Some Iowa Extension Land Marks

The Cooperative Agricultural and Home Economics Extension Service of Iowa State College has just held its annual conference. The principal objective of the conference was to devise more effective ways and means of reaching a larger number of people with agricultural and home economics information and education.

Extension education, "on the job teaching," or making higher education available to the masses of people is the most important new educational development of the past half century. It is an educational invention of Land Grant Colleges suggested in the beginning principally by farmers. In this development Iowa has had a conspicuous part. And since Iowa completed 50 years of organized extension work last summer this is an opportunity time to review progress. Iowa's contribution to extension teaching is impressive and stated briefly is an part as follows:

The act creating Iowa's Agricultural College (now Iowa State College) passed in 1858 provided for "on the job training" of farmers in agriculture and home economics education; the earliest legislation for that purpose of record.

Iowa's Agricultural College was the first agricultural college to organize a series of farmers institutes away from the college. This was in the winter of 1870 and '71.

In 1882 and '83 the College gave a series of home economics lectures off of the campus. This appears to be the earliest well organized home economics extension work. Home economics lectures had been given at institutes by the College prior to this time.

In 1903 in cooperation with the farmers of Sioux County and the Sioux County Board of Supervisors, Iowa State College established the first permanent county cooperative extension work of record. It was organized on the he same fundamental basis as county extension work is now being conducted throughout the United States.

In 1904 and '05 the earliest corn trains to encourage seed corn improvement and better cultural methods traversed the state reaching directly 145,000 people.

In 1905 a local shortcourse of one week's duration was held at Red Oak - the beginning of a remarkably effective type of extension education.

In 1906 Iowa's State Legislature passed an act providing funds and a plan for department of agricultural and home economics extension work at Iowa State College; the first state legislative act of record specifically providing for extension work.
 

In 1913 the County Farm Improvement Act (Extension) authorizing county organizations of farmers to receive county funds under certain conditions was passed. This was one year before the passage of the Smith-Level National Cooperative Extension Act.
 

In the winter of 1917 - '18 Iowa's Extension Service in cooperation with County Farm Bureaus established a volunteer farmer cooperator system to assist in war food production work with one cooperator for each four square miles of land. This sy stem covered the state, reached all communities and helped greatly in Iowa's remarkable contribution to war food production. It was the first comprehensive educational effort of record to reach all farmers quickly and personally with agricultural information.

The neighborhood cooperator system was revived again in World War II, this time with two cooperators to each four square miles of land, one man and one woman, which contributed greatly to Iowa's amazingly rapid increase in food production and with fewer farm workers.

In the spring of 1918 Iowa had all counties organized for extension work and a county agent in each county. Iowa appears to have been the first state to have agriculture agents in each county. For a time in the summer of 1918 through the use of war funds there was a home economist working in each county.

From the beginning of extension work in 1906 Iowa has emphasized the farm family approach to agriculture problems. Iowa was a pioneer in developing a balanced program which included farm activities, home activities and community activities.

Boys and Girls Club Work has received special emphasis. In 1904 Cap Miller, County Superintendent of Keokuk County, organized a county-wide boys agricultural club and a county-wide girls home culture club. The county-wide home culture club appears to have been the first county girls club of its kind.

From 1902 on until 1911, first as superintendent of schools at Goldfield and later as county superintendent, O.H. Benson made a notable national contribution to 4-H Club work. In 1909 Benson designed the 4-H emblem which is now in use by all club members throughout the United States.

In 1909 the club work and rural school work of Miss Jessie Field, County Superintendent of Schools in Page County had attracted national attention and a delegation of 15 state superintendents of public instruction form the southern states visited Page County to study her methods.

This brief statement on 4-H club work would be incomplete without reference to the Plowing and Dreaming songs written by Miss Fannie R. Buchanan. These songs have in them substance which makes them of permanent value and are now sung by 4-H clubs throughout the United States. 

Always the general philosophy that has guided Iowa's Cooperative Extension Service has been that the farm family and family living are of primary importance. Home and community activities have therefore received special emphasis, Home economics was an important phase of the program from the beginning and community development or encouraging and aiding farmers to organize and solve their problems has always received large attention.

The foregoing review covers only part of the significant events in Iowa's extension work. One of the best and most difficult unspectacular and successful pieces of work was carried out during the world depression. Time on this broadcast permits a brief reference to an early creative legislative act passed by a pioneer legislature which was a forerunner of great progress in mass education.

Iowa's Agricultural College Act of 1858 Provided a Plan for "On the Job" Training in Agriculture and Home Economics

The Agricultural College idea in Iowa was first proposed and promoted by farmers and the farm press. Why, so the argument ran, should we have higher education for lawyers, doctors and preachers and not for farmers, mechanics and industrial workers generally. It was an effort to make higher education available to all. It was strongly supported by the State Agricultural Society and the principal supporters, pleaders and strategists for the college bill in the State Legislature were farmers.

The Iowa agricultural College Act of 1858 did not bring into being the first state agricultural college. There was, however, one part of the Iowa act that was a creative adventure in education, the first to appear in legislation. This proposal first made by individual farmers was strongly supported by the State Agricultural Society in a recommendation to the legislature.

The State Agricultural Society submitted an able and convincing argument to the legislature. The following taken from a few paragraphs in the statement gives an idea of what the State Society recommended in the following quote: "To this branch of the bureau might be referred every scientific question calculated to meet the progressive needs of agriculture, such as the analysis of the soils and of the different fertilizers or manures -- the deficiencies of the soils to the growth principles upon which along a judicious rotation of crops can be applied to a given soil, etc. ---"

And again in the State Society recommendation: "The farmer wants to be advised of the best mode of culture in his own state climate and soil" ---. The bureau would --- "gather up the practical experience of the best farmers in the world, and circulate the same quarterly annually in the form of cheap tracts broadcast over the state.

--"The result would be, first, greatly to elevate the standards of agriculture, increase production, and add to the wealth of the state ---. "The propriety of establishing an agricultural bureau --- is respectfully submitted to your honorable body ---."

After much discussion in the legislature the bureau idea was made a part of the Agricultural College Act and the duties of the bureau were in part spelled out as follows: "He (the employed Secretary) shall [bullets are added for easier reading] :

• encourage the formation of agricultural societies throughout the state, and purchase, receive and distribute such rare and valuable seeds, plants, shrubbery and trees as may be in his power to procure from the general government and other sources as may be adapted to our climate and soils
• he shall also encourage the importation of improved breeds of horses, asses, cattle, sheep, hogs and other livestock;
• the invention and improvement of labor saving implements of husbandry and diffuse information in relation to the same;
• and the manufacture of woollen and cotton yarns and cloths;
• and domestic industry in weaving, spinning, knitting, sewing and other household arts as are calculated to promote the general thrift, wealth and resources of the state."

"The seeds, plants, trees and shrubbery received by the secretary shall be as far as possible distributed equally throughout the state and placed only in the hands of those farmers and others who will cultivate them properly and return to the secretary's office a reasonable proportion of the products thereof with a full statement of the mode of cultivation and such other information as may be necessary to ascertain their value for general cultivation in the state. All information in regard to agriculture obtained by the secretary of an important character may be published by him from time to time in the newspapers of the state, provided it does not involve expense to the state."

It would have taken a well organized extension service to have carried out the foregoing directives. The bureau part of the Iowa Agricultural College act was more creative and prophetic as to what was to take place in future agricultural education than the National Land Grant College Act passed four years later. Our pioneer Iowa forbears with an educational problem confronting them and without precedents to guide them pioneered in developing the outstanding educational development of the past century, that is "on the job training," which is called extension.

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