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Show COUNTY AGENT IN HIS I MUD-SPATTERED CAR IS I MODERN HERO OF PEACE I By H. P. Sheldon. -i He is a figure of untold possibilities as he scampers along the country roads in his little, mud-spattered car. Peace has her heroes, and he is one of them. There is romance in every human aehiftvpmpnt In tlm 'hiitirl'np- of the Panama canal no less than in the European war and the story of the proving of the county agent is worthy of more than casual attention. Horace Greeley's laconic advLi to the young men of the East applied to the conditions of his period, but I am of the opinion that, had he lived until this day. the astute observer of American Ameri-can affairs would have extended his remarks to the young men of the whole country with an admonition to stay wherever they happened to bo if a county agent was there. Moreover, Mr. Greeley would find something in tensely reassuring for the present generation could he see the recent report re-port gotten out by the States Relations Rela-tions Service-of the United States Department De-partment of Agriculture concerning activities of the county agents in the 33 Northern and Western States for tho year 1919. First Employed in South. County agents first called "farm demonstrators" have been employed in the Southern States since 1903. The first county agent in the North and West made" his debut in Broome county, coun-ty, New York, in 1911.' Popular sentiment senti-ment of that time was inclined to the opinion that the farmer was an ultra-conservative ultra-conservative individual; that he resented re-sented the idea of change, and was loath to depart from the customs established es-tablished by his pioneer ancestors. It was hinted in the gatherings of the noorlv Informed that the farmer was opposed to any aid from scientific sources, and that the county demonstrator, demon-strator, fresh from the fount of scientific scien-tific endeavor, would bo as popular in the rural districts as a German crown prince in the Place de la Concorde. Con-corde. For the benefit of the few peo-plo peo-plo who may still harbor this idea I went through the records of tho States Relations Service and I find that the first county agent wasn't even shot at' On the contrary, to one who knows farm hospitality in New York state, there is a pleasant suggestion of chicken pies and fresh vegetables as the weapons of welcome. Pioneer of North. J II. Barron, who was the pioneer county agent in the Northern States, found conditions so satisfactory that before the end of the year of his appointment, ap-pointment, four more demonstrators were at work in New York and Nev." Jersey. During tho year 1912-1913 over one hundred well-equipped men were appointed as demonstrators, and the idea demonstrated its right to become be-come permanent. From the beginning the work was supported mainly by public funds, but various organizations such as commercial commer-cial clubs, railway companies, and business concern's only indirectly connected con-nected with agriculture,. also contributed contribut-ed liberally in many cases. When the ' farmers became convinced of the 'economic value of the work they cordially cor-dially supported it and assisted financially finan-cially in the support of their own county agonts. The passage of. the ' Smith-Lever Act in 1914 gave permanent perma-nent Federal support to the extension work and made the county agent a national figure. The work has developed yso rapidly, that, in 1919. wc find 1,200 agents at work in the 33 Northern and Western States in addition to the 1,100 or more employed in the 15 Southern States. The value of the Work is incalculable, but a fairly comprehensive idea may be gained from some of the figures given in the report for the last year-If year-If anyone is carrying the impression that the path of the county agent is strewn with flowers and hedged with chicken pies, a glance at this report will disabuse the mind, ' Varied Efforts. In 1919 our statistician, who delights de-lights in accuracy, reports that exactly 90,660 demonstrations were conducted by the 1,200 county agents in tho Northern and Western States alone, and these meetings called out a total attendance of nearly one million people. peo-ple. A million people constitutes a fairly noticeable portion of our "body politic." The county agnt is not a man of one idea; at these meetings he handled such subjects as corn selecting, se-lecting, seed-corn testing, the control of smut upon oat and wheat seed, treatment of the diseases of beans and potatoes; he furnished practical illustrations illus-trations of the proper methods for introducing in-troducing the valuable soy bean and the two nitrogen-gathering counsins. alfalfa and sweet clover. He showed H farmers how to build silos, prune and H cultivate orchards, dig drainage H ditches and establish irrigation sys- H terns; he showed how to apply lima and chemical fertilizers, and taught H w.u oLranmu uicinuus ior tuning pests and eradicating weeds. For variety I H he taught the use of hog-cholera ( H serums and black-log vaccines. H Plant Tested Seeds Now. H As a partial result of the count H agent's efforts in these states, 216,408 H farmers planted 7,042,936 acres of corn H with selected and tested seed; 1699,- H S95 acres were planted with oats, H treated to prevent srauU and 186,015 H acres of potatoes were given a better I H chance by reason of the seed-potato I H treatment demonstrated at these H meetings. The busy 1,200 found time to help H the farm gardens, and thus to increase H largely the value of the vegetables H produced. Dairying methods received a merit- H ed share of attention. Registered bulls H to the number of 10,025 were secured H for the farmers, 16,584 registered "H cows, 4017 registered rams, 8925 reg- ' 1 H istered boars and 16,876 registered' . . .JH sires of all kinds were transferred ' jH from one community to another, thus , lH Increasing their periods of service and, :1H extending the value of their Uncage to jH a larger number of herds. iH Keeping Cost Accounts. , 1H Farmers have not generally kept farm accounts that would enable them I B to make an accurate study of profit -H and loss. There are so many ramlfi- ' cations in tho average farm business, H and so many vague values to be de- ; -I termined, that farm bookkeeping pre- i Senfa fliff Innltloc -u-ViiWi tl-m Fnmor iH himself has been slow to overcome. (. ;l But, the scientists have devised sim- i iH pie systems of farm accounts and the j M agents have introduced them, and have helped many fanners to analyztf jl their business, and thus detect losses l which they were enabled to change, j il to profits. II Marketing, purchasing, and co-oper- Jjfl atlve associations were organized by j SI the agents, and through these organ- ; II izations tnc farmers of the Northern 1 II and Western States were saved a total ; II of $5,500,000. Seven thousand local ! II associations of various interests were 81 organized with a total membership of over 91,000 persons. During the war labor committees of the farm bureau were organized to' supply help to the farms. These have been continued in most cases, and nearly 119,000 laborers were sent' out H to farmers iu 1919. |
