that the Department of Agriculture station an agricultural representative in the area to assist farmers.

The RAS, in conjunction with the Extension Service of the De­ partment of Agriculture, also established agricultural clubs to encour­ age good farming practices and experiment with new crops. These clubs included poultry, calf, hog, garden, vegetable, field crops and sugar beet clubs and by 1939 there were 75 clubs with over 700 members in the R.M. of Rhineland. 18 In 1931 the RAS also established an annual fall fair to display agricultural products and popularize agricultural innova­ tions. The RAS also founded a periodical, the Rhineland Agricultural Society Quarterly, to broadcast new agricultural practices and promote co-operation.

Rosenort-Kronsthal Crop Improvement Club. This picture was taken at a Field Day in Neuhorst in the 1950's.

Credit: W. J. Siemens

The educational policies of the RAS and the Department of Agri­ culture slowly began to change farming practices in the R.M. of Rhineland. Crop clubs introduced new rust resistant grains and popu­ larized crops such as com, potatoes, rapeseed, peas and sugar beets in the area. Pure bred livestock was also brought in to improve area herds. By 1941 the agricultural base in Rhineland was much broader and less reliant on wheat and other cereal grains.

Ironically, the open field system, which had been abandoned in the 1920's because of its inadequacy for large scale wheat growing, would

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