604 AISTNTJAL, REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Perhaps the one factor most influencing the quality of the club 

 demonstration work the past year has been the improved quality 

 of local leadership. State and county workers have given more 

 thought and time to the training of local people guiding boys and 

 girls than in any previous year. These training conferences were 

 characterized in two ways, namely: (1) Development of local lead- 

 ers' plans of work at joint conferences; (2) training in subject 

 matter, largely by State specialists. 



It is evident that a wider use was made of the means of establish- 

 ing on farms the practices demonstrated. Team demonstrations have 

 been designed to carry to their respective communities the results of 

 the demonstrations carried out on the home farm. Accordingly, first 

 consideration has been given to the influence of the teams on local 

 farming, and home making and State and interstate competition be- 

 tween teams has been secondary. 



The estimated total value of club products was $8,650,000. The 

 largest enrollment was in connection with the work on clothing, 

 which consisted of 123,600 boys and girls, of whom 78,600 completed 

 their work and made nearly 300,000 garments. Next in importance 

 was the enrollment in poultry clubs, which was approximately 80,- 

 000, of whom 44,675 completed their work and indicated that they 

 handled 940,000 birds and produced 1,357,000 dozen eggs accord- 

 ing to methods advocated by the extension agents. The enrollment 

 in the food preservation clubs was 78,000, of whom 46,700 reported 

 that they canned 2,900,000 quarts of fruits and vegetables. The en- 

 rollment in garden clubs was 71,165, of whom 45,400 cultivated 

 2,321 acres of garden valued at $470,000. 



EXTENSION SPECIALISTS. 



Extension specialists are a vital part of the extension system. 

 They aim to keep the agricultural agents, home demonstration 

 agents, and boys' and girls' club agents who work in the counties 

 informed and efficient in the respective lines of subject matter each 

 represents. They also aid the extension director in sizing up the 

 agricultural home problems along each of the various lines in the 

 State and suggest plans for meeting them. They are especially 

 valuable in training community project leaders or key demonstra- 

 tors in the details of their work. The results of extension work in 

 the counties are in substantial measure due to the assistance of ex- 

 tension specialists. 



The following are a few examples of the rather outstanding 

 methods used by extension specialists in the States along various 

 lines of subject-matter extension work: 



GENEEAI. CAMPAIGN METHODS. 



New plans have been developed in Maine to secure adoption of 

 practices following the demonstration period. 



Four rather distinct steps in the program of developing the work 

 of extension specialists which have been followed in Maine are as 

 follows : 



(1) Determining the fundamental problem needing solution. 



(2) Determining the practical and the economic solution of this 

 problem. 



