2122 



Farm Bureau Circular No. 6 



and forty-four withdrawals were made from it. I have distributed five 

 hundred State and Government bulletins and circulars within the year 

 and a considerable nimibcr of small pamphlets printed by corporations 

 interested in extension work. 



Of much more importance than office interviews are the visits to farmers 

 on their own land. One hundred and fifty such \dsits have been made 

 at the request of persons who wanted assistance. Four hundred and 

 seventeen different farmers have been visited by the manager of the 

 bureau in order to give advice, to investigate conditions, to present a busi- 

 ness proposition, or to make a new acquaintance. Including the \'isits 

 made in pushing organization work, and the repeated calls at a few farms, 

 the total number of recorded \asits to farms was 606 for the year. 



FARM demonstrations 



Demonstrations are the means of solving some personal problems on 

 the farm, but their greatest value lies in the community interest aroused. 

 At the beginning of this year the farm biireau manager offered to co- 

 operate in demonstrations in pasture and orchard renewal in fertilizing 

 timothy meadows and potatoes, in tuber unit potato culture, in the culture 

 of clovers, alfalfa, hairj^ vetch, and soy beans, in keeping individual 

 milk records, and in farm accounting. Seventy-five farmers asked for 

 one hundred and forty of these demonstrations. As it was impossible 

 to personally supervise so many demonstrations scattered over the county, 

 some had to be dropped. 



The most popular of these demonstrations was the pruning of fruit 

 trees, and thirty of these were held with an attendance ranging from the 

 orchard owner alone to twenty-six farmers. Information about spraying 

 orchards was frequently asked for and given. There has been a remarkable 

 increase in the use of spray materials, and a number of orchards have 

 borne crops of good apples as a result of only one spraying. 



Every well-cared-for apple orchard producing profitable crops is a 

 demonstration of the merits of modem orchard practice. Six of these 

 demonstration orchards were inspected by fifty persons in the course 

 of an automobile toiu" that was arranged by the farm bureau. The sight 

 of the trees loaded with fine winter apples and the facts about them as 

 given by their owners aroused much enthusiasm. 



Of other demonstrations, we have had a variety. One of these is 

 located on the farm of the Binghamton State Hospital. It consists of 

 several plats on which grass mixtures were grown in 191 2. The yields 

 per acre were as follows: 



