RELATION OF EXTENSION AGENCIES TO FARM PRACTICE. 23 



Of this number -21 per cent give the bulletins first choice in the list of 

 most beneficial agencies, 14 per cent placed the institute first, while 

 the remainder, or 65 per cent, give first place to the farm paper. This 

 comparison indicates that, with farmers who are competent to judge, 

 those who prefer the newspapers are three times as numerous as those 

 who prefer the bulletins and practically five times as many as 

 those who place the farmers' institutes first. 



The reasons given for the wide popularity and greater usefulness 

 of the agricultural press may be briefly summarized as follows : The 

 papers come regularly and often, while the bulletins are sent out very 

 irregularly and infrequently. The bulletins are read once and become 

 old matter, while the paper contains fresh matter or a new presenta- 

 tion of old matter each week. The papers come directly to the farmer, 

 but he has to go to the institute, which is held at best only a few times 

 a year and perhaps then during a busy season or at a considerable 

 distance. 



Although the bulletins are regarded as the most accurate, they 

 generally deal omVwith some special subject, while the paper in each 

 issue treats of a variety of agricultural subjects. Because of this 

 specialization many of the bulletins do not deal with any subject in 

 which the individual fanner is interested, and while they might be 

 valuable to the right person, they are of little value to the one receiv- 

 ing them. Many farmers also claim, as is probably true, that the 

 farm papers contain all the essential information contained in the 

 bulletin or heard at the institute, and the subjects are concisely treated 

 and are usually written in language that the farmer can understand. 



The data secured were tabulated to learn whether those receiving 

 the bulletins and attending the institutes were thereby induced to 

 take farm papers. The results show that 83 per cent of the 1,603 

 farmers receiving the bulletins and 88.5 per cent of the 1,105 attend- 

 ing the fanners' institutes also took farm papers. 



If the results secured in this survey are typical of the relative 

 values placed by farmers over the country generally upon the vari- 

 ous agricultural agencies under consideration, it would seem that 

 the agricultural research institutions of the country should make 

 systematic use of the agricultural press as one of the most efficienl 

 means of reaching the farmer. Not only this, but special endeavor 

 should be made by research institutions to keep in sufficiently close 

 touch with the agricultural papers to see that the matter which goes 

 to make up the farm paper is accurate and reliable. This is perhaps 

 as much the duty of such institutions as is the publication of bul- 

 letins. 



With reference to the influence of demonstration agents it was 

 found that out of the 92 farmers receiving such instructions in the 



[Cir. 117] 



