THE OFF 



UNITED States 



RECORD 



OF Agriculture 



CiBTiniATB : By directfon of the Secretury of Agilcultuie. tlie matter contaioed lierein is publlsbed aa adminjatratlTe Informatloo and 1« 



reguired for tbe proper transaction of tbe pabUc buslness 



Vol. III 



AA^ASHINGTON, D. C, OcTOBER 22, 1924 



No. 43 



AGRICULTURE HAS BIG 

 INTEREST IN RADIO 



At Recent National Conference Much 



Attention Given to Problems of 



Rural Listeners 



The thinl national radio Conference 

 has been hehl. The prolilems discussed 

 by this Conference were niore complex 

 and diffieult of Solution than any of the 

 Problems presented nt tue two preceding 

 Conferences. It was tue general con- 

 sensus of opinion that legal nieasures 

 were not necessary to bring about prog- 

 ress in radio and that greater achieve- 

 inent might be attained through volun- 

 tary Cooperation among the interested 

 agencies. 



Interference is Main Problem 



The greatest problem considered was 

 tUat of interference. Interference may 

 be caused by broadcasting stations which 

 are too close to each other or which 

 operate on frequencies that are not 

 widely enough separated. Interference 

 is also caused by the Signals from sta- 

 tions sending in code, many of which are 

 using spark transniitters, and then there 

 is interference from various outside elec- 

 trica! sources, such as power lines, elec- 

 trical geiierutors, electric static macliines, 

 and others. 



Although most of the Problems dis- 

 cussed at the Conference were of a tech- 

 nical cliaracter, nevertheless raany of 

 them have a distinct bearing upon the 

 interest which agriculture has in radio 

 as a means of distributing essential In- 

 formation. There was a large number 

 of agricultural interests represented at 

 the Conference in addition to the repre- 

 sentatives of the Department of Agri- 

 culture. Among these were the agricul- 

 tural Colleges, farm organizatlons, State 

 departments of agriculture, «nd agricul- 

 tural press. 



What can rightly be termed agricul- 

 tural broadcasting was generally recog- 

 nized ns a primary function of the 

 broadcasting stations, even of those 

 1515l*--24 



looatcd in the large eitles of the East. 

 The managers of these stations, al- 

 though they serve a large urban Popula- 

 tion, recognized that there are thousands 

 of farmers in their far-flung audiences 

 and that they liave a greater need tor 

 the benefits of radio broadcasting than 

 (he people who live in eitles. 



At (he preseut time agricultural broad- 

 casting is niade up of weather, crop and 

 market reports, agricultural news, and 

 talks on agi-icultural subjects. There 

 are 117 stations now cooperating with 

 the Weather Bureau broadcasting 

 weather reports and storm warnings. 

 Scvcnt.Teight stations are cooperating 

 with the Bureau of Agi-icuItural Eco- 

 uomics in the prompt distribution of 

 market news reports and crop Informa- 

 tion. Twenty-six stations cooperate 

 with the Press Service of the Department 

 ot Agriculture broadcasting news regard- 

 ing the activities of the departraent and 

 other agricultural interests. 



A new phase of agricultural broadcast- 

 ing has been developed during the past 

 year, naniely, that of the Installation of 

 stations exclusively for agricultural 

 programs. Quite a large number of such 

 stations are now operating, some of them 

 privately owned and some of them lo- 

 cated at the agricultural Colleges. The 

 development of this work at the agri- 

 cultural Colleges seems to have received 

 a new Impetus and several of such sta- 

 tions are developing rather extensive 

 programs along educational lines. Some 

 of the privately owned agricultural broad- 

 casting stations have developed a unique 

 style of presentation of material even in 

 connection with the entertainment fea- 

 tures of their programs, and if the re- 

 sponses of their listeners is any criterion 

 their efEorts are being appreciated. At 

 the prosent time there are 38 agricultural 

 Colleges and unlversities operating broad- 

 casting stations. The number will prob- 

 ably increase rather than decrease. 

 National Programs Prepared 



The present tendency in broadcasting 

 seems to be toward the broadening of the 

 usefulness of radio Service by the use of 

 (ConUnued on page S) 



DEMONSTRATION AT SNI- 

 A-BAR BREEDING FARMS 



Officials Cooperate with Department 



in Making Motion Picture on 



Value of Purebreds 



The seventh annual Sni-a-Bar demon- 

 stration of the value of purebred buUs 

 in cattle breeding uccurred at Grain 

 Valley. Mo., October 9. The event was 

 a part of a .30-year demonstration con- 

 dueted iu accordance with the will of 

 Col. W. R. Nelson, a public spirited resi- 

 dent, who conceived and originated the 

 plan. An attendance of nearly 10,000 

 per.sons observed four generations of 

 cattle and noted the superior conforma- 

 tion and quality resulting from the use 

 of purebred bulls which had been bred 

 to ordinary red cows obtained from 

 the Kansas City stockyards. 



Livestock Specialists Present 



The Department of Agriculture was 

 represented by B. W. Sheets, D. S. 

 Burch, and W. A. Stenhouse, of the Bu- 

 reau of Animal Indu.stry, and Corliss 

 Cranier, cinematographer of the Office 

 of Motion Pictures. Missouri and sur- 

 rounding States sent delegations of offi- 

 cials, including livestock specialists of 

 the State Colleges of agriculture, and 

 oflicers of State boards of agriculture. 



Through the courtesy of the manage- 

 ment the departnient obtained 1,400 feet 

 of motion pictures which will be used as 

 a basis for an educational film dealing 

 with animal breeding. The Sni-a-Bar 

 demonstration is frequently referred to 

 as a " proving ground " of the value of 

 purebred Siros and is the largest enter- 

 prise of its kind. The farm, which is 

 about 2.5 miles from Kansas City, con- 

 tains 1,800 acres, and about 1,000 Short- 

 horn cattle are Involved in the breeding 

 work. The pictures obtained include not 

 only the live animals, but various cuts 

 of loin, round, rlb, and chuck steak lllus- 

 trating the appearance of the mcat re- 

 sulting from systematic breeding. Other 



