Annual report of county agent work, 1920: Moffat County

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COOPERATIVE EXTENSION WORK IN AGRICULTURE AND HOME ECONOMICS

State Agricultural Ccllege of Colorado and

u.s.

of Agriculture and Moffat County Cooperating. Annual Report Index

Agricultural Resources of Moffat County -~--- ---~---- 2

Brief History of county Agent Work in Moffat County --- ~

Gounty and Resume of work in 1920 ---~--~--- 4-5

Organization--~--- 6-8

Crop Improvement --- 9-14

Wheat Variety Teat --- 9

Corn Variety Test --- 10-12

Live Stock Improvement --~--- ---~~--- 15-17

Dairying ---_{Silos ---17} 15

Pig Club --- 16

Home Improvement --- ---~ 18

Pests --- --- 19-22

Fairs _{County Fair--- 23} ---~--- 23-24

Community Fairs --- 23-24

Farm Bureau Excursion --- ~·- 25

Farm Bureau News ~---~--- 26

statistical Report Summary

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THE AGRICULTURAL RESOURCF.S OF MOFFAT COUNTY.

AREA.

Moffat County is a portion of a vast plateau across which numerous streares have cut deep valleye.The altitude varies from

5,400 feet at the western edge of the county to 7600 at the east~

ern edge.The county is recte.ngular in shape,having a length of

91 miles and a width of 55 miles.It has an area of 3,033,900 acreec

The valleys are level and fertil and between them are numerous

mesas most of which contain good agricultural land. CLIMATE.

The average rainfall rune from 12 inches in the western end of the County to about twenty inches in the higher parts of the

eastern end. Most of this precipitation is during the winter months

as snow and lays on the ground until apring.This snow in a large

measure furnishes the moisture for the crops on the unirrigated land.

PRIUCIPAL CROPS.

The principal crops are small grains, alfalfa, timothy,root

crops and forage crops,and garden crops.

Unirrigated farming has been carried on in this County about

ten years ~nd at present there is about 50,000 acres plowed up. so

far the farmers have depended mainly on wheat,but are beginning to

grow forage crops and keep more livestock, especially dairy stock. On the irrigated land alfalfa,timothy and alsike hay is the main crop although a considerable amount of grain,euch as oats,wheat and barley are grown.

Most of the 4ry land has been homesteaded only in the last four years and the homesteaders are now getting to the point where they can stay on the land and make a living.

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BRIEF HISTORY OF "THE COUNTY AGENT WORK IN MOrFAT COUNTY. The County Agent work began in this County in November 1917. Mr. H.B. Kobey was the first County Agent,bia main projects in the

forepart of the first year were Live Stock and Pest Control. _

Dairy cows being the greatest need in the County of the Farmers, orders for two car loads were secured and a man sent to Wisconsin

to secure them.

A silo campaign was started in the second year of the County Agent work and as a result five pit silos were put down.These

served as demonstrations of the vlaue of silos and silage crops to Moffat County Farmers.

It being almost impossible to raise crops on the dry land on

account of the Wyoming ground squirrel,work was begun along the line of demonstrations in the eradication of this pest.Thie work

was progressed until the main project of the Farm Bureau.This

work was progressed until considerable headway was made against

the pest,yet this work is of great importance und still remains

one of the main projecte.In the second year of the Co~nty Agent

work and the Peat Control Campaign,two peat districts were organ-ized and about 7500 gallons of poison mixed and aold to the farmers •

Several attempts were made to organize a Farm Bureau but

this did not succeed for various reasons until the summer of l919o

The following aornmlini ties chose programs of work; Orai g, Waddle Creel)

JackRabbit ,Maybell and Croaa Mountain. There were

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COUNTY AND RESUME OF WORK IX 1980.

The present County Agent took up the work January 12th,l920, reporting for duty at Fort Collins for the County Agent Conferenre and taking chRrge of the office in Craig January 33rd, 1920.

Having been a r .esident of the County previously he was

ram.:.

iliar with ~he conditions of the County and what bad beeri done

in the County Agent Work. On arriving in the County a meeting of

the Executive Committee of the Farm Bureau and the County

Comm-issioners was called to meet with the County Agent and Mr. R.H.

Fel ta, Assistr-i.Ilt County Agent Leader. The needs of the County were

discussed. It was decided to limit the activities of the Farm

Bureau to three main projecta,theae to consist of Crope,Live Stock and Peat Control.

In the Crop Project a variety teat of corn was considered moat important eince there was a great demand for feed for dairy

cows and the corn waa needed for silage, a variety t§at of ~heat

and field peas w a also considered important and demonstrations

of Sunflower growing.

The Variety test was carried out in nine communities with and average of two cooperators in each community and a few farmers in other sections who were interested in the work.T.he test was not

conclusive becauae of a late and unfavorable season but ia serv~

ed to create a great deal of interest in corn as forage for live

etock.It vraa found that White Australian Flint corn would mature

and gi 1re fair yields in the moat unfavorable seasons and that early

dent varietiea could be depended upon to yield a fatt crop for

silage purpoeeg,.

The teat work on wheat began in the fall with the sowing

on about 120 acres of XanRed Wheat - on a doaen farms.This variety waa introduced from Kansas in order to determine whether an inceease

in the yield would result. Certified seed was secured and sown on absolut9ly clean fields with the object of raising certified seed

valuable for dairy cowa,hogs,sheep and poultry/

Oonsiderable interest had been created in sunflowers for silage purpoaea and a few farmers had been growing them on dry land

to determine vJhe ther they could be depended upon. The indica tiona

were that a heavy yield could be secured. Through the efforts of the

County Agent a half dozen ~armers planted sunflowers this year.This

crop was better than expected showing that because of its resistance

to drouth and frost it would be a dependable crop for the dry land.

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the number of siloa ,the five in the County thoroughly demonstrating their value. Through the Oounty papers and personal work of the Agent and others interested including Lee Jones of the Craig Lumber Comp-any at least seventy-five farmers agreed to dig pit ailoa. Fully

thirty-five of this number put in silos And filled them.

It was planned to bring in a large number of dairy cows but

it uaa thought best to d~fer this until a crop was aseured.About

this time the money qituation made it impossible to secure the Cow~~

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were Mr. Robert reatey and Mr. Thompson.

The County Agent was able to give several dry farmers assistance in securing cattle within the County and thus establish three in the dairy business.

A pig club waa organized in the Craig OoBmunity consisting of

five members that did exceptional ,Kork.~ure bred pigs were secured

and through the gaod care given by the members were grown out to make

very good aowa.

In Home Improvement,a canning club was organized at Great Divide and the nine members did unusually good work, besides putting up a considerable quantity of vegetables and fruit,they gave two demon-strations a t th9 Local Fairs.

