Transcriber’s Note
  Italic text displayed as: _italic_




  U. S. DEPARTMENT OF
  AGRICULTURE

  MISCELLANEOUS CIRCULAR NO. 72

  Washington, D. C.             October, 1926

  A DECADE OF
  NEGRO EXTENSION WORK
  1914-1924

  [Illustration: house]

  Land ownership and home improvement
  are vital in developing negro farm life
  in the South.




CONTENTS


                                                                  Page

  Agricultural status of the negro                                   1

  Development of negro extension work                                3

  Early history                                                      3

  Order of development                                               6

  Value of cooperative association                                   8

  Evolution of plan                                                 10

  Growth of personnel and finances                                  12

  Cooperation with other agencies                                   13

  Club work by negro boys and girls                                 14

  The movable school                                                15

  Stories of achievement                                            16

  Demonstration results                                             21

  Farm demonstration work                                           21

  Home demonstration work                                           24

  Agents’ activities                                                26

  Outlook                                                           27

  Statistics                                                        28




A DECADE OF NEGRO EXTENSION WORK, 1914-1924

By O. B. MARTIN, in Charge, Southern States, Office of Cooperative
Extension Work




AGRICULTURAL STATUS OF THE NEGRO


Home ownership is the largest factor in the solution of the so-called
negro problem. Cooperative extension work, especially since the
comprehensive organization of negro extension agents, has been one of
the greatest influences in encouraging and helping negroes to become
landowners and to succeed with land investments. Energetic negroes
soon learn thrift and have the ability to become good demonstrators.

[Illustration:

  FIG. 1.—Negro home remodeled and beautified according to plans and
  suggestions furnished by the negro extension agent. Home ownership
  and improved living conditions are important factors in obtaining
  a permanent upbuilding of the negro farm community in the South.
  That negro agents are building well is indicated by their success
  in influencing the construction of 569 new houses, the remodeling
  of 1,002 old houses, and the beautification of 1,336 home grounds
  during 1924.
]

In most parts of the Cotton Belt it has been possible during the last
few years for farmers to make a good living and to make a profit
besides. The migration to the North has perceptibly slackened, and
thousands of negroes who have been getting good wages as carpenters,
bricklayers, mechanics, and other artisans in near-by and distant
cities are saving money to buy land. Many of them left their families
at home and are sending them money for their support and for building
savings accounts to be used in buying a farm home. (Fig. 1.) Of
course, a large percentage will remain in the industrial centers of
the North, but the negro’s love for his folks and for the soil will
influence many to begin payments on farms at a time when wages are
high and when such crops as cotton, tobacco, and peanuts are bringing
good prices. Negroes, as a rule, know how to grow the cash crops, and
it has been found in many sections that negroes succeed with poultry,
truck, dairying, and other diversified interests when they own their
own small farms.

[Illustration: FIG. 2.—Field demonstration in cultivating cotton. The
negro is naturally a farmer and takes a keen interest in putting to
use the better practices learned at demonstration meetings.]

Because of the inevitable economic changes resulting from the World
War, many large plantations have been cut up and sold at low prices.
In some sections of the South, chambers of commerce and other
business organizations have been promoting campaigns to encourage
negroes to become landowners. In 1920 about 217,500 negroes in the
Southern States owned their farms and about 703,500 were tenants. In
some States negroes have been buying farms faster than white people,
and the rapid increase of ownership during the last five years is
most noticeable. It is not surprising that it has taken a backward
race a long time to acquire property and develop farms. It takes
white agricultural college graduates quite a while to do that. The
next 25 years unquestionably will witness a marked contrast to the
first quarter of the century in this regard. It is well that the
development is taking place along the lines of the negro’s training
and disposition. All of this confirms the judgment of Booker T.
Washington, the negro educator, who said:

  The negro is, in my opinion, naturally a farmer, and he is at his
  very best when he is in close contact with the soil. (Fig. 2.)
  There is something in the atmosphere of the farm that develops
  and strengthens the negro’s natural common sense. As a rule, the
  negro farmer has a rare gift of getting at the sense of things
  and of stating in picturesque language what he has learned. The
  explanation of it is, it seems to me, that the negro farmer studies
  nature. In his own way he studies the soil, the development of
  plants and animals, the streams, the birds and the changes of the
  seasons. He has a chance of getting at first-hand the kind of
  knowledge that is valuable to him.

During the last few years many persons from different parts of Africa
have visited this country to study our methods of industrial and
agricultural education. Some of them have been Government officials,
some teachers in schools and colleges, and some missionaries. They
represented many different nationalities, all of which are interested
in the welfare of dark-skinned people. Such visitors are always
interested in Hampton and Tuskegee Institutes and usually have a
scholastic point of view when they arrive. On their return, however,
they are always enthusiastic about the men and women extension agents
whose primary responsibility is to reach the farm and home. They see
greater significance in demonstrations which proceed from the farm
and home to the school than they do in those which go from the school
to the farm. They seem to realize that the home is the fundamental
unit of civilization and that the agents are the apostles of a
better farm and home life, and therefore return to their work with
an optimistic determination to encourage demonstration work in their
countries.




DEVELOPMENT OF NEGRO EXTENSION WORK


EARLY HISTORY

Farmers’ cooperative demonstration work was begun in 1903. At first,
all demonstration agents were white men and women. They enrolled
negro demonstrators who followed instructions so faithfully and
carefully that they were often more successful than white farmers and
home makers. Many instances were reported of negro farmers who got
started along the pathway of success because of the stimulation of
such demonstrations. County agricultural agents often reported that
25 per cent of their demonstrators were negroes and that many negroes
attended the field meetings and public demonstrations.

Booker T. Washington had a prominent part in beginning negro
extension work in the South. Tuskegee Institute, which he founded in
Alabama, already had carried instruction to negro farmers through
its faculty, through farm conferences at Tuskegee and in local
communities, and through printed bulletins. Doctor Washington also
used a “Jesup wagon,” provided with agricultural equipment to go out
among farmers and demonstrate better farming methods. Washington,
H. B. Frissell, of Hampton Institute, Va., and Seaman A. Knapp of
the United States Department of Agriculture, worked out the relation
of Hampton and Tuskegee Institutes with the department and made
arrangements for the appointment in 1906 of T. M. Campbell, of
Tuskegee Institute, the first negro demonstration agent, and of J. B.
Pierce, of Hampton Institute, a few days later.

In speaking of extension work a few years afterwards, Washington said:

  It would be impossible to describe here all the ramifications or
  all the various forms which this extension work has taken in recent
  years. The thing that I wish to emphasize, however, is that we are
  seeking in this work less to teach (according to the old-fashioned
  notion of teaching) than to improve conditions.

His was a spirit of service. In the same connection he expressed in
the following excerpt an unusual and unique opinion of the pedagogy
of extension work. His experience and his observations constitute a
great inspiration for negro extension agents and educators generally.

  I have sometimes regarded it as a fortunate circumstance that I
  never studied pedagogy. If I had done so, every time I attempted
  to do anything in a new way I should have felt compelled to reckon
  with all the past, and in my case that would have taken so much
  time that I should never have got anywhere. As it was, I was
  perfectly free to go ahead and do whatever seemed necessary at the
  time, without reference to whether that same thing had ever been
  done by anyone else at any previous time or not.

General Armstrong, who founded Hampton Institute in Virginia for
Negroes and Indians in the reconstruction days immediately following
the Civil War, expressed somewhat the same idea when he said:

  Many teachers seem to me to have disproportionate ideas of the
  forces that make up man. * * * There is plenty of study of methods
  and not enough study of men or of the problems of life.

Negro home demonstration work was also developed through the interest
and aid of white agents. White supervisory agents still take
sympathetic interest in negro extension activities. In view of the
fact that negro women and girls had always done much of the domestic
labor in southern homes and because negro schools and colleges had
given courses in home economics, home demonstration work for negroes
was started in the best possible environment and atmosphere. Many
white home demonstration agents and demonstrators took pleasure in
giving instruction in gardening, canning, and preserving to negro
women and girls whom they knew. But, as the work developed, it soon
became apparent that negro women agents could get access to negro
homes better than anybody else, so negro home demonstration agents
began to be appointed. Annie Peters, of Boley, Okla., was appointed
on January 23, 1912, as the first negro home demonstration agent, and
Mattie Holmes, of Hampton Institute, Va., on May 24, 1912, as the
second. Other appointments followed rapidly.

It has been possible to build up an extension organization in the
South for negro people, because of such institutions as Hampton and
Tuskegee. In fact, the influence of these two major institutions has
affected all the schools and colleges where negro agents have been
educated. Many smaller similar institutions have also contributed
much to extension work. Table 1 gives the percentage of negro men and
women extension agents who were graduated from Tuskegee and Hampton
Institutes and from the State agricultural colleges.


TABLE 1.—_Percentage of negro extension agents who are college
graduates_

  —————————————————————————————————————+——————————————+———————————
               Institution             |     Men      |    Women
  —————————————————————————————————————+——————————————+———————————
                                       | _Percentage_ | _Percentage_
  Hampton Institute                    |       7.50   |       5.40
  Tuskegee Institute                   |      10.16   |       5.40
  State agricultural college           |       9.09   |       2.70
                                       +——————————————+———————————
      Graduates of the three combined  |      26.75   |      13.50
  —————————————————————————————————————+——————————————+———————————

In beginning farm and home demonstration work for negroes in 1906,
the cooperation of the General Education Board of New York was most
valuable and effective. The board was liberal in its appropriations
and generous in the arrangements for the expenditure of them. The
money was turned over to the authorities of the United States
Department of Agriculture to be used as they thought best in starting
and promoting the work. It was because of the demonstrated success
of this plan of education that the National, State, and county
authorities were more disposed to support it.

