82 THE COUNTY AGENTS SERVICES 



sistance to breeders' associations in developing local 

 county units or branches. This has served to bring to- 

 gether groups of men with common interests and to greatly 

 facilitate and stimulate efforts in their respective com- 

 munities and to increase numbers of pure-bred livestock, 

 and hence prosperity. 



A special form of production organization is the spray 

 service which has been conducted in a few states. County 

 agents and college specialists have found that to teach the 

 life history of insects and diseases, and to demonstrate 

 what to spray with in order to control these insects and 

 diseases, is not sufficient. It has been found that the limit- 

 ing factor in gaining control of these troubles is timeli- 

 ness. It will not do to treat spraying solely as a problem 

 of farm management. One cannot plan ahead of time to 

 sow the oats on Monday and Tuesday and to spray on 

 Wednesday. Exact time of spraying must be determined 

 largely by weather conditions, temperature which in turn 

 determines the rapidity of the opening of the buds, mois- 

 ture present and future, all of which regulate the develop- 

 ment of the insect or disease, and other similar factors. 

 This means an expert trained assistant, watching the bud 

 and leaf development, securing expert weather forecasts, 

 and the development of some means of getting this neces- 

 sary information quickly to growers. 



This has been worked out in Western New York, for 

 example, by a carefully organized telephone service which 

 probably influences the use of from ten to twelve thousand 

 spray rigs. A special assistant to the county agent 

 is employed. In cases where the number of growers 

 is small, the county agent may handle the service 

 himself. Certain orchards, known as ' ' criterion orchards, ' ' 

 are specially watched and are under the entire control of 

 the assistant, that is, the farmer sprays exactly when he 



