Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1921-11-30
OUR PUBLIC FORUM
Is A COUNTY AGENT NECESSARY?

This is very important question
and be better answered after a thor
ough investigation has been made.
However the Herald has attempted
to answer it and asks someone to
tell it why this office is worth what
it costs the taxpayers of the county.
The statement made by the Herald
that it has yet to hear a single farmer
say he could see any advantage to the
idea of a county agent proves that he
has not made a very close inveStiga-
ton of the agricultural interests of
Grant county for there are plenty Of
farmers in Grant county that have
been benefited by this o;lce and will
say so if they are asked
1t is true that some farmers are
opposed to a4eounty agent ard may
say they get no benefit from this Office
which is possibly fact and the prob
able reason for this is they have not
tried or wanted to be benefited by
the county agents Office.
The Herald's final conclusion is the
county agents office is about the high
est paid and least worth while county
office, but from the proceedings of
the 1920 session of the county board
we find at least two other county of
fees cost the taxpayers more than
did the county agents office. The
appropriations for the highway office
including salary, assistant, travelling
expenses and clerk hire amount to
$4,000, for the county supt. of schools
for salary, assistant and travelling ex-
pense $4,000 For the same year the
county agents office could use only
$4,760, of which $1,700 was received
from the state and federal govern
ment. The state and federal govern
ment pay this amount monthly to ev-
cry county that emp1oys a county
agent with an additional 500 for
travelling expenses outside of the
county, and we pay our share of this
81 800 whether we have a county
agent or not. These comparisons are
not made as an attack on any of the
county offices but are records of the
county proceedings and perhaps are
not as fully understood by the tax
payers as they should be.
1t is a broad statement to make the
farmer and many of the town mem
bers of the county board will not
stand up and assert themselves about
county and state government. Is it
possible that the county board i'll 70
per cent of the counties of WiscOn
sin all make the same mistake and
employ a county agent? / believe
this body of men always try to do
the things they honestly believe to
be the best for the people they rep
resent. The big cry now is lower
taxes and economy, and that is per-
fectly all right We all believe in
economy and perhaps most of us
have not enforced the laws Of econ
Omy Just as strong as it might have
been in the past, it is false economy
to discontinue. things that lead to bet
ter agriculture for this very line Of
industry represents WfScOnSin's
greatest resources and practically
all of the resources of Grant county.
There are many kinds of economy.
Increased production is economy, so
is better buying and marketing me-
thods, and these are some of the
things the county aren't is always
trying to bring to the farmers at
tention. Many times this is done by
actual tests on the farms of Grant
county as we'll as scher counties
where a county agent is employed.
The county agents in some OF the
northern counties have demonstrated
that good alfalfa can be grown on
some soils that are very light, and
were raising almost nothing beforc
the county agent put on trial dem
of alfalfa growing.
One of the many important thoughts
the county agents try to leave with us
is efficiency, efficient soils, efficient
grains, seeds and grasses as we'll as
better livestock To discard the
boarder COWS, to raise hogs that will
market our grains and dairy products
most prof1tably and to sell the nom
laying hens are all examples Of econ |
Omy taught by county agents. Poul
try culling demonstrations in Grant |
have shown that more than 30
per cent of hens are non-layers. If !
the result of these demonstrations !
we're more closely followed on the |
1922 farms of Grant county that |
nave an average of 95 chickens per |
farm. and the nOn-layers replaced I
with laying hens and the egg pro-
1uction increased only ten per cent, I
It would mean 1424S8 dozen more |
eggs in Grant county By the u.s. OF |
proper lines and fertilizers demon
STATIONS show us the yield of corn !
has been increased from 4 to bushel |
per acre, and if only one bushel per
acre were produced over the cost Of |
lines and fertilizers used it would |
mean more than 10000 bushels of |
corn in Grant county, at 40c per bu. |
would mean $500 The county /