When it is realized that various Southern States are gradually
increasing the appropriations to the State agricultural colleges,
and also that a $9,000,000 endowment fund for Hampton and Tuskegee
is being completed, it is possible to look forward to better-trained
negro agents. Progress can be faster now because the way is clear.
Every Southern State now has a group of efficient negro agents, whose
numbers are increasing. (Fig. 3.)

In view of the facts that Booker T. Washington gave the credit
for his own success to the influence General Armstrong had over
his life and that Tuskegee Institute is an extension and modified
enlargement of Hampton Institute, it is well to trace a further
development of such teaching and also to get the observation of
the recognized leaders. Long before the World War and before the
migration of negroes to the North, Booker T. Washington saw the South
as the permanent home of his people and he urged them to develop the
resources of climate, soil, forests, and folks. He saw conditions
clearly and urged his people to train for skill, to practice thrift,
and to grow better by doing better. This was the best of preparation
for the negro agency force now in the field.

[Illustration:

  FIG. 3.—Virginia negro extension agents assembled at annual
  meeting. This group is typical of the efficient negro extension
  agents throughout the South who, with vision and good judgment,
  are influencing negroes to follow the best methods of farming and
  home making in order to increase their earning capacity and improve
  their living conditions.
]

In the first farmers’ conference at Tuskegee in February, 1892,
which, by the way, was the forerunner of farm congresses at
agricultural colleges for white people in various parts of
the country, the following resolution, among other important
deliverances, was adopted:

  In view of our general condition, we would suggest the following
  remedies: (1) That as far as possible we aim to raise at home our
  own meat and bread; (2) that as fast as possible we buy land,
  even though a very few acres at a time; (3) that a larger number
  of our young people be taught trades, and that they be urged to
  prepare themselves to enter as largely as possible all the various
  vocations of life; (4) that we especially try to broaden the
  field of labor for our women; (5) that we make every sacrifice
  and practice every form of economy that we may purchase land and
  free ourselves from our burdensome habit of living in debt; (6)
  that we urge our ministers and teachers to give more attention to
  the material condition and home life of the people; (7) that we
  urge our people not to depend entirely upon the State to provide
  schoolhouses and lengthen the time of the schools, but to take
  hold of the matter themselves where the State leaves off, and
  by supplementing the public funds from their own pockets and by
  building schoolhouses, bring about the desired results; (8) that
  we urge patrons to give earnest attention to the mental and moral
  fitness of those who teach their schools; (9) that we urge the
  doing away with all sectarian prejudice in the management of the
  schools.




ORDER OF DEVELOPMENT


[Illustration:

  FIG. 4.—Negro county agricultural agent helping a farmer to select
  fattening hogs. Negro farmers desire helpful information on
  specific things that can be put into immediate use with noticeable
  results. In this respect, demonstration activities have rendered a
  valuable service in meeting their needs.
]

It has been extension experience that negroes are especially
responsive to the demonstration method, because of their faith,
confidence, and optimism. Demonstrations have reached the most
ignorant and most needy better than any form of academic instruction,
because demonstrators must be doers before they become teachers.
The effect and power of a demonstration are measured by the
success of the enterprise and the standing and influence of the
demonstrator. The demonstration method has proved to be not only
the best for the ignorant, but also for the intelligent. Certainly
the more intelligent farmers can carry object lessons further than
the ignorant ones. Furthermore, it is safe to assume a fair amount
of good farm and home development in an intelligent, prosperous
community. Perhaps one reason why farmers tire of institutes and
lectures is because they feel that they have reached a stage of
knowledge where they can do things fairly well and have thus become
teachers and leaders themselves. They do not care to accumulate a
lot of information upon diverse subjects just for the purpose of
acquiring information. They want usable knowledge upon specific
things. (Fig. 4.) The negro has made sufficient progress for
extension agents to find men, women, boys, and girls in every
community who can demonstrate better farming and home making.

The history of extension work for negroes has not been exactly
parallel to that of the whites in the Southern States. The white
agents started work with men demonstrators, followed in succession
by boys, girls, and women. Negro work started with men and women
first. The agents tried to meet the most urgent needs of the farms
and homes. At the time when the Department of Agriculture and State
agricultural colleges first began to appoint negro agents, the club
work of white boys and girls had drifted somewhat away from the
demonstration feature and was emphasizing the club feature. When the
negro agents began later to enroll boys and girls they did so because
they felt that these young folks should have an influence in farming
and in home making in their communities. It was not so much a matter
of teaching and telling as it was of doing and growing. One agent
expressed it by saying, “We are emphasizing work rather than clubs.”
Of course, in the natural process of evolution, agents came to pay
more attention to meetings, organization, recreation, and group
activities in general, but the central theme is the demonstration.

Negro club members have manifested a disposition for the boy to do
the farming and the girl the home making. That tendency is general in
all extension work, of course, but the line of differentiation has
not been so clear in adult activities. Because of the limited funds
available, few counties have been able to afford both negro men and
women agents. Thus it comes about that the men agents do more home
work and the women agents more farm work than in counties employing
both county agricultural and home demonstration agents. As time goes
on and more agents are appointed, this matter will adjust itself.

During the present period of readjustment and reconstruction it
is becoming more and more apparent to students of extension work
that the greatest ultimate reform will take place where the most
successful demonstration of content and size are conducted and
where such demonstrations are multiplied in the greatest numbers.
Many negro agents seem to have the ability to encourage their
demonstrators and magnify the influence of their work. They have
caught the philosophy of the founder of demonstration work, Seaman A.
Knapp, when he said, “Your value lies not in what you can do but in
what you can get other people to do.” Negro agents seem to appreciate
the standing in the community of a man or woman who has done better
work than anybody else. They enter into the thought and life of the
demonstrator who estimated that more than 50 men in his neighborhood
had been influenced by his success with 10 acres of cotton along the
roadside. They know that the boy who said, “My club acre has been
noticed by many people in this section and I am sure it will cause
some of my boy friends to join the club next year,” had developed in
himself the real spirit of service. They appreciate the feeling of
pride and satisfaction that came to the girl club member who raised a
dairy calf, built a good house for it, and then saw more than a dozen
like it built within a radius of 5 miles of her home. (Fig. 5.) The
result has been to make each person carrying on a demonstration feel
that he has a responsibility as a leader and teacher in his community.

The culminating evidence of these efforts toward improvement through
the object-lesson method is found in the results obtained in home and
lawn beautification. Particularly in recent years negro extension
agents have brought about marked progress in the renovation,
painting, and whitewashing of houses and outbuildings, and in the
growing of flowers, grass, and shrubbery in the front yards.




VALUE OF COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS


[Illustration:

  FIG. 5.—Negro club member who made sufficient profit from the
  sale of butter and buttermilk to pay her way through Tuskegee
  Institute. The benefits which accrued through her club activities
  were far-reaching in that her neighbors and friends were inspired
  to follow the best dairy practices in an effort to emulate her
  successful results.
]

Negro farmers have manifested considerable interest in cooperative
marketing. They belong to cotton, tobacco, peanut, potato, and
similar associations. They usually follow carefully instructions
in grading and standardization. They appreciate the opportunity of
purchasing fertilizers and other supplies through the farm bureau and
other organizations engaged in such enterprises. In some counties
where associations have given special attention to marketing carloads
of hogs, chickens, potatoes, pecans, and other products produced in
surplus quantities, the negroes do their share. It has come about
that most marketing plans which have been developed include negroes
in their operations better than any other form of productive and
educational enterprise. In cooperative-marketing associations the
commodity is considered rather than the person or the community.
Clarendon County, S. C., is a very good example of such development.
The market bureau, which was established at the suggestion of the
county agricultural agent and which is conducted largely under his
direction and guidance, has the names of more than 700 negroes
on its mailing list. These negroes have cooperated not only by
shipping potatoes, hogs, peanuts, chickens, and other commodities,
but by procuring better seed and stock in order to grow products of
better quality for shipment. As this work develops in any community
it gradually brings about a general improvement. It begins with
individuals but always influences the entire community. (Fig. 6.)

[Illustration:

  FIG. 6.—A demonstration of home conveniences designed to lighten
  the labor of the negro home maker and allow her more time for
  self-improvement and recreation. Such demonstrations by local men
  or women have stimulated the adoption of good practices and have
  done much to bring about a general community improvement.]

Such cooperation has increased self-respect and has strengthened
mutual confidence. This activity has emphasized the fact that men and
women limited in ambition and will power may be greatly stimulated to
successful effort by the esteem and encouragement of their neighbors.
The county agricultural agent of Clarendon County reported that every
negro farmer in his county knows No. 1, No. 2, and Jumbo potatoes. He
also reported that they are striving to produce No. 1’s because they
realize that products of such quality will receive the commendation
of everybody concerned and also will bring in larger returns. This
realization of the value of superior products has brought about a
great improvement in the type of chickens, pigs, and other farm
animals raised for market.

Marketing has tended to unify and systematize extension organization
in the counties more than any other work that has been done thus far.
It has enlisted the active interest of all farmers, both white and
colored, and of local business men. Some of the counties which will
have full quotas of both white and colored extension agents, and
good representative working organizations are developing extension
programs to a fuller degree than has been possible heretofore. It
is an enormous task to change the customs and habits of centuries
or even of decades. Negroes who have grown practically nothing but
cotton are slow to become dairymen, poultrymen, and truckers. They
change mainly because of economic necessity.




