464 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Other kinds of service might well be referred to, but these three seem 

 to comprehend the main features of extension work in the immediate 

 future. 



As to extension work in its relation to better farming, we will remem- 

 ber the benefits that have come to individuals and to communities and to 

 the nation from the strictly agricultural educational phases of extension 

 work, including the work of county agents in the fields and barns and 

 the work of demonstration agents in the homes and the work with boys 

 and girls who are to be the future farmers and home makers. 



Extension work owes its present strong position among farmers and 

 the public very largely to what has been done along these lines. Such 

 effort will of course be continued, and with the co-operation of farm 

 bureaus they may be made much more effective. The farmers of Iowa, 

 thru methods advocated by experts including many farmers themselves, 

 should save, for example, a large part of the twenty-five million dollars 

 lost annually on account of plant diseases. If investigational work and 

 educational work are not^ continued these losses will become larger 

 rather than less. Thru the elimination of such losses the individual 

 farmers secure direct and very large financial gains. Of course, we are 

 all interested in these savings. 



It will not be amiss here to point out that every industry has its 

 constant procession of new difficulties and every large industry has its 

 corps of experts to contend with these difficulties and advise ways of 

 overcoming them. Manufacturers, sometimes thru associations, expend 

 millions and millions of dollars in these ways. Commercial interests 

 do the same. The experiment stations represent the farmer's means for 

 learning about many of his most difficult problems. 



The question which now disturbs those who are engaged in experiment 

 station work is whether we are maintaining this work on a large enough 

 and strong enough basis to keep up with the new difficulties that are 

 constantly arriving on our farms. Just now the corn borer looms on 

 the eastern horizon. If it should enter Iowa and do what some of the 

 most eminent entomologists fear it would do, our losses would run very 

 high in the millions of dollars. With so much at stake would it not be 

 economy to appropriate a large sum, if need be, to learn about this 

 threatening pest and try to ward it off? Of course some work is being 

 done but are we doing enough? We all hope the pest is not as serious 

 as some think it may be, but we ought to know as soon as possible. 



Other technical problems are in need of much more attention than 

 they are getting. In recent years also there has developed a whole line of 

 problems related to the business side of agriculture and including those 

 in the field of primary marketing. The solution of these problems 

 comes down generally to a question of funds available for doing the work. 



It is proper to mention these things here because the effectiveness of 

 education thru extension departments rests squarely upon the promptness 

 and value of investigational work which must be carried on by highly 

 trained experts with special and frequently expensive equipment. The 

 value of such service will depend largely upon the continuation of co- 

 operation and support on the part of the farm bureaus. 



