August, 1908.] 



167 



Miscellaneous. 



round salad and a variety of vegetables 

 if we will consent to bring to the study 

 of the subject such energy and skill as 

 under the genius of Parisian gardeners 

 have brought the value of the land round 

 Paris up to a rent equivalent to £30 and 

 more an acre." — Public Opinion, 26th, 

 June. 



DEMONSTRATION WORK IN CO- 

 OPERATION WITH SOUTHERN 

 FARMERS. 



By S. A. Knapp. 



Introduction. 



The Farmers' Co-operative Demonstra- 

 tion Work conducted by the United 

 States Department of Agriculture 

 through the Bureau of Plant Industry 

 was inaugurated under authority of 

 Congress in January, 1901, primarily 

 because of the depredations of the Mexi- 

 can cotton boll weevil in the State of 

 Texas. By the rapid spread of this pest 

 east and north it had then become evi- 

 dent that it would in time invade all of 

 the cotton-producing States. This occa- 

 sioned a general alarm among the cotton 

 planters and in the industrial centre of 

 the entire country. For a number of 

 years prior to 1904 the Mexican boll 

 weevil had been steadily encroaching 

 upon the cotton-producing lands of 

 Texas, until it had spread from the Rio 

 Grande, to a short distance beyond the 

 eastern boundary of the State and 

 threatened the entire cotton industry of 

 the South. In sections where cotton 

 was the sole catch crop the invasion of 

 Ime weevil and the consequence loss of 

 the cotton crop brought disaster to 

 every interest and so completely demora- 

 lized financial conditions as to produce 

 in some sections a panic. 



The cotton crop had been generally 

 produced upon a credit system by secur- 

 ing advances from merchants and 

 bankers. Upon the advent of the boll 

 weevil, confidence in securing a cotton 

 crop was impaired and in some districts 

 almost totally destroyed. The usual 

 advances were either witheld or limited ; 

 labour became discontented and sought 

 other sections or other States, and, 

 tenant-farmers unable to obtain ad- 

 vances, removed to non-infested districts, 

 a marked decline in property values re- 

 sulting. 



These circumstances created a demand 

 for immediate relief which appealed to 

 the entire country, as the loss of the 

 cotton crop would be a national calamity. 

 In response to this appeal, Congress made 

 an emergency appropriation in January, 



1904, which has been continued each 

 year, thus affording opportunity for the 

 growth and enlargement of the work. 



The Two Branches op the Demon- 

 stration Work. 



As at present organized and developed 

 the Farmers' Co-operative Demonstra- 

 tion Work may be said to consist of two 

 divisions: (1) The demonstration of im- 

 proved methods of agriculture in the 

 weevil-infected districts, which is the 

 natural outgrowth of the original plan, 

 and (2) the exteusiou of the same prin- 

 ciples to other Southern States beyond 

 the range of weevil infestation. 



The territory covered by the first divi- 

 sion of the work includes eastern and 

 northern Texas, southern Arkansas, 

 Oklahoma, Louisiana, and a portion of 

 Mississippi. The total area thus covered 

 is more than 300,000 square miles The 

 work in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and 

 Mississippi has been broadly inagurated 

 only since October, 1907. 



The second division of the work was 

 commenced in Mississippi in March, 1906 

 In co-operation with the General Educa- 

 tion Board of New York, this work in 

 1907 was conducted in a limited way in 

 Alabama and Virginia, and has recently 

 been extended into North Carolina, 

 South Carolina, and Georgia. The ex- 

 penses of this division of the work are 

 defrayed by the General Education 



i 3 ^^ 1 " ^ 1 ™ 8 appropriated the sum 

 ot $09,000 tor demonstration work during 

 the year commencing October 1, 1907. 

 The Board has shown deep interest 

 hearty co-operation, and a very broad 

 philanthropy in this work of reaching 

 the rural masses and bettering farm con- 

 ditions. 



Plan op Organization. 

 The Farmers' Co-operative Demonstra- 

 tion Work is conducted by the writer as 

 special agent in charge, who reports di- 

 rectly to the chief of the Bureau of Plant 

 Industry. A corps of field agents, classi- 

 fied according to territory in charge 

 as State, district, and county agents is 

 employed. The county agents are 

 appointed mainly on the advice of local 

 committees of prominent business men 

 and farmers conversant with the ter- 

 ritory to be worked. Each agent has in 

 charge the practical work in or more 

 counties, strictly under such general 

 directions as may be issued from the 

 central office at Washington, D C The 

 field agents have been selected' with 

 special reference to a thorough know- 

 ledge ot improved agriculture and prac- 

 tical experience in farming in the sections 

 to which they are appointed. District 



