68 THE COUNTY AGENT'S SERVICES 



make the necessary sacrifices of other things. The same is 

 true of a community, which is only a collection of indi- 

 viduals which "has come to act together in the common 

 concerns of life." 



THE LACK OP LEADERSHIP 



There is a disturbing apparent lack of qualified farmer 

 leadership in too many rural communities. This was one 

 of the first things which most county agents discovered 

 when they entered their counties. One of the county 

 agent's greatest accomplishments is that he has found, en- 

 couraged and helped to develop many strong local leaders 

 and brought about the solution of many local problems by 

 communities themselves. 



There are still too many rural communities without good 

 leadership. Many needful things go undone. Many things 

 that are accomplished are not done well enough. The find- 

 ing and helping of leadership to function is still a con- 

 siderable task and one to which the county agent may well 

 devote much of his time and energy. 



One of the reasons for this apparent lack of leadership is 

 that in the great majority of cases the farmers' business is 

 in itself too small to develop men of affairs. The gross 

 income of the average farmer probably varies between 

 $1,000 and $5,000 ; the income of the most successful farm- 

 ers from $10,000 to $25,000, the $50,000 and $100,000 gross 

 farm incomes being very exceptional. The average gross in- 

 come, however, increased very rapidly up to the period 

 of agricultural price collapse in 1920. A well-recognized 

 tendency toward larger farming enterprises is a valuable 

 contributing factor to the training of farmer leadership. 



Farmers work hard physically. Less than one farmer in 

 two usually has a hired man. He is closely confined to his 



