The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-02-18
VIRGINIA LEADS,
OTHERS FOLLOW
Minnesota Sends Experts icrc 10
learn oi Gre;e Farm Demon
Stra!ion Wnr!;.
NORTHWEST is INTERESTED
Experts Come to Old Dominion
to Become All the More
Expert.

/ Bradford Knapp, chief of the demon
str0tion farm work in the South, and
the head fthat bureau of the Agri-
| cultural Department of the United
| states government ut Washington. was
some months ago asked by the indus
| trial and agricultural department of
| the great state OF Minnesota to jour
neg TO that state and tell the people
! interested something about the opera
| lions of his bureau in the South.
F., Mr. Knapp went TO Minnesota and
| found that tac people of that state
/ had been reading in tile industrial seq
ton OF The Times-Disputc about the
| good results of farm demonstration
! in the South He found also that Min
nesola had made big appropriation
/ something like quarter of million
| dollars, to introduce the same methods
| out there. and what they wanted was
| intorna ton as to how the trick had
been turned in these parts. Making
the good work already done in Vir-
t'inia Il test. Mr.. Knapp explained to
these Minnesota people what big
! things farm demonstration work had
done and could he made TO do The
| Minnesota authorities were so pleased
/ with what Mr. Knapp told them they
! sent one of their BEST experts to Vir-
| elnia to get lessons
Lessons Worth Learning.
| He came ana reported TO y. q. Sandy.
Mr. sandy took him around the State
ana sdowed nam thing of two. The
Minnesota man became enthusiastic
| over The good demonstration work in
Virginia, Went back home and mae.
, his report The result was that the
Agricultural Department OF Minnesota
adopted the Virginia plan, and begin
ming January | started the good work
in motion. Already they have put
demonstrators In nearly half the coun-
! ties of the state, and the plan is to,
! spend ali OF the S250,0oo this year in
| demonstration work ana have the next
Legislature double the appropriation,
so that the Agricultural Department
may cover the whole tSatc with this
kind OF educational agricultural work.
The News Spreads.
The ncighboring state of South
| Dakota has already caught on, and
only the past week the telegraph told
us that the Legislature of the state
! VIII make u quarter million dollar ap-
| preparation 10 Introduce the farm
demonstration work In South Dakota.
| the same kind that is in vogue in
about half the counties in this state.
Mind YOU, Minnesota and South Da-
! ltota have not the General Educational
| Board OF New York to help them out
a. have the Southern states. They
have not the United Agricultural
Board, 10 which the United States
government contributes a big sum. as
have the southern States, but the
4 states up there must foot the whole
bin for themselves.
IN Virginia IL is different. Here we
are helped by the General Educational
Board to the extent of about $1,000
year Then by the county contrihu-
lions to the amount Of about $4,000
and the state appropriates about S5,-
coo 10 supplement this, that Is to say
in all not over s3I.Op0 is available for
! use in demonstration work. ANA yet
we have been doing a work mere that;
has attracted the attention OF the
! whole country and the big States OF
! the Northwest are sending experts here
to learn of us.
| Time Turns backward.
! And while these things are going
on the Legislature of this state is
hcsitatinr about making the paltry
appropriation of $4,000 to help along
the good work of the United Agr!cul-
tural Board | hear that a Senator
from one of the extreme border coun-
ties has actually offered a bill to abol-
| ish the United Agricultural Board 1t
is hardly 10 be presumed that this bill
J Will pass. 1t would be a calamity If
ii should Far better IL would be If
the Legislature should greatly enlarge
the appropriation 10 the United Agri-
! cultural Board.
! So far forty-threc counties have
made appropriations to help on this
! demonstration work and eight more
are ready 10 do the same. and all have
| acted upon the good faith they had in
! the state that their fund and the fund
! Of tho General Education Board of
| New York would ne supplemented by
| the State with a sufficient appropria-
| tion TO carry on the good work and
even to enlarge and increase II until
il shall reach every county In the
| state
The Rlnchart hill q believe tina, is
the name of ~ which proposes to
cut off the small appropriation TO tic
| United Horticultural Board, ought to
be choked OFF, ana quickly choked Off.
rather suspect that that bin Is a
meal tub tho cat Is sccretcd in / do
! jealous cat Just which end of The
meal tum the cat is sccrcted in ! do
| not know. II / did ] would speak
right out In meeting. On the whole, |
! ann AFRAID there is too much politics
in the business AFFAIRS of this good
old state. Nj OF the political eats,
those that depend on politics alone for