DEPARTMENT REPORTS. 65 



of the count3\ He cooperates with llie CollGj;e, the Experiment Station 

 and the Government in all pliases of their extension worli and his con- 

 stant and close rolalionshi]) lo the i)rolilenis and needs of Die fanners 

 makes him an ellicient inleniiediary between llie agriciiUiiral activities 

 of the county and these institutions. Out of his own training and ex- 

 perience, he may often safely advise but he also ])erf<)rms a very valu- 

 able soi'vice in bringinp,' the i)roblems of the farmer and of the rural 

 community into closer relation to the work of the various specialists of 

 the college. In addition to this he is the representative of the people 

 in all their other agricultural activities. 



The work which Ihe county agriculturists are doing may be con- 

 sidered under four divisions: (1) soil problems; (2) specific farni 

 enterprises; (3) the farm as a unit or as an organization of farm en- 

 ter])rises; (4) the community in its relation to the farm, the farmer, 

 and successful agTiculture. Under the first two divisions the extension 

 methods have Ijeen fairly well tested and established. In the considera- 

 tion of the second and third divisions of the work, extension must, for 

 the most part, follow investigation. In the third division the focus of 

 our attention will be not upon the yields of a particular crop or farm 

 enterprise but upon the organization of the farm entei'prises into a 

 system, which under given conditions of production and distribution 

 will give the largest net income for the farm as a whole. This involves 

 not only an application of the physical and biological sciences to 

 farm problems but also the science of economics. The fourth division of 

 the work is a recognition of the fact that the success of modern farm- 

 ing depends very largely upon the nature of the community in which 

 the farm is located. Today the most successful farm can not be es- 

 tablished in an unorganized and indifferent community and sociological 

 investigations will often need to precede the really valuable efforts to 

 assist in the building of the more highly organized rural communities. 



Respectfully submitted, 



EBEN MUMFORD, 

 State leader Farm Management 

 Field-Studies and Demonstrations. 



East Lansing, Mich., June 30, 1913. 



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