A Canning demonstration waa held in the Iron Springs Divide

Community,alao ~our pnultry cul ling Demonstrations have been heldo

In Pest Control Work, plans were made for financing and

mi xing the poiaon,the Craig Farm-ers Milling and Elevator Company

cooperating in this work.It was originally planned to mix 5000 gallons of poLson but because of the unfavorable season for the squirrels

only 1200 ga llons were mixed. No pest districts were organized this

year because of the f a ct that only a ~art of the land was patented

and the strict ~nforcement o~ the p•st ~ nspection l aw was impossible.

Mr. Kobey,former County Agent,mixed poison this year and reports

that about 2000 gallons were sold by him to · the farmers.

It was planned by the Executive Committee to hold a number of

Community Fairs in the different Sections of the County this year to demonstrate to the homesteaders what the County could produce add

give them opportunity to rr1ake exhi bi ta of the dE!'Onstra tiona carried

on by the Farm Bureau. Two such Fairs were held in a:1di tion to the

County Fair,one iB Craig ~nd one at Great Divide.

In addition to the County and Commdnity fairs an exhibit was

sent to the State Fair consisting of 19 entries.These entries won ei8Pt f irst premiums and seven other premiums.The entries were mainly

small gr ~ins and potatOes.

An exhibit of eleven entries was prepared and sent to the

Intern a tione~.l I.i~,e Stock Show at Chioago,conaisting of small grains

and alfalfa seed.

It was planned to hold some Farm Excursions during the

eummer.Only one such excursion was held,conaisting of about a dozen

farmers and fifteen of the bueinesa men of Cra.ig.The Excursion proved

to be of considerable benefit to the farmers and the Business Men in that it enabled the Farmers to give the Bueiaeas menan idea of the development of the new Country and secure the confidence of the Business Man in the work the farmer was doing.

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ORGANIZATION.

Officers and Committeemen. President \Tice Pres. Sec.& Treae. Robert Estey Eben Hamilton Chaa. E. Herrick Craig. Craig. Craig6 Executive Committeemen.

Crop . Walter Spencer Craig.

Live Stock Riley Hamilton Craig.

Home Improvement ___

--~~---~---Peat Control George Hette Craig.

Roads Joseph Biskup Craig.

Boys & Girls Mrs. Laura Canno.n Craig.

Weed control F.M. Drescher Craig.

NOTE.

The County Agent resigning in September laet year the Farm Bureau remained idle until January of the present

year when the new County Agent took up his duties. No elec~

tion was held and the officers held over. The death of Mr. John Hicks made it necessary to fill the vacancy of Crop Committeeman and Mr. Walter Spencer was selected to fill

the place,

COMMUNITY COMMI TTF.F.MEN.

CRAIG.

Organization ---Rob~rt Estey.

Live Stock---Vern Hyatt • Peat Control---G.W. Hetts. Weed Control---F.M. Drescher.

Boye

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Organization---E.B. DupRee Crops---·----Van Hou ten Live Stock ---W.P. Wagner Peat Control---Chas.Baker Marketing---E.C. Johnson. CROSS MOUNTAIN.

Organization. ---Gordan Grayham. Live Stock---J.J. Stephenson Pest Control---H.M. Kemper

Marketing---Frank White

Home Improvement ---J.J. Stephenson.

W A DDLF. CREFK.

Organization---Park Woode.

Li ,,e Stock---Harry Durham.

Peat con trol---!,1.. Durham.

Weed Control---Mr. Utley.

JACK RABBIT.

Organization ..

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JACK RABBIT,oontinued.

Peat Control---TomBlevins.

Weed Control---- ---Mr. Hammontree.

Boys and Girls Clubs ---Mr. Ashbrook..

Roads--- - ---~-Estell Pelley.

LAY.

Or gr--.nt zat.i9!1:--~---:-:---:w--:-L. B. lakeland.

Cro~s---- - ---Paul Lamb.

Pest Control-~:~--~---s.P. Cary.

IRON SPRINGS DIVIDE.,

Organization---H.E. Butler.

Crops---H.E. Butler. Live Stock---B.H. Mobley. Home Improvement---Mrs. Frank Smay. Pest Control---Roy Feusner.

Faira--- ---F..E. Gillard. GREAT DIVIDE.,

Oxganization---~F.lbert Morris.

Crops---~--- -

---F-.0.

Live stock---H.K. Wilson. Pest Control---E. Morrie.

Faira---Mr. Pate.

Boys and Girls Clubs ---Mra. H.K. Wileen.

FORTI FICA TIOilc

Organ~zation---Clarence Haughey.

Peat Control---Mr. Clapp.

On account of the failure to hold meeting at the regular time in December of 1918 it was de«ided at the first meeting of the F.xecutive Committee in January to let the Officers of the Farm Bureau bold over to December of the following year when an

election would be held. ·

A membership campaign was thought inopportune because of

the fact that the County was recently homesteaded and many of

the farmers who were most interested in the work of the Farm

Bureau wer~ just getting eetabliehed ·on their farms and also that

the in the previous year practically no feed had been raised on account of drouth.

These plans were altered at the request of the State Farm

Bureau and a membership campaign was planned in Auguet.At a mistrict meeting held in Steamboat Spring plans were made for the membership campaign and later perfected in detail at an Executive Committee meeting held in Craig.Solicitora were appointed in every small community end given instructions as best we could through the mail and in 0cmmunity meetinga.Several articles were published in the local papers on the value of the Farm Bureau.It being the busiest

season of the year the results were very uneatiafactory.Very ~ew

of the solicitors made any e~~ort to secure members and ten members

were all that signed up.Later in October another effort was made and a circular letter sent to every one who had shown interest in the Farm Bureau Work or had received benefits from the Farm Bureau. The net reaulte are twenty-two members.This number will be

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ORG~NIZATION,contiaued.

During the year programs of work have been eataoliebed in six communities in addition to the five already having progaams. These new communities ate Iron Springs Divide,Great Dinde,

Fortification, Axial Basin,Lay and Douglas Mountain,

Because of the size of the County and poor roads it has been impossible to get to some of the outlying communities. As a rule these communities consist of a few widely ssattered

new homesteaders in more or lese inaccessible parte of the Bounty.Further more in getting the projects established in the more accessible populous communities the County Agent's time was more vaiuably apento

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CROP

s.

