■
Extension
Conference
Edition
Bar
Extension
Conference
Edition
PUBLISHED DAILY IN THE INTEREST OF A GREATER A&M COLLEGE
COLLEGE STATION (Aggieland), Texas, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1953
Seeing You
Dear Bill:
It was good to see you at the A. & M.-Baylor game and to know of
your interest in the Extension Service. You are correct about Exten
sion’s official beginning. It was by Act of Congress in 1914 and is known
as the Smith-Lever Act. The fiftieth anniversary which we are observ
ing this year dates back to the first demonstration in 1903. It was Dr.
Seaman A. Knapp of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, who put on the
first demonstration seeking to control the boll weevil on the Walter C.
C. Porter farm .near Terrell, Texas. You remember Bill Porter, of the
class of ’28 here at A. & M. It was his father’s farm. Bill and his
brother, Harry, still live on the farm and have a very efficient enterprise.
Next week, we are having the annual Extension Conference and
we hope you can visit the sessions. The purpose of the conference is to
give our Extension agents the latest information from research in agri
culture. That first demonstration fifty years ago was described as a
means- of bridging the gap between research and the farm. We are still
following that same course, Bill, because it has stood the test of time
all these years.
There are far too many Extension agents in Texas today to attempt
individual training; 316 county agricultural agents and 218 home demon
stration agents in service today. Likewise, there af% far too many farm
and ranch families in our counties for Extension agents to help each in
dividually with their problems. That is why the demonstration method
has continued as a practical means of reaching the masses of the people.
You will see next week how different subject-matter is divided to
include the various farm and ranch enterprises. There will be a section
on agronomy. You will be interested in knowing that Extension demon
strations in field crop and seed production last year increased the cash
value of these crops by more than thirteen million dollars. Agents will
learn methods for making further application of new research in growing
field crops.
Then, there will be a section on poultry. It is almost incredible
that just one phase of improved poultry practices—egg grading—put an
extra million dollars in the pockets of poultry farmers last year. Eggs
sold on grade brought an extra five cents a dozen.
Animal husbandry has always been a fascinating subject, for you and
other Texans are vitally interested since livestock accounts for half
the farm income of the State. Beef cattle, sheep and goats and swine
will be included in this group.
You will be able to attend other sections where agents are boning
up on horticulture, dairy husbandry and range management.
While these groups are meeting, the women Extension agents will
be meeting with their groups to study the newest methods in home dem
onstrations. You wil be especially interested in observing how the home
side of the farm and ranch is taken care of in demonstration training.
Then, for both men and women,.there will be training in news writ
ing, public speaking, radio-TV and visual aids. You always said, Bill,
that you could never write a news article—that you were never meant to
be a writer. You don’t have to be an accomplished writer to report in
teresting things to your readers. But you will learn more about that in
the conference. By the way, the Agricultural Information Office has
-just been created to house the combined editorial staffs of the Extension
Service and the Experiment Station and their mailing rooms. You knew
it as the horse barn when you were here the last time.
You remember G. G. Gibson of the class of ’28 who was dairy spe
cialist for Extension for a number of years. He’s now director and, in
cidentally, was named as the Man-of-the-Year in the Progressive Farmer
last year. J. D. Prewit, class of ’23, came up from the ranks, serving as
county agent,'district agent, and is now associate director. W. N. Wil
liamson is assistant director. You’ll recall he was formerly a county and
later a district agent.
Then E. C. Martin of the class of ’18 is our State agricultural lead
er along with Gladys Martin who is State home demonstration agent. ' C.
H. Doerge is now the executive assistant. Each of these has been with
Extension a good many years, as you know.
Bill, you were asking how county Extension agents could be spe
cialists in every type of farm enterprise such as poultry, entomology, nu
trition and all the others. They do hot need to be. There are specialists
who have training in one of each of.these subjects and they are available
on call by the agents. These specialists are routed over the State, visi
ting counties where they assist the agents in special problems.
You seemed surprised that there were so many Nego agents in the
State. They are trained at Prairie View and are doing a fine job for their
people. They yvill have their meeting after the first of the year.
This should just about cover the things you asked about, Bill, and
we’ll be seeing you at the Conference next week.
Sincerely yours,
v A. B.
ay Extension Conference
Large Attendance
Harrington Sets
Address
For Conference
A familiar figure to all extension
workei’s is Chancellor M. T. Har
rington, who wil give his message
to the annual Extension Conference
during the Friday forenoon ses
sion. Chancellor Harrington was
appointed to head up the Texas
A. & M. College System on Sep
tember 1, 1953.
The cancellor is a graduate of
Texas A. & M. with a bachelor and
a master in chemical engineering.
He received his doctorate in chem
istry from Iowa State College in
1941 and carried on further grad
uate work at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, the Uni
versity of Michigan and the Uni
versity of Southern California.
