Norwich bulletin., 1916-06-14
FARMERS ARE AIDING
 DEPT. OF AeRIcuLTuRE
Are Furnishing Information in Regard
 To Methods and Experiments.

Nearly 770,000 persons, largely sJc- cessfu1 farmers, are now aiding the U. s. department of agriculture by furnishing information, demonstrating the local usefulness of new methods, testing out theories, experimenting and reporting on conditions in their dis uicts-by helping, in short, in almost every conceivable way to increase the knowledge of the department and to place that knowledge at the service of tp1e people. This army of volunteers receives no pay from the government. Many of these co-operators are actu- ated solely by a wish to be of service to their neighborS. Others take part in this work because of their own keen interest in testing new methods, or in trying out for themselves crops either new to their own sections or imported from foreign countries through the departments plant ex- plorers.
 It is estimated that at least one farm out of every twenty is working in some way with the department of | agriculture, and thus has become a center of advanced agricultural infor- nation for it's community. In addi- tion to the farmers who work directly with the department of agriculture, ! there are thousands of others who render similar valuable service to l the scientists and field workers of the state agricultural colleges and experi- ment stations.
 1 With such a large number of farm CTS willing to work with the depart ment and the colleges and test out l their recommendations, it is clear that a significant change has taken place l from the day when the average farm CT was decidedly slzeptical about scien- tfffc agriculture and slow or unwilling to give attention to tale recommenda- tions of what many used to designate 1 as ''book farmers
 The wide use made by the depart ment of this large number of prac ttcal farmers indicates clearly how err roneous was the once prevalent idea that agricultural scientists held them- selves aloof and that the department of agriculture consisted mainly of col llege-trained men who were far more at home in their offices or laboratories than on actual farms. As matter o1 fact, the scientific agriculturist today does not attempt to evolve theories in the seclusion Of a government building 1t is true he may develop ideas in hi:
 laboratory, but before he is ready tt advise farmers to adopt, thems he tTies
 them out in actual practice on gov. ernment farms, and then calls on {
 large number of successful. practica
 farmers to give these ideas an fnde pendent, practical test.onEsome of thei
 
 scientist goes to the farmer. both fo his theory and pracktce. 1es etudiel and analyzes the practice offhundred 1. or thousands of successful Tanners il an endevor to find the scientific basi l or underlying principle of farnainJ years of practical experience, beei 9 found to be most successful for thei ' farms and neighborhoods. Frequent, the scientist finds in one conmunft
 certain farmers who are successful an, others who are unsuccessful s~. H
 searches for the reasons for the sue
 cess and failure of the tEEos groups, .an
 then endeavors 2 to make Scaearx to th ]. successful ones the scientific reasol
 for their success and tosdevelop scum ]. rules which will enab1esfhe unsuccess
 ful to apply to their own farms tn
 methods employed by stheir proeperou lnetghbors. Tn many cases, therefors \ the scientists recommendation repre- a sentE the consensus of@ opinion of . large number of successful graf !. growers, tr1rck raisers, dairymen 0 other classes of farm. managers. 4 Of the TIC, O00ico-op operators the gres ' majority are men who farm for a iiv ing.g A wide varietys of other oecupa
 tions is represented in the list, how
 ever. from the masters Of n1eFchan vessels who take netenrulogica obser :. vatfonsgfor the weather shureau to Gh : l.c0aege presidents who aid in the edu 2 czftonaa work Of the department c : the pig club boys who supply thei s neighbors with object lessons in tn e prod 1table raising of hogs. Tn a geners f tway the 0-opGratorg may be divide r into stiiree claSses-tl1ose who furnis
 the depareznent with specific infoEnna
 ton acquired in the course of the s regular occupations; those who den @ oTfstTate in actual practice the agr l- cultural methods; recommended by il
 denart1nent, and those who voluntes