Putnam patriot., 1915-05-21
COUNTY AGENT
Every Town Entitled to His Services
The Farm Bureau and the Agents Duties

There are few towns in Windham
county which, up to the present time,
have appeared extremely bashful about
availing themselves of the services of
the county agent. This will never do!
The farmers of these towns are not
treating themselves fairly by helping
pay for the services of a county agent
and then sitting back and allowing
others to come forward and monopo.
lie his time. Ordinarily when the
farmer hires man he does not hest.
tate to lay out plenty of work for him
to do. Are not the FARMERS of Wind
ham county of this kind?
Several of the towns have come for
ward with demands for work from the
county "hired man." enough so that
he is kept busy all day and part of
nearly every night working out the
problems presented to him by the
farmers. His work, however, should
not be confined to few, even though
these few can manage to keep him
busy. He belongs to the whole county,
and every farmer in the county has an
equal claim on his time. No one can
be blamed, therefore, but the farmer
himself, if he fails to get some benefit
from the Windham County Farmers
Association.
Ii may be that there are some who
do not fully understand who and what
a county agent is, of what his work
consists, or what aIe the benefits of or
ganiZing and employing such an agent.
The following brief extracts from the
bulletin on Farm Bureaus and County
Agricultural Agents, published by the
Extension Service of the Massachu-
sets Agricultural College, may help
those who have no idea on what a
farm bureau and a county agent may
mean TO the agricultural interests of
any community.
The Farm Bureau-What ii is.
The farm bureau is an organization
of farmers and business men of towns
and cities to develop the industrial
and especially the agricultural re-
sources of the county or district repre-
scented. The work of the bureau, or
similar organization, ought TO repre-
sent an effective federation of all the
interests of the county or district, har-
monously working together with well
defined goals always in view.
The purpose of the farm bureau is TO
manage and direct the work of one or
more agricultural agents or other EN-
ployees. 1t is obvious then that the
organization must be active, stable,
permanent and representative of the
different interests involved. The work
of the farm bureau involves the ex-
pending of considerable sums of money
in lorder to carry the work forward,
and a careful study of the needs of the
county or district, the best means of
meeting these needs, and well thought
out execution of the plans when once
decided upon.
The most of the initiative in this
themselves. The whole success, aside
from securing properly trained people
to act as agents, depends on local in
terest. After the movement is once
started and the bureau is organized, its
work must be supported and contIol-
led largely by the people of the region
themselves
The college, in any connection
which it has with the work, endeavors
to secure and develop this local leader
ship.
Farm bureaus are not opposed to
commercial organizations or so-caIled
"middle men," They are organized to
do for group of farmers what single
farmer individually cannot accom-
plish. The work Of an agent employed
by farm bureau should make bust
ness for legitimate concerns dealing 10
agricultural commodities and products
rather than 10 injuTe such business.
The Agricultural gent-What he is
and what he does.
The agricultural agents employed BY
these farm bureaus should be mature
men of good scientific training and a
sufficient amount of farm experience
secured by actually managing farm
10 enable them TO sadvise farmers on
matters pertaining to their business.
There may be other employees of the
bureau for social, industrial or recrea-
tional work. In every case these per-
sons must be of proper temperament
and disposition in order 10 meet peo-
pie in the proper way, secure their
confidence, impart information, work
with all the agencies concerned, and
meet with perpiexing problems as
they may arise.
Above all, these agents must be good
organizers for their success depends on
being able to get people together in
groups and keep them together in q
good working spirit. IT is clear that