EVOLUTION OF PLAN


The evolution of an agricultural plan of work among negroes,
in a general way, followed that of the whites. It began with
demonstrations in the improvement of staple crops and then proceeded
step by step into crop diversification, animal husbandry, and
conservation. The whole development may be briefly expressed as
follows: Crop production, livestock production, soil building, and
marketing. Fortunately, this program is so logical and so appropriate
that demonstrators and club members are naturally disposed to follow
it. This does not mean that they all do the same things at the
same time. In livestock activities, one group may be emphasizing
dairy cattle and another hogs. The retroactive influence upon crop
production in one direction and soil improvement in another is very
potent. Seaman A. Knapp evidently had this whole evolution in mind,
and he was familiar with the work among negroes, when he told the
agents not to go before the people with elaborate programs. He said:
“The average man, like the crow, can not count more than three. Do
the next thing.” General Armstrong was dealing with the same people
and, to some extent, with the same thought when he said, “I try to
get at bottom facts, and then take the next step.”

A general agricultural plan of work, of course, is applicable
everywhere at any time. It is flexible, and requires individual
initiative and resourcefulness. The more experienced farmers and
club boys will be in the advanced stages while the novices will be
taking the first step. The whole procedure goes forward in cycles. As
each cycle comes around, modification and adaptation take place in
accordance with the progress science has made in the meantime. For
instance, in corn demonstrations in most parts of the South, where,
in former years, farmers planted one-ear varieties, they are now
using prolific varieties, especially where interplantings of peas and
beans and where hogging down and grazing are to be done.

The Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station recently came to the
conclusion that vetch is the best winter legume for most of the soils
in Alabama. Thousands of negro farmers have accepted that instruction
and are using vetch as a winter legume and soil improver. The negro
farmers have also accepted the teachings of the experiment station in
regard to the kinds and quantities of fertilizers to be used.

The negro home program also has been developed through certain
logical processes, which may be indicated briefly as follows:
Production, utilization, construction, and beautification. This,
too, is a natural program which may be followed consciously and
intuitively by every person who is properly started in the work.
The negro women and girls commence with growing vegetables in the
gardens, beginning with the most needed food crops and enlarging
their operations gradually. Then they undertake to conserve enough
for home use during the winter. They sell the surplus vegetables,
both fresh and canned. It is an easy step from canning vegetables to
the preservation of fruits. Better bread comes next because of its
importance as food and because flour, meal, and grains in general are
available. Then eggs and butter are standardized, and poultry meat
is properly cooked and canned. Such activities, in turn, stimulate
better work with pork, beef, and other meats.

Success in such enterprises suggests and encourages home improvement,
involving demonstrations in rearranging kitchens, living rooms,
and homes in general. Better furniture is procured and paint and
whitewash are in demand. Demonstrations with textiles and fabrics
are considered incidentally all along. The girls and women want
simple neat dresses in their work. The club idea suggests uniforms
for public demonstrations and meetings. In hundreds of instances the
program culminates with an attractive new home in a setting of trees,
shrubbery, and flowers. Such a self-developed program, the germs of
which exist in the plans and hopes of the people who are actually
doing the work on the farms and in the homes, is infinitely more
important than one developed for them.

It is fortunate that negro extension work started with demonstrations
by individual farmers instead of with organization for instruction
purposes. Organization arose spontaneously. People who did the same
kind of work in the same way were easily organized. Negro farmers
and members of their families who had the same kind of poultry,
for instance, and who built the same kind of houses, were brought
together for mutual stimulation, help, and instruction. Every farmer
who had an object lesson in growing vetch, soy beans, velvet beans,
or peanuts was glad to join a tour to see similar activities on farms
in other parts of his county. Field meetings, tours, camps, and short
courses have the elements and principles of organization within
them. They constitute a focus or converging point for activities
that are mutual. If the white agents who did negro work in the
beginning or the negro agents who took it up later had proceeded on
an organization basis first, the whole proposition would have been
misunderstood by both white and colored people.

Observation of the experience of the people who made negro extension
work possible and its success notable, naturally calls attention to
the elementary methods which have been used. The various processes
may be stated in a half dozen words: Consultation, demonstration,
emulation, publication, organization, and multiplication. Whether the
agents are working with the approximately 217,500 negroes who own
their own farms or with the 703,500 who are tenants, deliberation,
conference, and good judgment are required to establish the work
without creating friction. In the pioneer counties, where the
demonstrations were most successful, the introduction was done in
a quiet way. The general public did not know much about it until
good object lessons in crop production were available, and nothing
prevents or stops criticism so readily as successful demonstrations.
If the demonstrators have been carefully selected, if they are men
whose conduct has been exemplary, the conviction is all the stronger.

The first negro demonstrators were proud to wear the button furnished
by the Department of Agriculture containing the word “Demonstrator.”
These buttons were often given out in churches as awards of merit and
distinction. Negroes are very susceptible to commendation and praise.
It means a lot to a man, woman, boy, or girl, who has started out
on a demonstration program, to receive recognition from his pastor,
his neighbors, and especially from the leading white citizens.
Whenever a county paper calls attention to the outstanding results
obtained by a negro farmer, he immediately measures up to the added
responsibility and goes forward on the path of improvement. Whenever
there is a considerable number of demonstrators of that kind, it is
safe to do organization work along agricultural and home-economics
lines. In fact, negroes who have demonstrated that kind of enterprise
and dependability are ready for cooperative marketing or other
welfare organization. The great task that is before the negro
extension force is to multiply the numbers of good demonstrators.
In this way, they will develop leaders and magnify the kind of
activities which will meet with universal approval.




GROWTH OF PERSONNEL AND FINANCES[1]


The gradual increase in the number of negro agents and also in the
appropriations for their support during the last 10 years gives much
promise for the development of this work in the future. On June
30, 1915, the end of the first year under the Smith-Lever Act, 49
negro men agents and 17 women agents were employed, and the total
cost of the work during the year was $31,589. In 1919, 459 negro
men and women agents were employed and the cost was $247,509. On
June 30, 1924, the end of the first decade under the Smith-Lever
Act, 299 agents were employed, of whom 191 were men and 108, women.
The total amount expended during the fiscal year 1924 was $426,266,
which was derived from Federal, State, and county sources, and which
represented the peak in the amount of money devoted to this work.
More agents were employed during the war period, but many of them
devoted only part time to extension work. All things considered,
therefore, negro extension work is making steady and substantial
progress every year.

From Table 3, page 28, it will be noted that the increase in the
number of negro extension agents and in the cost of maintaining
them went forward in two distinct stages during the 10-year period
immediately following the enactment of the Smith-Lever Act. The
number of agents and the number of club members increased very
rapidly during the World War, which was followed by a period of
unrest and transition. After that came a settling down and then an
era of solid and substantial development. There has been a gradual
and steady increase in the amount of money devoted to negro extension
work. Although it is true that not so many agents were on duty in
1924 as in 1919, yet more than four times as many were employed in
1924 as in 1915. Furthermore, the finances had increased more than a
dozenfold. This indicates a better-trained class of negro agents and
a greater public willingness to support negro extension work.

Texas, which receives more Federal money than any other State,
had 36 negro agents in 1924 and spent $55,424 for their salaries,
travel, and other necessary expenses. Alabama had 34 negro agents,
men and women, and $50,057 was spent in the maintenance of their
work. Mississippi had 36 agents and the cost was $48,876. Virginia
had a total of 34 agents and the cost of maintaining this force
was $44,787. Georgia had 26 agents and expended $30,452. Several
other States have a large agency force and the financial support is
becoming more and more liberal.

The percentage of negroes to whites is different in each of the
Southern States and this fact would be taken into consideration
in any study of appropriations for negro work. At the last
census, Georgia had 1,689,114 white people and 1,206,365 negroes;
Mississippi, 853,962 whites and 935,184 negroes; Alabama, 1,447,032
whites and 900,652 negroes; South Carolina, 818,538 whites and
864,719 negroes; North Carolina, 1,783,779 whites and 763,407
negroes; Texas, 3,918,165 whites and 741,694 negroes; Virginia,
1,617,909 whites and 690,017 negroes; and Oklahoma, 1,821,194 whites
and 149,408 negroes.

It will be observed from Table 3 that practically all of the States
which took up negro extension work first have the greatest financial
support and the largest number of agents in proportion to their negro
population. Alabama and Virginia appointed their first negro agents
in 1906; Mississippi, in 1908; Georgia and South Carolina, in 1909;
Oklahoma, in 1910; North Carolina, in 1911; and the other States in
rapid succession.

It is greatly to the credit of the pioneer agents that their work has
met with the approval of county commissioners, boards of education,
and public authorities generally. Nothing is quite so encouraging
about the whole development as the wholesome public sentiment which
has sustained the work and encouraged the agents. This support is
based upon knowledge of good work done and results achieved. A large
metropolitan daily paper, speaking of the present work of the man who
was the first negro agent appointed by the United States Department
of Agriculture, said:

  His principal duties are to see that negro county agricultural
  agents obtain outline maps of each county and properly distribute
  the work; that at least one house in each county is built at
  stated intervals according to an approved plan; that one or more
  electric lighting systems be undertaken in the county; that at
  least one house be whitewashed or painted in each demonstration
  community; that one or more water systems be undertaken in each
  county; that at least one farmstead home grounds be developed in
  each community; that at least one sanitary toilet be constructed
  in each demonstration community; that at least one crop-rotation
  demonstration be given; that one or more permanent pastures be
  established; that at least one person in each community be taught
  the use of the farm level; that one year-round garden demonstration
  be established; that at least one farm be properly laid out
  or plotted in each county; that one playground be equipped in
  each community; and that one or more demonstration orchards be
  established in each county.