His 25 years of teaching at A. and
M. began in 1924 when he became
an instructor in the Chemistry De
partment. He became dean of the
School of Arts and Sciences in
1947 and in 1948 an additional ap
pointment of acting dean of the
Colleeg was made. He was named
dean of the College in 1949 and
its president in June 1950.
During his days as a student at
A. & M., Chancellor Harrington
had four years in the ROTC and
was granted a Reserve Corps com
mission in infantry upon gradua
tion in 1922.
A supporter of civic endeavors,
Dr. Harrington is a former mem
ber of the College Station City
Council, and a member of the Col
lege Station Development Associa
tion.
G. G. Gibson
Agen Is 7 Pro b lents
To Be Main Topic
■ The annual Extension Conference will be held Monday
through Friday on the campus of Texas A. '& M. College, G.
G. Gibson, director of the Texas Agricultural Extension Ser
vice, has announced. Extension agents from every county
office in the State will attend.
For many years the Extension Conference was held as
a part of the annual Farmers’ Short Course. When attend
ance grew so large as to become unwieldy, the Short Course
was broken up into many subject-matter short courses and
conferences. The agents’ conference now devotes its entire
time to problems of special interest to extension agents.
Main sessions for agricultural agents will be held in
Guion Hall and for home agents in the Main Ball Room of
the, Memorial Student Center.
Agricultural and home agents, and selected groups of
the two blended into four communications groups, will spend
Monday afternoon, all day Tuesday, W dnesday morning and
——— *-all day Thursday in subject-matter
Gibson Will Give
Meet’s First Talk
“Looking Ahead” is the title of
the first address to be given Wed
nesday afternoon during the an
nual Extension Conference by G.
G. Gibson, director of the Texas
Agricultural Extension Service. On
Friday afternoon, Director Gibson
will talk about “The State of The
Union” in summarizing activities
of the week and the goals Exten
sion workers hope to accomplish.
Director Gibson is a native of
Texas and a gi’aduate of Texas A.
&M College in dairy husbandry.
He holds a master from Iowa State
College. He first joined the Ex
tension Service as assistant dairy
man in 1935 and in 1943 became
dairy husbandiuan. Director Gib
son also served as specialist in
dairying at Iowa State College be
fore joining the Texas Extension
Service. From 1943 to 1944 he was
manager of Neale Farms near
Waco,
M. T. Han-ington
Guinn To Be MSC Dinner Speaker.
Miss Peterson Sets Fiber Speech
John A. Guinn, president of the
Texas State College for Women,
will be the guest speaker at a din
ner meeting of the Extension Ser
vice chapter of the TSCW Alum
nae Association. He will talk about
the progress and aims of TSCW
and the responsibility of ex-stu
dents to their alma mater. The
dinner will be held in the Assembly
Room of the Memorial Student
Center at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Dr. Guin became president of
TSCW in September 1950. He is
a native of New Bi'aunfels. Prev
ious to his present position he was
president of San Angelo College
and before that he served as sup
erintendent of the public schools
in Alice. During World War II
he held the rank of commander in
the U. S. Navy, during which time
he was awarded five battle stars
and two combat citations. Dr.
Quinn is a graduate of the Uni
versity of Texas. He received his
bachelor and master in 1929, ma
joring in English and minoring in
education. He received his doctor
ate from the same institution in
1939.
Officers for the Extension Ser
vice Chapter are Kate Adele Hill,
president; Fonda Graham, Refugio,
vice president; :and Mary L. Grind-
staff, Plainview, secretary. Chan
cellor and Mrs. M. T. Harrington,
President and Mrs. David H. Mor
gan, and Director and Mrs. G. G^
Gibson will be special guests at
the banquet.
According to Miss Hill, 12 staff
members and 43 other employees
of the Extension Service hold de
grees from TSCW. Numerous
other Extension employees have
attended TSCW or have done grad
uate work there.
Beth Peterson, home economist
for the extension division of E. I.
du Pont, de Nemours & Company,
will discuss uses and care of man
made fibers before the Thursday
morning home economics section of
the annual Extension Conference.
Miss Peterson is an authority
and speaker on industrial progress
in chemical developments, parti
cularly as they affect the Ameri
can home. She has coupled her
broad experience in home econo
mics and extension work in the
Middle-West with a close observa
tion of chemical advancements in
the Du Pont Company.
A graduate of Iowa State Col-
leg where she specialized in tex
tiles, clothing and home economics
education, Miss Peterson has done
advanced study in the field of tex
tiles and consumer economics at
the University of Chicago. She
taught home economics for seven
Conference Party
All Extension personnel will en
joy a party Monday night from
7:30 to 9:30 in the Sbisa Lounge
and Banquet Room. The commit
tee in charge of arrangements in
cludes Mildred Harris, chairman,
Sadie Hatfield, Roy W. Snyder and
A. H. Karcher.
All administrative heads of the
College divisions and their wives
are invited as well as heads of de
partments in related subject mat
ter, and their wives, _ _
years before entering extension
work as county home demonstra
tion agent at Fort Dodge, Iowa. In
1935, she joined the staff at Iowa
State College as specialist in tex
tiles and clothing. She became as
sociated with the du Pont Company
in 1946.
