DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



177 



fund of experience and illustrative instances was the most successful lec- 

 turer; by demonstration trains where livestock, crop exhibits, silo models, 

 charts, etc., were used for demonstration purposes; by educational agri- 

 cultural exhibits at fairs; by exhibits and demonstrations at movable schools 

 and short courses, and by special demonstration days in towns and com- 

 munities. It was foreshadowed also by the revolution in methods of teach- 

 ing the natural sciences in colleges and secondary schools, where the 

 didactic lessons and lectures have given place largely to laboratory demon- 

 strations and practical work. It is but a natural development, therefore, 

 'in the method of bringing agricultural education to all the people, a de- 

 velopment the possibilities of which have but recently begun to be under- 

 stood. 



A Utilitarian Movement 



The purpose or driving force in this demonstration movement is funda- 

 mentally utilitarian. Were it not that a large percentarge of our popula- 

 tion already has recognized the need for greater and more economical farm 

 production and for more efficient and less extravagant distribution of farm 

 products, the movement would have been slow of development indeed. The 

 prospect of increased production has appealed to the consumer, and that 

 of more economical production with less waste in distribution has appealed 

 to the producer, and each one is looking to the demonstration movement 

 to further his own cause. 



This fundamental utilitarian motive must not be lost sight of during this 

 early development of the demonstration movement, because in so far as 

 it succeeds in accomplishing at least in part what is expected of it, just 

 so far will it be considered successful and gain a permanent place in the 

 educational system. 



The Directive Agencies 



The immediate need of any movement as large and important as the 

 demonstration movement is organization to direct the forces set in motion. 

 The first organization for this purpose in this country was the Office of 

 Farmers Cooperative Demonstration Work of the United States Department 

 of Agriculture, which in 1904 undertook to direct demonstration work in 

 cottongrowing in the South, a work originally designed to meet the emer- 

 gency presented by the invasion of the boll weevil. Its efforts in demon- 

 strating to the rural population of the South methods of growing cotton 

 under boll weevil conditions brought such striking results that those in 

 close touch with the situation claim that in three years after work was 

 started the weevil-infested area had recovered from its demoralization and 

 acquired as great prosperity if not greater than before the weevil infesta- 

 tion, and almost a normal cotton crop was again being produced. The 

 scope of the movement has since broadened so that it now includes not 

 only demonstrations in cottongrowing, but also in the production of corn, 

 legume crops, winter cover crops, and livestock and in general diversified 

 farming. 



There are now 765 demonstration agents in men's and boys's work in 



