BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY, ITS FUNCTIONS AND EFFICIENCY. 7 



and farmers' week, farmers' conferences, demonstrations, railway 

 specials, exhibitions, educational excursions, etc. The committee, 

 commenting on the outline, says : 



This type of work is so f inula mental in its relationship to agricultural pros- 

 perity that no student of the situation can but be convinced that the work 

 itself must expand largely and go on for all time. The only question is, Who 

 is going to do it? Is it to be the agricultural colleges or are other agencies to 

 perform it? 



It is true that there are those who say that we can not hope to reach the 

 hundredth man on the farm; that the most we can do is to train leaders at 

 the colleges, and then through agricultural departments of high schools and 

 such means as the agricultural press, various agricultural societies, etc., let the 

 modern knowledge percolate down as far as it may. 



Your committee believes that this doctrine is essentially undemocratic. We 

 believe that the attempt should be made to reach the last man on the land, not 

 primarily because of a sentimental regard for that last unfortunate man but 

 because it is absolutely essential in the conservation of soil resources that the 

 intelligence of soil tillers be conserved. 



The land in America devoted to agriculture is in the hands of some seven or 

 eight million different men. A large proportion of these men are owners of the 

 land, who have the power to determine whether the land shall be used properly or 

 whether its fertility shall be encroached upon. They can not be compelled by 

 law to take proper care of their land. They will care for it properly only as 

 they are educated to the level of an appreciation of the importance of right 

 farming to themselves and to their posterity. 



There is another element in the situation. The character of our agricultural 

 population is constantly changing. The foreigner, ignorant of our language and 

 often ignorant of the best types of farming, is gradually crowding out the old 

 American farmer. In other words, we have a perpetually flowing current of 

 new soil workers that must be brought to understand the best methods of farm- 

 ing. 



And then, too, we are making such rapid strides in our knowledge of agricul- 

 tural science that even the graduates of agricultural schools and colleges will 

 need to continue their studies. The time is coming when the extension service 

 of the agricultural college will devote a considerable portion of its time to cor- 

 respondence — teaching the better educated farmers, who will avail themselves of 

 this opportunity to keep themselves abreast of the times. This suggests that 

 even if the attempt to reach the great masses of the farmers be given over to 

 other agencies, the extension service of the agricultural college could find ample 

 scope for its energies in the higher forms of extension teaching. 



It will appear, I think, from the discussion up to this time that we 

 have been shaping a point of view rather than an arbitrary conception 

 as to what properly falls within our field of activity. We are fairly 

 clear as to our field in research, experimentation, and demonstration 

 as applied to regional problems, but in all of this educational work or 

 extension service the best we can do for the present is to endeavor to 

 get the proper point of view and hold to that. This point of view is 

 that the educational work should be conducted by the State institu- 

 tions, for the reason that they are, or should be, closer to the people on 

 local questions than we are. At the same time the fact should not be 



[Cir. 117] 



