Omaha daily bee., 1917-04-20
Department Of Agriculture
The Biggest School IN World
Washington, D. c., April 17.-Amost three
By Frederic J. Hdskin

Washington D. c. April H-Amost three
wears ago congress passed law which has been
repeatedly described by men qualified to Judge
as the broadest and most significant educationa.
act ever adopted by any nation in the world since
history began. This act (the Smith Lever exten-
sion act) has been operating for three years now,
and it promises to do all that was expected of it.
Yet there are yery few Americans. even among
those directly affected who realize what big
measure it is and what immense changes it can
work in our national life.
The Smith-Lever act is law providing funds
for teaching the people in the rural districts OF
the United States the most successful methods OF
farming. But by successful farming il means
great deal more than raising the greatest possible
number of bushels to the acre Successful farm
ing means a successful solution of the whole
problem Of rural life; it means checking the rush
to the cities BY making possible full and com
Portable life in the country; it means balancing
of our whole national economy by building up
country life that shall be as attractive as city life
and thus gatf ering contended rural population
Piouu''on'
The farmer IS conservative citizen. The sys-
tenn OF sending him printed booklets and printed
directions is all right but It has its limitations.
Inc Dest way TO convince him IS to send prac-
tical man to his farm and show him how to do it.
Let him see the process and the results with his
own eyes, and put the profits in his own bank
account, and he is an enthusiastic convert The
method OF teaching by actual demonstration is
better than all the other methods put together.
his tact has long been recognized, and dem
onstration work was no new thing when the
Smth-Lever act provided tor an increasing an
nual expenditure by state and nation Tor the pur-
pose that VIII eventually total ten or twelve mil
lion dollars year: But the system will effect
demonstration work on new scale 1t will
mean that every one OF the 2,8so rural counties
in the United States will have two county agents
Tor demonstration work. probably man and
woman in each Already more than 800 rural
counties nave such agents. Every agent is in
touch with all the work that is being done on
farm problems in all the different states and in
the federal department. The plan will put every
farmer IN touch with all the farm work that is
beng done Ill the United States. 1t iarmer in
Oregon or an experiment station in Florida works
out new method, the farmer in Iowa or the
farmer in California can learn how to use it a
week later. Without such system he might not
even hear OF 1t for three seasons.
The demonstration method has the great merit
OF convincing the most skeptical by piing up re-
suits before their eyes. 1t usually has to work
that way. For instance there was county agent
out in Arkansas who got into community that
laughed at the idea of new methods. The agent
got one farmer to plant demonstration acre of
corn. That farmer was an object OF public pity.
!Neighbors drove from miles around to implore
him not to waste his time and money. Later
they came to sit on his fence while he worked his
land in the new way and laughed at him, calling
him government farmer" and book farmer"
and predicting dire disaster About three months
later they were driving over again, but this time
to wonder at his corn He harvested fifty bushels
to the acre, willie the average for the neighbor-
hood was twenty bushels. That neighborhood
was converted. The first farmer became voun-
teer co.operator with the department, one of an
army of 10000, most of whom enlisted in some
what the same way.
Demonstration work is not by any means con-
fined to crop work. 1t covers every detail OF
rural life. The women county agents work ex-
clusivey in the household, helping in matters of
cooking and preserving, saving labor, teaching