FOOTNOTES:

[1] Funds for cooperative extension work are appropriated for fiscal
years ending on June 30, whereas extension agents are required to
prepare their reports for calendar years. For this reason, statements
of funds appearing in this section and in Table 3 are for fiscal
years ended on June 30, and statistics of demonstration results
appearing in a following section are for the calendar year ended Dec.
31, 1924.




COOPERATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES


From several years’ experience it has been found that negro agents
cooperate closely with their schools and churches. Negro preachers
have great power and influence among their people, not only in
matters of religion, but also in farming and home making. Wherever an
agent obtains the indorsement of a negro pastor, and also gets this
pastor to do some good farming and make his home more attractive,
he gets assistance that is impossible to obtain from any other
source. A negro industrial school in a county is usually a center of
influence in extension work as well as in public service generally.
Such a school reenforces the instruction given by the agents and is a
gathering place for demonstrators and club members. The demonstration
activities improve and enhance the school work to a considerable
degree.

In addition to the cooperation given by churches and schools, many
organizations have assisted negro extension agents in carrying
out local extension programs. Much assistance in this respect has
been accorded by vocational educational workers, negro chambers
of commerce, lodges, health societies, negro farmers’ unions,
federations of women’s clubs, and others.




CLUB WORK BY NEGRO BOYS AND GIRLS


As has already been indicated, 4-H club work among negro boys and
girls has been a secondary development, but it is now going forward
by leaps and bounds. The work by negro agents among adult negroes was
just getting well started when the Smith-Lever Act was passed. The
effect of the act and of the increase of funds resulting from it was
to strengthen and reenforce what was being done for negro farmers and
home makers. As was to be expected, the boys and girls soon wanted
to follow in the footsteps of their fathers and mothers. (Fig. 7.)
There are excellent prospects for junior extension work in the near
future. In fact, negro boys and girls have been making records that
are stimulating white club members to greater effort and endeavor.

[Illustration: FIG. 7.—This negro club boy is learning seed-corn
selection from his county agricultural agent.]

At the close of the 10-year period there was a total enrollment in
4-H club work in the Southern States of 21,721 negro boys and 27,114
negro girls. These figures show a big increase since 1916, when the
enrollment of 2,551 negro club members was first recorded separately.
At that time the State club agents suggested that negro boys should
be organized into farm-makers’ clubs and negro girls into homemakers’
clubs. Prior to that time many negro boys and girls were enrolled in
4-H clubs, but they did not have such different classification as to
make their work stand out and receive proper emphasis and recognition.

The end of the 10-year period also found a great many negro boys and
girls demonstrating to their parents, their neighbors, and the world
that they can clear $200 to $300 a year on their club enterprises
and at the same time keep up regular attendance at school during the
term provided for them by their respective counties and States. A
14-year-old boy or girl who can put $100 or more into a bank and
continue saving each year as he or she grows older is assured of an
education and a start in life. This gives the younger generation a
big advantage and also furnishes a great inspiration to the agents
who are working among these people. More work of this kind will
result in considerable advance on the part of the younger generation
of negroes.




THE MOVABLE SCHOOL


A development peculiar to negro extension work is the movable school.
This is an automobile truck carrying equipment for demonstrations
and accompanied by an automobile conveying instructors. (Fig. 8.)
The equipment consists of farm and home tools and utensils necessary
to illustrate better methods of farming and home making. The school
goes to a home where arrangements have already been made by the local
agent, and stays from one to three days. The novelty of the outfit
and the rather spectacular nature of the occasion guarantee a good
attendance of people from the vicinity where the work is to be done.

[Illustration:

  FIG. 8.—Negro movable school which carries equipment and
  instructors to local communities where the better ways of farming
  and home making are demonstrated. Such movable schools have
  supplemented the work of the local negro extension agent, who
  follows up and impresses on the community the lessons brought out.]

The local agents and the instructors agree in advance upon what
is to be done. The program includes such things as pruning trees,
terracing land, plowing properly, building a chicken house, building
a sanitary privy, grading fruit, eggs, and vegetables, dressing
chickens, making fireless cookers, canning, making work dresses and
aprons, and whitewashing or painting the house and outbuildings.
The people in attendance are divided into small groups and several
enterprises are carried on at the same time. After the various jobs
are completed, the whole crowd makes a tour of inspection and much
incidental instruction is driven home by those in charge. In addition
to having specialists in farming and home making, the school usually
carries a public-health nurse who gives much needed instruction and
demonstration. A necessary part of the equipment is a projector for
showing films and slides during meetings at the school or church.
Equipment is also carried to facilitate games and play for a short
time every day after the regular work is done.

In view of the fact that much interest has been manifested in
the movable school, it may be desirable to consider it from a
strictly extension point of view. First, in the communities where
the negro population is densest and where their welfare has been
most neglected, more simple instruction and demonstration by the
specialists and agents themselves are necessary. Just as fast as the
farmers can make object lessons and assume leadership themselves,
just so fast should that responsibility be passed on to them. Second,
the movable school supplements the work of the local agent and is
supplemented by it. When a home with its premises has been renovated
and practically reconstructed by the visit of a movable school, and
when the farmer and his family revolutionize their methods on the
farm, then the question arises as to how many more farmers can be
influenced to do likewise. The movable school does much to lay out
the work of the agents, and if they do not follow up such work and
impress its lessons, then little benefit is derived. However, the
influence can be measured more successfully a year after the visit of
the movable school than the day after.

By request of leading white citizens of Dallas County, Ala., the
movable school concentrated there for a month and covered the whole
county. Many plantation owners, bankers, and business men visited the
school and saw it in action. Their commendation was most encouraging
and inspires the hope that this enterprise may be used to facilitate
the reform and readjustment of farm and home life among negro farmers
who are to remain in the South and improve their conditions. A
prominent English woman, who recently visited a movable school, was
most favorably impressed. Her only criticism was that it was liable
to cause confusion because of the wealth of instruction given in so
short a time. She thought that the instruction included more than
could be assimilated and utilized in a week. She rather facetiously
remarked that it would not surprise her if some of the women were to
go home and put their babies down in water glass and make “pinless
outfits” for the eggs. Her observation still further confirmed
the belief that the movable school and the local agents should be
mutually helpful.




STORIES OF ACHIEVEMENT


A few typical stories taken from numerous narratives of success
quoted by negro extension agents will suffice to give trends and
tendencies. Floyd Stokes, of Gloucester County, Va., told the
following story of the help given him through extension work (fig. 9):

  When I got married back in 1903, I left home to begin life as a
  renter. The little house to which I moved was on 3 acres of land
  which I worked when not engaged in fishing or oystering. After
  having lived on this place three years, a young man, the first
  demonstration agent I had ever heard of, came to me and began
  talking soil improvement and how I could make a living out of it.
  Just about this time the agent induced me to buy 9 acres of land
  near by which were for sale. Four of these acres had been cleared
  and there was an old house on the land that had been used as a
  barn. I sawed some timber, had some doors and windows made for the
  barn, and moved into my own home.

  Under the instruction of the agent I planted the 3 rented acres to
  melons and sowed cowpeas between the rows at the last cultivation
  to be turned under as green manure. This crop of melons netted
  me $300. On the 4 cleared acres I began soil building and the
  rotation of crops, as follows: In the spring I sowed cowpeas
  for hay, followed by crimson clover, which was turned under the
  following spring and planted to corn. Cowpeas were sown at the
  last cultivation. A good crop of corn was produced the first year.
  The cornland was planted to garden peas the next year, followed
  by crimson clover to be turned under and by potatoes the year
  following. The potatoes were followed by cowpeas, which were cut
  for hay in the fall. In the meantime, I had cleared the other 5
  acres on which I planted melons, followed by crimson clover to be
  turned under for soil improvement.

  [Illustration:

  FIG. 9.—Farm home and buildings of Floyd Stokes, of Gloucester
  County, Va., an outstanding negro farmer who attributes his unusual
  success to following the advice and suggestions of the negro
  extension agent. ]

  Back in the early days when I began work with the agent, my land
  was very thin and light, being of a sandy texture; hence, it would
  not produce over 15 bushels to the acre. By following closely the
  system of crop rotation taught me, the same land is producing at
  this time an average of 45 bushels of corn per acre and other crops
  are doing equally well. From a sand bed, my land has been brought
  to a high state of cultivation.

  In the fourth year after I had bought my first 9 acres, I purchased
  7 additional acres. From 1911 to 1917 I rented 13 acres adjoining
  the 16 acres I owned. At the expiration of this period I succeeded
  in buying this piece of land, paying cash for it at the rate of
  $100 per acre. Two years later I bought 20 acres more for which
  I paid $3,000 in cash, making my total holdings at this time 49
  acres. The land on which my house stands cost me $800. I have since
  been offered $6,000 for it. On the 20-acre plot is a good house
  which I rent out, although the land is retained for my own use.

