The new States Relations Service will in clude within its jurisdiction the former Office of Experiment Stations, which superintends the work of the experiment stations and sends its agents all over the world in search of useful plant life that may be introduced into the United States. Since the Service was estab lished all the States have assented to the pro visions of the Smith-Lever act. A single agri cultural college in each State has been desig nated as the beneficiary of this act. In several where the college is not coeducational a co operative arrangement for work in home eco nomics has been made with the State college for women. All the State agricultural colleges receiving the benefits of the States Relations Service have entered into co-operative relations with the Department of Agriculture, and in 46 States these institutions and the Department are conducting all their extension work in agri culture and home economics under the terms of a general of which is used as a basis for a great variety of co-operative project agreements.
One of the chief works which is being un dertaken is the establishment of the agents system. The county agent is an agri cultural expert who acts as the joint repre sentative of the local community, the State through its agricultural college and the Federal Government through the Department of Agri culture. The functions of the county agent are various; he advises the individual farmers in their work, instructing them in all modern and scientific methods of planting or stock raising, assists them in the buying of their supplies on a co-operative basis and advises them in the marketing of their products. His business is,
in fact, to do all in his power to further the interests of his local community as an agricul tural centre. Already 1,200 counties have es tablished such agent headquarters. An other line of extension work which will be greatly stimulated by the States Relations Serv ice is the organization of agricultural clubs among school children, in connection with the work of the elementary schools. The same is true of the demonstrations in domestic eco nomics, which will now be extended to the col leges which number girls among their students.
The following figures will give an idea of the relative attention that is being paid to the various fields of this work. Of a total of $4,782,270 the following sums will be spent on: Administration, $391,652; publications, $107, 980; county agents, $2,497,426; home demon stration, $542,732; movable schools, $218,000; school children's clubs, $236,917. It will be seen that the largest item, over one-half of the total, is county agent work. The rest of the appropriation will be spent in minor sums on pig, noultry and live-stock associations.