DON'T FORGET YOUR EXTENSION AGENT!

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[ When you need back-to-the-land advice and information ]

If you have a homestead-or are thinking of getting one-you owe it to yourself to become familiar with a rich source of information, advice, and useful publications about everything from livestock to bicycles to rockets to yeast breads to methods of pruning that favorite fruit tree.

This fountain of knowledge is known as the Extension Service and its representatives are called Extension Agents. (Although, to be sure, they're frequently more colloquially referred to as "county" or "agricultural" agents.)

The ES has branches in every county of the United States if you can find them. And therein lies the rub, thanks to the independence which the organization grants to each of its outlets. Mine may have decided to be known as the Middlesex County Extension Service, yours might be the Crawdad County Cooperative Service, and the one down the road could be called the Pigs eye County Agricultural Center. As should be expected, this game of musical monikers sometimes makes finding the bureaus in the telephone book just a little bit sticky.

Tracking down your nearest ES office can be well worth the effort, however even when you have to resort to a bit of detective work to do it. If all other clues fail you, remember that Extension Service offices are usually, located in the post office building down at the county seat. And if that lead doesn't help, address a letter to:

The Extension Service Director
College of Agriculture
Your State University and ask him to help you! The Extension Service, is made up of three main branches:

[1] 4-H and Youth,
[2] Home Economics, and
[3] Agriculture (which, in many cases, now includes Community Development). At one time or another, you may well want information that falls within the province of any one, two, or three of the trio. For the purposes of this short discussion, though, I'd like to concentrate on the help that a typical back-to-the-lander is most likely to receive from the agriculture section of the ES.

An Agricultural Extension Agent, for example, is expected to be familiar with land and farming conditions in his or her county and can therefore be a great help to anyone who wants to establish a small family farm, produce operation, or homestead there. So check with The Man (or Woman) before rushing off to buy that "ideal place" that the realtor has told you "won't last at the price".

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