Agricultural Extension Education in Poland 1918-1939 9780231877596

Table of contents :
Contents
Tables
Introduction
I. Historical Summary
II. Polish Agriculture in the Period from 1918 to 1939
III. The Development of Agricultural Organizations in Poland
IV. Chambers of Agriculture
V. Chambers of Agriculture and Experiment Stations
VI. Chambers of Agriculture and Agricultural Colleges
VII. Educational Training Centers for Extension Personnel, and the Organization and Management of Small Farms
VIII. Agricultural Extension Education in Poland
IX. Conclusions
Bibliography
Index

Citation preview

Agricultural Extension Education in Poland, 1918-1939

Agricultural Extension Education in Poland 1918-1939 BOLESLAW J. PRZEDPELSKI

King's Crom Press MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, NEW YORK 1948

Copyright 1948 by BOLESLAW J .

PRZEDPELSKI

Printed in the United States of America Vail-Ballou Press, Inc., Binghamton, New York KING'S CROWN PRESS is a division of Columbia University Press organized for the purpose of making certain scholarly material available at minimum cost. Toward that end, the publishers have adopted every reasonable economy except such as would interfere with a legible format. T h e work is presented substantially as submitted by the author, without the usual editorial attention of Columbia University Press.

Acknowledgment

I

to my dear mother, who has devoted all her life to the spreading of education among the small farmers and in doing so bred in her children a strong interest in farming people; to Dr. Edmund deS. Brunner, who inspired me to write this work and without whose help I would not have been able to accomplish it; and to Dr. Theodore Abel, Dr. Morse H. Cartwright, Dr. Frank W . Cyr, Dr. Wilbur C. Hallenbeck, and Dr. Irving Lorge for their valuable assistance. AM INDEBTED

B. J. P.

Contents INTRODUCTION

i

I. HISTORICAL SUMMARY Geographical Setting History II. POLISH AGRICULTURE FROM 1918 TO 1939

6 6 7 IN THE

PERIOD 18

III. THE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS IN POLAND 26 A Short Survey of Agricultural Organizations in General 26 The Development of Agricultural Organizations in Poland 31 The Establishment of Chambers of Agriculture 36 IV.

CHAMBERS OF AGRICULTURE

43

V.

CHAMBERS OF AGRICULTURE AND EXPERIMENT STATIONS 53

VI.

CHAMBERS OF AGRICULTURE AND AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES 59

VII.

EDUCATIONAL TRAINING CENTERS FOR EXTENSION PERSONNEL, AND THE ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF SMALL FARMS 61

viii VIII.

IX.

Contents AGRICULTURAL IN POLAND

EXTENSION

EDUCATION 75

Extension Work

75

The Good and Bad Sides of Extension

84

Extension Work in Figures

94

CONCLUSIONS

114

Elements of Extension

120

Extension and Economic Cycles

126

Importance of Social Aspects

130

Organizational Foundations

131

Application of Research

132

BIBLIOGRAPHY

134

Books

134

Public Documents

136

Reports

136

Index

137

Charts Schematic Chart Showing Organization of Polish Extension Service of Agriculture, 1932-1939

51

Organizational Chart of Warsaw Chamber of Agriculture, 1932-1939

52

Tables x.

Agricultural Personnel in Counties, 1939

95

2.

Personnel of Chambers of Agriculture and of Agricultural Provincial Organizations (in 1938-1939)

96

T h e Number of Holdings in Poland Covered by the Program of the Organization and Management of Small Farms

98

Contests of Individual Model Farms in Poland (as of January, 1938)

99

3.

4. 5.

T h e Organization and Management of Small Farms in Poland (as of April 1 , 1939) 100

6.

Action among Rural Women (1936-1939)

101

7.

Action among Rural Women (data of January, 1939) 102

8.

Agricultural Preparation of Youth

9.

Revenue and Expenditure of Chambers of Agriculture from 1934 to 1939 (in thousands of zloty) 104

10.

Revenue of Chambers of Agriculture in 1939-1940 (on the basis of final statements of account of authorized chamber budgets—in zloty) 104

11.

Expenditure of Chambers of Agriculture in 1939-1940 (on the basis of final statements of account of authorized chamber budgets—in zloty) 105

12.

Expenditure of County Self-Governments for the Promotion of Agriculture (in thousands of zloty) 106

13.

Expenditure of County Self-Governments for Agriculture (on the basis of final statements of account of preliminary budgets for 1936-1937—in zloty) 107

103

X

List of Tables

14.

Expenditure of County Self-Govemments for Agriculture, as Assigned in Preliminary Budgets for 1938-1939 (in zloty) 108

15.

Expenditure of County Self-Governments for Agriculture (on the basis of final statements of account of preliminary budgets for 1937-1938—in zloty) 109

16.

Expenditure of County Self-Governments for Agriculture (on the basis of final statements of account of preliminary budgets for the first semester 1938-1939—in zloty) 110

Introduction

T

HE CONFERENCE ON the Contribution of Extension Methods and Techniques Toward the Rehabilitation of War-Torn Countries in Washington, D.C., September 19-22, 1944, at the United States Department of Agriculture, inspired me to write this work.

