TEACHING THE CULTIVATORS 67 



does not include 6,737,971 circular letters, nor yet 100,150 question- 

 naires. The agents assisted in conducting 2,711 extension schools 

 and farmers' institutions, at which the attendance amounted to 

 348,751. They conducted 1,803 observation parties representing 

 82,094 people. They started boys' and girls' clubs, co-operative 

 societies, irrigation and drainage schemes. I have not these figures 

 for 1918. But in 1916, when things were done on a very much 

 reduced scale, there were as many as 1,188 drainage systems planned 

 by agents, applying to 374,916 acres ; 223 irrigation systems, apply- 

 ing to 162,475 acres ; 11,163 analyses made for soil acidity ; and 

 301 local sources of lime developed. There were selections of seed 

 made on 63,813 farms, and 1,268,237 acres planted with selected 

 seed. There were, moreover, 3,215 farm survey records taken, 

 12,841 farmers instructed to keep accounts, 12,841 (co-operative) 

 buying and selling organisations formed. The agents had further- 

 more conducted 34,613 demonstrations, involving 2,084,596 acres. 

 Nearly 140,000 head of live stock formed part of definite demonstra- 

 tion herds, either in disease treatment, stock feeding or otherwise. 

 In connection with these demonstrations, 13,017 meetings were held, 

 attended by 401,819 persons. The saving to farmers, as a direct 

 result of the demonstrations (confined to the demonstration herds 

 and demonstration areas alone), was estimated to amount to 

 4,779,079 dollars. 



So much for the official catalogue of services rendered, which I have 

 not quoted altogether in full. What appears to me of far greater 

 importance is the new spirit infused into agriculture by the services 

 enumerated. Quite a new spirit appears to have entered into the 

 farming community under such instruction. The agricultural 

 millennium has not indeed been yet brought about. But so far as 

 the agents have been directly or indirectly at work, the old torpor 

 and " leather jacket " rule of past time, the habitual indifference of 

 farmers to the teaching of allied science and modern development 

 has passed away. Farmers have begun to believe in instruction. 

 Farmers, both large and small, have begun to take an interest in 

 things. They take pleasure in learning. Their mind has been 

 awakened. They read. They think. They study. They observe. 

 They don't quote " grandfather " as an infallible authority and 

 insist on plodding on on the old trodden track. They do not close 

 their eyes to demonstrations. They come in shoals to gather know- 

 ledge from them. They start co-operative societies without Develop- 

 ment Fund money as a demoralising " leg-up." They flock to 



farmers' institutes meetings, which are meetings of a different sort 



r2 



