EFFECTIVENESS OF EXTENSION IN REACHING RURAL PEOPLE 
13 
adopted improved agricultural practices. In the case of" home 
practices adopted, ownership carried with it no apparent advantages. 
Table 10. — Condition of land occupancy in relation to farms changing 
practices 
N umber 
Group of 
farms 
Per- 
centage 
of all 
farms 
Percentage of farms changing 
practices Average 
Average number 
size of of prac- 
farms . • Home A tices 
" nSScs ~ ChMged 
Owners 2,945 
Tenants... j 1,009 
74 
26 
Acres 
142 71 
208 60 
32 
34 
76 3.5 
67 3.0 
SIZE OF FAR.M 
Although the number of acres may be a reasonably satisfactory 
measure of size of the farm business in a region where the type of 
agriculture is fairly uniform, this is not true where widely different 
types of agriculture are carried on. To partially overcome this diffi- 
culty, the farms in each State have been divided according to acreage 
into three groups nearly equal in number. The small, medium, and 
large sized groups have then been combined, although the acreage 
limitations of the groups in the different States are not the same. 
From Table 11 it will be noted that the percentage of farms adopt- 
ing better practices increases steadily with increased size. Seventy- 
eight per cent of the large farms reported adoption of practices taught 
by the extension service as compared with 74 per cent of the medium- 
sized farms and with 69 per cent of the small farms. The advantage 
of increased size, however, is not great and affects the adoption of 
home practices as well as agricultural practices. 
Table 11. — Relation of size of farm to number of farms changing practices 
Percentage of farms changing 
Group 
practices 
Number Avergae 
of size of 
farms farms » ■ Home 
cultur " al nomics 
Average 
number 
ofprac- 
•\nv tices 
practice cha ^ ed 
Small 
Medium .. .. ... .. 
Acres 
1,172 58 62 
1,556 120 68 33 
1,226 304 73 36 
69 3. 
74 3.4 
Large 
7S 3.7 
DISTANCE FROM COUNTY EXTENSION OFFICE 
That extension reaches the farms and homes at a distance from 
the county extension office as well as those close by is brought out in 
Table 12. The farms located on an average of 24 miles from the 
extension office adopted improved practices in S2 per cent of the c = 
as compared with 73 per cent of those 15 miles away and 68 per cent 
of those only 6 miles away. Apparently the work o( both the county 
agricultural and home demonstration agent is appreciated fully as 
much by those who are far from as by those who are near extej 
headquarters. It is equally apparent that extension agents are 