Being invited as the only Pole to the working committee of the Conference, I found it difficult to fulfill my task. There were many reasons for this: first of all, the scope of the Conference was too large for only one person representing his country; second, despite all kindness and consideration of the American colleagues, I received less help from them than other delegates, because they were less acquainted with Polish problems; third, I lacked theoretical sociological preparation. However, I was so impressed by the work of many of the Conference members and so convinced of the usefulness of its ideas and ideals presented in the summary of the Conference by Professor Edmund deS. Brunner that I decided to enlarge on the report of my Conference work. T h e purpose of this study is: First, to give the rural worker of the world the opportunity to become acquainted with the Polish Educational Agricultural Movement in a period between the two world wars; Second, to place the germ of some of the original methods into the adult agricultural education of other countries, and in this way to contribute to the mutual understanding among the farmers of the world; Third, to show the weak points of this organization; Fourth, to record the history of a significant period of the development of agricultural extension in Poland from the educational point of view. T h e field records are not so rich as I should like to have them,

2

Introduction

partly because the literature concerning adult agricultural extension in Poland during the surveyed period, 1918-1939, is very scarce and scattered; and partly because I was not able to bring with me to this country everything that would be desirable. The scarcity of literature is mostly due to the fact that there was not enough written on the subject; it should also be remembered that many of the usual sources of valuable data were destroyed by the war. This increases the need of the study. The lack of literature can be partly substituted by my twenty years of experience on the different levels of this educational movement, of which I was also one of the co-organizers; and my contact with friends in many countries of the world, who were also co-organizers of this movement and who gradually supplied me with some information and their personal viewpoints. The Library of Congress, the Public Library in New York, the Office of Foreign Agricultural Relations in the United States Department of Agriculture, and the material collected and created by the Conference on the Contribution of Extension Methods and Techniques Toward the Rehabilitation of War-Torn Countries, furnished me with some literature and information. Thanks to the courtesy of the United States Department of Agriculture, through its agricultural attaché in Warsaw, Poland, I was supplied with primary sources. No matter which subject concerning Poland is treated, if we come to the period between 1772 and 1918, the period between the partitions and the restoration of Poland, we have to consider the three occupants of the country—Prussia, Russia, Austria. Of course, it was always the Polish people who inhabited the three occupied territories; nevertheless, for almost one and a half centuries the different forces of the occupational powers influenced the period 1 7 7 2 - 1 9 1 8 very strongly and even left their significant marks for a certain time after. This should be mentioned because some students are confused by the partitions and have difficulty in differentiating between what is Polish and what is foreign. Others either blame Poland or give credit to Poland for things for which she is not responsible. Blame or credit must be placed to a considerable extent on those who ruled her during that sad period.

Introduction

3

Because of her difficult geographical position and her short intervals of peace between wars, Polish social life has always been upset. Life in Poland was very hard during the last hundred and fifty years, with the exception of the period of freedom between 1918 and 1939, and the Polish people suffered in all phases of their life much oppression at the hands of their occupational rulers. Men especially were persecuted and very often sent into exile, where they lived for many years separated from their families. Because of this, the Polish women played a very important role, particularly in the social, educational, and family life. Obstacles put in the way of the Polish people by usurpers, who forced them to sell their own Polish land and prevented them from buying it, created in them a deep love of their soil. Every farmer wanted to own land. He considered his soil as part of himself. This situation evoked in the Polish people a strong feeling about religion, a strong attachment to family life, an appreciation of the role of women, and a devotion to their land. The social factor was the motivating force of the extension service. Owing to that, the Polish agricultural extension education could survive many crises caused either by organizational or financial shortcomings, or even by political differences of opinion. Extension in Poland spread not only agricultural professional education; it had another task to perform—namely, universal education. All educational extension activities included the three R's and a concentrated effort to develop social awareness in the individual. These general educational features introduced into Polish extension were necessary because Polish life in all three occupational zones was handicapped during the period of bondage ( 1 7 9 5 - 1 9 1 8 ) by two factors: first, lack of proper and sufficient education; second, animosity between society and government, which was stirred by her foreign rulers. Free Poland was forced to fill these gaps which had harmed her for over a hundred years. Lack of proper education and animosity between society and the government disturbed Poland even after independence had been won and compulsory education immediately introduced. Inadequate education of adults and the want of teachers on one hand,

4

Introduction

and a spontaneous trend of the new generation toward education on the other, forced the Polish extension service, as well as other adult educational branches, to give special attention to the two problems. The problem of providing basic education for adults was so acute in independent Poland that even in the military forces illiterate soldiers were picked out and taught at least fundamentals. The organizers of Polish extension in agriculture realized that without general education and the development of the spirit of citizenship none of the professional agricultural activities would achieve a proper result. In my work I do not use the term "peasant" to define the Polish farmer; I do use the term "farmer." In the period under survey, 1918-1939, the Polish extension worked for all Polish farmers, small holders and big alike—therefore, a word should be applied which includes all of them. Besides, the word "peasant" refers to the caste system in society—not to an occupation. The features of the Polish extension education, some of which were original and had germinated in Polish agriculture, could be, in their pregnant meaning, of educational use even in the countries possessing a much higher educational extension organization. Methods, just as plants or animals, can find more suitable conditions—soil, climate, or care, treatment, etc.—in countries other than their original country. For a few examples from nature, take the potato, which having originated in Peru, gives the best yields in such European countries as Poland and Germany; and the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis), a native of the Amazon River Valley, which grows much better in the East Indies. In order to understand well and in a natural way an organization of this or that country and to judge correctly all the pros and cons, as far as the utility of this organization is concerned, and the purpose for which it has been created, one should be familiar not only with the basis of the organization but also with the necessary facts about the country itself. Bearing this in mind, the author has come to the conclusion that his work should be preceded by a brief preparatory discussion on the foundations of Polish nature and culture. This being clear, it is also necessary, as further background, to

Introduction

5

describe briefly the general outline of Polish agriculture from 1 9 1 8 1939, with the practitioners of which, of course, extension educational efforts were concerned. W e then turn to the development of agricultural organizations eventuating in the Chambers of Agriculture, which are first studied as such and then considered with respect to their relations to the agricultural experiment stations and the agricultural colleges. Next, the study considers the problem of training the necessary extension personnel and the extension education in which these workers engaged, and its strengths and weaknesses. A final chapter presents the conclusions and interpretations drawn from the data.

