STATES RELATIONS SERVICE. 357 



Farm makers' clubs for negro children were organized during the 

 year in several of the States. Much work has been done every year 

 in these States among the negroes, but the work was greatly enlarged 

 during the past year. 



Pig clubs conducted in cooperation wath the Bureau of Animal 

 Industry are very popular. Thousands of pure-bred pigs have been 

 distributed among the boys with excellent results. Pure-bred hogs 

 are becoming well distributed throughout every part of the South. 



Short, practical courses in agriculture for club boys are held in 

 each county, where all the club members attend and receive instruc- 

 tion. In addition to the short courses held in the counties one is 

 also held at the agricultural college where the prize winners are 

 brought for a week or two weeks' instruction. The boys' clubs are 

 stimulating farm boys to enter the agricultural colleges to continue 

 their agricultural training. In one State in 1917, 218 club boys entered 

 the agricultural college. The club work is not only furnishing valu- 

 able instruction to farm boys throughout the South, but is also pro- 

 viding a valuable means of increasing food production. 



SPECIALISTS. 



In addition to the county agents in the South, there is a force of 

 259 specialists in agriculture and home economics traveling from 

 the State agricultural colleges and the different bureaus of the de- 

 partment. Their main function is to assist the county agent along 

 special lines of work. They outline demonstrations, assist the agent 

 in establishing demonstrations, and in holding meetings. They pre- 

 pare technical bulletins for distribution to farmers, answer corre- 

 spondence at the headquarters on technical matters, and organize 

 and assist in campaigns when such are necessarv- The prevention of 

 spread of plant and animal diseases, the eradication of insects, the 

 advice and counsel on problems in marketing, introduction of new 

 and untried crops, and many other lines of activity are supervised by 

 these specialists. 



In the Department of Agriculture close contact has been established 

 between the subject-matter divisions of the department and the OfRce 

 of Extension Work in the South. At the present time this arrange- 

 ment has been ]^erfected with eight diiferent divisions, as follows : 

 Office of Horticultural and Pomological Investigations and the Office 

 of Truck Crop and Cotton Diseases, Bureau of Plant Industry; the 

 Office of Farm Management; Bureau of Marksts; Bureau of Animal 

 Industry in animal husbandry and poultry husbandry; Dairy Divi- 

 sion, Bureau of Animal Industry; Bureau of Entomology in general 

 insect pests and in bee keeping ; and the Forest Service. Under this 

 arrangement generally the salary of the specialist is paid from the 

 subject-matter division and his travel when engaged in extension work 

 is paid by the Office of Extension Work in the South. Such special- 

 ists when in the field represent and are responsible to the subject- 

 matter division as to all subject matter, and to the Office of Extension 

 AVork in the South as to extension method and policy. They have 

 their contacts in the field and go to the States to help unify and carry 

 out the work on a broad basis. They are the go-betweens of the de- 

 partment subject-matter heads and the State subject-matter heads, 

 and assist in unifying the work in each of the States. 



