10 MISC. PUBLICATION 8, U. S. DEFT. OF AGRICULTURE 



often even n State one. l)ut that the Western States have much in 

 eonimon and must jro alonjr lojiether in most thin<rs. It has helped 

 extension workers to focus their ert'orts on the hir^er objectives. 



It has brou^rht the extension and researcli personnel of the State 

 and Federal (iovernments into better workin*!: relationship and is 

 brin<rin<: about a coordination of projects among the States and 

 witiiin the States. 



It is discovering the absence of needed facts — the need for more 

 research. It has had an etl'ect on the investigational projects of the 

 Federal Department of Agriculture and of the individual States 

 under the Purnell Act. 



It lias brought the western situation more concretely to the atten- 

 tion of the Federal Department of Agriculture. The AVest is a long 

 way from Washington. Western agriculture measured by middle- 

 western standards may not seem important, but is of tremendous 

 importance to the West. There are now but few offices in the Fed- 

 eral Department of Agriculture that have not heard of the Western 

 States program and the individual State programs. The Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture believes in the elfort. It is anxious to cooperate. 

 That is why so many representatives of the department attend the 

 Western States regional conferences. 



It has made extension workers surer of their projects and given 

 them more faith in what is being done. It has not so far greatly 

 changed the kind of projects. In the main the same things are 

 being done, but it has often changed the emphasis and given facts 

 to back up the judgment used in selecting projects. 



It has helped to counteract ill-considered advice, whether selfish 

 or merely uninformed. The West, like the rest of the country, is 

 full of people w ho " know " how to save the farmer. They are 

 usually Avell-meaning, sometimes themselves the victims of propa- 

 ganda. The regional. State, and county conferences have furnished 

 the county agents with facts arrived at in conferences in which these 

 well-meaning advisers have often participated. 



The western program-making effort has placed the agricultural 

 college in the place of leadership that properly belongs to it. It has 

 coordinated the miscellaneous and often contradictory eiforts of 

 educational, business, and political agencies. It has given them a 

 place in the ]5rogram where they can do the things that they are best 

 prepared to do. 



For the first time it has focused extension attention on the great 

 livestock industry of the West, the dry-land problem, and the prob- 

 lem of land utilization. It has brought about a helpful and friendly 

 understanding between the livestock producers and the extension 

 agents. 



It has helped the county agent to focus on the essentials and to 

 make the programs more definite, more condensed. There are more 

 long-time goals and less miscellaneous, unrelated effort. 



It is helping to coordinate the home program with the agricultural 

 program and has brought about a better realization of the fact that, 

 particularly in the West, a settled, stable, satisfactory farm home is 

 fundamental to the full development of the economic program. This 

 is reflected in the fact that last year practically every agricultural 

 agent in the West in counties having no home demonstration agent 

 carried on more home projects. 



