COOPERATIVE RELATIONS 6 1 



under the immediate direction either of the state director 

 of extension or the state county agent leader, they are in 

 reaHty officials of the federal and state governments. They 

 are paid from the joint cooperative funds. Such agricul- 

 tural agents or teachers may now be found in more than 

 half of the counties in the United States.^^ 



The county agents are greatly aided in their work by 

 what are known as county farm bureaus. These are organ- 

 izations of farmers and others interested in agriculture 

 formed largely for the purpose of cooperating with the 

 county agent. They also assist in the providing of funds 

 in those states which depend in part upon voluntary con- 

 tributions. 



In a constantly increasing number of counties, particu- 

 larly in the South, the work of the county agent is supple- 

 mented by the work of a woman home economics demon- 

 strator, whose duty it is to assist in the education of rural 

 women by conducting demonstrations in homes or in rural 

 community gatherings. The ultimate plan is to supply each 

 rural county with at least one county agent and a home eco- 

 nomics demonstrator. 



This system of county agents, when fully developed, 

 should constitute a most efficient administrative device for 

 the effective and rapid promulgation of any general agricul- 

 tural policy. While the appointment of these workers is 

 left almost entirely to the States, with the consequent lack, 

 in most cases, of civil service tests, the appointments thus 

 far seem to have been based upon merit, and have been 

 made with little or no regard to political affiliation. The 

 great majority of them are chosen from the graduates of the 

 agricultural colleges. Politicians will probably not fail to 

 see the strategic political advantages which men working in 

 this capacity have. The value of the service, therefore, will 

 depend in large measure on the extent to wiiich it is sub- 

 verted to the accomplishment of political ends. 



In the great majority of instances the cooperative rela- 



22 There are approximately 3500 counties in the United States. 