  In 1923 I began to remodel my house. The necessary timber was cut
  from the 20 acres purchased last. I planned to add all modern
  conveniences to the house. A lighting system has been installed and
  I plan to put in a complete water system next year. I have sheds
  for housing the farm tools when not in use, and insist that they
  be kept there. My net income averages around $2,000 per year. I
  have sold $1,600 worth of green peas this season and just to-day
  received $300 in small checks from neighboring farmers for seeds
  and plants grown by me. My farm is self-supporting. I do not buy
  anything that I can grow, and sell all surplus crops. I have eight
  children, all of whom are being educated as fast as they are ready
  for it. Two of my children are graduates of Hampton Institute.

  I was one of the first to take up demonstration work in Gloucester
  County and through it showed that money could be made out of
  growing garden peas and other truck crops. Since most people at
  that time were practicing fishing and oystering, no one believed
  that truck gardening could be successful. When my success became
  known, one after the other began to take it up until to-day
  Gloucester County has become a great trucking center.

  What success I have had in land buying, soil improvement, home
  making, and education of my children may be credited to the
  extension service through its agents who have rendered me most
  valuable service for which I am deeply grateful.

In Gloucester County, Va., more than 90 per cent of the heads of
negro families own their own homes, the jail is usually empty, and
the courts have little to do.

[Illustration:

  FIG. 10.—Herschell Glenn, of Rockdale County, Ga., who made
  a profit of over $265 through club work in 1924. (Photograph
  furnished by Georgia Extension Service)
]

One of the best records made in boys’ club work in 1924 was made by
Herschell Glenn, of Rockdale County, Ga. (Fig. 10.) He made a profit
of over $265 on his club work during the year and also had for his
own use 15 bushels of corn and a pig weighing 200 pounds. He has
had the satisfaction of knowing that his good work has aroused and
inspired hundreds of other boys in Georgia, including a large number
in his own community and county, who will try to excel his record in
1925. In reporting to his local agent he used the following simple
and expressive language:

  I had 2 acres in cotton. My total cost was $31.50; the total amount
  of seed cotton, 3,150 pounds; total value of seeds and lint cotton,
  $289.52; net profit, $265.85; and net profit per acre, $132.90.
  My corn did not do so well. I only got 15 bushels from my acre. I
  hope to do better next year. My pig is fine. I have fed her six
  months. She weighs 200 pounds. I am proud to be a club boy and will
  continue next year.

A negro home demonstration agent in Wayne County, N. C., gave a
very good statement which indicates what is being done by negro
women agents in changing home conditions. It will be noted that
she followed the desirable plan of putting other people forward to
give testimony and express the sentiments of her people. There is a
fine recognition of individual effort and community cooperation in
this method of reporting which might well be commended to extension
workers generally.

  I have been in the county two years and seven months. It is a
  pleasure to note the improvement of the people along every line.
  They eat better food, sleep in more fresh air, are happier at work,
  take better care of their children, have higher ideals, and have
  learned to sell the surplus food instead of wasting it and to buy
  things which they need. More important than tangible results are
  their changed ideas and attitude toward the work. One man speaking
  at a community meeting said: “The agent has put new life into
  dead bones. I feel better and am doing better and everybody in
  the neighborhood is doing better whether he belongs to the club
  or not.” In the same meeting a woman said: “I am 57 years of age,
  have 20 children, 45 grandchildren, and 7 great grandchildren, but
  have learned more in two years about caring for children, my home,
  and health than I had learned in 55 years before. I have 7 milk
  cows and 75 hens. I sell eggs, milk, butter, apples, peanuts, and a
  few other little things and now I can see day breaking. I am just
  learning how to live.”

The negro home demonstration agent of Autauga County, Ala., sketches
a general outline of progress which goes into a little more detail in
regard to the various activities. She says:

  Gardening is no longer a part-time project, but is carried on
  through the year by both women and girls engaged in club work. We
  have been able to keep vegetables the year round, even though we
  have had a long dry spell. The number of insects and other pests,
  such as worms and plant lice, have been kept down by the constant
  use of soapsuds and wood ashes. Our winter gardens are doing fine.
  I feel that beautifying the home and surroundings should get first
  consideration, due to the fact that most of the time is spent in
  the house. Homes have been whitewashed, yards cleaned, and flowers
  planted in each case. Instructions have been given from time to
  time in the care and handling of a cow and the care and handling
  of milk in the home. Very few women are taking this instruction,
  but these few are making and saving money. One separator and six
  sanitary milk pails have been bought this year. We have worked hard
  this year with poultry, trying to do away with scrubs and put in
  more standard breeds. I have succeeded in getting 30 women and 5
  girls to buy standard-bred eggs. As a result we have 1,300 more
  standard-bred chickens this year than we had last year. Our aim is
  to turn out 100 pullets on each yard.

Canaan community in Montgomery County, Ala., furnishes a fine example
of the ultimate objective of home demonstration work among negroes.
It is a good illustration of the fact that demonstrations are
progressive. When one step is taken and success is achieved, the very
situation is a stimulus to additional steps until the whole home and
its environment become an inspiring object lesson of better living.
The following story indicates that practically all the homes in that
community are in various stages of advancement in extension work:

  Almost every house in Canaan community shows signs of effort in
  home improvement, and the demonstration home of this community is
  now in process of development. The house has been remodeled and
  the interior decoration completed. Plans for the yards, walls,
  and fences are under way. This community also leads in bedspread
  making, having 15 finished bedspreads. It is the plan of the agent
  to have one demonstration home complete in each community where
  demonstration work is carried on. The Smothers’ home at Mount Meigs
  is the best example of home improvement in Montgomery County. The
  State agent and the landscape specialist, with the cooperation
  of the county agricultural agent, laid off the walks, surveyed
  the road, and planted the shrubs, flowers, and Bermuda grass. The
  owner found that his two-room house was not in keeping with his
  surroundings and so he decided to remodel. He and his wife left
  the plans of the house entirely to the judgment of the State and
  county home-demonstration agents and were satisfied with the plans
  for an addition of three rooms, a kitchen, back porch, bathroom,
  and an 8-foot L porch. The plans were executed by an architect at
  Tuskegee Institute. The construction is now complete and as soon
  as the plasterers are through, the furniture will be installed.
  At the request of Mr. and Mrs. Smothers, the home-demonstration
  agent helped in the selection of new furniture. The curtains and
  draperies are being made by the club girls of Mount Meigs, and
  girls of another community are framing appropriate pictures.

The following extract from the report of the home-demonstration agent
of Washington County, Tex., is typical of the numerous examples of
good work accomplished by negro club girls:

  Lena Williams, age 16, of Washington County, Tex., has learned to
  can vegetables and make jelly and pickles so well that her services
  are in great demand. This year, after attending to her work at
  home and keeping up her club activities, Lena made a profit of $63
  by canning for other people and even a greater profit from the
  sale of some of her products, both canned and fresh. With this
  money she bought a purebred Poland China pig, costing $10, and 12
  purebred Rhode Island Red pullets and 1 cockerel, costing $14. Lena
  also attributes her good fortune in having some good warm, tasty
  apparel for school to her activity in canning, as she invested the
  remaining $39 in clothes for school wear, and plans to start a bank
  account from her investment in chickens and pigs.

It should be noted that any girl club member who makes the right
start in productive enterprises is almost sure to go ahead into other
phases of better home making and self-improvement. It is therefore
very essential to make the proper start. The initial stage from the
viewpoint of the demonstrator is most vital. The importance of the
starting point was emphasized by Seaman A. Knapp, when he said:

  Where to commence is the first problem of reform. Shall we trust
  the people and commence by increasing their resources, or shall
  our efforts be directed to improving farm dwellings and home
  conditions, the construction of better highways, the introduction
  of the telephone, rural free delivery, a community library, or
  improved social and religious privileges? Evidently it depends
  upon the degree of advancement in rural communities. The remedy
  that would help one might be utterly unapplicable to another.
  For example, if it were found that the average farmer in a rural
  township lived in a house valued at about $100, without barn,
  garden, cow, or pasture, with an insufficient supply of poultry,
  and unable to read and heavily involved in debt, it would be the
  height of unwisdom to commence the rural uplift by establishing
  a public library or even a school. The rural toilers must be
  first properly nourished, clothed, and housed. It is the order of
  greatest necessity. The means to do this can not be given to them
  and if it were, there would be no uplift. They must be shown how to
  earn it by a better tillage of the soil, and how to husband their
  earnings by greater thrift. A low wage, a small amount of work
  accomplished in a day, and an uneconomic use of resources are a
  part of any civilization limited by a low earning capacity.

  No more frequent mistake is made than to assume that the low wage
  is the result of oppression. As a rule the wage is determined by
  the accomplishment. In India it requires from 14 to 24 servants to
  do the work of a small household, where 2 would do it better in
  some portions of the United States.

  Upon the farm one man in the United States with a good team and
  modern machinery can do the work that 50 to 100 men do in many
  oriental countries. Consequently, when oriental farm laborers
  are paid 5 to 10 cents per day they are paid up to their earning
  capacity and that capacity is insufficient to sustain a high
  civilization.... In attempting to raise the condition of the
  colored man, we frequently start too high up, and in talking of the
  higher progress talk right over his head. When I talk to a negro
  citizen I never talk about the better civilization, but about a
  better chicken, a better pig, or a whitewashed house.




DEMONSTRATION RESULTS


At the close of the first decade of negro extension under the
Smith-Lever Act, it is well to make permanent record of some of the
achievements of the negroes in extension work, not only as a matter
of recognition and commendation, but also to set up milestones to
mark progress. At the close of the next decade these figures will
have even greater interest than now. In fact, they will increase in
importance and value with the passing of time.

