Planting the seeds of hope : Indiana County extension agents during the Great Depression and World War II / Frederick Whitford.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Whitford, Fred, 1955- author.

Series:

The Founders Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Purdue University. Cooperative Extension Service--History.

Purdue University.

Agriculture, Cooperative--Indiana--History.

Agriculture, Cooperative.

Depressions--Indiana--History.

Depressions.

World War, 1939-1945--Indiana--History.

World War, 1939-1945.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (700 pages).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

West Lafayette, Indiana : Purdue University, [2023]

Summary:

The Great Depression of the 1930s nearly brought the agricultural community to a standstill.As markets went into an economic freefall, farmers who had suffered through a post-World War I economic depression in the 1920s would now struggle to produce crops, livestock, and other commodities that could return more than the cost to produce them.

Contents:

Part 1: Pioneering a New Field of Work (1887-1928)

1 Neither the Agent nor His Farmer-Constituents Knew Very Much About What to Expect of One Another

Part 2: Outlasting the Great Depression (1929-1939)

2 The Shattering, Sledge Hammer Economic Blows of the Depression

3 Building Support Through Advisory Boards

4 Does the County Agent Do Anybody or Group of Farmers Any Good or Justify His Expense?

5 Live Out of the Garden, the Smoke House, and Cellar

6 Cash Is the One Article That Is Scarcest and Hardest to Get

7 The Man With the High-Producing Soil, Hen, Cow, and Sow That Kept Operating Expense Down Was Able to Return a Profit

8 Farmers Hanging On by a Mere Thread Reached Out for Benefit Payments to Save Their Farms

Photographs

9 Conservation of Soil Is the Solution on Which Will Hang Future Extension Activities

10 Erosion Is One of the Major Problems Which Must Be Faced

11 Land Use Planning Not Altogether a New Idea

12 Extension Work Interrupted by Extreme Droughts and Flood

13 There Is Convenience and Satisfaction of Flipping a Switch and Getting Light

14 Shall I Sell One Team on a Four-Horse Farm and Buy a Tractor?

15 The Average Farmer Has Not Learned the Principles of Economic Uses of Wood Lots

16 Hybrid Corn Is With Us to Stay Until Something Is Found to Take Its Place

17 The Necessity of Knowing the Soil Before a Good Crop Can Be Produced

18 Growing Wheat Is One Thing and Growing Quality Wheat Is Another

19 Farmers on the Lookout for Some New or Different Crop That Offers More Promise for Fair Returns

20 Not More Cows but Fewer and Better Dairy Cows Is the Imperative Need

21 Sheep Have a Place on Most Every Farm

22 Runts and Diseased Pigs Seldom Lift the Mortgage

23 A Bushel Basket of Eggs Brings In as Much Money as 100 Bushels of Corn

24 The Life of an Extension Worker Is an Honorable Occupation and an Interesting One

Part 3: Soldiers of the Soil During World War II (1940-1945)

25 Fitting the Extension Program to Wartime Conditions Has Required Some "Give and Take"

26 The County Agent Is Expected to Be a Walking Encyclopedia on Government Programs

27 Production Goals That Looked Impossible Were Reached

28 Higher Hog, Dairy, and Poultry Prices Created an Interest Like Never Before

29 For Patriotic Reasons as well as for Profit, Acreage Has Been Expanded

30 Tomatoes Have Become a Major Crop

31 The Total Increase in Home Production and Consumption Would Be a Staggering Amount of Food

32 The Armed Forces Have Taken 1,500 Men, Including Farmers. Why Wouldn't It Create Many Problems?

33 All Agricultural Workers Seeking Employment in Industrial Factories Must Have a Statement of Transfer From the County Agent

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-61249-858-2

OCLC:

1370122729