Extension Department 



Ixxvii 



Office of the County Agent Leader 



The hearty response of New York farmers to the call for increased 

 production brought upon the farm bureau organization new obligations 

 and a vast amount of detail work. Written requests for information 

 more than doubled, and the number of office calls increased by more 

 than two hundred per cent. 



Not only have the farm bureaus increased in strength in the organized 

 counties, but the call from the counties without farm bureaus has been 

 so persistent and earnest that thirteen new bureaus have been organized 

 during the year. The State now has 55 county farm btireau associations, 

 all of them in active operation. Over 45,500 New York State farmers 

 are now farm bureau members, and the average membership per county 

 is 827. The thirteen counties organized during the year, together with 

 their membership on June 30, 19 18, were as follows: Columbia, 758; 

 Fulton, 245; Genesee, 1016; Greene, 376; Lewis, 256; Livingston, 938; 

 Rockland, 230; Schenectady, 283; Schuyler, 520; Seneca, 627; Steuben, 

 976; Washington, 517; Yates, 624. 



The voliime of work has necessitated the employment of assistants in 

 forty-two counties. The nature of the activities has shifted somewhat 

 in order to meet war conditions. There has been a falling off in the field 

 demonstrations, with a remarkable increase in the ntunber of office calls 

 and work of an organization character. Farmers are more and more 

 coming to see the advantages in grouping their ideas and working in imion 

 for the solution of common problems. The various lines of work covered 

 by the county agents and their assistants, with the volume of each, are 

 given in the following table: 



Statistical Report of Office and Field Work of Agents and Assistants 



* When considering these averages it should be noted that only 42 farm bureau associations were in 

 operation during the entire year. 



The volimie of work done per county has on the whole increased more 

 than one hundred per cent over the pre-war period. County agents, 

 executives, and community committees are making an effort to main- 