CHAPTER ONE Historical Summary

T

HE AUTHOR IS CERTAIN that the history of Poland is known to the foreign reader; but as a rule the foreign reader knows fragments, mostly such sad periods as that of the partitions. T h e purpose of this chapter is to give a picture of Poland's continuity, which has existed despite the partitions, of the role she has played as an integral part of Europe, and of her contribution to its culture and civilization. GEOGRAPHICAL

SETTING

Poland lies in the northeastern part of Central Europe and geographically belongs for the most part to the North European Plain. Thus, the characteristic Polish scene is a flat or rolling plain with broad, sluggish rivers, patches of forest, extensive fields, scattered villages, and townships. Yet both in the north and south the lowlands are fringed with higher ground curving in like two arcs toward Warsaw. A country of lakes, marshes, forests, and low ridges ground down by the glaciers of the Ice Age forms the natural border in the north. In the south, the Carpathian foothills cover most of southern Poland, rising gradually toward the Czechoslovakian frontier into the peaks of the main range, which in the rocky group of the Tatra attains some 8,ooo-odd feet above sea level. T h e Carpathians are geologically young mountains, contemporaneous with the Alps; but some older ranges, worn low with age, jut out northward at right angles to them, adding a picturesque touch to the lowland scene of Southern Poland. Eighty-seven percent of Poland's 150,000 square miles lie below goo feet above the sea. Only two percent of the area exceeds the altitude of 2,000 feet. T h e highest point of the country, with its 8,125 feet, lies in the Tatra Mountains in Southern Poland.

Historical

Summary

7

In the south, and to a lesser degree in the north, Poland possesses a well-defined natural boundary, but her eastern and western approaches lack distinct surface features, so that she forms a kind of bridge between the western and eastern lowlands, a circumstance that has both its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, Poland controls vital communications between the Black Sea and the Baltic, a fact has been responsible for her past prosperity. On the other, it has laid her open to aggression and migration from both directions, which have brought much suffering to the country and have forced the Poles to wage many defensive wars. HISTORY Poland is the highway between Western and Eastern Europe. According to legends, the Slavic tribes of Polonians (dwellers in the fields), inhabiting the plains between the rivers Elba and Vistula, united in 842 A.D. under Piast as their first ruler. Poland's recorded history begins in the tenth century, when a schism was developing between the two centers of Christianity: the Roman Church, allied with the German Empire, and the Eastern Church, backed by the Byzantine Empire. Thus, from the very beginning of her history, Poland had to choose between Western and Eastern civilization. Under Miecislas I, her first historically recorded ruler, Poland accepted Latin Christianity in 965 and joined the family of Western European countries, becoming their outpost and defender against the onslaughts of the East. Consolidated as a kingdom in 1025 by Boleslas the Valiant, Poland also became the bulwark of Slavdom against the Teutonic pressure. In the eleventh century the Slavic tribe of Pomeranians, who dwelled on the Baltic coast, was converted to Christianity and united with Poland. For dynastic reasons, Poland was divided into several principalities with separate rulers at the beginning of the twelfth century. During that period two invasions threatened the country. The Tartars swept over Russia and advanced as far as Silesia, where they were stopped by Henry the Pious, Duke of Silesia, a descendant of Piast.

8

Historical Summary

T h e battle of Lignica was one of the most decisive in the history of Europe. Henry and his knights perished on the battlefield, but the Tartars, whose driving power was spent, retreated to the depths of Mongolia. This was the first time that Poland saved Western Europe from barbarian invasion. The second menace came from the Teutonic Knights of the Cross, who belonged to a religious order established in Palestine during the Crusades. In 1226, they were permitted to settle in Pomerania as vassals of Poland and to convert the pagan Prussians to Christianity. Taking advantage of Poland's weakened condition, caused by the division of the country into principalities, they strove to extend their territory and captured, in 1308, Danzig, at that time a purely Slavic city. At the beginning of the fourteenth century Poland was reunited again. T h e last king of the Piast dynasty, Casimir the Great, was one of Poland's greatest rulers. He gave the country a statute of laws in 1347, which was the first code in Europe, and founded the University of Cracow in 1364, the second university in Central Europe. He built new towns, and it was said of him that "he had found a Poland built of wood and left her built of stone." Casimir granted refuge to the Jews, who were persecuted in and driven out of most European countries. He died in 1370, and with him ended the Piast dynasty, which had united all Polish tribes and given them Christianity, western culture, and national consciousness. T h e next two centuries, the fifteenth and sixteenth, marked the greatest political expansion of Poland, the development of her democratic institutions and of a spirit of religious tolerance, of learning and science. Poland formed a voluntary union with several neighboring states which accepted her culture and joined her in her historic mission to defend the West against the barbarous Tartars, Turks, and Moscovites of the East. In 1386, Lithuania was converted to Christianity and united with Poland. This was achieved by the marriage of the Polish Queen Yadwiga, the grandniece of Casimir the Great, to the Duke of Lithuania, Yagiello. T h e Polish-Lithuanian union lasted until 1795, that is, until the partition of Poland. Soon after achieving