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CLIMATIC CONDITIONSo

The climatic conditione of Moffat County are such that the

growing season begins about May ZOth,and ends about September 15th

in the eastern end of the Co~nty and somewhat longer in the western

end where the altitude is le.sa. Small gre.ins, roots and hay makes

excellent: gJDouths but forage crops uch ae sorghums, corn and crops

requiring longer seasons are as yet in the experimental stageo

Another limiting factor is the amount of rainfall.The average

for the year is about fifteen or aaxteen inch s in the eastern part

of the County and slightly lees as you go west~Most of the

precip-itation accura in the ~ter months as snow and laya on the ground

until spring.Ae a rule most of it goes in the ground,depending upon

whether the ground froze before the snow began stayin.g on the grcund

in the early part of the winter~

WHEAT VARIETY TEST~

The main crop on the dry land so far has been wheatoMost of

this has been grown around Craig.The main wheat growing communities

being ~ellrock,Lower Fortification Valley,Breeze Basini and Cedar

Mountain neighborhood~The most dependable variety being the hard

red winter variety,Turkey Red,a.lthough there is a great deal of

spring wheat grown of the Defiance and Marcus varieties are prominent in this County'b

On coming into the County aa County Agent several farmers

expressed a desire to try out the KanRed wheatoThia was taken up

with the Executi ·1e Committee and hear til). recommended by them as

one of the oro~projecta~The County tgent began at once to secur&

cooperation in this work and as a result the following farmers

placed an order for certified seed secured through the Extension Department of the College of Agrioultureo

Bellrock Community₁C~E. Herrick 200 lbs,P.R. ·Kai eri.l00lb8;Harry

Henderson 100 lbs,GoW~ Betts 100 lbs; C~Ho Hornbeck₁200 lba;M.F.

Chamberlin,500 lbs; Iron Springs Div.de,OoL• Davi 300 lbs;H. ;

Butler,600 lbs;Seymour Burton 100 lbeo Craig Community,George Norvell

200 lbs; Fred Haskine,60 lb ~~.w. Hyatt 100 lbs;F.M. Drescher 300 lbL

Great Divide Ccmmunity,J-oWo Dove.,40 lb&·c.; Dixon Community., lOO lba·;

for HoLe. Holmes·. Craig Community,Walter Spencer 300 lbs.;Upper

Forti~ication Community,C1arence Haughey 100 lba,making a total of

3500 lbs of seed brought into the County~This being certified seed

it was planted on absolutely clean fields and wdll be certified next

year.

RYE.

ROESEN AND PITCUS REEo

Rye being a.n important crop both from a forage and a grain standpoint in this CountyJconmderable effort was made in the early part of the eaacn to stir up interest in improvement of the cropo As a result it wa discovered that there was eome effort being made

to introduce improved varieties into the County.Mr.T.Lo Stringham and C.H. Hornbeck of the Craig Community had secured seed of the

Roesen variety and bad been growing the seed for two year 0 As

a

CID PS., continuedtt

farmers secured seed of these men and planted itoThe season being somewhat unfavorable for this crop and the ;yields were not such as we had hoped for the crop but as it turned out Toesen Rye produced at least twice the number of bushels per

acre the common rye does.Aa for forage they were about the same.

In the Iron Springs Divide Community Mr. H.E. Butler had

introduced the Pitcus Rye and had secured much better results from

it than the common rye grown along side it,this being true especiall

with the yield of seed.The amount of straw,or hay being about the same although it waa noticed that in case of both the Pitcua and Roeeen Rye the straw was a little coarser than in the common varietye

There was around 800 acres of the new varieties sown in

the County this fall~

CORN.

Many of the new settlers ha~e been experimenting Wlth corn

for the last four years.No marked success had been obtained from groutha and the maturing of the crop except fer a little yellow dent_ variety that invariably matured about the lOth of August, until two yeara ago when a conaderable acreage of

Australian White Fl~nt was plantedo The season was very dry and

unusually warm and a killing frost did not accur until rather late in the season.All corn planted reasonably early that season

matured,including a considerable impetue and w1ce there was a

demand for suitable silage crops,a large acreage was planted thia seasono

A great many inquiries coming into the office of the County Agent regarding the best varieties for grain and forage

determined the Executive Committee to undertake a variety test on corn to find out the most suitable variety for these purposes.

In working up the project an investigation was made regarding

the possibiltty of the pit ~ lo ih this County. There ware five in

the County.Two being in the Iron Springs Divide Community on

the farms of MroH.E. Butler and Ro~ Feuaner,and oneon the farm

of Mr.Hale near Great Divide,one near Maybell and one near Sun-beam1in every case these were filled with corn.The silage was of

the highest quality and owing to· the extreme scarcity of feed they werethe means of saving the situation for the owners-These facta were obtained and placed before· the farmers by means of artiltlea

published in the local papers and in meetings h~ld in the different

communities.The results were that a.t least 3000 acres of corn were planted and at least 36 silos builto

In in-augurating the variety teet,the Executive Committee recommended that the business men of Craig be asked to furnish the neseesary amount of corn to provide seed for an acre plot,each of

five varieties and ~hat at leasttwo cooperators be secured in

each comrru.nity in the County.Nine bushels of corn were given by

the business men to the project.Besides this a large ~umber of

fo.rmers in the County Volunteered to cooperate with th.e Farm Bureau in the test and furnished their own seedtr

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VARIETIES~

The varieties decided upon aft6r careful ooneid.eration and varieties that had given promisee after being grown a

few years were.: White Australian Flint,Raint,ow Flint, Colorado

Yellow Dent, inneeota 13 and swadley.~esidea these varieties

the College of Agriculture provided some seed of the ~ride

of the Northand Golden Glow~

Corn.

COOPER .A TORS'Jl

I ron Springe D i vi deo

In this community the Corn Variety Test was taken up aa

a

an"

designated as cccperative growers for· the community-aBesides.

these men Frain Smay,E.E~ Gillard and LoO~ McCuitjy planted

several different varieties and made a report to the County

Agent on the results. Mr~ Werner Herring of thi6 community

planted about ten different vaz·ieties and s_lao experimented

with methods of pl~ing including lietimg-Ae yet no report

has been made by Mr~ H-erring although he says- that on new

land listing does more harm than good~

RESULTS: The resul te im thia oommuni ty shows tha.t the

White Auati·a.lian matured the earliest and gave the heaviest

yields in every ca se of the ;four reeulta sent in.ln reply

to the question as to the variety beet adapted to the need

as to maturing and yield of silage White Australian was given by three of the cooperators and Rustler by the fourthoThe

planting in thie community wa d.one from the first of June with

tbe exception of two planters wbo planted May the ~venty~fourth

and fifth~In no case did the Minnescta 13 mature although it got

to the staga where it forme~ a glaze in two caees~As a rule it

was in hard roasting ear s~age when killed by the frost.In most

cises Colorado Yellor Dwnt i~ prefered by the cooperators over

Minnesota 13.All the cooperators in this community filled adloa with the corn grown.

