Show HOV AT THE T ONE ON A INIDE 44 tk KP n N F F F F n E F t ID i hi R S 5 c d fa 4 F THE person who defined a gentleman farmer ns as one who never raised anything except ids his hat referred to our uncle samuel of 0 tho united states department of agriculture all I 1 can say Is that said person Is a comedian who cant IL comedo pardon the assumption but I 1 can prove this in fact I 1 would bet one of samuels perfectly aly good beaver hats on it the other day I 1 took dinner at the doughnut cabinet tn in the new willard hotel in our capital city find had a talk with uncle sam and a few of his congressmen oh no this doughnut cabinet has nothing to do with a kitchen cabinet nor that tasty breakfast morsel its the room which some of your uncle sams servants are said to seek when they want to talk it over and line dine a bit at the sanie same time I 1 simply took notes as I 1 talked with uncle sam and his servants one coli gressman was in a particularly loquacious mood and his thoughts thought turned toward agriculture you know said the congressman 1 I was back home a while before election and I 1 met farmer smith whom I 1 knew its as a boy naturally I 1 was gadd to see him but I 1 help pulling my timeworn offer on him the formula tor for which runs like this my aly dear smith I 1 have at my disposal a long list of bulletins bullet lna published by the department of agriculture at washington I 1 also have a few packages of seeds selected for me by the departments scientists it would afford me great pleasure my old friend to send to you either the goods or some of the bulletins what will it bo be smith now smith has no moss growing on his dome even if he did take off his cap and scratch his head before lie he made his decision he had received both bulletins and seeds from me many times before well said smith 11 1 I think I 1 would rather have a bulletin with a live thought in it than a seed with a dead germ 11 apparently former smith appreciates my bulletins tins exclaimed uncle sam im glad to hear that for im making every effort to put into them the practical knowledge dug out by my scientists will investigators last year I 1 distributed through you congressmen and the department of agriculture upward of copies of farmers bulletins the subjects of which covered in some respects the anure gamut of the widely varied activities of tile the department but it Is impossible for we me to supply even the six million farm families with all of the bulletins issued consequently the bulletins of the department are regarded as a foundation work upon which the superstructure Is built to supplement these bulletins I 1 decided about years ago to have lieve a regular service bureau such as is provided by some of the large business enterprises only mine was to tap a reservoir so great an and so deep as to contain nn an inexhaustible fund of unbiased scientific information I 1 christened this innovation office of information and it has lived up to its name in order to start the of information on the right basis from the standpoint of the he newspapers and other periodicals I 1 scouted about for some pale time and finally secured the services of two old new york newspaper and advertising men and put them into the office with instructions to get their facts right by referring the stories to the scientists foria fora final 0 K X but to write or edit them so the periodicals would publish them and the people would read them it was a difficult task but it has been accomplished as evidenced by the miles of clippings of stories sent to me by the various clipping bureaus this convinced me that I 1 was getting more of the departments information before the people supplementing the bull bulletin aln service you believe it but some people confused this maiden effort and thought I 1 had started a publicity campaign far from itt it I 1 they did not realize the difference between the giving out of information of a purely educational character based upon facts for which the people already had paid their money and the usual publicity matter the office of information performs the service of making available to newspapers and other periodicals Is in the form with which they are familiar the practical knowledge dug out by the departments scientists in field and laboratory investigations these men trained in their specialties are necessarily not newspaper or advertising men and therefore SQ not aoi know the periodicals want their articles prepared only occasionally does a scientist possess a nose for news and even less frequently can he express ills his news in a way that would escape the vigilant eye and active blue pencil of an editor only the other day I 1 heard a congressman say an investigator is a roan man who has found out what everybody already knows and tells about it in ina language which nobody can understand the statement about tho the language used by many scientists certainly Is true but I 1 have to pay my respects to them as investigators their difficult lingo Is necessary to them although to the layman it may not always be advisable t to 0 describe common rainfall as falling meteoric water or to tb write about the elimination and toxicity of caffell in rabbits whatever that means the scientist however insists on it for tic ac cu sake and accuracy Is ills his middle