Historical

Summary

9

the union with Lithuania, Poland finally settled her conflict with the Teutonic Knights. Having no longer a pretext to attack formerly pagan Lithuania, the Teutonic Knights, in an attempt to break up the union of Poland and Lithuania, declared war on Poland. They were crushed at the battle of Grunwald in 1410; fifty-six years later they were forced to surrender to Poland all their possessions on the Baltic coast, except East Prussia, which they retained as a fief of Poland. The reign of the Yagiellonian dynasty (1386-1572) became the Golden Age of Poland. Because of her political liberties, tolerance, and power, the neighboring nations of Livonia, Ruthenia, and Moldavia voluntarily joined the Polish commonwealth. Parliament was established in Poland as early as 1430. At the end of the sixteenth century Poland was the largest state in Europe. Francis Bujak, an outstanding Polish historian, painted the following picture of that period of Polish history: The Polish State, as far from absolutism as from the weakness that was the consequence of the feudal system, was directed by the King in collaboration with a council composed of numerous State dignitaries, and in collaboration with assemblies of citizens of the provinces of Lesser and Greater Poland. At the end of the fifteenth century these assemblies were superseded by one Diet, composed of deputies from the provinces. This was really the primitive democracy of the racial epoch, which to a great extent had survived also in Scandinavian countries and certain parts of Germany on the seacoast and in the Alps. This democracy was however sufficiently well suited to the needs of a great State. The State organization of Poland in the X V and the X V I c., and a constitutional-representative organization, cannot be considered as identical, but it must be admitted that there is a great resemblance. Citizen's rights in Poland were possessed only by landowners, who were under the obligation of military service in defence of the country. From the X I V century they were known as the szlachta, or the lesser nobility (gentry), but it must be borne in mind that this nobility was so numerous that one may justly speak of a democracy of nobles in Poland, the more so as they possessed a very extensive district and provincial autonomy, juridical and administrative. At the end of the X V I century (about 1580) there

io

Historical

Summary

were in Mazovia 200 to 225,000 nobles, who represented 33 to 40% of the population of this province (600,000); in Podlasia the nobility numbered about 100,000, or nearly 45% of the whole population, at that time about 240,000. In the more westerly parts of Poland, from the X I I century, the social and economic development had tended towards the concentration of the whole territory of a village in the hands of one owner, but even so at the end of the X V I century the nobility in Greater Poland numbered about 90,000, that is, about 1 2 % of the whole population, and in Lesser Poland, even at that period, it represented up to 8%. x During the Yagiellonian era Poland shone in arts and science. The founder of modern astronomy, Nicholas Copernicus, was a scholar at the Cracow University. In 1543, he published his treatise proving that the earth moves around the sun. Economically, Poland was a wealthy nation at that time and was called the "Granary of Europe." When the ancient sea route to the East was closed after the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the western merchants carried on their trade with Asia via Poland. In the fifteenth century the greatest menace to Europe came from the Turks, at that time the strongest military power in the world. Poland continually had to repulse Turkish invasions, until King Jan Sobieski broke the power of the Turkish Empire at the battle of Vienna in 1683. With the gradual development of democratic institutions Poland became, when the Yagiellonian dynasty died out in 1572, a republic which elected its kings. Political liberty prevailed in Poland at a time when the rest of Europe remained under the rule of absolute kings. When religious wars were raging in Europe, Poland was the only country where freedom of religion existed; she never became involved in religious wars. Poland had no era of absolutism in her history and knew no civil wars. But the absence of a strong central government proved disastrous to her in a Europe ruled by autocrats. Of all the European countries only England and Poland enjoyed parliamentary government; but whereas England was immune from foreign attacks 1 . Francis Bujak, Poland's Economic Development & Unwin, Ltd., 1926), pp. 1 2 - 1 3 .

(London: George Allen

Historical

Summary

11

because of her insular situation, Poland was constantly exposed to them. Some of the elective kings, particularly Stephen Batory, the ablest of them strove hard to strengthen the government, but their efforts were frustrated. The king's authority was weakened by the so-called Liberum Veto, a rule by which a single deputy could oppose the enactment of laws and even dissolve parliament at any time. Field Marshal von Moltke stressed this characteristic of Poland's political development: " N o Polish noble was the vassal of a superior lord—the meanest of them appeared at the diet in the full enjoyment of a power which belonged to all without distinction. It is here that we find the fundamental difference between the Polish constitution and the Feudal States of the West and the despotism of the East." 2 During the seventeenth century Poland had to wage continuous wars to repulse the invasions of the Turks, the Swedes, and the Russians, and these wars weakened her greatly. The frontiers of the country were difficult to defend; being peace-loving, Poland did not maintain a large standing army at a time when all Europe was forming regular armies, improving weapons and strategyWaclaw Lednicki, commenting on the difficulties confronting Poland at that time, says: In the historical development of Poland compared with that of other European countries there is a sort of disharmony. Although on one hand closely bound to Western European civilization, and representing on the other hand a transition between West and East, Poland has frequently found herself in a sort of contradiction with the historical evolution of the countries of both Eastern and Western Europe. When, in the East, the power of the Muscovite State was growing and developing under the quite irreducible principle of the unlimited despotism of the Muscovite Czars, while in the West the absolutism of Kings and Emperors was emerging from the period of feudalism as a powerful and creative political factor, Poland established a republican style of life 2. Charles Sarolea, Letters on Polish Affairs (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1 9 2 2 ) , p. 77.