The statistics which follow are not complete because they pertain
to the activities of negro agents only. Hundreds of white agents
have done some work with negroes, which is not reported separately.
It is probably safe to say that the numbers represented in the 1924
report might be doubled. Since a system of extension work for negroes
by negroes has been evolved, the tendency has been to turn the
responsibility over to negro agents. The most harmonious relations
prevail between white and negro agents in all the States and white
agents always stand ready to advise and help.




FARM DEMONSTRATION WORK


During the calendar year 1924, 3,659 negro farmers undertook
demonstrations with cotton and 3,072 carried the work to completion
and submitted reports. These demonstrations represented a total of
23,043 acres. In addition, 2,630 junior club members planted an acre
or more of cotton and 1,734 of them completed the work and submitted
reports. Many of these boys cleared more than $100 each on their
acres and some more than $200. This is not bad for boys who attend
school regularly. Making the usual allowance of about 140 work hours
in a year in the production and harvesting of an acre of cotton,
these club members earned an average of about $1 an hour for every
hour they worked.

Corn has always been a favorite crop for demonstrations by adults
and juniors in the South, because it is used so much for food and
feed and because it responds so well to special attention in that
section of the country. The 1924 annual reports show that 4,317 negro
farmers undertook demonstrations with corn and that 3,292 finished
them in good shape. The demonstrations covered 25,442 acres. Of
8,018 club members who planted an acre apiece, 4,308 completed the
work with marked success. If each successful demonstration should
influence only five neighbors, the totals would be impressive, and
demonstrations of outstanding size, success, and continuity are
even more far-reaching. From a demonstration viewpoint alone, it is
estimated that a million negro farmers and home makers are being
influenced effectively.

It is worth while to trace the influence of demonstration in
increasing the production of cotton and corn, but it is equally
significant to trace the influence of demonstrations on the growing
of other crops. Additional attention during the last few years in the
South has been given to work with legumes. In order to continue the
production of large crops of cotton and corn there must be some soil
building. (Fig. 11.) This can be done most readily with such crops as
cowpeas, soy beans, vetch, velvet beans, clover, and alfalfa.

[Illustration:

  FIG. 11.—Negro agent advising a farmer regarding the value of
  cowpeas, soy beans, and other legumes for soil improvement. During
  1924, negro farmers conducted 9,860 demonstrations with cowpeas,
  soy beans, and other leguminous and forage crops, of which 8,358
  were completed on a total acreage of 54,366.]

It is very encouraging to note that the negro farmers carried on
9,860 demonstrations with leguminous and other forage crops in 1924
and that 8,358 of these enterprises were completed on a total acreage
of 54,366. In connection with these totals should be considered
2,679 club members who were enrolled to grow legumes and 1,799 who
completed the work on their acres. When it is considered that most
of this work was done on rented land and that most of these crops
require inoculation and special care, these figures have unusual
value. Of course all the legumes were not planted for soil-building
purposes. Some of them were cash crops and some were grown for
feed. The order of popularity of the principal crops among these
demonstrators is indicated by the number of demonstrations begun
in 1924, as follows: Cowpeas, 2,885; velvet beans, 1,498; peanuts,
1,313; soy beans, 1,269; lespedeza, 476; and alfalfa, 272. Vetch,
which was included in a miscellaneous total of 384, is increasing in
popularity faster now than any other winter legume.

The success of negro farmers with such crops as sweet potatoes,
tobacco, and potatoes shows a strong tendency on their part
toward diversification in cash and food crops. During 1924, 1,817
demonstrators were enrolled to grow sweet potatoes and 1,461 of them
completed the demonstrations and reported their results at the close
of the season. The club enrollment for this popular crop was 836, of
whom 590 completed their enterprises and reported. The enrollment
for potatoes was 993 adults and 619 juniors and the completions were
878 and 448, respectively. In tobacco demonstrations 229 men were
enrolled and 211 finished and reported. In junior extension 482 boys
grew tobacco. In field-crop activities the enrollment of negro girls
has been very small, just as it has been among the whites, which
clearly indicates that the boys do most of the work on the farm and
the girls in the home.

As a further contribution to the effort of the South to feed itself,
the activities of negro farmers with cereals other than corn are
indicative. In 1924 demonstrations were undertaken with wheat, oats,
rye, barley, and other cereals, and 2,580 men, 983 boys, and 5 girls
were enrolled, of whom 1,871 men, 682 boys, and 5 girls completed.
In these demonstrations the yields were much larger than those of
near-by farmers or county averages; frequently they were twice or
three times as large. When a person undertakes, as a representative
of his county, State, and Nation, to make an object lesson to his
neighbors, he assumes a large responsibility.

Some of the most successful demonstrations in truck farming, from
a financial standpoint, have been made by negroes. Good stories of
their work with melons, berries, cabbage, turnips, carrots, celery,
and other similar crops come in constantly. Some of the enrollment
figures in horticultural demonstrations deserve attention and
favorable comment. Negro farmers undertook 1,392 demonstrations in
trucking and market gardening and completed 971 with marked success.
A total of 8,729 persons were enrolled to make object lessons in
home gardens and 6,502 of them were carried through to completion.
The enrollment in fruits was 2,045, of whom 1,403 completed. Some
extraordinary service was rendered by these farmers in spraying
and pruning, which made their results more satisfactory and their
examples more potent. In fact, many demonstrators became teachers and
leaders through the merits of their work.

Unusual significance may very properly be attached to the livestock
demonstrations of negro farmers. The large number of cows, hogs, and
chickens owned by them indicates increased land ownership by negroes.
It throws light also on the increased production of feed crops. The
annual reports for 1924 show that 9,936 adult farmers and farm women
were enrolled as livestock demonstrators, of whom 7,379 completed the
year’s work and submitted reports. It is safe to assume that most
of the 264,432 animals used in these demonstrations were purebred.
Likewise, it means progress when it is realized that negro boys
and girls cared for 102,070 high-class farm animals in their club
enterprises. The enrollment of negro boys and girls in livestock work
is worthy of the detailed statement given in Table 2.


TABLE 2.—_Enrollment of negro boys and girls in livestock
demonstrations, 1924_

  ——————————————+———————+——————
   Line of work |  Boys | Girls
  ——————————————+———————+——————
  Hogs          | 3,774 |   682
  Dairy cattle  |   505 | 2,732
  Beef cattle   |    83 |     4
  Poultry       | 2,154 | 7,753
  ——————————————+———————+——————

Some idea of the substantial nature of the accomplishments of negro
agents may be found in the record for 1924, which shows that they
helped to procure better sires for the flocks and herds of 3,552
farms and that they had flocks and herds culled on 4,848 farms. They
also introduced better balanced feeding for farm animals on 9,520
farms.

Negro demonstrators used 68,126 tons of fertilizer and 8,288 tons
of lime in their exemplary farm enterprises in 1924, and they
plowed under 13,547 acres of cover and green-manure crops in their
soil-improvement operations. Terracing was done on 1,738 farms and
soil erosion was thereby prevented on 43,299 acres. Drainage systems
were installed on 573 farms and 18,405 acres were thereby made more
productive and valuable.

The climax of negro extension work comes in the constructive
features just as for the whites. Special import should therefore
be attached to the fact that the agents had 463 barns, 411 hog
houses, and 787 poultry houses built according to approved plans.
Some rural-engineering work of a constructive nature was done on
3,967 farms under the guidance of negro extension agents. All this
development means that thousands of the best negroes are learning
lessons of thrift, economy, and enterprise. They are coming to
realize more and more the importance of owning land and building
permanent homes. Another decade will probably show even greater
results along these lines.




HOME DEMONSTRATION WORK


It is certainly very gratifying to note that a large number of negro
women and girls are doing excellent home demonstration work. When it
is remembered that they have to help a great deal in cotton, tobacco,
and other fields, there is unusual significance in the fact that they
are willing and anxious to take part in the special activities which
make for better living and better homes. In 1924, 21,509 women and
27,114 girls were enrolled in the various activities which pertain
definitely to the improvement of the home.

It is interesting, also, to compare the figures on home gardens
with those on food preservation and preparation. There seems to be
a logical sequence here. During the year, 12,355 women and 14,641
girls were enrolled in home gardening; 13,911 women and 13,826 girls,
in food preservation; and 14,731 women and 16,537 girls, in food
preparation. As a rule, the work begins with garden demonstrations,
so it would seem that the interest increases as the work progresses.
It should be remembered also that women and girls did most of the
work with poultry. The proportion of members completing these
demonstrations and the number of method demonstrations necessary for
instruction were about the same as the averages of agents in other
parts of the country and in other lines of work.

Gardening work is begun with the most staple and standard crops and
soon leads to winter and perennial gardens and the growing of small
fruits. Wherever home ownership obtains, the garden demonstrations
are followed by orchard and lawn demonstrations. Fruit trees suitable
to climatic and soil conditions are planted around the homes, and
such activities always approach their climax in beautified front
yards and lawns.

The number of dwellings constructed and remodeled under the guidance
of negro women agents and the number of club members demonstrating
the beautification of home grounds indicate clearly the progress of
negro home demonstration work. Such activities show that other steps
have been taken before the family is ready to build. They show,
also, that a great deal of interest has been aroused and that the
earning power of the people must have been increased to make such
improvements possible. In 1924, 569 houses were built in accordance
with plans furnished by negro extension agents and 1,002 houses
were remodeled in accordance with the suggestions made by them. The
fact that so much work was done to make homes attractive indicates
that demonstrators are anxious to make improvements. This point is
still further emphasized by the number of members who were enrolled
in demonstrations in the beautification of home grounds. A total
of 6,433 women and 6,427 girls took up this important enterprise;
in 1,336 homes the grounds were laid out according to a definite
landscape plan; and 335 school and community grounds were planted
according to plans.