name naine you might as well try to pump the ocean dry continued samuel with emphasis as to exhaust the information of my scientists along their special lines much to the delight of the boys in the office however it is not always necessary to pump this knowledge scientists frequently are very susceptible to io attack by the bacillus bendl the manuscripts resulting from the work of this scribbling put into news shape by the office of information but for one reasa or another this germ gem at tims becomes en and it is necessary to inoculate in a new spot this the office does by interviewing scientists who are busy chasing microorganisms which tile the newspaper man cant do or are exhausted from tel telling linZ the people about it a bug they alicy have already captured and hog bog tied A making laking available in id news form the interviews and contributions and extracting from scientific treaties thoughts of real value but which would be loh in the mass of circumstantial evidence constitute a large portion of the work of the office many of these articles or stories as the boys call them go to tit the e public through tile weekly news letter this Is sent to the newspapers which are urged to reprint freely with or without credit to crop correspondents and to some others of the departments operators cooperators co but by far the greatest service Is the mimeographed articles sent to the press of the country the office thus affords a vehicle for quick action a sort of rapid fire alre gun gun quickly un limbered while the 42 centimeter ammunition in ill the form of bulletins Is being prepared it takes a pot shot from the hip at insect or disease plagues and thus quiets or greatly retards regards the outbreaks it quickly issues warnings of frauds or of pest pestilence llen e or decisions and announcements connected with the enforcement of the meat inspection law tile the food and drugs act and the other 29 regulatory laws which are administered by the department durl during g tile the last year about of these special items were sent the papers interested and while I 1 am on this subject I 1 want to say that many a fake has been exposed by such treatment through its various classified lists of the publications of the country it can reach them all on short notice or it can call reach any group of city farm or trade papers in short any desired combination of publications Is possible the distribution being governed by the range of applicability of the information to be sent out now gentlemen continued sam you eat your meal or it will be cold dont mind about me I 1 would rather any lay day tell you about getting facts to my people than eat bat a thanksgiving dinner you all know that editors and reporters are busy men these days and they welcome articles which require the minimum of editing to suit their particular paper many of the editors are too busy to make a digest of bulletins and their facilities for getting special stories out of the department are meager during ono one month last summer a esi cst reading of agricultural papers showed ehlt during the month or SO 86 per cent cont contained alad material sent by the department the material so published some COO or more articles averaging a column in length reached directly a very large number of my farmers before the european war news occupied so much newspaper space material furnished by information appeared in one month on about printed pages you all remember th that alot hot fight against foot and mouth disease how it got a start in 22 states and here in the district and how it finally was stamped out in february 1910 those days were strenuous for information as well as the whole department the domce supplied to papers in the regions affected exact and immediate information of the outbreak of the disease and to the press of the section lu in danger information as to the best measures for combating the disease and preventing its spread daily the regions affected and all other sections having traffic with quarantine areas were kept informed of each mod modification Mention of the quarantine with the object of encouraging as tree free movement of live stock as was consistent stent with the safety of the general or local cattle industry over mimeographed statements in addition to the departments formal publications on the subject conveying news and directions and recommending precautionary measures were issued besides these the press preas associations and correspondents here in the city were vere informed dally daily by telephone but it take an epoch making event like foot and mouth disease to cause the domce to get out a series of articles possibly this past year you have read by installments of alie control of the lie hessian fly the army worm the gypsy moth the white grub the southern cattle tick hog cholera and other pests as well as conservation of food supplies hints for gardeners live stoel problems cultural methods with plants harvesting marketing and so ad infinitum but bat what vi hat about these stories do they play piny up U P the personnel of the department interrupted th the e congressman ali ah I 1 I 1 have been expecting that son replied sam with n satisfied smile quite to the contrary the names of individuals rarely tire are mentioned unless essential to the story the