12

Historical

Summary

in which the monarchial power was reduced to the status of a servant of the freedom of the Polish citizens. At the time when all Europe was absorbed by the most savage religious wars and shaken by the most violent religious and racial persecutions, Poland herself enjoyed, and offered to everybody else, the most peaceful existence, based on respect for the rights of the individual and tolerance for religious faith. 3 In the eighteenth century Poland was outwardly still a large country, extending from the Baltic coast almost to the Black Sea, the third largest among the European states. But exhausting wars fought in the seventeenth century and the lack of a strong executive power gradually weakened the country. Moreover, the system of electing kings while other nations were ruled by hereditary sovereigns who assured the continuity in government brought about foreign interference with Polish elections. In 1764, Catherine II of Russia imposed on Poland her candidate, Stanislas Poniatowski, who was to become the last king of Poland. He was entirely under Russian influence and Russia did her utmost to create chaotic conditions in Poland. Poland attempted to resist. Under the leadership of Casimir Pulaski, who was to become a hero of the American Revolution, a military league was formed to expel the Russian troops which had been sent to Poland already long before on the pretext of maintaining order. The Confederation failed, and the first partition of Poland took place in 1772. Russia seized the eastern provinces; Prussia, Pomerania and the Baltic coast; Austria, the south-eastern parts of Poland. Deeply shaken by the disaster, the Polish nation began to carry out internal reforms. The treasury and the army were reorganized, and a new constitution was voted on May 3, 1791—a day which has been ever since a Polish national holiday. The Constitution of May 3 established the foundations of modern government on democratic principles. At that time only England, France, and Poland had liberal constitutions all the other European countries being ruled by despotic regimes. 3. Waclaw Lednicki, Life and Culture of Poland (New York: Roy Publishers, 1944), pp. 4 - 5 .

Historical Summary

13

Francis Bujak, writing about the reforms, says: A fundamental factor in this work of reconstruction was undoubtedly the development, under the direction of an Educational Commission (the first Ministry of Education in Europe), of State schools on the basis of modern pedagogy and a profound spirit of patriotism. This was accomplished with the aid of the immense fortune of the Order of Jesuits (abolished by the Pope in 1773), which had hitherto employed itself principally with the education of young nobles. The reform of schools led to a change of opinion among the nobility, and rendered possible the legislative reforms of the Grand Diet in 1788-1792, for which the way had been paved by the brilliant economic and political campaign undertaken by eminent publicists, headed by Staszic (geologian) and Kollontay (politician). The legislation of the Grand Diet (known as the Four Years Diet) changed the organization of the State, the Real Union between Poland and Lithuania giving way to a uniform and hereditary constitutional monarchy; introduced the taxing of the nobility, and gave the rights of citizens to the middle-classes of the towns.4 The autocrats of Russia and Prussia called the democratic Polish constitution "anarchy" and seized further provinces of Poland in 1793. Thereupon, General Kosciuszko summoned the Polish nation to arms. After a few initial victories Kosciuszko was defeated, and Poland lost her freedom in 1795. "The partition of Poland," says Lord Eversley, the English historian, "although remote and indirect, was the essential cause of the World War. The partition overthrew the European equilibrium and introduced the victory of violence and the principle: Might is Right." And Waclaw Lednicki remarks: Poland always seemed to stand in the way of somebody's ruling ambitions and therefore was always an object of denunciation. And so also, the very fact that Poland did not exist politically during the whole nineteenth century (and even longer) created in the historical consciousness of the outside world a sort of emptiness, a horrible vacuum, as far as Poland was concerned. Because 4. Bujak, op. cit., p. 28.

14

Historical

Summary

of this lack of information and of curiosity about the cultural and political attainments of the Polish nation, anti-Polish propaganda has been able to achieve considerable success and triumph.5 Throughout the nineteenth century the Polish nation never lost hope of regaining independence. During the Napoleonic era General Dabrowski formed Polish Legions to fight on the side of France in Italy. It was then that the song "Poland is not yet lost" was composed, to become the national anthem of reborn Poland. Napoleon intended to re-establish the Polish State and created its nucleus, the Duchy of Warsaw. After Napoleon's fall, the Congress of Vienna assigned in 1 8 1 5 the major part of Poland to Russia, with the stipulation that Poland should have self-government. But the Czars treated Poland so ruthlessly that the Polish nation rose in 1830 to free itself from Russian despotism. The insurrection was suppressed after a year's war, and the last shadow of freedom was taken away from Poland. In 1863, the Poles rose once more against Russia. A secret revolutionary government was formed in Warsaw, with Romuald Traugutt at its head. With great difficulty Russia suppressed the Polish uprising. Thousands of Poles, among them Traugutt, were executed; thousands were deported to Siberia. Thenceforth, Poland was ruled with the utmost harshness, no efforts being spared to Russianize the Polish nation. Prussia pursued the same policy in the Polish territories occupied by her to Germanize the Poles. Waclaw Lednicki stresses Poland's fight for the preservation of her national character as follows : Poland belongs to the Slavic family of nations. Among these nations there developed at the end of the eighteenth but especially in the middle and later nineteenth centuries a strong movement, created by the so-called Slavophile doctrine. This doctrine had many adepts in Russia, in Serbia, in Bulgaria, and especially in Bohemia. There were some sympathizers with this historical and political conception in Poland—but very few. The whole nation, the whole thinking intellectual élite of Poland, has always been against it. Again, Poland found herself in a peculiar and isolated situation. 5. Lednicki, op. cit., pp. ix and x.