Great Di v"i de.

The corn va.riety test was a par"b of the community program

of work in this con~unity.The cooperators selected by the communijy

committeemen were EoOv Eddleman and J.E. oore but · on account of

hot having au i table w-ound the work was turned over to :Mr·o

DeLe-fontainoNe reports have been received frcm this community.,One

of th chief corn growers in this community is Mr0 Price who has

govd success with Colorado~ellow DentoHe had out about thirty

acres this year which had good prospects of maturing m d producing

heavy yields vf graino

Layo

The corn va1·iety teat was made a part of the prggram of

work in thie community al~o. Mr~

s.P.

·selected as cooperator .The '0arieties plc::..nted by Mr~ Cary were

White Austz·alian Flint,Minnesota l~·,Rainbow Flint,Swadl y₁Colorado

Yellow dentoHe planted the firet week in May a.nd the varieties in

order of their maturing were Auotralian White Flint,Rainbow Flint₁

Minr1esota l~₁and the other varieties had not a bit of grain₀llrc.

We.klands I'eport show&:. that he panted about the midd~e of May add

the order of maturing runs as follows:l5innescta 131 White Australian

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Swadley and Gclden Glow ,However· ncne of these made mature corn.

Fer aila.ge pur·poses the teet for this community shows that the

Minnesota 13 was favorable and better liked than the other ~a1·ietiee.,

Thie communi t.y 1 ies west of Craig and The Iron Springs Divide, and

Great Divide communities and having a little lees altitude has probably

a slightly earlier spring.The reporta show these two cooperators were

able to plc:.nt a week or eo earlier than the cooperators in the other

community or communities mentionedo Maybell.

No one was selected as cooperator in1 this Communitymhowever

Mr~ Joe Blecha who lives on the Danworth Hills about 12 miles southw

west of Maybell agreed tc cocperate with the Farm Bureau in this

work~Mr. Blecha has been rl~nting corn for several years and haa had some

very good success with iteBecauee of misunderstanding no corn was

furnished by the Farm Bureau to him for test work but he h· d a large

number of varietiea,all northern seed which he had secured himee~f.

Moet of these were dent varieties and matured excellent corn,thus

demon-strating that corn ie a profitable crop in that section of the County~

JackRc:. bbi t.

The cooperators in this community were the members of the Boy'• Corn Club,There were five members of the club and each planted

a different variety.Aa yet no report have been turned in by them cut

the exhibits of the membei'S at the fair and the result both from the

County and Community ~howa that fe.rin results were obtained considering

the lateneee of the season when the corn could be plantedo Crruig.

The cooperators selected by the Committee in this community

were Walter Spencer and Robert Estwy.Both of these farmers put their

corn into silos.Resul ts obtained from MR. Spence!' shows that Aurotralia.n

White Flint reached a fa.ir stage of maturity as alec did Swadley,Mr Spencer estimated that the Australian White Flint made twenty bushel&. of corn per acre.Minnesota 13 did not mature or Colorado Yellow Dent. Mro Estey found that Australian White Flint reached the beststage of

maturity while Minnesota 1~ and Colorado Yellow Dent reached the

roasting ear atage.This field of corn was killed earlier on account of

being in the Bear River Valley where there is greater danger of early

frosts than on the high ridgeso

Other 6ooperator~~

Corn for test work was ent to Mr. Vasseck of the Douglas

Mountain Section aa also to C.F.. Venard on Spring Creek and Howard

Thompson,R.S. Hamilton,David Houston of Axial Basin1but as yet no

rejcrts ha~e been received from them0

Conclusion on the Corn Variety Test0

In almost e~ry instance the Australia.n.White Flint has

made the best showing in that it wither matured or came nearest

maturing tlan any other variety.It was thought that Misnesota 1~ would

make a mucb · better ahowiug, that it was found in meet inate.ncee Swadley

came next to Austr~ian Flint followed by Colorado Yellow Dent.On

account of the late spring the corn en ~11 the plate was not pl~nted

as ahould have been,and hwere planti~g was practiced Minnesota 1~ aDd

Colorado Yellow ~ade a much moredfavorable showing.Verr few of the

coop-erators expreasea ttiemse!ves as 1sappo1ntea Wl~n the ast mentioned

varieties but were convinced that with early planting they will be more satisfactory for silage than the flint varieties.

CROPS,continuedo

Those who pla~ted Rustler and Pride of the North felt that these

varieties should be investigated more thoroughly and Swadley where

planted early made an excellent ehowing.One thing very important brcught out in the teste that the cooperators felt convinced that earlier

plant-ing must be pr~cticed regardless of the danger of the frosts.In most

ca:aee the corn that was frosted carne out and made better corn than that

plDnted at the time cf the frost or just after~ The best yield

report-ed was 40 bushels raisreport-ed by E.E. Gillard.The variety being Australian White Flint planted May 20th.The re£ults cbt2ined lack much of being

conclusive and the teet will be tried again next season.

Sunflowers-A few farmers in every locality ple.nted orne sunflowers as a

demcn-stration,in two casea,Mr.H.E. Butler and E. E. Gillard,of the Iron

Springs Divide Community,sunflower· were planted for silage.Mr.Butler

had in about three acres • .P.a compared to corn in production the yield

was ~bout twice the tonnage.The silage h s not been fed cut and nothing

can be said as yet as to its feeding value.This years demcnatraticn on sunflower growing had convinced many that this crop will be a valuable one for sila.ge purposeso

Field Peas.

In previous years a few f&..i·mera in this County have had good

succeaa growing field peas On account of the fa~t that not many farmers

knew ~ Of the adaptability of field peas to the climatic and soil condi tioa a

of Moffat County and their feeding and soil building advantages they were not generAlly grownoFeeling that ti1is crop would fit in well in a

system of rotation and the lack of a legume roughage for cattle~aheep

and hogs the County~gent began early in the season to advocate ~lanting

field peas.As a re~lt through cooperative orders 6500 pounds of the

peaa were erdered for eed frmm tbe San Louis Valley and local seedsmen

sold over a ton of seed~In most cases the peas were planted for seed ~d

will be threshed.Sixteen farmers ordered seed from the County Agent and report show the co opera tors well. at i sf ied with the crop and the acreage

will be much greater next yea.r~

Alfalfa.

