REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 23 



Community development in dairying. — Community development in 

 dairying was undertaken by the department in a typical small cream- 

 ery community in northern Iowa in 1910. The object of the experi- 

 ment was to determine the practicability of employing skilled in- 

 structors to assist such communities in bringing the dairy business to 

 a higher level. The work, which proved to be financially successful, 

 was continued for five years, and similar work now is being carried 

 on, with even greater success, in the vicinity of Grove Cit}^, Pa. If 

 the 5,000 creameries in this country should adopt the community- 

 development plan, it doubtless would result in greatly enlarged 

 profits for the patrons. 



The creamery extension work has increased the efficiency of a 

 large number of creameries. The department also has given assist- 

 ance in building and equipping creameries, rearranging the machin- 

 ery, systematizing the methods of operation, eliminating losses, and 

 improving the quality of the products. 



Research work. — The activities indicated are almost entirely of an 

 educational nature. The department also is conducting investiga- 

 tions relating to dairy problems on a scale which is unequaled 

 anywhere else in the world. Much of this work, in its beginning, is 

 of a highly technical nature, but results are being accumulated which 

 are of great practical value in the field demonstration work. Ex- 

 tensive study of the types of bacteria in milk, their origin, and the 

 channels through which they contaminate milk, has established a 

 reasonable basis for dairy sanitation. Perhaps the most striking 

 example of the application of the results of laboratory research to 

 practice is the development of methods of manufacture of some of 

 the foreign cheeses which make up the bulk of our cheese imports. 



PRODUCTION OF FOOD CROPS. 



The production of food crops adequate to meet the consuming 

 needs of the country and the export demand is a matter of large 

 importance to the American people. Our potential agricultural 

 resources in this respect are so varied and ample that there can be 

 no doubt of our ability abundantly to supply our domestic wants, 

 when climatic conditions are normal and the foreign demand is not 

 excessive. One of the greatest agricultural needs, therefore, is the 

 stabilizing of production. 



