*32>uncasnr panning, Saturday, March 12, 1988
Chester extension Programs
(Continued from Page A3l)
“My responsibility is to work
with the board and work with the
commissioners and be the liaison
between the two. We are encour
aged to look for grants and unique
opportunities to expand. I have
found that the administrative work
has gotten more demanding.”
BY MARJORIE KEEN
Chester Co. Correspondent
With $lB,OOO allocated by the
Pennsylvania General Assembly
in 1913, agricultural extension
agents were set up in Chester, Lan
caster and Bradford counties. The
legislature also authorized county
commissioners to appropriate up
to $1,500 annually to support
extension work.
In the fall of that year Chester
County secured a Pierce Arrow
motorcycle for the use of its first
extension agent, Charles F. (Char
lie) Preston.
Thp following spring the county
put in potato plots to measure
responses to different types and
amounts of fertilizer. The agent
presented lessons to rural school
teachers on testing clover and com
seed and grafting fruit trees. The
teachers were, in turn, to demons
trate these practices to their
students.
Even though the 4-H clover
became the national emblem of
boys’ and girls’ club work in 1911,
the term “4-H” was rarely used in
Pennsylvania. The very first refer
ence in an extension agent’s report
was made in March 1914 by Ches
ter County’s Charlie Preston.
Also in 1914 Preston took on the
job of teaching members of the
girls’ canning club how to preserve
their vegetables. Because of their
complete unfamiliarity with a
home canning outfit, he reported, it
was necessary for him to assist,
especially in the manner of solder
ing tin cans.
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Federal and state funds join with
county money to support the ser
vice. To help offset diminishing
federal funding, the state appro
priated an extra $5 million this
year.
When she joined Chester Coun
ty’s Extension staff in 1973
Dougherty never expected to
become three tor, a position tradi-
Extension: The Way It Was In Chester Co.
In a later report Preston stated,
“While I have personally eaten
these beans and consider their pro
duct a fair quality, it was thought
by Mrs. (Nelly) Snyder that on
account of the lack of blanching
and in some cases incorrect solder
ing, it would be wisest to destroy
the whole lot (of some 200 odd
cans).”
Chester County Extension
began early to involve local lead
ers in the home economics prog
ram. A recognized expert on can
ning, cooking and household mat
ters, the wife of an executive
committee member gave a Satur
day canning demonstration in
1914.
tkmally assumed by the Agricul-'
tural Agent. Since becoming one
of the first female county directors
in 1981, she has presided over both
growth and change, with greater
need for a multi-disciplinary
approach toward a variety of
audiences.
In 1983 Chester was the first
county Extension office in Penn
sylvania to use computers. Not
only does computer technology aid
preparation of the 56 newsletters
The next year Preston reported
that 65 had attended a three-day
apple grading and packing school
at the large Darlington Strode
orchard in West Chester. He also
met with peach growers from
Chester and Delaware counties to
explore cooperative marketing.
And Preston did some grafting of
European walnut scions on black
walnut stock.
In its community improvement
role, Preston’s office became
headquarters in 1916 for the move
ment in favor of a women’s
restroom in the county seat.
Attempting to increase food
production during World War I,
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regularly sent out, it is used in
record keeping and teaching.
“With the dairy herd buyout
decision,” Dougherty recalls,
“people were able to come in, put
some key information in the com
puter and do an evaluation as to
whether or not they should be app
lying for this.”
The statewide Extension Task
Group Dougherty chairs targeted
three areas of direction for the
future: using new data-based sys-
the county agent started war school
gardens in West Chester. He also
secured for Chester County four
tractors made available by the state
Department of Agriculture. All
four were kept busy throughout the
1918 season and two were still in
use for fall plowing.
By this time Charlie Preston had
been reassigned as assistant pro
fessor of farm organization exten
sion at Penn State.
Chester County’s livestock
extension program was built
around a livestock industry that
included breeders’ associations for
poultry, trotting horses and heavy
draft horses.
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Extension work presents an
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Director. She finds that there is so
much to each of the agent’s fields,
it never really gets stale. “They arc
a very vivacious group,” Dougher
ty concludes.
The Chester County Plan deve
loped in 1920 carried the slogan,
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ger Bank Balances.” The U.S. Sec
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at a picnic to kick off the plan,
described as “the most important
agriculture meeting ever held in
Chester County.”
Two recent books from The
Pennsylvania State University
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Extension’s early years: Coopera
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Pennsylvania by Frank Zettle
(1986) and The College of Agri
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