Paint and whitewash are good indexes of improvement and prosperity.
Demonstrations of this nature exert a fine influence from the
standpoint of morals and civilization. In 1924, 2,259 dwellings were
painted or whitewashed as the result of extension influence. Many of
the dwellings which were built or remodeled installed running water
and lighting and heating systems. Altogether, 151 houses installed
one or more of these improvements.

Perhaps no phases of home demonstration work are more valuable among
negroes than sanitation and health, which were exemplified by more
than 10,000 negro homes. In 2,361 homes the doors and windows were
screened and in 3,781 homes other methods of insect control and
extermination were followed. In most Southern States, negro agents
have definite plans with blue prints for the construction of sanitary
closets. These plans were followed in 1,890 homes. A total of 9,734
women and 10,351 girls were enrolled in home-health and sanitation
demonstrations. The agents gave more than 5,000 demonstrations by
way of instruction along this line. The club members and the home
demonstrators took much interest in home nursing, first aid, care of
teeth, care of skin, good posture, prevention of colds, and similar
health activities which the agents were emphasizing.

The statistics on house furnishings by negro women and girls compare
favorably with their activities along other lines. (Fig. 12.) During
1924, 7,688 women and 8,656 girls were enrolled to make or buy and
install certain house furnishings suggested by the agents. More than
3,000 individuals conducted demonstrations in treating woodwork,
walls, and floors. As a result of demonstrations carried on in house
furnishings, 4,938 improvements were made in bedrooms, 1,744 in
living rooms, 2,190 in dining rooms, and 1,717 in other rooms of the
house.

During the year 4,962 demonstrations in home management were
conducted by women and girls, most of them pertaining to the kitchen
and its equipment. Negro women and girls in their demonstration
activities rearranged 2,226 kitchens according to plans outlined by
negro extension agents, installed 326 fireless cookers, 312 kitchen
sinks, 1,198 kitchen cabinets, and thousands of other articles of
equipment and convenience in the kitchen. In equipping the home
laundry 277 hand washing machines and 26 power washing machines were
obtained. The women and girls also bought 623 electric and gasoline
irons and 70 power vacuum cleaners. The record shows that 4,008 club
members and demonstrators followed improved laundry practices for the
first time.




AGENTS’ ACTIVITIES


In the conduct of demonstration work with negroes the agents made
visits to 28,410 farms and 26,515 homes. It required 86,824 farm
visits and 49,334 home visits to get the results heretofore reported.
It therefore seems that each demonstration farm required an average
of three visits and each demonstration home an average of about
two visits. If the demonstrations are large and successful enough,
the agents will be justified in increasing their visits and also
in further magnifying them with field meetings and tours where the
demonstrations will be greatly emphasized and the good influences
extended.

[Illustration:

  FIG. 12.—Negro home demonstration agent demonstrating the making
  of rugs for the home. During 1924, 7,688 women and 8,656 girls
  were enrolled to make or buy and install certain house furnishings
  suggested by the agents.]

It may be noted further that the agents spent 37,418 days in the
field and 15,435 days in the office. The negro agents reported 46,100
method and result demonstration meetings with a total attendance
of 820,366. This was in addition to 1,863 special meetings for
demonstrators and leaders, 358 short courses, and 107 camps for
special training. Altogether, more than a million people attended
the special and regular meetings for the promotion of extension work
among negroes. To these impressive totals the number of fairs and
exhibits should be added. Negroes made exhibits at 815 different
community, county, and State fairs, which were seen and studied by
thousands of people. Lantern slides and motion pictures were shown at
more than 500 meetings.




OUTLOOK


The extension work for negroes and by negroes has been built up
practically in the last 10 years. It is a wonderful development in
such a short time. It took about the same length of time to build a
similar organization for white people. When it is remembered that
negro work has been established in a period of transition, turmoil,
and readjustment, the significance is all the more remarkable. It is
a fine tribute to the good work of the negro agents that, when the
period of retrenchment came soon after the World War, their force
and their appropriations were the only ones which were not reduced.
With this solid foundation, with this inspiring record, and with this
successful history the near future holds out much hope for even more
rapid development. There is no field of education in this country now
where greater good can be accomplished by earnest, devoted agents
working along the right lines.




STATISTICS


TABLE 3.—_Number of negro agents and cost of negro extension work
for the fiscal years ended on June 30 each year from 1915 to 1924,
inclusive_

  ———————————————+————————————————+————————————————+————————————————
                 |      1915      |      1916      |      1917
   State and sex +——————+—————————+——————+—————————+——————+—————————
     of agent    |Number|Estimated|Number|Estimated|Number|Estimated
                 |  of  |  cost   |  of  |  cost   |  of  |  cost
                 |agents|         |agents|         |agents|
  ———————————————+————————————————+————————————————+————————————————
  Alabama:       |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |   7  |  $6,407 |   7  |  $6,099 |   9  |  $8,688
     Women       |      |         |      |         |   1  |   1,032
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Arkansas:      |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |   2  |   1,380 |   4  |   2,637 |   6  |   3,017
     Women       |      |         |   1  |     314 |   1  |   1,050
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Florida:       |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |   1  |     590 |   2  |   1,632 |   8  |   3,660
     Women       |      |         |      |         |      |
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Georgia:       |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |   2  |   1,245 |   2  |   1,847 |   3  |   3,280
     Women       |      |         |      |         |   1  |     480
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Kentucky:      |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |      |         |      |         |   1  |     165
     Women       |      |         |      |         |      |
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Louisiana:     |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |   1  |     625 |   6  |   1,953 |   7  |   4,622
     Women       |      |         |   2  |     442 |   2  |   1,380
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Maryland:      |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |      |         |      |         |   1  |     333
     Women       |      |         |      |         |      |
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Mississippi:   |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |   4  |   2,175 |   5  |   3,550 |   8  |   4,608
     Women       |      |         |      |         |      |
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Missouri:      |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |      |         |      |         |      |
     Women       |      |         |      |         |      |
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  North Carolina:|      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |   8  |   3,960 |   5  |   4,841 |   5  |   5,170
     Women       |      |         |      |         |      |
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Oklahoma:      |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |   1  |     895 |   1  |   1,001 |      |
     Women       |   1  |     884 |   1  |     900 |   1  |     879
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  South Carolina:|      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |   7  |   2,721 |   5  |   2,210 |   5  |   1,943
     Women       |      |         |      |         |      |
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Tennessee:     |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |      |         |      |         |      |
     Women       |      |         |      |         |      |
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Texas:         |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |      |         |      |         |      |
     Women       |      |         |      |         |      |
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Virginia:      |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |  16  |   8,638 |  15  |  11,120 |  19  |  12,680
     Women       |  16  |   2,069 |   1  |   1,310 |   3  |   2,447
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  West Virginia: |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |      |         |      |         |      |
     Women       |      |         |      |         |      |
                 +——————+—————————+——————+—————————+——————+—————————
     Total:      |      |         |      |         |      |
         Men     |  49  |  28,636 |  52  |  36,890 |  72  |  48,166
         Women   |  17  |   2,953 |   5  |   2,966 |   9  |   7,268
                 +——————+—————————+——————+—————————+——————+—————————
     Grand total |  66  |  31,589 |  57  |  39,856 |  81  |  55,434
  ———————————————+————————————————+————————————————+————————————————