Due to poor transportation the ordinary cash crops grown pay at best a very pooB return and in a great many cases loose the farmers money in this County.A strong desire has been felt and expressed by

many ~armers for a_caah crop that would make a return that transportation

would .uot eat up. As a result through the Farm Bureau a considerable desiee has been made known to grow dryland Alfalfa SeedGDuring the pa@t year almost every farmer and homesteader has planted a small plot for trial.'I'l're .teaulta obtained has been very gratifying to the farmers with

out exception and 4he coming spring will see sveral acres planted to

dry land alfalfa,most of which will be certified seed0Fair returns of

hay have been obtained al o some fields going ae high as two tons on

unirrigated land.The enclosed photograph shows a dry land alfalfa crop whbch is a fair acreage of the dry land alfalfao

Seed Potatoeso

Many farmer have been growing potatoes for the market but on account of the bulkiness of the product and the distance from the loading point not a large number of farmers realize any money on the cropoThis year

the Farm Bureau through the efforts of Mr.Walter Spencer have started a project of growing seed potatoes for \he Southern Market,Sixty acres have

been ~ledged for n~xt year from twelve farmers.Thie project is a

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ia succeasfuloAlao thie crop will fit nicely into a needed system of rotation as there is a lack of cultivated crops for this sectton.

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LIVE STOCKo

The natural;c~diticns of Moffat County make it a splendid

cattle oountry,and that bas been the principal induetry of the

people of the County since settlement until with in very 1·ecent

yeara6 Since moet of the grazing la.nd has been tc.ken up by the

homesteaders the only range left is the forest reeer·ves.On thia

account only a few of the ~ig cattle out~f't are left in the

businesa.The new homesteader hasn't gotten to the point where be can

grow sufficien.t feed or has the capital to grow beef cattle.

).lao since the range hae been largely taken up and the average

hc·meeteader not being sufficiently able and not hc:ving enough

tei·r·i tcry to graze a very large herd of cattle beef production would be rather unprofitable.

Fer these reasons farmers are turning to dairy cattle and most of

the live stock projects of the Farm Bureau are for the purpose

of promoting dairy cows on . Moffat County Farms.

D.AIRYINGo Plan of Project.

It was the plane of the Executive Committeeof the Farm

Bureau to make extension importations of dairy cowe into the

County during the late eummer e.nd early fa.lli)Hcwever because of

the unfavorable money situation the banks were unwilling to finance the proposition and very few . outside cows wete brought into

the County.Two car loads were brought in however one by Mro

Robert Estey and one by Mr. Thompson both of Craig~ r Estey

is in tne dairy bueir.esa and supplies the tow·n of Craig with

milk~His cows are mostly Holeteins~Mr. Thompson secured a

mixed load consisting of Shorthcrne,1_{Holsteins and Jerseys~}

He bought and brought them into the County for the purpose

of selling them to the Farmers~

During the spring and summer efforts were made to locate

geed cows and hoifere for people who wished to go outside to

purcha them.The aesietance of the Agricultural College was

asked for as wetl as that of the County Agents in the better known dairying counties of Colorado.The replies to theae letters were turned over to the perecne desiring this assistance but

in most cases they were not able to use it because of the money

situation or uncertainity of the feed crops~

During the fall the County Agent was able to give assietance to the following farmers whc wished to start in the dairy buaineseo

Mr. E.E. Kirkpatrick of the Great Divide Community,and Mro EoEo

Gillard of the II·on SpringsDivide Community •

Mro Wa.lter Duff of the Craig Community informed the County

Agent that he had a pure beed milking ehort horn bull for sale

and since Mr Mike Mu1·phy of the same community desired such a bull t

the County .Agent informed him of the bull,after which he purchased.

-ilk record sheets have been furnished tc five dairymen and

the keeping of · the records urged~

The County Jgent has helped twenty-three farmers plan crepe for

the purpose of growing feed for dairy cows.Most of these men were

unable to purchase cc.,we t rJ.s seo.eon ;but will in the near future.

HOGS

~e m~st ; import~tnd project dealing with. hoge was the Pig Club proJect 1n the Cra1g Community this year.Five members ccmpoaed

the club and every member had a pure bred pig and each secured

. \

Fcrkner who received the poorest prospect for a good pig in the

lot.The pig made practically no gain during the first two months

while at the same time receiving the very beet of care.By care-fully arranging the diet of the pig and going to extra expenae of

getting tankage and ~ilkhe was able to put on a Wonderful grouth

and grow hie pig out until now it comparee very favorably with

the other pige of the sa~e lot.

The pig that made the best Fair Record was that of Allen

McKennon Jr6Thia membez· gave hi~ pig coneta.nt care and good

feeding and was atle to make an average daily gain of 1.6 lbso

At the various county and ccmmunity fairs he won in premiums.

Robert Shrove ;another membe1· of the clul: was a very close

contest-ant of Allen McKennen Jr., at the fairs and ·by some was considered

equal _if not better.Thie pig made a daily gain up until September

11th of 1 5/9 lbs.~rough the interest of the Leader Mr. J.J. Toole

the members were able to show theri pigs at ·the Craig Community

Fair,the County Fair and the Routt County Fair,where these pigs

were the best hogs shown~

The result of the Pig Club work in the County this year

has etirred up interest in growi~g better amd more hogs.Three

of the parent of the Pig Club Members are plcs.nning to go in to

pure bred hog bueinesa as a result of the club work and others

will take it up later.From other communities repcrta are received

the.t pig olube will be org,lnized next yea.r, including Great Divide

and JackRabbit Communities.

The enclosed picture shows AllenMcKeenen weighing his pig_.The pig was trained to the extent that when the platform

was suspended from above was let down and at the word from the

owner the pig climbed en the scales and waited patiently until the

The disastrous shortage of fead,with the drouth of last yeat,the

unua~ually long and hard winter and the very late spring brought before

the farmers the problem of growing more feed aa nothing else in the

County. Inquirie came in from every section regarding different feed

growing propoaiticns,Many were wanting to grow corn,but on account of bein unable to stack it up because of ita quickly decaying under the conditions in this County,made thi very unsatisfactcry.Five siloa

had been put in the County on previous years, the fact that amme of the

herds of the silo owners had come through the winter in fair shape and

'tih.¢ir owners had gotten a good cream check from ;their herds stirred

up a great deal of interest in aile o

In plann i:ng the silo ccmpa.ign the Farm Bureau had in mind the idea of increasing the live- stock on the d.ry farms and increasing the

amount of dairying :i.n this County.Pl&ne were made to carry on an

extensive campa.ign for giving the farmers an inclination to dig siloa.

Articles were publjshed in the local pa.pere showing the value of silage,

the kinde and ways of growing ~rope for silage and methcda of digging

pit silos.It wa~ thought that on account of the nature of the eoil a pit

aile could. be dug tt1uch easier and the silage would not freeze during the

long cold wintero

v Tt~ County Agent began ma.king and publishing a list of the ru=.es

of the farmers who signified their intention of putting in silos,early

the list contained seventy-five names.

