94 THE COUNTY AGENT'S SERVICES 



position. The consumer has not always understood the 

 underlying educational purpose of the county agent's work 

 and has not seen the advantages of uniformity, standardi- 

 zation and improved quality which the cooperative organi- 

 zation of farmers is sure to bring to him. Moreover, there 

 has sometimes been political interference or attempted in- 

 terference with the county agent and his work at the 

 suggestion of interested parties, by local boards of super- 

 visors, by state legislatures and even by Congress. 



A LIVE QUESTION 



"With the knowledge of what the county agent has done 

 for him in the way of more efficient production, the 

 farmer naturally expects that the county agent will help 

 him in the same manner with his problems of marketing 

 and distribution. As farmers sometimes put it, "We have 

 had enough of teaching how to grow bigger crops from 

 which we receive a less return than for smaller crops, until 

 we know better how to market at a profit what we do 

 grow." The general situation which lies back of this 

 feeling on the part of farmers, accentuated by the war, has 

 been made increasingly difficult by the economic aftermath 

 of the war. The farmer has called on the county agent to 

 help him with his problems of organization for coopera- 

 tive marketing and for cooperative buying until the aver- 

 age county agent now devotes almost 50 per cent of his 

 time to these problems. So far as the absence of coopera- 

 tive action is a limiting factor in successful agriculture 

 and so far as county agent's teaching is sound and his ac- 

 tivities legitimate it is desirable that he should do so. 



The extent of the activities in helping farmers to organ- 

 ize for cooperative marketing is indicated in the last report 

 of the States Relations Service. In the thirty-three states 



