The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1913-01-06
Agricultural Opportunity

Bennington and Windsor counties
are now employing experts to aid far
mers in getting the benefit of modern
agricultural methods, and Orange
and Caledonia counties have already
formulated plans for doing the same
thing. The federal department of
agriculture is prepared to pay half
the expense up to 1900 year, Sc
lect a man and supervise his work,
in any county that will provide an
equal amount or more. The scope of
this opportunity, and its desirability,
will be appreciated upon considsra-
ton OF what 1t offers
Each county that elects to take ad
vantage of it is assigned an expert
who must be graduate of four
years course in an agricultural col
lege and the possessor of practical ex.
perience as well. He will acquaint
himself as rapidly as possible with
the general agricultural conditions
of the locality, study the various
types of soils, the crops that have
been found TO be best adapted and
the types of farming that have been
most successful on each type of
soil. lie will spend his entire time
in the interests of improved farming
in the section studying the methods
and practices of the most successful
farmers, who are following the vari-
Gus types OF farming He will visit
the farmers on THEN farms, study
their plans, and aid them in formulat-
ing better plans. He will study in de
tail the methods of the farmers in
preparing their land for seeding, the
methods of cultivation, the kind of
fertilizer used, the kinds of seed, how
it is selected and kept, how the crop
is gathered and disposed Of He viii
study the livestock on the various
farms and the methods of handling
the stock. He Will study every phase
of all the farms he visits so that he
may know what methods, crops, and
systems are best for the locality, and
at all times wherever he goes he will
give the farmers the benefit of the
information he gets. He will also
give the farmers the benefit OF the re-
suits Of scientific investigation con-
Quoted by the various experiment
stations ana the department of agri-
culture relating to all kinds of farm
practice.
lie viii study the agricultural ten
denotes and possibilities of the To-
cality ana the relations of the agriCul-
tire of the county to that of the
neighboring counties and the state.
He will study market conditions,
means of transportation, and ship
ping facilities. BY the time he has
become acquainted with each farmer
IN the locality together with the type
Of farming he is conducting and the
methods and practices that he uses,
he should have acquired knowledge
OF the agriculture of that locality
which will enable him to quickly ana
lyze the situation on any farm he
may visit detect defects in the crop
ping systems and general manage
ment and at the same time note any
improvements that may exist over
methods in common use.
Such a study will enable the expert
to advise the farmers in the establish
ment of better cropping systems on
their farms. in the intelligent sclec-
ton of better livestock. better seed,
and better markets. He becomes an
agricultural adviser to the farmers OF
that section and his opportunities for
broad study of general conditions en-
able him TO understand better than
any one else the direction in which
the agriculture of that locality should |
be directed His work among the far |
mers not only enables him to know |
the best practices which will result !
in the prpntpgf Vipld nf Grams nor !
acre and the greatest financial re-
turns to the farm, but he works tow |
ards the organization of the local |
people into associations and societies |
for the general Improvement of their
financial, educational, and social con |
ditions- Brattleboro Reformer.