Jhe business men of Craig realizing the prosperity of the County

depended upon a change in the farming methode took active interest

in the campa.ign for a ;silo on every dry farm and backed it in every way

they could. ·

In most instances this backing waa the direct means of placing

a majority of silos in the ~ifferent farma.

The Craig Lumber Company through the activitiea of its manager

Lee Jones made the px·oposition to furnish the materials and give the

farmer who would put in a silo credit until he made sufficient off of

the undertaking to pay for it.He alec fmrnished at his expense the

best bull tins that could be obta.ined in pla.ns for building silos~

Silo clubs in the different communities were organized,an agreement waa made with the business men of Craig to furnish the club

a silage cutter takir-g their notes at a lew rate of interest.Three

different clubs were organized in this way0

The Farm Bureau planned a. series of institutes to be conducted

cy Professor R.W. Clark,Extension Live Stock SPecaliet of the Colorado

Agricultural College and the County ;gent.Mestings were held at th

follc·wing places: Iron Springs Divide,Grea.t Divide,Lay,Maycell and Cra.ig •

Silage cropiJ and other feed were di acuesed.0

In August an excursion waa cond.ucted consist1ng of Business men

of craig and Farmers which vi ited evera.l farms wher silos were in process

of conatruct1on. Tbe enclosed pjotogrs.ph shows the member of the excursion

inspecting the two silos on th farm of Roy Feuener in the Iron Springs Divide Community.

As a result of the Silo Campaign this year approximately 35

silos were put in in Moffat County.With few exceptiona these were

filled wilh corn although sunflowers were used in a f w case in an

experimental way.After filling the silos some farmers were able to

secure the cz·edi t to buy dair·y cows and a. number able to buy milk cowa.,

The ;introduction of the cultivated crop in :the system of

rotation was an import&nt result in the building of silo .Wheat farming has been depended upon as the main livelihood of the farmer and in some

(

HOMEIMPR~VEMENT.

In the Homeimprovement there was no defin&te project outlined

by the Exec:u t j ve Commi ttee.,hc·wever cne community made a Girl's Club

a pa.rt of their program. (This community was Great Divide (There wez·e

nine member in _:the club most of which did excellent worl:.

Canning Demc·netrat ion.

One canning Demonstration was held in the County in the

Upper· Big Gulch neighborhood fer women. Through the act iv_,e leader ....

ship of Mrse Frank Smay,Mra.H,E, Butler and Mrso Jones arrangements

were made for Miss Erma Dougla of the Extension Departmentw

demonstrate the cold pack method of canning fruit ~nd vegetableee

The demonetra tion was held on .Augue t 5th at the h~me of Mr,. LeR.

Davie.Eight ladies vf the neighborhood attended~

Foul try Cullingo

On the fcllcwing day Miss Dougls.e held a poultry culling

demonstration in Craig. The Eogan Method of culling hens was

demonstrated on the flock of Mr. Jack Toole.Coneiderable interest

was created in poultry culling by the ;demonstration and since

then the County .Agent has demonst1·a ted the method in three different

mcks~'The whole flock of Mro Walter Spencer was nulled aloo that of

Mro H~W. Hyatt and R.K~ Davi; .. others are intending to cull their

PEST CONTROL.,

WYOMING GROUND SQUIRREL.

).,.

Plan Of Campaign.

At the January tneeting of the Executive Committee of the Farm

Bureau it was decided that it would be more satisfactory to the

farmers of the County if the poison grain for the squirrel campaign was mixed and distributed under the strict supervision of the

Farm Bureau.Since funds were required to buy poison and grain and

the necessary apparatus,and there being none in the treasury of

the Farm Bureau ~1nd the County not being willing to provide for

this work it wae necessary that a fund should be solicited from

private aourcea to start the work_ off. The Craig Farmers and Milling

and Elevator Company agreed to furnish the money and a .~lace to

mix the poioon.

At the next •eating of the Executive Committee 1 two weeks late_r 1

it was decided that there would baa greater demand for the poison

this y~ar than previous years since it had been thor oughly demon~

atrated that the poiaon was effective in controlling the pest. The committee dec ided that in order to meet the probable heavy

demand for the poison that plans should be made to have 5000 gallons

of mixed poison on hand by the time the squirrels should come out

of hibernation.An order was placed immediately for 500 ounces of

strychnine and 40 ounces of saccharine.

Since the old way of mixing the poison on a board floor with a

shovel waa slow and· the work hard the committee ordered a mixer

designed by the County Agent,made.It consisted of a barrel mounted

as a barrel churn and turned by two men1there being a handle on each

side.The enclosed p~otograph shows the construction of the mixer.

Thia mixer proved to be very efficient and two men could mix about

700 gallons of the poison a day.Other apparatus necessary was m stove,

oil and t hree burner, large size stewer or stew kettle,there were

three mixing bowla1a lar ge wa ter pail,pair of scales and spoons.

It was decided to use the petrolatum mil as recommended by

Mr. Burnett,in charge of Rodent Control,at Fort Collins~eince it had

given excellent results the year beofre.Alao to uae the Govemnment

Biological survey formula.The formula vas changed in addition to

adding the oil by also adding salt, about three pounds to thirty

gallons of poison grain.

It was f ound that the addition of the petrolatum oil the

starch con taining the strychnine did not duet off and was therefore much more pleasant to handle,also the grain seemem to hold the

moisture &.nd 'ttvas eaten after being put out for a longer period.

In order t o have the poison · in easy reach of the farmers

i:t waa decided to have points of local distribution. Store keepers

in the out-lying communities were to be asked to keep the poison

on hand and sell it at the cost of mixing plus the coqt of tran~

L

PEST CONTROL.

11., RF.SUJ, TS.

Effect of Late Spring on Squirrels.

~he spring was very late this aeason,the snow laying on

the ground in the higher parts of the County until May first.

Repo~t~ began to come to the County Agent from the Iron Springs

Divide,Gxeat Divide and Fortification Communities where the pest had done most damage in previous years that the squirrels were dying.On investigation the report was found to be true.On first coming out of hibernation the squirrels were very weak and a

person had no trouble killing them by stepping on them,many were

found dead with their heads stuck in a. small excavation which the

squirrels had apparently made while digging for roots.It was

thought likely that on account of the late spring followed by a

cold rainy season that squirrels had died from starvation and

exposure. In the Sections mentioned above very little trouble was

reported on account of the squirrels during the season.