She is a native of Boone, Iowa,
and now makes her home in Wilm
ington, Delaware.
uson Talk
Will Highlight
A&M Meeting
C. M. Ferguson, director of Ex
tension work for the U. S. Depart
ment of Agriculture, will address
the annual Agents’ Conference
Wednesday morning.
A native of Parkhill, Ontario,
Canada, Mr. Ferguson was grad
uated from the Ontario Agricul
tural College at Guelph in 1921,
having specialized in animal
science. From 1922 to 1928'he was
an extension poultry specialist and
also taught agriculture at Michi
gan State College. During 1928 he
helped to organize an experiment
station for the Colombian Govern
ment at Bogota.
He became extension poultryman
for Ohio State University in 1929
and remained in the position for
20 years. In 1949, Mr. Ferguson
was appointed director for the Ohio
Extension Service where he served
until this year.
When appointed director of Ex
tension work, Mr. Ferguson was
chairman of the Extension Com
mittee on Organization and Policy
of the Association of Land-Grant
Colleges and Universities and is
now an ex-officio member.
Some of the publications he has
written include “Build A Safety
Bull Pen,” “Raising Dairy Calves
to Weaning Age” and “More Gooqt
Clean Milk.” He is. a Mason and
holds membership in the Texas
Bar Association.
Manney To Discuss
FoundationClothes
/
County home demonstration
agents attending the annual
Extension Conference will have the
opportunity of hearing an ex^
perienced buyer discuss founda
tion garments at the afternoon ses
sion of Nov. 2.
The speaker will be H. S. Man
ney, foundation buyer for J. C.
Penney Company, New York. He
is a native of New York City, and
was connected with R. H. Macy &
Coitipany and Montgomery Ward
before assuming his present posi
tion with the Penney Company in
1944.
H. S. Manney
discussions.
Director G. G. Gibson will pre
side at the forenoon general ses
sion Monday, Associate Director J.
D. Prewit at the one Wednesday
afternoon and Gladys Martin, act
ing state home demonstration lead
er, on Friday morning.
Among the subject-matter- train
ing discussions are agronomy, ani
mal husbandry, dairy husbandry,
horticulture, poultry husbandry,
range management, and techniques
and aids in mass communications
—public speaking, news, radio-
televbfon and visual aids.
Outstanding authorities also
have been obtained to address
group sessions of home agents.
Among Extension personnel who
will preside over half-day sessions
are Eluise T. Johnson (specialist
in family life education; N ena Rob
erson, specialist in clothing; Mary
Routh, specialist in clothing; Jim
mie Nell Harris, foods and nutfi-
tion specialist; Bernice Claytor,
specialist in home management;
Minnie Bell, specialist in home
management; and Louise Mason,
foods and • nutrition specialist.
Fanny Lou Mainer will open the
Monday -and Friday forenoon gen
eral sessions with organ music,
followed by group singing led by
Lucille Moore, recreation special
ist. Devotionals at each general
session will be held by Rev. A.-T.
Dyal, pastor of the First Presby
terian Church of Bryan.
A party for all Extension per
sonnel will be given Monday even
ing in. the Sbisa Lounge and Ban
quet Room.
The annual Epsilon Sigma Phi
banquet will be held Tuesday even
ing in the Main Ball Room of the
Memorial Student Center.
Sbisa Hall .is the site Wednes
day evening for the joint Agents’
Association banquet.
Former students of the Texas
State College for Women will have
their annual banquet Thursday
evening in the Assembly Room of
the Memorial Student Center.
Should any out-of-town agricul
tural and home agents remain in
College Station over Saturday, they
are reminded that selected studqrtt
representatives of A&M and SMU
will stage some kind of a compet--.
itive contest on Kyle Field that
afternoon.
.
Morgan To Greet
Extension Agents
' ■■ ' "•' r
Beth Peterson
M. Ferguson
David H. Morgan, president of
th ■ Texas A. and M. College, will
welcome the Texas county exten
sion agents at their annual con
ference. Presented by Director G.
G. Gibson, President Morgan Will
! speak at the Monday session.
A native of Portsmouth, Vir
ginia, President Morgan attended
high school and junior college at
Pasadena, California, received his
bachelor in mathematics and phy
sics at Occidental College and his
master in mathematics and his
doctorate in educational psychology
and educational administration
from the University of Calif° rn * a -
His career in the educational
field has included working as re ‘
search assistant in the Institute of
Child Welfare, University of Cal
ifornia, teacher in the California
School for the Blind, advisor for
graduate students at Colorado A.
and M. College, and lecturer for
the University of California. He
headed the Department of Psy
chology and Education at Colorado
A. and M. College in 1946, and was
dean of the Graduate School as
well as dean of the College
David H, Morgan