14 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



By vote of the section, its 1915 program is to consist entirely of subjects 

 directly relating to experiment station organization and policy. 



SKCTION ON EXTENSION WORK. 



The extension swtion opened its program with a joint session with the 

 American Association of Farmers' Institute Workers. At this, Dr. A. C. True 

 took up the question of the use of the Smith-Lever funds for farmers' insti- 

 tutes as a phase of extension work. In this he drew attention to the strictly 

 educational character of the extension work contemplated by the act, and 

 the great stress laid on practical demonstrations. The farmers' institutes, 

 therefore, come within the provisions of the law only as far as they may be 

 agencies through which the colleges can carry on work of this type. "Where the 

 institute system is directly connec-ted with the colleges, it is believed that they 

 may be easily modified and restricted in scope so as to give them a distinctive 

 place in the extension system. In States where the institutes are under the 

 direction of other agencies, their maintenance apparently does not come within 

 the provisions of the law, though there may be cooperation and participation by 

 the college staffs. The eventual establishment of a county-agent system will 

 also affect the situation. Conditions as to farmers' institute administration at 

 present vary so widely in different States that apparently the first need is a 

 standardization of the institute. See also the editorial discussion on page 4. 



The relation of farmers' institutes to organized extension agencies was 

 also discussed by Prof. G. I. Christie, of Indiana. lie believed that the insti- 

 tute is still fulfilling a practical need and should receive the assistance of the 

 extension staff, but should be correlated with other exteusit)n work and brought 

 under the supervision of the colleges. 



As an example of a model farmers' institute address. Director C. E. Thome 

 gave a paper on Maintaining Crop Production, based largely upon the findings 

 of the Ohio Station. Former Dean L. H. Bailey, of Cornell University, closed 

 the joint session with an address on The Present Responsibility of the Rural 

 People. This had special reference to the conditions brought about by the 

 European war, and emphasized the -political responsiliility of rural people in 

 the progress of the nation. 



At a subsequent session, C. B. Smith, of the States" Relations Committee of 

 this Department, presented a paper on the Problem of Placing County Agencies 

 in Effective Touch with Farmers. He described some of the means that have 

 been found effective, among them the following : " Work through organizations ; 

 deal with individuals but primai'ily only as they represent groups of farmers; 

 know what the agrieultui-e of the county is from first-hand sources, and on the 

 basis of such information undertake demonstrations, supplemented by propa- 

 ganda work, by lectures, and the press; write and talk with the facts of local 

 agriculture arranged in such a convincing way as to induce action; utilize the 

 public school system and work with the boys and girls — through them you also 

 reach the hearts of fathers and mothers, the field, and the home; utilize the 

 automobile excursion, the college excursion, the county picnic, the farmers' 

 meetings, the county fairs, etc., for social purposes, demonstrations, educational 

 exhibits, and instruction ; get behind and push every helpful agricultural 

 movement in the county; put in a county agent who knows agricuUure tech- 

 nically and practically, whose heart is in his work, and whose highest delight 

 is in rendering service.'' 



In a paper entitled Correlating the Extension Work of the Colleges with Other 

 Agencies in the State. Prof. C. R. Titlow of West Virginia defined an extension 

 department as the head of itinerant education in a State. It was claimed that 