Because of the d~ing off of the squirrels there was a

marked decrease in the demand for the poison.In some sections where the farmers used as much as thirty gallons the previous

year five gallons was all that they bought and as a rule this was

not used until late in the eeaeon.The report of the County Agent

la~year shows that approximately 7000 gallons were mixed by the

Farm Bureau while this year only about 1200 gallons were prepared. In only one or two cases were there any.complainte in reg-ard to the poiaon,where poor xeaults had been obtained.It was found upon investigation that the trouble was not due to the

poison.A later distribution of some of the same ~oieon got eccillent

reaul ts. It seems the squirrels on some days won't eat the poi son

while a day or so later they take it very readily.

111. Pest Control ork by Cotnmunities.

Iron Springe Divide.

Early in Fehruary some of the ~armere of this community

asked the County .Agent to call a meeting of the Commu n1 ty and .

organize a pest die~rict.At the meeting the proposition was

die-cussed but it was found that leas than half of the land was at

this time patented land and it was decided to peetpone the

organ-ization of the districts for a year or aooSome complaint was

made by the farmers of a part of the community,atating that they

could not get rid o~ their squirrels because qf the fact that

adjoining land was owned by persona not living on it.The squirrels

were breeding en this land and migrating to the cultivated lan~

It was thought that the absentee land owners would be willing to

furnish the poison if the farmers of the neighborhood would scatter

it. The County Agent was asked to write the owner and put the

proposition up .A;o them. The owners agr~ed to furnish the poi son on those terms. On June 5th eight of the adjoining farmers met on

this land and poisoned 1200 acres during the day.Later examination

of the ground covered showed many dead squirrels and the absence

of squirrels running around proved that the work had been effect--ive.The photograph on the front page shows the poison squad

In adrtition to this work most of the farmers of this community secured poison and ueed it on their own lands.Squirrele did very

little damage in this community d~ring the seas~n.

Great Divide Community.

During one of the Farm Bureau Gommunity meetings. at Great

Divid.e arrangements were made with Mro Elbert Morria,merchant

at this place,to keep the poison grain for distribution at cost

plus tranaporation.About 100 gallons were handled by the store

in this way.Beaidea this a large amount of poison was secured

from the County Agents office by farmers living in this community.

Lay Community.

At the Community meeting on March 37th,it was decided to ask

the merchants of that place to make arrangements to keep the

Farm Bureau poison on hand for the convenience of the farmers but

no ·one was willing to do this.The Farmers bought the poison at

the County Agents office but being eo far out not as much poison

waa used as would have been had it been easier to obtain.

Maybell Community.

Efforts to get merchants in this community to handle the

poison failed also,however some of the people secured it at the

County Agents Cffioe and on his tripe through the Community the

County Agent cs.rried the poison with him and in this way a

cons-iderable amount was diatributed.The squirrels are not so bad in

thi a community a.s higher u.p, but some parte of this a:: mmuni ty are

badly infested with prairie dogs.

Forti fioa tion Coramu ni ty,.

An effort w~s made in this community to organize a peat

dietriot,but on account of there being a small portion of deeded

land to Gevernment Land it was thought best to wait a year or so

until more of the land was patented.! large quantitt of poison

was used by the f armers of this community.

Waddle Creek.

No concerted action was made in this community to control the peet.Hay is the main crop produced although there is

consider-able grain grown.A large amount of poison was used in the community

to pro teet the grain and gardens~

Axial Basin~

No speci~l action has yet been undertaken in this

community to control the eQuirrele.Much o~ the eection is

as

yet unpatented land ana a pest district would not be effective • .

However considerable poison was secured by the ranchers o~ the

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PEST CONTROL,ccntinuecf., Craig 6ommunity.

Two pest districts had been organized a year ago in this

section.Due to lack of cooperation among the farmers and a pest inspector to enforce the peat inspection law these

districts were not effective this year.However due to the adverse

season on ~he squirrels and the use of poison in previous years

and the poison secured by the farmers this year there was no

serious damage during the past season from the squirrels.

lVv GOVF.RI~FNT POISON.

Poison furniShed by the Biological Survey.

Mr. Xeye9 :rom the Department of Biological Survey came

into this County on Kay 22nd and mixed 400 gallons on poison

for use on Government land.Thia was to be distributed on

un-occupied land.Farmera who had land adjoining the Government land could get the poiaon free of charge for the government land, provided they bought an equal amount for their own land.About

(

In previous years the County had only one Fair,the County Fair

held in Maybell.Maybell being ~tuated more nearly in the center of

the County was f&vored because of its accessibility to the people in

the western end of the Coudf.Because of the distance from other ~ parte

of the County not a large number of the farmers attended the County Fair for this reason it was thought by the Executive Committee that a couple of local Community Fairs should be beld,one in Craig that

the other -be at the Great Divide.

The original plans were to hold these Community Fairs just

before the County Fair in order tu secure exhibit$ fer the County Fair •

In the caae of the Cr·aig Community Fair this plan waa car-ried out.A

-large p~ttion of the exhibits were taken to Maybeii for the County Fair.

In the case of the Great Divide Community Fair this was unsatisfactory in that on account of the higher altitude crops matured later and repres-entative exhibits could not be secured for the County Fiar.The plans were altered and the Great Divide Community Fair was held in the last week of September.

EXHIBITS .AS PART OF COMMUNITY WORK.

In the Iron Springs Divide and Great Divide Communities exhibiting

farm products was made a part of the program work.Committeemen were

selected who were aaked to attend to securing exhibits at the Community

and County Faira~In the Iron Spring Divide Community Mr. E. E. Gillard

secured the exhibits and at Great Divide secured

the exhibita,in the JackRabbit Community Mr Ayhere collected the community

exhibit.

CRAIG COMMUNITY FAIR.

The Craig Community Fair was put in cooperation with the Craig Commercial Club,the Craig Band and the Farm Bureau.The Craig Commercial

Club provided the funds to defray expenaes and merchandise premiuma,and

the Band the place and material necessary for .houeing the exhibits. The Exhibit wae more than twice the iize expected taxing a 100 foot suqre

tent to full capacity,and the q1ality of the exhibits waa such as to

astonish the people who superintended the Fair~

There were approximately 100 exhibitora.The Exhibits included

ama.ll grains, corn, forggea and hays, root cropa₁garden crops,home products and a pig club exhibit.Four Communities were represented with a community

exhibit.A premiun of $25.00 being offered for the beat exhibit by a

community.JackRabbit Community and Craig Community tied and the premium was divide between them.Eleven Farm Exhibits including moat of the things prcduced on the farms in this County were diaplayed.Firet prize going to Walter Spencer cf the Craig Community.

County Fair.

