Vol. XIV. No. 345. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



After recoi rlii . -• I itements 



■ inceming live - . 11 i i ■■■■. i . » the 



radication whii ' 

 the of 1 lie i Hfice of Farm 



Management, the - to show the farmer the 



right wa s in ordei to see what 



liins are | unprOfitabli 



The il programme I by 



the United States < iovernn ei I o it} pre 



i place for dis a< well us production The 



distribution side of agriculture is ol quite recent gn n 1 1 id 



this growth has been fasi in the I nited 3 te . ; " ng five 



i ": I Markets 



perform s the duty o ; mt market a i i 



tions and i estab 



'I'll [elusion is 



al thai in commnn re Fai mers' associations 



properlj ed and ited, better results are 



obtained than under a system of individual handling. 



Adva nt themselves in the standardizing and 



eking oi pi iducts, and in the discover} of the besl daily 



mat kef. L special i , this ( ►ffice lias bei a 



the possibility of n and express, and 



it lias ' d , ,v in packing and 



hand erci ed, the marketing of certain commodi 



by parcel , id express can profitably be undertaken. 



Coming tinder the heading of distribution is the subject 



grain and cotton standards. This work is realized 



r m 'st important and li sjag id the attention of 



experts of the Bureau of Plant fndustrj for years. It is 



pointed out that the far r cai I be expected to improve 



methods unless it can be clearly demonstrated that it 

 will pay him to improve his product and his handling 

 methods. Concrete evidence oi the profitableness of this 

 course in the form of larger net returns for his output will 

 than anything else to arouse active interest. At 

 the same time, whatever the yield, a satisfactory price for 

 produce can only be secured by the establishment of 

 mdards, and much progress has been made in this wa} 

 by the United States Department. In the grain belt the 

 Government grades for corn have already been adopted, and 

 in connexion with cotton, apart from the' continuance of the 

 standard grade system, an investigation of the spinning 

 value of these grades has recently been undertaken. Fur- 

 thermore, in connexion with the imi crop, an important 

 Act has just been passed, which also tends to simplify and 

 date proper marketing. This Act provides that future 

 contracts musi be based on uniform standards established 

 by the Department of Agriculture, and prohibits the pro 

 .forma deliveries and the tendering 1 of fcotton of less than 

 nch in staple in settlement oj fu ire contracts; and makes 

 various other previsions designed lo'ruake the sale of cotton 

 ■ntilic rather than speculative. The Act, as a whole, is 

 constructive and regulatory: not destructive or oppressive. 



The subject of rural credit in the United state, is riot 

 me about which we have heard a great deal, and 

 section which Mi-. Eouston | 



iking briefly, there are two systems 

 advocated: first the i proper land mortgage 



banking systt private funds; second, 



I ■-' lation authorizing and i a local personal 



perative credit associations. e all eady 



en steps in this direction, and are contemplat ing 



taking them. Mr. I louston point - out in refi 

 proposed ' . of the utmost imp 



thai intention 1 ■ lie use i hich ma} ■• d ■ £ 



I that th. 



should be guars 



ductive purj he i ru c ivere I by 



obligations. 



( )u.. of t 

 port is the di 



the I 'niie.l Si ite De i 



in agriculture be realized 



that 



the cl . , pie of 



the United Si I , drive 



home information i leform I 



co operation has bi I between nenl an I 



the press with a view i | ■ ! ■ izi 

 country's benefit. Tli , i 



I nformation. 



< Ine of the mos I has ever been 



taken in connexion with igricul e, is the passing in the 

 United State- of the C . . : ' m Act. ] 



' o realized thai bulle tilars, and pi key- 



ing information for farmers, no matter how excellent ' 

 be and how numerous, will not sol hing 



the farmer and of inducing him to adopt the b hods. 



Personal contact, in this field of education, as in others, is 



ntial. The m lem ton by comp 



individuals to farmers on their farms has been tested by 



department for m its. It has 1 n ju I its 



results, and has been formally sanctioned by Congress in the 

 recent Act referred to above. The Act provides for 



appropriation of large sums of money fortius farm to farm 



demonstration work, and in 1922-23 there will be a total 

 annual expenditure of $8,680,000. This sum will ha 

 expended in direct instruction in the field, as the Act is very 



cific in prohibiting its use for teaching, oi ... ting 

 buildings at institutions, and in limiting the proportions that 

 can be expended in printing bulletins. 



The last matter dealt within the report i .cent 



rganization of this great Department. Part of the work 

 of certain Bureaus has been transferred to others, and in 

 certaii the names >f offices have been changed. For 



instance, the Office of Exparimenl Stations has been altered 

 to State Relations Service. A useful transfer seems to be 

 the removal of the Office of Farm "Managemi 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, to the Office of the Secretary, 

 since the work of farm management is more essentially 

 economic than botanical. The general principle under- 

 lying tin- reorganization, or rather its most important feature, 

 is the definite outline or segregation in each Bureau of three 



groups of activities the regulatory, the research, and the 



extension. In the allocation of I work, pains' will he taken to 

 -a those who have n ■ . rch talenl to the investigation 

 work: those who have administrative ability to the 

 regulatory: and those who have special talent for tl 

 direction of extension work, to that entirely Thereis good 



for believing that the redirei ion md relocate f the 



work as prop.. I in ! i, ; ,,i under review will result in 

 a marked im r :ase in the efficienc; hours of the 



department. 



In drawing this review to a close, it may not be 



inappropriate all i er i attention to " the very 



comparable nature of somp of the phases of development in 

 the United States with those in the West In. He-, particularly 



in regard to the minoi crops, the distribute f 



produce, co operative met rally, and the dissemination 



of information, Reg irded from a West Indian . he 



L91 I Report : . re is pa ticularly 



suggi , i .1 will doubtless prove stim 



i mj tged in the d if agriculture, in this and other parts 



of the tropics. 



