44 ANNUAL EEPOETS OP DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUEE. 



circumstances, are prevented from securing the accommodations they 

 need. An investigation by the dej^artment to determine the extent 

 to which farmers in the Southern States were dependent upon credit 

 obtained from merchants revealed the fact that 60 per cent of them 

 were operating under the " advancing system." The men I have es- 

 pecially in mind are those whose operations are on a small scale and 

 who are not in most cases intimately in touch with banking machin- 

 ery, who know too little about financial operations, and whose cases 

 usually do not receive the affirmative attention and sympathy of the 

 banker. Such farmers would be much benefited by membership in 

 cooperative credit associations or unions. 



Of course, there are still other farmers whose standards of living 

 and productive ability are low, who usually cultivate the less satisfac- 

 tory lands, who might not be received for the present into such asso- 

 ciations. This class peculiarly excites interest and sympathy, but 

 it is difficult to see how any concrete financial arrangement will reach 

 it immediately. The great things that can be done for this element 

 of our farming populatioi are the things that agricultural agencies 

 are doing for all classes but must do for it with peculiar zeal. The 

 approach to the solution of its difficulty is an educational one, involv- 

 ing better farming, marketing, schools, health arrangements, and 

 more sympathetic aid from the merchant and the banker. If the 

 business men of the towns and cities primarily dependent on the rural 

 districts realize that the salvation of their communities depends on 

 the development of the back country and will give their organizing 

 ability to the solution of the problem in support of the plans of the 

 organized agricultural agencies responsible for leadership, much 

 headway will be made. 



The foundation for effective work in this direction is the success- 

 ful promotion of cooperative associations among farmers, not only 

 for better finance but also for better production, distribution, and 

 higher living conditions. These activities are of primary importance. 

 At the same time, it is recognized that such cooperation can not be 

 forced upon a community, but must be a growth resulting from the 

 volunteer, intelligent effort of the farmers themselves. 



The Department has steadily labored especially to promote this 

 movement by conducting educational and demonstrational work. 

 Field agents in marketing have been placed in most of the States to 

 give it special attention, and the county agents and other extension 



