Imperial Valley press., 1923-12-08
BY z. L. GARTTIWAITE
Imperial County Agent, Agricultural
Extension Service

The agricultural extension service
of the University Of California is q
division of the college of agriculture,
cooperating with the United States
department of agriculture in supply
ing resident instructors in agricul
ture and home economies, known as
county agents or farm advisors and
home demonstration agents, to cOun-
ties desiring them. 1t is the duty
of these officials to bring agricul
tural and home economies informa
ton, developed by the research and
subject matter divisions of the col
lege of agriculture, the United
States department of agriculture and
other educational agencies, directly
to the agricultural people Of their
respective counties. These agents
are assisted from time to time by
specialists from the college of agri
culture.
The salaries of members of the
agricultural extension service are
paid from state and federal funds
and the expenses of carrying on the
work in the various counties are
paid from county funds. The Cali
fornia agricultural extension serv-
ice being supported entirely from
public funds, the services of its
members are available to any resi-
dent of county.
1t has been definitely proven by
the United States department of ag-
riculture after many years of ex-
perience, that the best way Of bring.
ing agricultural information to the
people of county is by means of
field demonstrations. This, then, is
the principal, although not the only.
method employed by the agricultural
extension service. Numerous writ
ten articles are furnished local
newspapers, visits are made to farm
ers and ranchers to answer specific
problems, letters are answered, adj
vice is given to people calling at
the office for information. Farm
center and other public meetings are
addressed on agricultural topics.
Many Kinds of Work
The work of the agricultural ex-
tension service in Imperial county
has been divided between miscel-
laneous work, field tests, demon
strations and campaigns.
The work of the agricultural ex-
tension service in Imperial county
has rendered actual service to one
half of the farmers in the county
and no doubt indirectly has reached
an even larger percentage of them.
Realizing that the growing of
fruit is. becoming more important in
Imperial Valley particular effort.
has been made during the past year
bv the extension service to help
those who are contemplating such n
move. Four days of citrus schools
were held in March, those schools
consisting of lectures and field dem
onstrations Of nursery methods,
planting, pruning, topworking, irri-
gation} and other practices pertain
ing I'd citriculture.
Besides these schools, other lines
of work done in citrus were: Study
of soil moisture regulation, trials of |
orange varieties, organization oe
grapefruit growers department of |
the Farm Bureau, tree record work,
fire ant control and protection of |
young trees from frost. The grape
fruit growers department has been
organized and is functioning, and
will undoubtedly have quite an in
fluence for the betterment of the |
industry.
Work done on other fruit crops
was the organization of grape !
growers department and the hold !
ing of a series of vine pruning, |
planting, training and leaf hopper
control demonstrations. These meet. |
ings were very successful, the 10 |
meetings being attended by some
233 growers.
Dates Get Attention, !
Dates are becoming more and !;
more important here, consequently !
had to be given some time. Three |
bodies Of growers were taken to |
Coachella valley during the year to |
witness demonstrations Of seasonal |
practices there, as well as one dem
Onstration meeting here.
In livestock Improvement a large |
part of the time has been spent on |
cow testing work. In November, |