New Ulm review., 1913-02-26
Washington le,,er
Washington. D. G.. Feb. "a. 1913.

Washington, d. c.. Feb. "a, 1913. 4
. ny 3. NJ. Laad.
II An agricultural sOll DOCTOR" Ol
4arm expert, 10 aid the farmer in get
.4ng bigger y4elQs ana to INSTRUCT
am in Detter farm busAness methods
IS provided for in the agrlcuiLura
4pproprlatlon bill recently passed BY
me house of representatives. Sew
eral Of these experts have been sen,
out by the department of agriculture
uuring the past year to work under
the direction of the federal govern
ment in cooperation with the state
colleges of agriculture. Minnesota
will profit as the result of this years
congressional appropriation, and op.
eratl0ns already commenced under
the provisions Of the appropriation
act Of last year will be stimulated.
Farm-management work proper was
first provided for In the appropria-
Ion bill of 1904. At the same time
DR.. Knapp of the department Of ag-
+; riculture commenced his farm-demon-
stration activities In the South. This
was an excellent field to demon.
strate the effectiveness of the plan.
The success of DR.. Knapps efforts
| in the South In dealing with local
| farm problems suggested to the ex-
.ension of the enterprise on ma
tional scale. During the recent de-
| bate in the house on the item in
the appropriation bill relating to
ed that as q result OF the efforts
Nf no r~Av 50
corn crop of the South has been In.
creased almost 200,000.000 bushels in
4 single year. When DR.. Knapp and
his band of farm experts first In.
vaded the Southland they found that
the farmers were dependent almost
entirely upon the single crop OF cot
ton. They bought their meat, their
-four and substantially everything they
used. When the cotton crop failed,
they were completely prostrated a.
nancially. DR.. Knapp and his soil |
doctors demonstrated to them the
advantages OF diversified farming. with
marvellous success. and pulled them |
out OF dangerous rut.
Two years ago congress decided |
to go into this practical work on
a larger scale. The cum Of $780,
900 was appropriated. Last years
appropriation was increased to $780,
900. Secretary Wilson asked con-
gress this year for $4S5,O0O for farm
operations in the states
where the counties are prepared to
meet the necessary requirements, but
the house committee on agriculture
cut this amount down to $375,OO0.
This is the amount carried in the
bill as passed by the house. It Is
nuite possible that the senate. which
Is always more liberal than the low
er body, will increase the sum.
AS result of the increased ap-
made last year the work
If the farm-managementb bureau has
been organized in sixty counties in
he United States, and in each Of
hese counties there Is farm ex-
pert. The plan is to have "soil
loctor" In. every county, as soon as
congress appropriates sufficient funds .
md the counties are willing to bear
heir share of the financial burdens. ,
The government, through the de.
3artment of agriculture, will pay
800 month towards the salary of
he farm manager or expert 1t is
that the person SO employ
ID will be high grade man, with
I salary of $4,000 a year or more,
his necessary expenses. In
,rder to secure the services of this
expert the county must give ample
assurance to the department of agri-
culture of a guaranty fund suffi-
,ient to place the enterprise on a
financial footing. Sev-
eral of the counties have supplied
heir farm agents with automobiles,
,r run-abouts.
In addition to the counties where
he work is already in operation,
g counties have made the necessary
arrangements and are .
Waiting for the men. It is stated
hat $50 counties have made appli.
alton for county farm experts. They
re now scattered over 21 states
n the Union. For example, Mime
ota has had farm managers assign.
d to seven counties, as follows:
}igstone, Grant, Otter Tail, Pope,
stevens, Swift and Traverse. The
,orth Star state heads the list in
he number of counties where this
EOIh lids UcSu luliy cSldUlLoucu. |
'ther counties in the state have
aade application for the federal
unds, and participate in the benefits
f this development work. The
tate Of Colorado has six counties
rganized in which county agents
re employed: Iowa has four, Mich
gan. six; New York, six; South
'akota, one; Wisconsin, four.
During the hearings on the agri-
ultural appropriation bill, Mr.. Spill
ian, who is the head of the farm.
bureau, gave some in
as to the duties of county
gents. Mr. Lever, of South Caro-
ma, member of the house COM
littee on agriculture, asked the wit
ess: "Just what does this man do?"
Mr.. Spillman: "Well, his work is
D large and so diverse that I can
OF answer that in just sentence.
here are four general types of work
,r him to do. The first thing we