St. Tammany farmer., 1922-06-10
" her. / Visited
lhe County Agent. 1t.

My orchard was in bad shape. Trees
seemcd .tosbe unnecessarily dying and
the apples were scrawny and were
falling off before ripening A neighbor
advised me to ask the county agent to look
at The orchard. / had to call three differ
ent times before found him In the Office.
The first time he was off down to the
southern part Of the county helping a
bunch OF farmers near Tibbiville organize
cooperative livestock shipping associa-
ton. None Of the farmers down there
are big shippers; the local buyers haven't
enough competition to make them efficient
SO the farmers are planning to ship CO.
operatively to the city The county
agent took down set Of contracts, rules
and regulations, and methods Of organiza-
tion that have proven successful for the
cooperative shipping associations that
have been operating the past two years
over east near Podunk. While down there
he helped sell some feeder pigs that had
Teen listed with him by farmers up at this
end of the county.
The second time called for the county
agent lie was taking man who had come
up from the college of agriculture around
over the county testing dairy herds for
tuberculosis. They found seven in a
herd OIL. twenty from which Higginstown
had gotten most Of its milk supply. They
found infected cattle in the most unsus-
pected places While most Of the herds
were healthy they found eighteen cows
whose tainted milk had been endangering
the lives OF hundreds OF children and
grownupe
:. While out on this trip the farm advisor
gave much information regarding the
breeding records Of Holstein cattle to
farmers who wished to replace their
diseased cows. He also worked up an
interest among the farmers in co-opera-
lively bringing in an expert from the
Agricultural College to test the dairy
herds of the county for butter fat produc-
ton. The farm advisor also suggested
rations that were properly balanced and
would keep the herds in state Of health
and resistance
The third time / tried to get him the
girl who keeps Office said that he would be
back about four o'clock, that he had been
asked by the Farm Bureau Community
Club Of the Hilldale nelghborhood to 60
out and help them analyze their soil con
tent. That is, he tested the soil In the.
various arms to SEQ whether it was sour,
too much alkali. worn out, too rich or
what. That was new to me-having
your dirt diagnosed and doctored. But
you know for yourself that sometimes a
crop that grows rank on your neighbor's
farm will only bring halt yield on your
own. Where the farm advisor cannot tell
the needs and treatment Of the soil him
self he is In direct touch with the United
States Department Of Agriculture Expert
ment Station and can send samples in to
Be analyzed by experts.
lit Is alfalfa, clover, or other legumes
that are needed the farm advisor stands
ready to give information on seed and
planting. Several of the state Farm
Bureau Federations have rock phosphate
and limestone distributing departments
which operate quarries, make money
saving contracts with mining companies
and ship straight to the farmer. The
farmer orders through the farm advisor
who sends the order to state headquarters
where it is taken care of by the depart
ment where the fertilizer is purchased CO..
operatively. This way the quarry com
panies can give discounts on large con
tracts. 1t is the same principle in eff
cheney that the wool pool portrays When |
the farm advisor gives his services in
collecting and shipping the wool from one
point lie eliminates tie toll that the local
buyer takes for his trouble and the farmer
gets the added proft-which is available
because OF efficient handling In both
the case Of co operative buying of lime
stone and the cooperative selling of wool,
tie goods go the shortest route from
the producer to the consumer.
While waited for the farm advisor to
return three other farmers dropped in to
see him.
One Of them had come in to get one of
the farm account books that the Farm
Bureau is distributing He brought his
income tax blanks along for help in fling
his returns. He didn't have an account
book tie past year. Ifrecords are proper
ly kept in the account book there will be
no trouble in figuring up the results at
the end of the year.
The other fellow had come in to get a
hired man. The Farm Bureau has auto
come to be quite an employ
ment agency. Men hunting jobs just
naturally gravitate there and especially
do the better class Of hired men go to the
Farm Bureaus for tips on where to find
work The County Agent tells me that
he places one or two men every week Of
the year and Of course during the harvest
season great deal Of his time is taken up
listing farmers who want help and direct
ing the travelling harvesters to the farms.
The third man who was waiting around
with us had come in to file claim. The
Fences along the riRht-Of-way of the rail