Kansas Apples.
Farmers’ Organizations. The farmers of the State have at different times, especially in the earlier years, formed a number of organizations. An early organization was the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, or the “Grange,” a national movement, introduced into Kansas in 1872. Its general purpose was the improvement of farm life. Many granges were organized during the ’70’s. The Farmers’ Cooperative Association, begun in 1873, and the Farmers’ Mutual Benefit Association in 1883, had for their general purposes the cooperation of the farmers in buying and selling and in securing lower freight rates.
One of the Crops in Central and Western Kansas.
About 1888 the Farmers’ Alliance, already a national organization, formed many local organizations in Kansas. The Alliance demanded a number of measures for the betterment of the farmers, including lower freight and passenger rates, and better mortgage, debtor, and tax laws. The Farmers’ Alliance was a widespread movement and, for a time, overshadowed all other farmers’ organizations. In 1890 the People’s party, or the Populist party,[17] as it came to be called, took over the political work of the Farmers’ Alliance, and that organization gradually disappeared. The Farmers’ Educational and Cooperative Union of Kansas is a more recent organization.
State Governors, 1915 —
Arthur Capper, Henry J. Allen
The State Board of Agriculture. In 1872 the Agricultural Society, organized during the Civil War, was changed into the State Board of Agriculture. For a number of years this Board gave especial attention to gathering and distributing information concerning the resources of the State for the purpose of stimulating immigration. Later it began the work of furnishing to the farmers information concerning methods of farming best adapted to Kansas conditions. These activities have been continued, and the Board of Agriculture has been of great practical value to the State.
