Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1915-10-08

discussing the county farm expert
r,an from the standpoint of what 1t
hoe ACCOMPLISHED in various Euro
man countries, Senator Ralph Met
oa,f one of the members from this
s,ate on the national rural credits
commission which year or so ago
snent several months in Europe
etudving the agricultural and rural
credit systems in vogue there, re-
Gently contributed an article TO e
Tacoma newspaper in which h pc. mt
ed out the great strides different
ruropean countries had made in
agriculture in the rs years prior to
the war.
In this article he said:
The session of the American Bank
ers' association on the morning Of
September 9 was devoted to an "Agri-
cultural Symposium" There were
three eloquent and altogether admir-
able addresses. At the close of the
meeting one of the delegates stated
that he had been attending these con-
yentions for many years and that
never had a program of such value
been presented. He might have add
ed that this was true because it was
devoted to the most vital problem
before this nation, and because each
of the speakers, from different
angle, reached the one only solution,
so we'll worded in that pregnant
slogan of Sir Horace Plunkett: Bet
ter farming, better business, better
living"
The Way Out.
Underlying and running through
through each of these fruitful adj
dresses was the sound and essential
principle that the way out of existing
troubles, the way up to that high,
prosperous, contented rural civiliza-
ton, the greatest need of our time,
lies in carrying to the farm expert
knowledge through county or state
or community agricultural expert.
cooperative agent" Rev. Mr.. Diehl
called him, in describing the wonder
full progress made in his farming
community round about Hinckley,
ILL.,; travelling professor of agricul-
ture" they call him in many coun-
tries of Europe, where he has been
the active agent in the marvellous
progress in farm and market meth
DDS made in the last generation;
county agriculturist" chapter Is of
the laws of 1913 styles him, and pro-
vides that every county of the state
of Washington may have the benefit
Of this proven system.
And when a rising vote of thanks
was given to the three speakers who
had SO moved the bankers associa-
ton, every spectator in the gallery
also arose, and more than half OF
those spectators were farmers and
country people. l wondered how
many lived in counties that have not
taken advantage of this law and
their county commissioners
would hear from them.
Motoring through Eastern Oregon
a month ago, spent an evening with
q practical farmer who had been for
several years the manager of farm
In California which, he said, was the
largest cultivated farm in the world
1T that time.
In a long discussion of agricultu
raj methods and progress in Europe
and America, he said: ''In this
county we have increased our per
acre production 90 per cent through
the advice and instruction and de-
of our state agricultural
expert. We are getting better crops.
better yield every year. What are
you doing in this line in Washing
toni"
What are we doing? This is some
lnlnR JnaJ lHteTeStS anu cHCS'o NV
the farmer alone, but every man,
woman and child in this state. The
town can not prosper without pros
porous agriculture, and prosperous
agriculture, with it's resultant pros
porous towns and cities and prosper
Gus state of Washington, is all sum-
med up in Sir Horace's Irish slogan:
Better farming, better business. bet
ter living" And the first step, and
the greatest step toward that neces-
sary condition, as was demonstrated
at the bankers association, by my
friends in Oregon, by every agricul-
turally successful country in Europe
the American commission visited in
1913, is the establishment of sys-
tenn Of county agricultural experts.
Germany Alone Has 800 Experts.
In Germany, with an area 20 per
cent larger than Washington and