Historical

Summary

In the field of social structure, we see in Western Europe in modern times—that is, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries—a constant and persistent development of the bourgeoisie, the so-called middle class. This middle stratum of society created the spiritual culture of Western Europe and until very recent times assumed responsibility for Europe's political fate. The middle class, from which the so-called intelligentsia everywhere emerged, was distinctly separated from other classes of society. In Poland, we see that the ancient Polish-LithuanianRuthenian Commonwealth was built by the nobility and that it was the nobility which lost it. W e see, further, that it was to a great extent the nobility which later fought for the reconquest of former independence—in the insurrection of Kosciuszko, in the insurrection of 1830-31, and in the insurrection of 1863. W e see a great number of Polish nobles in all the revolutionary and socialist movements of the latter part of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. W e see finally that in the Polish middle class and in the Polish intelligentsia a very considerable part, if not the majority, originate from the nobility or the gentry. And this social phenomenon is followed by another —the role which the gentry's customs, manners, and general way of living played in the life of the whole nation. The Polish peasant, the Polish worker, and the Polish bourgeois—all of these classes adopted the style of life of the Polish gentry. This sort of special social unification has no other example, save possibly in Spain. Among the Slavic nations, Poland is from this point of view very exceptional.6 In the stifling atmosphere of foreign oppression a leader appeared, destined to become the founder of the modern Polish State. Born on December 5, 1867, Joseph Pilsudski from his early youth was prominent in Polish secret societies, whose aim was the regaining of Poland's independence. As a result, he was banished by the Russian government to Siberia. Upon his return from exile he became one of the founders of the Polish Socialist Party. Imprisoned again, he escaped and moved to Austrian-occupied Cracow in 1901. There he began to organize military detachments, which in the years 1905-1907 conducted a guerilla warfare in 6. Lednicki, op. cit., pp. 5-6.

16

Historical Summary

Poland against the forces of the czarist government. In 1910, Pilsudski created the Polish Riflemen's Organization in AustrianPoland, for the purpose of fighting against Russia in the forthcoming World W a r which he foresaw. On August 6, 1914, Pilsudski led the Polish Legions from Cracow into Russian-Poland, as an independent military force temporarily co-operating with the Austrian troops against Russia. The Polish Legions were the nucleus of the future Polish Army. T h e appearance of Polish troops in the Great W a r proved to the world that Poland was still alive—a fact forgotten or deliberately ignored by the diplomacy of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The action of Pilsudski brought the question of Polish independence before the international forum and forced all three of Poland's oppressors—Germany, Austria, and Russia—to pronounce themselves on the Polish question. As the war progressed, it became clear to the world that Poland must be restored. Finally, President Wilson included the creation of an independent Poland in his famous Fourteen Points, which stated the war aims of the Allies. It would be impossible to conclude this short survey without mentioning Poland's contributions to world culture and civilization. W i t Stwosz, Nicholas Copernicus, Casimir Pulaski, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, Fryderyk Chopin, Adam Mickiewicz, Ignacy Paderewski, Maria Curie-Sklodowska, Henryk Sienkiewicz, Ladislas Reymont—so often classified by foreign writers as German ( W i t Stwosz, Nicholas Copernicus), French (Chopin, Curie-Sklodowska), or Russian (Paderewski)—are only the best known of the many outstanding Poles who have fought for human rights and progress. Jan Zamoyski, Polish Chancellor of the Crown in the sixteenth century, immortalized the invincible desire of his nation to progress in a humanitarian spirit by saying: " I would give half of my life if those who have abandoned the Roman Catholic Church should voluntarily return to its pale; but I would prefer giving all my life than to suffer anybody to be constrained to do it, for I would rather

Historical Summary

17

7

die than witness such an oppression." And during the same era King Sigismund-August, the last of the Yagiellons, expressed it with equal emphasis: " I am not king of your consciences. I wish to be monarch equally of the sheep and the goats. I am afraid of tearing wheat as well as tares." 8 This short historic survey has been written to facilitate a comprehensive interpretation of the many difficulties and shortcomings confronting Poland in the period 1918-1939, as well as of their effects on the development of Polish agriculture in general and of extension education in particular. With this background, the discussion now turns to a description of agriculture in Poland between the two world wars; in short, to a description of the situation with which the educators of the Extension Service had to work. 7. H. Grappin, Histoire de la Pologne des origines a 1922 (Paris, 1 9 2 2 ) , p. 89. 8. P. Super, Events and Personalities in Polish History (London: Baltic Institute, 1 9 3 6 ) , p. 1 .

C H A P T E R TWO

Polish Agriculture in the Period from 1918 to 1939

T

A G R I C U L T U R A L AS W E L L as other economic branches of Poland cannot be compared with those of highly industrialized countries, especially the United States, where a long period of full independence insured the development of outstanding progress in all fields of national economy. HE

Before regaining her independence, Poland was occupied for one hundred and thirty years by Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Each occupant incorporated his part of Poland into his administrative system, draining her resources for his own purposes and imposing on the population such political and economic measures as were suitable to his own needs. 1 Thus, industrialized Prussia, with her rapidly diminishing agricultural resources, speeded up the development of efficient agricultural methods in the occupied territory, at the same time striving to dispossess Polish farm people and to replace them gradually by Germans. Russia as an agricultural country did her utmost to slow down agricultural development in her occupied territory by importing cheap food from her distant provinces into Poland, by granting exceptionally low railway rates to her importers, and by checking in every way Polish competition. Austria, mainly interested in the development of her German and Bohemian provinces, indiscriminately applied administrative measures to prevent the occupied Polish territory from developing its own resources. T h e effects of this restrictive policy were so far-reaching that even after regaining her independence Poland was compelled to maintain the division of the country along the old partition lines though they did not correspond with her regional needs. T h e country i . Francis Bujak, Poland's Economic & Unwin, Ltd., 1926), p. 32.

