The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1915-10-14

| CnlS the WOrk WOaiQ nave Deen July
justified. but when DIR. Knapp held the
high standard of reforming agriculture
for profit, pleasure. improvement of
rural conditions and so forth. there
was, and is now a still greater justifca-
ton for the work.
Soon after DR.. Knayp adopted the
County Agent plan, progressive farm
ers and business, and professional men
accepted the plan as the key to the
situation and arose in a mass to take
steps to provide the necessary money
to pay salaries to County Agents. The
government made small appropriations
to enable farmers to grow cotton in
spite of the Mexican Cotton Boil
Weevii. Practically all Of these appro-
priatIons were used to assist in paying
the salaries of County agents. Counties,
Chambers of Commerce, Boards of
Trade, bankers, business men and
farmers contributed to the funds to
pay the County Agents, or Dr. Knapp's
missionaries, as they were often called
Dr. Knapp died in 1911. The nation
and especially the South mourned the
death of this truly great man. DR..
Bradford Knapp had been assistant to
his father in Demonstration Work for
several years and was unanimously
chosen to continue the great work. He
has proven to be most worthy success
or of his distinguished father.
The number of County Agents con-
tinued to increase until there were $40
field men-that is, County, Local, and
Boys Club Agents. with their super
vising State and District Agents, and
the farmers continued to fall right into
the ranks with the great forward move
ment of agricultural progress under the
direction of DR.. Bradford Knapp and
his able assistants. The Boys Club
Work was started in 1908. At first
corn was the important consideration;
today the work has been elaborate,
taking in many other crops, such as
cotton, alfalfa. potatoes, also poultry,
pigs and baby beef. The Girls Club
Work was started in 1910. This has
grown until now it is known as The
Girls Canning Club and Home Demon
stration Work, which is taking in the
farm women as we'll as the girls them
selves.
The great success of DR.. Knapp $
plan to put County Agents in Counties
to begin at the bottom and teach the
best methods of securing the largest
yields of field crops with the greatest
economy by ocular demonstration and
personal appeal accomplished such
wonderful results that a nation wide
demand was made on Congress for a
most liberal appropriation for the work.
The Hatch and Adams Funds were for
the purpose of investigation and ex-
perimentation. These funds could not
be used for demonstration work. The
! Smith-Lever Act necessarily followed
in 1914 because, as strongly emphasized
at the outset, the information obtained
by the Experiment Stations could not
be transmitted to the great mass of
farmers by means of bulletins and
| lectures.
The movement toward the Smith
Lever Act started several years ago.
A number of bills were introduced from
time to time. Some features of those
bills were retained and all found their
elimination in what is known today as
the Smith Lever Act. This Act pro-
vides for cooperative extension work in
agriculture and home economics. There
is permanently appropriated, annually,
to each State, the sum of $40. 600
There was also appropriated an addi-
tional sum for the fiscal year following
the year in which the $4,000 became
available, and for each year thereafter
for seven years, a sum exceeding by
$500, 900 the sum appropriated for each
proceeding year.
This money is allotted annually to each
State in the proportion which the rural
population of each state bears to the
total rural population of all the states.
The act provides that no payment
shall be made In any year to any state
until an equal sum has been appropriat-
ed for the work fcr that year from
within the state
Thirteen counties IN this state have
made the necessary appropriations to
assist in paying the salaries of County
Agents. Twelve well qualified men
have been appointed and are now show
ing, as we'll as telling, the farmers how
to increase their earning capacity and
| thereby enable them to build magni-
fcent homes and properly equip their
farms.
These County Agents realize the
fact that the average farmer is a
natural doubter and dearly loves to be
shown. The old system of education
was to educate from the top, but the
County Agents in this State, and in
other States, are guiding the hands as
it were, of the average farmer while
he learns to write the new and magical
letters of science and profit upon the