 ———————————————+——————————————+——————————————+——————————————+——————————————
                |      1918    |    1919      |    1920      |      1921
  State and sex +——————+———————+——————+———————+——————+———————+——————+———————
    of agent    |Number| Est.  |Number| Est.  |Number| Est.  |Number| Est.
                |  of  | cost  |  of  | cost  |  of  | cost  |  of  | cost
                |agents|       |agents|       |agents|       |agents|
 ———————————————+——————————————+——————————————+——————————————+——————————————
 Alabama:       |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
    Men         |  22  |$14,939|  30  |$24,275|  24  |$28,176|  24  |$31,562
    Women       |  12  |  5,976|  11  |  8,590|   9  |  5,871|   9  | 10,588
                |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
 Arkansas:      |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
    Men         |  12  |  5,273|  11  | 13,423|  10  | 13,951|  10  | 19,242
    Women       |  28  |  6,371|  21  |  5,921|  13  | 10,351|   9  | 14,679
                |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
 Florida:       |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
    Men         |  14  |  5,681|  13  |  7,312|   8  |  5,991|   9  |  6,840
    Women       |  18  |  2,492|  18  |  4,943|   8  |  3,227|  10  |  4,925
                |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
 Georgia:       |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
    Men         |   5  |  6,805|  14  | 11,249|  13  | 16,212|  12  | 15,613
    Women       |  32  |  6,090|  29  |  5,304|   2  |  1,802|  11  |  6,730
                |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
 Kentucky:      |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
    Men         |   4  |  2,723|   4  |  4,872|   4  |  4,320|   6  | 10,118
    Women       |   4  |  1,515|   3  |  1,870|      |       |      |
                |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
 Louisiana:     |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
    Men         |  12  |  8,148|  17  | 12,728|  12  | 14,420|  11  | 15,894
    Women       |   5  |  3,174|   8  |  5,923|   2  |  2,027|   3  |  3,562
                |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
 Maryland:      |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
    Men         |   3  |  3,110|   3  |  4,960|   2  |  3,792|   2  |  3,975
    Women       |   5  |  3,445|   5  |  4,242|   1  |  1,553|   1  |  1,160
                |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
 Mississippi:   |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
    Men         |  13  |  7,464|  17  | 16,626|  12  | 15,052|  10  | 15,760
    Women       |   6  |  2,614|  27  |  5,769|  10  |  6,314|  10  | 12,527
                |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
 Missouri:      |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
    Men         |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
    Women       |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
                |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
 North Carolina:|      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
    Men         |  17  | 11,696|  18  | 17,237|  16  | 18,510|  15  | 20,988
    Women       |  18  |  2,062|  43  |  6,723|      |       |      |
                |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
 Oklahoma:      |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
    Men         |   6  |  3,618|   9  |  9,798|   9  | 17,701|  10  | 19,612
    Women       |   4  |  4,870|   5  |  4,664|   4  |  6,317|   4  |  6,545
                |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
 South Carolina:|      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
    Men         |  10  |  2,220|  11  |  6,430|   7  |  6,160|   6  |  6,042
    Women       |      |       |   4  |  1,063|   1  |    900|  10  |  1,788
                |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
 Tennessee:     |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
    Men         |   8  |  4,076|   8  |  7,134|   6  |  7,023|   5  |  7,860
    Women       |   3  |  1,562|  23  |  8,115|   4  |  3,223|   4  |  6,651
                |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
 Texas:         |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
    Men         |   7  |  5,233|   8  |  8,094|  12  | 12,046|  13  | 22,524
    Women       |  12  |  1,517|  15  |  4,429|  11  |  5,393|   9  |  8,810
                |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
 Virginia:      |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
    Men         |  23  | 16,065|  26  | 22,850|  23  | 21,148|  23  | 23,863
    Women       |  56  | 10,525|  56  | 12,798|  10  |  2,252|   6  |  3,340
                |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
 West Virginia: |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
    Men         |      |       |   2  |    167|   1  |    250|   1  |  1,600
    Women       |      |       |      |       |   1  |    740|      |
                +——————+———————+——————+———————+——————+———————+——————+———————
    Total:      |      |       |      |       |      |       |      |
        Men     | 156  | 97,051| 191  |167,155| 159  |184,752| 157  |221,493
        Women   | 203  | 52,213| 268  | 80,354|  76  | 49,970|  86  | 81,305
                +——————+———————+——————+———————+——————+———————+——————+———————
    Grand total | 359  |149,264| 459  |247,509| 235  |234,722| 243  |302,798
 ———————————————+——————————————+——————————————+——————————————+——————————————

  ———————————————+————————————————+————————————————+————————————————
                 |      1922      |      1923      |      1924
   State and sex +——————+—————————+——————+—————————+——————+—————————
     of agent    |Number|Estimated|Number|Estimated|Number|Estimated
                 |  of  |  cost   |  of  |  cost   |  of  |  cost
                 |agents|         |agents|         |agents|
  ———————————————+——————+—————————+——————+—————————+——————+—————————
  Alabama:       |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |  24  | $39,066 |  23  | $44,765 |  25  | $38,576
     Women       |   9  |  11,351 |   9  |  12,694 |   9  |  11,481
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Arkansas:      |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |   9  |  19,489 |  10  |  15,429 |  10  |  13,783
     Women       |  10  |  17,320 |  12  |  15,376 |  11  |  17,841
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Florida:       |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |   9  |   7,222 |   8  |   8,400 |   8  |   9,063
     Women       |   9  |   6,628 |   7  |   6,830 |   8  |   7,810
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Georgia:       |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |  15  |  18,302 |  12  |  17,978 |  13  |  19,703
     Women       |  17  |  13,302 |  17  |  14,593 |  13  |  10,749
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Kentucky:      |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |   5  |   7,289 |   5  |   6,744 |   5  |   6,826
     Women       |      |         |      |         |      |
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Louisiana:     |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |   9  |  13,391 |   9  |  11,380 |  10  |  13,981
     Women       |   6  |   6,101 |   5  |   6,513 |   6  |   6,414
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Maryland:      |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |   2  |   4,040 |   2  |   4,140 |   2  |   4,140
     Women       |   1  |   1,548 |   1  |   1,650 |   1  |   1,775
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Mississippi:   |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |  14  |  20,275 |  17  |  28,240 |  19  |  28,292
     Women       |  14  |  15,906 |  17  |  21,186 |  17  |  20,584
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Missouri:      |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |   2  |   3,800 |   2  |   4,000 |   2  |   4,239
     Women       |   1  |   2,000 |   1  |   2,000 |   1  |   2,200
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  North Carolina:|      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |  15  |  22,477 |  20  |  25,286 |  20  |  24,418
     Women       |   5  |  13,481 |   6  |   9,408 |   6  |  11,413
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Oklahoma:      |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |  10  |  21,070 |  11  |  21,263 |  10  |  24,188
     Women       |   4  |   6,982 |   4  |   6,794 |   4  |   5,728
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  South Carolina:|      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |   7  |  10,372 |   9  |  12,077 |  10  |  14,318
     Women       |  13  |   2,925 |  14  |   3,624 |   6  |   7,283
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Tennessee:     |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |   5  |   8,096 |   5  |   8,099 |   6  |   8,735
     Women       |   4  |   6,285 |   5  |   6,137 |   5  |   7,936
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Texas:         |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |  16  |  24,528 |  23  |  30,145 |  23  |  38,492
     Women       |  11  |  11,917 |  12  |  15,381 |  13  |  16,932
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  Virginia:      |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |  27  |  30,849 |  26  |  34,130 |  26  |  34,458
     Women       |   8  |   7,318 |   8  |  10,297 |   8  |  10,329
                 |      |         |      |         |      |
  West Virginia: |      |         |      |         |      |
     Men         |   5  |   4,582 |   4  |   4,281 |   3  |   4,579
     Women       |   1  |   1,800 |      |         |      |
                 +——————+—————————+——————+—————————+——————+—————————
     Total:      |      |         |      |         |      |
         Men     | 174  | 254,848 | 186  | 276,357 | 191  | 287,791
         Women   | 113  | 124,864 | 118  | 132,483 | 108  | 138,475
                 +——————+—————————+——————+—————————+——————+—————————
     Grand total | 287  | 379,712 | 304  | 408,840 | 299  | 426,266
  ———————————————+——————+—————————+——————+—————————+——————+—————————

ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

September 13, 1926


  _Secretary of Agriculture_               W. M. JARDINE.
  _Assistant Secretary_                    R. W. DUNLAP.
  _Director of Scientific Work_            A. F. WOODS.
  _Director of Regulatory Work_            WALTER G. CAMPBELL.
  _Director of Extension Work_             C. W. WARBURTON.
  _Director of Information_                NELSON ANTRIM CRAWFORD.
  _Director of Personnel and Business
    Administration_                       W. W. STOCKBERGER.
  _Solicitor_                              R. W. WILLIAMS.
  _Weather Bureau_                         CHARLES F. MARVIN, _Chief_.
  _Bureau of Agricultural Economics_       LLOYD S. TENNY, _Acting Chief_.
  _Bureau of Animal Industry_              JOHN R. MOHLER, _Chief_.
  _Bureau of Plant Industry_               WILLIAM A. TAYLOR, _Chief_.
  _Forest Service_                         W. B. GREELEY, _Chief_.
  _Bureau of Chemistry_                    C. A. BROWNE, _Chief_.
  _Bureau of Soils_                        MILTON WHITNEY, _Chief_.
  _Bureau of Entomology_                   L. O. HOWARD, _Chief_.
  _Bureau of Biological Survey_            E. W. NELSON, _Chief_.
  _Bureau of Public Roads_                 THOMAS H. MACDONALD, _Chief_.
  _Bureau of Home Economics_               LOUISE STANLEY, _Chief_.
  _Bureau of Dairy Industry_               C. W. LARSON, _Chief_.
  _Fixed Nitrogen Research Laboratory_     F. G. COTTRELL, _Director_.
  _Office of Experiment Stations_          E. W. ALLEN, _Chief_.
  _Office of Cooperative Extension Work_   C. B. SMITH, _Chief_.
  _Library_                                CLARIBEL R. BARNETT, _Librarian_.
  _Federal Horticultural Board_            C. L. MARLATT, _Chairman_.
  _Insecticide and Fungicide Board_        J. K. HAYWOOD, _Chairman_.
  _Packers and Stockyards Administration_  JOHN T. CAINE III, _in Charge_.
  _Grain Futures Administration_           J. W. T. DUVEL, _in Charge_.


This circular is a contribution from

  _Extension Service_                          C. W. WARBURTON, _Director_.
      _Office of Cooperative Extension Work_   C. B. SMITH, _Chief_.


  ADDITIONAL COPIES
  OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM
  THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS
  GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
  WASHINGTON, D. C.
  AT
  10 cents per copy

[Illustration: triangle]




  Transcriber’s Notes

  pg 1 Changed: success in influencing the connstruction
            to: success in influencing the construction

  pg 11 Changed: good object lessons in crop productoin
             to: good object lessons in crop production

  pg 20 Changed: good house which I rent,
             to: good house which I rent out,

  pg 23 Changed: completed 971 with marked sucess.
             to: completed 971 with marked success.

  pg 25 Changed: kitchen cabinets, and thouands of other articles
             to: kitchen cabinets, and thousands of other articles