Miscellaneous. 



f August, 1908. 



agents are expected to have not only a 

 knowledge of scientific agriculture, but 

 to be practical farmers and to have 

 had considerable experience in the 

 demonstration work. State agents are 

 strong and capable men, who have 

 shown their ability to successfully carry 

 out the instructions of the central office 

 over a large territory, and they are 

 specially qualified for the work by the 

 possession of the tact necessary to 

 influence men. 



The term " demonstration farm" is 

 used to designate a portion of land on a 

 farm that is worked strictly according 

 to our instructions. This is visited by 

 an agent as often as once a month, if 

 possible, to see that these instructions 

 are carried out and to give any further 

 advice necessary. 



A " co-operator " is a farmer who agrees 

 to work a part or all of his crop accord- 

 ing to our instructions, but a Depart- 

 ment agent only visits him in excep- 

 tional cases, 



During the ensuing year there will be 

 employed in the co-operative demon- 

 stration work 59 agents paid from Govern- 

 ment appropriations, and in the exten- 

 sion work 81 agents paid by the General 

 Education Board. With this force about 

 12,000 demonstration farms had been 

 established up to February 1, 1908, and 

 20,000 farmers had agreed to co-operate 

 and make reports as to results. 



Scope of the Demonstrations. 

 The Farmers' Co-operative Demon- 

 stration Work is a system by which the 

 simple and well-established principles of 

 successful farming are directly taught 

 to the men on the farms. The men who 

 toil on the farms to produce the food 

 that nourishes all the people, and who 

 in a large measure provide the resources 

 that support our civilization, are as 

 justly entitled to a knowledge of the 

 best chat science and general experience 

 have evolved for increase of production 

 and for the betterment of agricultural 

 conditions as the youth of our country 

 are entitled to an education that will fit 

 them for a broader cricizenship. 



One of the most serious problems in 

 the reform of agricultural methods has 

 been how to influence the farmer to 

 adopt improved practices. It has been 

 found that the mere dissemination of 

 printed information sometimes does not 

 accomplish this result, and therefore the 

 method of neighbourhood farm demon- 

 strations in co-operation with pro- 

 gressive farmers has been evolved. 

 The effect of a field demonstration is 

 immediate and positive, and reaches all 

 classes. 



By actual count, it is determined that 

 the number of farmers who annually 

 visit each demonstration farm ranges 

 from thirty to a hundred. If the average 

 is placed as low as thirty the total num- 

 ber visiting 12,000 demonstration farms 

 in one year would be 360,000. If we are 

 the co-operating farmers, the aggregate 

 is greatly increased. 



The teaching by object-lessons is more 

 effective where it is simple, direct, and 

 limited to a few common field crops, 

 such as cotton, corn, cowpeas, and oats 

 in the South, so that the comparisons 

 may be evident and accepted at a glance. 

 If general success can be secured with 

 these standard crops, further diversifica- 

 tion follows as a natural result. 



Briefly stated, the salient features of 

 the co-opei*ative farm demonstrations 

 are as follows: — 



(1) Better drainage of the soil. 



(2) A deeper and more thoroughly 

 pulverized seed bed ; deep fall breaking 

 (plowing) with implements that will not 

 bring the subsoil to the surface. 



(3) The use of seed of the best variety, 

 intelligently selected and carefully 

 stored. 



(4) In cultivated crops, giving the 

 rows and the plants in the rows a space 

 suited to the plant, the soil, and climate. 



(5) Intensive tillage during the grow- 

 ing periods of the crops. 



(6) The importance of a high content 

 of humus in the soil. The use of legumes, 

 barnyard manure, farm refuse, and com- 

 mercial fertilizers. » 



(7) The value of crop rotation and a 

 winter cover crop on southern farms. 



(8) The accomplishing of more work 

 in a day on the farm by using more horse- 

 power and better implements. 



(9) The importance of increasing the 

 farm stock to the extent of utilizing all 

 the waste products and idle lands of the 

 farm. 



(10) The production of all food re- 

 quired for the men and animals on the 

 farm. 



(11) The keeping of an account with 

 each farm product, in order to know 

 from which the gain or loss arises. 



The Instructions. 



Our instructions have the following 

 advantages : — (1) What the Department 

 of Agriculture at Washington knows 

 from its vast stores of informations 

 about the special crop under consider- 

 ation ; (2) what the State agricultural 



