188 BACKGROUND AND MEANS OF SERVICE 



possible loss and injury from poor advice should make the 

 adviser very certain that his recommendations are worthy 

 to be followed before he gives it. 



The value of all such advice is directly proportional to 

 the known definite knowledge and experience of the adviser. 

 It must be practicably and applicable and it must be wisely 

 applied. The wise county agent will stick to general prin- 

 ciples in advising, realizing that the man who does not 

 know how to apply such principles is both dangerous and 

 useless to advise in any case. It is, however, reasonable to 

 suppose that a person who has made a special study of a 

 problem and who has had a wide experience, especially if 

 he kas the requisite local knowledge to apply it, is the best 

 qualified to give worthwhile advice. 



ORGANIZING FARMERS 



Possibly because of the relatively unorganized condition 

 of American agriculture and the need and demand for co- 

 operation among farmers at this time, this form of county 

 agent service has come to occupy a relatively large part of 

 his time and attention. In the early consideration of the 

 county agent's functions, this phase was given little serious 

 thought, except perhaps in relation to local farmers' clubs 

 or granges, or to such minor production organizations as 

 cow testing associations. 



As a result of a better realization of their marketing 

 problems accompanying and immediately following the war, 

 farmers have now demanded that county agents give a 

 larger proportion of their time to helping set up farm 

 marketing organizations. Mr. W. A. Lloyd of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture has shown that the agents have re- 

 sponded to this demand by increasing the proportion of 

 their time devoted to marketing from seventeen per cent in 



