several demonstrations of the methods of installing septic tanks. Miss Hawk had come here as home demonstrator, according to another Courier account, thru the efforts of Mrs.

F. L. Marquis and other members of the Waterloo Woman's club. The pre-Burcau group hnd a busy time getting seedcom for farmers in two seasons. Ia the fall of 1915, Burger said, there was an early freeze that severely damaged Iowa seedcorn, Seedcom Problems.

Ohio was reported to have escaped, and the Crop Improvement association sent Burger to that state to buy up seed. But before he arrived there a second cold wave swept over the mlddlewest, this time ruining Ohio seedcorn. The situation looked bad, but finally the solution was found and within the county, too. It was discovered that some corn had been cribbed early on sandy farms north of Cedar Falls. The corn was tested, and found suitable for seed.

The association purchased $l000 worth and resold it at cost to farmers. The association set up a teercorn United States were in Black Hawk county. Pure lime, marl and crushed limestone were tried. Commercial Club Action. In 1912 there was not a field of alfalfa in the county, according to Burger.

Much experimentation and demonstration was done to introduce the western forage crop, and a great deal of money was spent by the Cedar Falls Commercial club, which became interested in alfalfa promotion, as it had in other forms of crop improvements. Soil improvement with phosphate and potash was another project. In 1913 there were eight corn and garden clubs in the county, studing soil and crop improvement. Home modernization, which the present generation regards as a new project, being greatly stressed by Farm Bureau groups, was being promoted 20 years ago by the Black Hawk organization. Had Modernizing Project.

In 1916, the files of the Waterloo Courier reveal, Miss Tura Hawk, who had come that year as the county's first home demonstration agent, was giving lectures to rural women on home modernization, and she arranged to have an engineer of the Iowa Stale college extension Seven Have Headed County Bureau Unit Seven men have headed the Black Hawk County Crop Improvement association and the Black Hawk County Farm Bureau. Camera Too Candid at 1914 Meetings? Cameras must have been rated as a potential nuisance by members or directors of the early organization of the Bureau group. Minutes of a 1914 meeting of the Crop Improvement association record that A. A. Burger, the county agent, was empowered to prohibit the taking of pictures at picnics or meetings of the organization.

CLITIER MAX REPLACES BARN DISTROYED BY FIRE. Clutier, Ia. (Special) Fred Kup-ka, cast of Clutier, is erecting a new barn 36 by 48 feet on his farm. It replaces one of the four buildings destroyed by fire about three months ago. A new corn crib was recently completed on the farm.

ger said. Many Black Hawk county owners had their cattle tested, culled out their reactors, taking the losses themselves. Sometimes in the first years of the testing whole herds were found diseased and were sold off. Over the county as a whole 22 per cent of the cuttle were reactors the heaviest percentage in Iowa, Whilp miifh of (hp effort of the association members went to brine in new ideas against opposition, lhere were hapnler moments, sueh as the time that the Leavltt Johnson National bank launched a program to Improve corn growing methods and posted some $1,300 In prizes. It was an acre-plot production contest, and lhere were plots en 5S7 farms renresenting between one-fourth and one-third of all farroj in the county, revealing a strikingly hieh interest in the contest.

The group also ninppered promotion of the use of limestone, and some of the first plots in the Harding, issued a decree fixing the price as $10 a bushel. Seedcorn had sold as high as $20 before the order was issued, Burger said. Promoted Cow Testing. The cow testing association program was still another project taken up by the group, and the result was the Pioneer Cow Testing association, which later merged to form the Pioneer-Cedar Falls Cow Testing association. The organized testing in Black Hawk county was among the earliest done in the mlddlewest.

An individual dairyman who was especially active in working the Bureau on the testing project was Pcder Pedcrscn, farmer near Cedar Falls. Burger, a classmate of Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace and editor of the Iowa Agriculturist while Wallace was a staff member, was graduated from Iowa State college in 1910 and, after two years in the extension service," came to agriculture, and he had become an advocate of the new method of canning. The cold-pack demonstrations in Black Hawk county were, so far as known, the first west of the Mississippi. A government bulletin showed Burger giving a tlon. There was club work in the early days of the association.

So far as known, the first youth to achieve distinction in club work was a Cedar Falb minister's son, Elmer Frei-dell, now in the newspaper business In California. Club Work Was Started. Friedell won a prize for tomato KTowing. He raised an acre of tomatoes, and canned a large amount of them by the cold -pack process. Bur? er doesn't remember the year, but he believes it miist have been iB 1913 or 1914.

Mre elub work followed. There re garden clubs, dairy calf clubs, Longest tenure of office was that of the first president, Charles Hearst. With the exception of one year, when George Mathcs was president, the late Mr. Hearst headed the group until 1923when he became president of the Iowa Farm Bureau federation. FARM EAST OF GLADBROOK SELLS AT $122 PER ACRE Gladbrook, Ia.

(Special) Edwin Landt has purchased the G. W. Allard estate farm of 160 acres, one and one-half miles south of Gladbrook, for $122.50 per acre. Possession is to be given March 1. Those serving since 1923 have been S.

O. Smalling. E. E. Mat-tingly, Floyd N.

George, B. H. Dammerman, and the incumbent, Earl R. Douglass..