The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1915-10-08

those bills were retained and all found
their elimination in what is known to-
day as the Smith-Lever Act. This act
provides for cooperative extension
work in agriculture and home economics
There is permanently appropriated, an
rually, to each State, the sum of $lO,-
900. There was also appriated an adj
ditional sum for the fiscal year follow
ing the year in which the $4,000 be-
came available, and for each year
ceeding by $500, 600 the. sum appropriate
ed 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 pay
ment shall be made in any year to any
state until an equal sum has been
appropriated for the work for 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 we'll qualified men have
been appointed and are now showing, as
we'll as telling, the farmers how to in
crease their earning capacity and there
by enable them to build magnificent
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 Stat
es, 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 soil. They
are showing the great mass of farmers
how to keep records of milk cows and
get rid of the Improbable ones. They
are showing the farmers how to prune,
spray and otherwise care for orchards
and so on. They are showing the farm
ers how to inoculate hogs against hog
cholera and save hundreds of thousands
of dollars to the State.
1t is often stated that the average
farmer is hard to reach and impress.
Since 1904 County Agents have found
this to be big mistake. They have
found that the great mass of farmers
are the most tractable of people if
you have anything substantial to offer.
They have found that the farmers do
not take kindly to pure theory, and
that no class can more quickly dis
criminate between money making far
mers and bookish farmers than the men
who till the SOIL
The twelve County Agents in this
State are getting wonderful results.
Within the next year or two we will
have an efficient County Agent in
every County in the State. Each
Agent will begin at the bottom to teach
the best methods of securing the larg-
est yield of crops with the greatest
economy. Thus we will soon have
prosperity throughout our rural dis
trict, and can rejoice in the general
prosperity and Intelligence of all the
people.
The work proposed for the county
agent for the coming year is as fol-
lows:
l. Pushing live stock interests.
stock judging, demonstration, coopera-
tive breeding, lectures, bulletins, colt
shows and fairs
z. Silo campaign. (Tour of inspec
tion)
g. Demonstration work. Field
meetings for comparison of crops and
methods.
4. Farm visits, farm meetings.
5. More township meetings.
g.. Hog cholera eradication cam
paign.
7. Boys and girls club work.
8. Farmers Institutes and County
Fairs.
9. Spraying Work.
10. Taking farm record surveys.
II. Assisting organization of the
county.
IL. Labor bureau.
IL. Buy and for sale, or exchange
bureau.
IA. Extension schools in agriculture
and home economics.
Is. Assistance to the public schools.
G. H. AFFORD, State Agent,
College Park, Maryland.