Development

(London: George Allen

Polish

Agriculture,

1918-1939

19

was divided into: Central Poland (formerly occupied by Russia); Eastern Poland (formerly occupied by Russia); Western Poland (formerly occupied by Prussia; and South Poland (formerly occupied by Austria). Each of the formerly occupied territories had a different system of weights, measures, money, tariffs, transportation, and agriculture. A . G E N E R A L FEATURES

1. Area. Poland was equal in size to California and had, in 1939, an area of 389,720 square kilometers (about 150,486 square miles). Land utilization in 1931 in hectares Total area Land utilized for agriculture a. Arable b. Orchards and market gardens c. Meadows d. Pastures Forests Other, and barren land

37,897,000 25,589,000 18,557,000 552,000 3,804,000 2,676,000 8,322,000 3,986,000

2. Administration division. 1. Country 2. Province (17 provinces, 16 rural) 3. County (264 counties, 242 rural) 4. Township (3,195) 5. Village A province comprised from 8 to 27 counties. A county comprised an average of 13 townships. Correspondingly, the four parts of Poland in 1938 comprised: Central Poland—6 provinces (5 rural) Eastern Poland—4 provinces Western Poland—3 provinces South Poland—4 provinces 2. Maly Rocznik Statystyczny 1 9 3 9 (Little Statistical Yearbook, Warsaw: Central Bureau of Statistics, 1 9 3 9 ) , X , 72.

1939.

20

Polish

Agriculture,

1918-1939

These parts had: 3

Central Poland Eastern Poland Western Poland South Poland TOTAL

Area in sq. km. in 1938 137,800 124,400 47,200 79,200

Population in 1939 14,600,000 6,200,000 5,100,000 9,200,000

388,600

35,100,000

3. Population. In 1939, Poland had a population of 35,100,000 (in 1 9 2 1 , 27,400,000; in 1 9 3 1 , 32,300,000). About 60 percent of the total population was rural (21,000,000). T h e population density per square kilometer of Poland was 90; Central Poland 106; Eastern Poland 50; Western Poland 107; South Poland 1 1 6 . 4 In 1939 it was estimated that about five million rural people constituted a population surplus. 5 4. Climate. In the western part of the country the climate is much the same as that of Western Europe, with comparatively mild winters and moderate summers; but in the Eastern provinces the winters are very severe and the summers hot and dry. T h e hottest month is July, the coldest January. Precipitation is equally distributed throughout the year, with the exception of June, July, and August, which have a two or threefold increase of rain. T h e rainiest month is July. T h e average precipitation on the plains is 500-700 mm.; in the Carpathian Mountains up to 1500 mm. 6 5.

Topography.

a. Relief. Poland consists mostly of plain land with lines of hills at intervals, and is bordered on the south by the Carpathian Mountains (highest part—the Tatra Mountains—8,125 f e e t ) . b. Area of river basins in Poland: 74.6 percent of the total area belongs to the drainage system 3. Ibid., pp. 10-14. 4- Ibid., p. 10. 5. Stanislaw Gryziewicz, Na Marginesie Zagadnienia Rozwoju Gospodarczego Polski (On the Economic Development of Poland. London: Society of Polish Economists in Great Britain, 1944), p. 39. 6. Maly Rocznik Statystyczny 1939, pp. 8-9.

Polish Agriculture, 1 9 1 8 - 1 9 3 9

21

of the Baltic Sea, comprising basins of the river systems of the Vistula, the Oder, the Niemen, and the Dzwina. 25.4 percent of the total area belongs to the drainage system of the Black Sea, comprising basins of the river systems of the Dniepr, the Dniestr, and the Danube. 7 6. Types of soil. According to the map of Slawomir Miklaszewski, Professor of the Principal School of Rural Economy in Warsaw, Poland has three types of soil, each of them showing many variations: 8 a. Forest land ( 1 ) Light soil, sand soil (2) Medium soil, sand clay, clay sand (3) Heavy soil, loam, clay soil (4) Mountain soil (poor) This kind of soil, which makes up the greater part of Polish land, lacks lime. b. Rendzina (x) Lime soil (2) Mixed lime c. Steppe, marsh land ( 1 ) Real tchernosiem (2) Marsh land B . AGRICULTURE

In 1931 Poland had 25,589,000 hectares of land utilized for agriculture; that is, 67.5 percent of her total area. The rest consisted of forests (22 percent) and barren land (10.5 percent). The utilized land consisted of 49 percent arable land, 10 percent meadows, 7 percent pastures, and 1.5 percent orchards and truck gardens.9 It must be mentioned that very often tracts of land which were rather barren or only suitable for forestation were classified as 7. Ibid. 8. Dr. Paul Krische, "Karte der Boden Polens—vereinfachte Wiedergabe der farbigen Karte von Prof. Slawomir Miklaszewski ( 1 9 2 7 ) " ( M a p of Poland's soils—simplified reproduction of the colored map of Prof. Slawomir Miklaszewski, 1 9 2 7 ) , Zeitschrift " D i e Ernahrung der Pflanze" (Journal Cultivation of the Plant), November 1 , 1 9 2 7 . 9. Maly Rocmik Statystyczny 1 9 3 9 , p. 72.

Polish Agriculture,

22

1918-1939

arable and cultivated, since they were so utilized by land hungry farmers. On the other hand, tracts of land which could be reclaimed and made arable were often classified as barren, since their owners left them uncultivated, especially in Eastern Poland. Farming in Poland depended on many factors: the size of farms, the kind of soil, the climatic and economic conditions. In 1 9 3 1 , the land utilized for agriculture was distributed among farm people as follows: 1 0

Total Under 2 hectares From 2 - 5 ha. From 5 - 1 0 ha. From 1 0 - 1 5 From 15-50 ha. 50 ha. and over Unknown

Number of rural holdings 3,196,000 747,100 1,136,100 728,700 190,900 118,200 14,700 260,300

Percentage 100 * 5-5 38.7 24.8 6.5 4.0 0.5 2

—

* Without unknown holdings.

T h e majority of Polish farmers lived in villages. Some of their holdings still comprised scattered strips of land apart from one another, which the government persistently tried to consolidate. Its action, though involving complex legal and economic difficulties which often extended over a period of years, would have been brought to a successful end had not the war, in 1939, intervened. Along with land consolidation, the following action programs were carried out: a. Land reclamation (regulation of rivers and canals; drainage by ditches). b. Land parceling (breaking up of large estates in favor of neighboring small holdings and the consolidation of the latter; creation of new one-family holdings. T h e estates were either voluntarily offered for sale, with the government in control of the action, or compulsorily as a result of the land reform of 1919.) 10. Ibid., p. 68.

