Visual Education (Jan 1923-Dec 1924)

194 VISUAL EDUCATION July, 1924 New Ways of Reaching Farmers By Caroline B. Sherman, U. S. Department of Agriculture VISUAL instruction by the United States Department of Agriculture is improving every day if measured by novelty of presentation and by the increase of "repeat" requests from organizations and institutions the country over. The general plan is to display exhibits at State fairs during the late summer and fall and to show them at special conventions and meetings during the winter. New ways of taking the Department's work to the people are constantly being devised. Last autumn the Sacramento office of the Federal Bureau of Agricultural Economics, including clerks, telegraphers, and equipment, was moved bodily to the grounds of the California State Fair. A temporary leased wire was installed at the grounds for the receipt of market news on fruits, vegetables, live stock, meats and dairy products. One thousand daily market bulletins were issued daily from the fair grounds. Much interest was displayed by the public in the receipt of the market information over the wires, and in the high speed mimeographing, folding, sealing and mailing of the bulletins. Representatives from the San Francisco office of the bureau spent the opening days at the fair, explaining the purposes of market information and the methods by which quick dissemination is made over the leased wire circuits. Market classes and grades of live stock worked out by the Department of Agriculture were shown by means of live animals. The exhibit was arranged by the University of California. Twenty-five hogs were used to illustrate the difference in quality, condition and weight. Rough and smooth packing sows, and scrub and purebred feeder pigs were shown. Market classes and grades of lambs were worked out in the same way and proved to be an interesting exhibit, according to many visitors. A potato grading exhibit including the actual grading of potatoes was so successful at the State Fair of South Dakota that its repetition last autumn was requested by the officials of the fair. For other exhibits, when actual potatoes cannot be used to advantage, the Department has colored clay models of potatoes that are so realistic that they usually pass for real potatoes. These models are used particularly to represent in detail the various diseases and malformations that affect the grade of potatoes. Sim Radio Exhibits are always popular ilar models are used for apples and a few other fruits and vegetables. Radio exhibits always seem to have a fascination all their own. All the Department needs to do to draw a crowd at any exhibit is to install radio outfits where actual crop, market and weather reports are received and broadcasted. For one time only, last August, the semimonthly market report on honey and beeswax, which is usually issued from the Washington office of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, was issued at Madison, Wisconsin. A representative went from Washington to edit the reports received from various producing sections and the city markets, and State agricultural officials attended to the cutting of the stencils and the mimeographing of the reports in usual form. This special release of the midAugust honey report was a feature of the Fifth Annual Beekeepers Conference. It was a practical demonstration of the Federal market news service and supplemented an address given concerning this service on the regular program. This conference was estimated to be the largest assembly of beekeepers ever held in the United States. At the last International Textile Exposition, held at Boston, one of the features was a panel illustrating, by a series of pictures, the various steps in the production and handling of cotton and the manufacture of cotton cloth. There have been so many resulting requests for the use of this panel by business firms, organizations and schools that many small photographic reproductions have been made for their uses. "COME IN, THIS IS YOUR GOVERNMENT EXHIBIT" read a large sign at the entrance to the space assigned the Department at this Exposition. At the last International Livestock Exposition the display was in the form of pens of live animals, refrigerated show-cases showing wholesale and retail cuts of meat, motion pictures, and booths introducing novel ways of showing educational material. The exhibit was designed to tell the story of livestock farming. The story began with the organization of the livestock farm, discussed some of the most important live-stock feeds, pointed out some recommended practices in the growing of different classes of farm animals, their breeding and feeding, and finally took the animal through the market to the table of the consumer. Specialists on the various subjects were present to explain the exhibits and answer questions, and descriptive material on each exhibit was furnished.