EDITORIAL. 607 



with project agreements drawn to suit the varied requirements of 

 different lines of work. 



The more strictly cooperative work will usually involve only the 

 Department's funds and such part of the Smith-Lever fund or state 

 funds as the colleges may choose to put into the cooperative arrange- 

 ment. The cooperation under the Smith-Lever Act will simply con- 

 sist in the submission by the colleges of their projects to the Depart- 

 ment for approval in advance, much as are the Adams fund projects, 

 unless the college shall decide to use the Smith-Lever fund in whole 

 or in part on projects which also involve the use of the Department's 

 funds. State funds which the colleges may have for extension work 

 outside the Smith-Lever projects and joint enterprises Avith the 

 Department will of course be entirely within the control of the col- 

 leges, but it is hoped that even these funds will be so used through 

 the Extension Divisions that there will be proper coordination of 

 effort and avoidance of duplication all along the line of the insti- 

 tution's extension activities. 



The inauguration of agricultural extension on the present broad 

 basis is a tribute to the native intelligence of the American farmer. 

 It recognizes his readiness for it and his ability to profit by it. 

 A movement along the proposed lines would have been impractical 

 under other conditions. It will aim confidently at putting into prac- 

 tice methods and ideas which are new to him and which require a 

 high degree of intelligence to carry out. 



There is a progressiveness in the American farmer and an adapta- 

 bility when properly aroused which makes possible radical changes 

 requiring a breaking away from tradition and custom. He needs to 

 be show^n and convinced, and when his confidence is won he is an 

 apt pupil. He is capable of the highest type of farming, and of 

 carrying out practices in irrigation, in seed improvement, in soil 

 renovation, in dairy sanitation, and in many other lines which it would 

 be useless to attempt to inculcate in the agriculture of many lands. 



One very striking and tangible result of the agricultural work of 

 the past quarter century has been the effect on the average American 

 farmer, winning his confidence, broadening his vision, and making 

 him more receptive of new ideas and more ready to change. As a 

 matter of fact, very many radical and widespread changes of practice 

 have already resulted, which have now become so generally accepted 

 that they no longer excite comment except where comparison is pr*:*- 

 sented. This is a remarkable achievement, worth all it has cost, and 

 it has paved the way for the present extension propaganda. 



The fear has been expressed that the experiment stations might 

 suffer from the popularity of extension work, that attention would be 

 diverted from them and from the need of their further support. 

 41074°— No. 7—14 2 



