The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-10-18

ly shown it's appreciation of the im- portance of agriculture. The year be- fore it assumed charge of the Gov ernment the aggregate of all the ap- propriations for the activities of the Federal Government in relation to agriculture was $24,077.000. The amount appropriated for the fiscal year 1917 for similar purposes is ap- proximately $36,129,000, an increase Of over 50 per cent; and two of the laws enacted during the last three years, the Cooperative Agricultural Extension Act and the Federal Aid Road Act, involve large annual in-
 creases, the former of $500,000 a year
 until 1922-23, and the latter of $5,- 000,000 annually for four years. each necesitating contributions of equal amounts from the States working in cooperation with the Federal Govern ment. Particular pains have been taken to foster production through every prom ising approach. Great increased pro- vision has been made for improving cultural methods, for increasing var ieties of staple crops and introducing new ones, for encouraging standardi- zation, for introducing drought and insect-resisting plants, and especially for eradicating and controlling the plant and animal diseases. Careful thought has been given to the matter of increasing the meat supply of the Nation.
 But 1t was obvious that no less inn portant than the securing of addition al information for farmers was the problem of conveying it to them and of inducing them to apply it and that it was little short of criminal to spend millions of dollars to acquire valuable infornaation and not to use every pos- sfble efficient agency available for placing it at the disposal of the rural population as promptly as possible
 Therefore, immediately the DeIoart- ment of Agriculture attacked fthis problem. The printed matter of the department was thoroughly revised and made more practical and useful and the Office of Information was or- ganized for the purpose of facilitating the securing of information by all in- terested parties md agencies, includ- ing the daily and weekly newspapers, and in particular the agricultural journals.
 Furthermore, it was recognized that the printed page is not the most ef- ficienf educational medium but that personal contact is requisite; that the demonstration method is the most ef- fective way of reaching the farmer. This idea was embodied in the 'coop- erative agricultural extension act, ap- proved May 8, 1914. This piece of legislation is one of the most signifi- cant and far reaching measures for the education of adults ever adopted by any government. It's aim is to take the results of the latest research and best practice in agriculture and home economies directly to the farmer and his family. One of its purposes was to prevent friction, Jealousy, dupfca- ton of work, and waste; and two years of administration of the act justifies the assertion that it is >ac- complaining it's purposes. When the act is in full operation, there will be expended for the education of the rural population in agriculture and home economics from eleven to four teen millions of dollars annually. This sum will be sufficient to place in each of the 2,S50 rural counties of the Un- ion two farm demonstrators and spec ialists who will assist fhe demonstraA tors in the more difficult problems confronting them-
 While the problems of production continue to be vital and important, 1t was clear that further production in many directions waited on betters dis tribution and that in this field were involved fupdamental problems of jus tice and injustice which demanded so- lution. No systematic attention had been given by any agency or individu- als to the pressing problems in the field of the economies of agriculture. In the first place, provision was made promptly for the creation of an Off, flee of Markets and Rural Organiza- tion. Beginning with a modest sum, the appropriations for this office, in cluding those for enforcing new laws designed to promote better marketing, have increased to s1,200,000. Quickly an effective organization was develop ed and has been engaged in making market surveys, studying methods and costs. transportation and storage prob- lems, city marketing and distribution, the establishment and promulgation of market grades and standards, and CO., operation in production, marketing. and finance. Since the problems of those engaged in producing and mar keting perishables were especially ur- gent, plans were formulated to assist these producers through market news service. The Democratic Con- | gress has made available for this un- dertaking the sum of $137,000. Elf | fective assistance has been given to groups of producers in many areas. A similar service for live stock will be l inaugurated during the year, an ap- propriation of $65,0o0 having been made available for the purpose.
 | It was recognized that even though | the individual farmers were thorough l ly efficient and community coopera-
 tion were established, the problems o1
 production and marketing could not
 be solved adequately and justly be- cause of conditions over which neither tme individual nor the community had l the requisite control. It was obvious l that these conditions could be estab- 1 lished only by legislation. The neces- l sary measures have been devised to
 meet these conditions. The Federal | Reserve Act authorized national banks
 to lend money on farm mortgages and recognized the peculiar needs of the | farmer by giving his paper a period o1 ; maturity of six months. But this ac- l ton did not place him in a position l oo,,oIifx, xxdf11 fho n, h a m a n II