In planning for the County Fair the premium list was revised

this year to include a first prize of $19 00 and a second pri·ze of $.50

for Farm Products.In previous years one prize only was awarded and for larger amounts one smaller premium list. A standard size catalogue waa printed while before a small folder waa all the list printed.Plcns were

made and carried out for improving the grounds also.

Some of the features in the plans of the ~unty Fair this year

were: The specialpremium offered on Dryland Alfalfa Seed,it being the intention to encourage the grouth and improvement of this crop for the

purpose of giving the farmers a cash crop that high tr&nspo~~tion wou ld

not absorb the profits on".Also a special inducement for good community exhibits was made by offering substantial premiums.As a result five

FAIRS, con tinued(J

to the Jack Rabbit community.A number of good farm exhibits were

displayed alao.The beat die~ lay cf livestock waa the Eoy'a Pig

Club diaplay₁ ever~ y member except one had his pig at the County Fair.

Mr. Jack Toole1 Club Lea.der, took upon himself the trouble and expense

to display these ~igs.

In planning for the fair it was decided to make an earlier start

this year than had ·been do~e in previous years.Heretofore planning

for the fair began on~~a month or so before the date set for the

Fair.This year the first meeting of the Fair Board was called early

in the spring and superintendents for each depa~tment appointedoTheae

superintendents were instructed to make the plans for their departments and report on progress at each aubaiquent meeting of the Boa.rde

The County Agent met with the Board in a majority of ita meetings and offered many suggestions for chtingea in obevious methods followed by the Fair Management. Some of the thing improved upon this year

was the getting out of a standard fair cat~logue,Before it had merely

been a four page folder,alao instead of there being a first premium

only offered the premium list was enlarged to ~over all ;the important

farm crops and live stock produced in Moffat ~ounty.

GREAT DIVIDE COMMUNITY FAIR~

This community fair was not held until late in September on account cf the lateness of the seaaon.Crops mature later in thi

community because of the higher ~ltitude~

The exhibit was better from an agricultural stand point thi year than any previous year because of the fact that the people are aole to grow better crops the longer the ground is in cultivation.Thie

being a new homestead community people are just getting established

and their soil i in tillable ahape.The exhibits this year ere very

encourageing to the farmers in thia sectiono

Some of the outstanding features being dry land alfalfa seed and corn,the quality of the alfalfa seed exhibited created considerable interest in 93ed growing and many inquiries as to its possibilities

resulted,making ahe County wide project of alfalfa seed grcwing for commercial pmrposea easier to establish.

EXHIBI'I'S AT THE STATE FAIR.

An exhibit of mall grains1potatoea and rye was prepared

and sent to the State Fair.Those preparing these exhibits were,Wheat

R.K. Davie,Wm.P. Finley,L.E. Snyder and George Norvell;Rye,H.E. Butler

and T. I. Stringham;alfalfa seed §eorge Norvell,Potatoes,R. K. Davis,

Chas.E. Herrick and T. H. Forkner;Oate,C.E. Herrick.Out of the nineteen entries exhibited the County secured eight firsts and seven other

premiums demcnatrating the quality of the crops grown in the Councty -o

It wa0 thought beat on account of the distance required to transport the

exhibits that onl~ these that the County exce~led in should be taken to

the State Kair. Also it was ~he desire of the Farm Bureau to establish

the growing of certified seed and by demonstrating to the farmers of the County that we could produce superior seed an interest would be created in this and increase the amcunt of certified seed grown in the County.,

An exhibit consisting of eight entries of wheat,one of rye and two cf alfalfa seed was sent to the International Live stock 8how in Chicago The purpose of this exhibit was very much the same as for

the State fair~at the time of preparing this report no word had been

(

~

J / / 7 ~

In order to get farmers and business me on a basi

of beater understanding by showing the buaineee men of

Crait what the fa.rroers have accomplished in the last four years in the new homestead section oomprising the Iron

Springs Divid and Great Divide Communities;and what problems

they were up againet,and excursion was planned and carried

out on September the thirdo Fifteen business men accompanied

by twelv~ farmers made tlis trip.Cars as a rule were furnished

by the business menoThe late afternoon was spent visiting the

dairy farm of H.E. Butler and the enclosed photograph shows the

excursionists enapecting a field of wnflowers.: grown for

a ilage.Also cows-. From this-1 place the next atop was the Upper

Big Gul·ch Schdlol Bouse where a good lunbh was served by the farm

wom-en of that community. A visit was next made to the farm of

Werner Herring then to Roy Feusnerts and Great Divide.Leaving

Great Divide the fall'll of Mro Ben D ... tama was the next et~p-.

From t rere they returned to Craie;oUany of the men making the trip saw

the new homestead country for the first time and were impressed

with the development and it possibllitiea.Many of the business

men suggested that the trip ought to be repeated and other

FARM BUREAU NEWS

Due to lack of funda the Farm Bureau during the past year did not publish a far.m Bureau News or Exchange.

Realizing that the best way of keeping the people in touch

with and creating an iuterest in the Farm Bure~u work was

through the publishing of articles and bits of news in the local papers the County Agent and members of the Farm

Bu-reau have made this work a very important part of their du~

ties.

rn

support and cooperation of the local papers of Craig. A

Special page has been alloted to these articles and as a rule the page was well filled each week.

Especially commendable wa.s the work done by Crop Committeeman Mr. Walter Spencer, who wrote an average of one article a

week and also that of Dr.

L.s.

who wrote frequent articles on common ailments and diseases, precautions and other subjects of importance for the proper

care of live stocko To this page the County Agent contri-buted about fifty articles during the year, dealing mainly with projects, community news items and local agricultural

condi tiona.

During the Silo Campaign in the apring and early summer the Craig National Bank in cooperation with the Farm Bureau of-fered a premium foE the beat letter on the feeding and care

of dairy cows~ These letters were published one or two a

week. About thirty letters were written, all by farmers. Thea e letters served as no other factor in creating interest in

the project, and were important factors in securing the suc-cess in the project that was achieved,

COOPERATIVE EXTENSION WORK IN AGRICULTURE AND HOME ECONOMICS

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE State Agricultural College and County Farm Bureau

. Cooperating

STATES RELATIONS SERVICE Office of Exten sion Work North and West

WASHINGTON, D. C;

ANNUAL REPORT OF COUNTY AGRICULTURAL AGENT

(Due November 30, 1920)

State

of~/a

'!-a2J'~---~---L-~---

From ~--- -- ~

~,---1-2---/1~--.

_&e+-1---•

If agent has not been employed entire year, indicate exact period. Agents resigning during year should make out this report before quitting the service.

(For map of State showing location of county, photograph illustrating some phMe of county agent work, or brief summary of outstanding features of the work.)

Date _______________________________________________ _