department Is mentioned as the authority for it I 1 Is s back of the statements but you wont find among its stories any pipe dreams its as to what the department hopes to accomplish statements about halt half baked experiments fren freakish kish write ups or articles written to influence legislation the boys showed me a ceaf year or so ngo ago that there were certain fundamentals in agricultural practice which were not being regarded by many of my fil banners and which stood out like the buttons on my coat 11 why not the facts argued information your uncle Is 14 willing as long as you stick closely to the facts you know I 1 bo be wearing this gaudy outfit if I 1 believe in attracting tr attention myself fl 1 I had been fighting the texas fever tick for some years and had made good headway but as I 1 was planning to throw that work into high gear I 1 needed to get before southern farmers farn fers who live in tick ridden district the information about the toll which the tick takes on southern agriculture and when I 1 got her into high 1 I wanted to step on her tall fall and n nail all it down consequently a now new educational cat cati ional campaign was launched with a large poster and the gist of what it said was dip that tick V I 1 this was followed by a whole brood of smaller posters folders primers and news stories comparatively recently there had been much rn antagonism to the work of eradicating the tick in fact they tell me that not a few of my inspectors have been dipped instead of the cattle and glints worse those elioso people who did not believe in ray my tick dedication measures blew up some of my dipping vats but sentiment has now changed until the department finds it difficult with tile the force available for the work to keep up with the demands this change of front of course couise IS 18 not entirely due to tile the departments activities information or also has been spread by the state col leges railroads rall roada chambers of commerce county agents and others but many of them nevertheless nev erth eless used the published matter furnished by information 11 yes I 1 saw that poster and some of the pamphlets and I 1 wondered how the conservative government ever happened to use red ink inic declared the congressman the government hils has as much right to use red ink and make its publications attractive as I 1 hivo have to wear red stripes on these trousers retorted uncle sam but I 1 saw that some of the papers reprinted the poster and pamphlets without giving credit to the department of agriculture as author urged the congress ninn our department of agriculture Is not looking for credit not if I 1 have anything to say about it ejaculated uncle sam growing rather warm under the collir collar when a pamphlet mimeographed article poster or anything else Is released it can be used by any periodical with or without credit and without cost I 1 lia have ve noticed the ideas of many of the articles ai tides furnished to the press are played up ne cording to the notions of the editor and the space at ills command tins this Is exactly in accord with my mi ideas of the service which information can furnish when the department finds out a good tiling thing son I 1 want the people to know it and the press Is one of the best agencies 1 I want to tell YOU of one of the latest posters information lias has published lie he continued it deals with the boll weevil that little insect which has caused millions of dollars of loss to the southern cotton planter this persistent post pest advances its battle line practically every year sear and the scientists and addi in the trenches tren dies have not been able to win a really decisive victory no one can say however where the weevil would have been by this date if tile the shell fit fire e had not been kept up new methods of control devised and knowledge of them spread broadcast you know familiarity sometimes breeds contempt the ity of South southen vrn planters hive have been on intimate speaking terms with tills this weevil for some years they recognize his work at every turn and have been forced more moie or less to lle live with him but they really leally dont don t know this dinky inhabitant of the cotton plant for lie secrets himself in the bolls and squares however they will have no excuse for not knowing what lie he looks like after inspecting my new poster for it pictures and describes him so tint that lie he who inns way may read lead and it Is well that the reading matter Is in large type for it if colored cussons pus sons should see by moonlight that hat picture of a monster weevil they would immediately either choose the city pavements and cause a earth of perfectly good cotton pickers or mistake him for an opossum rind and call callon on the dogs once seen in the daylight ill bet bet my last years beaver hat flat to the hole in that doughnut the picture will recur often in the minds of the farmers and with it the accompanying selling argument if they dont carry away some worthwhile worth while ideas then its about time for me to join the old ladles knitting circle you must be very sure of your facts feets when you put them before the public in such a in minner tinner interrupted the cengr congressman e asman are you positive that what these scientists say Is correct well replied sam |