Polish Agriculture, 1918-1939

23

c. Liquidation of so-called servitudes (easements—the rights of small farmers to pasture their cattle on the land of large estate owners, to gather firewood in their forests, to cross their property, etc.). In the period from 1919 to 1938, 734,100 new one-family holdings resulted from the parceling of an area of 2,654,800 hectares, formerly occupied by large estates. At the same time, the consolidation action embraced 859,000 holdings with scattered strips in an area of 5,423,300 hectares; and the liquidation of servitudes gave 595,300 hectares and 3,889,100 zloty in cash to small farmers. T h e land reclamation action embraced 19,000 km. of rivers and 548,700 hectares of land. 1 1 With few exceptions, general farming prevailed in Poland. Every farmer was intent on owning horses, cows, pigs, poultry, on growing vegetables and flowers. Only farms comprising over 50 hectares specialized in breeding animals, mostly pigs, cattle, and horses; or in raising plants, potato seeds, sugar beet seeds, barley, clover, etc. In 1938 the arable land in Poland was sowed as follows: Wheat Rye Barley Oats Potatoes Sugar beets

1,754,000 hectares (mostly winter wheat) 5,895,000 " 1,178,000 " 2,277,000 " 3,030,000 " 150,000 "

T h e remainder of arable land was sowed with buckwheat, millet, maize, peas, beans, vetches, haricots, lentils, linseed, flax, hempseed, hemp fibre, colza, agrimony, hops, and tobacco. In 1938, the average yield in tons per hectare was: wheat 1.24; rye 1.23; barley 1.16; oats 1.17; potatoes 11.4; sugar beets 21.0. In 1938, the yearly average total crops were (in tons): wheat 2,171,900; rye 7,253,400; barley 1,371,300; oats 2,656,500; potatoes 3,455,820; sugar beets 3,162,40o. 12 In 1938, the livestock numbered: 3,916,000 horses; 10,554,000 1 1 . The Polish Ministry of Information, Concise Statistical Poland (Glasgow: The University Press, 1 9 4 1 ) , p. 32. 1 2 . Maly Rocznik Statystyczny 1939, p. 77.

Year-Book

of

24

Polish Agriculture, 1918-1939

cattle; 7,525,000 pigs; 3,411,000 sheep; 420,000 goats. Per 100 hectares of utilized land the livestock numbered: 15.3 horses; 41.2 cattle; 29.4 pigs; 13.3 sheep. 13 T h e most common cattle breeds were: Polish Black-White-Lowland (corresponding to the Holstein-Friesian), Simentaller, Swiss, and Polish Red. Milk production per cow was on a very low level, but efforts were persistently made to increase it. In 1937-1938, 105,054 cows, which were controlled by the Farmers' Testing Association, produced a yearly yield per cow 3,166 kg. milk and 3.42 percent fat. T h e average yearly yield of untested cows was below 1,500 kg. per cow. 14 Cattle breeds were distributed throughout the country according to the region's characteristics. C . FORESTRY

In 1937, Poland had 8,623,900 hectares of forest, 22.2 percent of her total area, of which 5,285,300 were private property and 3,338,600 national property. All forests were under strict governmental control, being considered national property as far as their exploitation was concerned. T h e cutting of trees was permitted only in accordance with various tree and soil preservation programs. Thus, the owners of private forests, while preserving their right to exploit them for sale, could cut their trees where and when the government permitted it. 15 In 1929, the mechanization of Polish farms began, especially on large farms, which used mostly American-made Deering tractors. The depression in 1 9 3 1 - 1 9 3 2 interrupted the process of mechanization for a while, but it was resumed in 1939. Because of lack of fuel, alcohol drawn from potatoes was used. Polish agriculture showed a continuous trend from plant farming to livestock husbandry, which provided more valuable commodities for the farmer, more income per hectare, and more jobs for unemployed people. Poland was still the third world producer of 13. Ibid., pp. 9 1 - 9 2 .

14. Ibid., p. 93.

1 5 . Ibid., p. 87.

Polish Agriculture, 1 9 1 8 - 1 9 3 9

25

potatoes and rye (ranking behind Soviet Russia and Germany), when she began to export butter, eggs, bacon, and ham. But although the Polish farmer did his utmost to increase his income, it was estimated, in 1937, that his weekly average income did not amount to more than 7 - 1 2 shillings, and that of his hired people 7 - 1 0 shillings. At the same time, the weekly average income in Denmark for the farmer was 30-40 shillings; for the hired laborer 23-26 shillings.16 One of the most acute problems in Poland during the described period, 1918-1939, was rural overpopulation. The land parceling alone could not solve the problem. T o absorb the surplus rural population, strenuous efforts were undertaken, aimed at a speedy development of Polish industry, commerce, and shipping. Mainly for this purpose Gdynia, the largest Baltic port, was built; and later on the new industrial center in South Poland was developed. 16. P. Lamartine Yates and D. Warriner, Food and Farming Europe (London: Oxford University Press, 1 9 4 3 ) , p. 35.

in

Post-War

CHAPTER

THREE

The Development of Agricultural Organizations in Poland A SHORT SURVEY OF AGRICULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS IN G E N E R A L

T

HE DEVELOPMENT of agricultural organizations in Poland should be preceded by a short survey of agricultural organizations in general. This will serve as a canvas, on which the growth of Polish agricultural organizations may be better traced. Agricultural organizations have existed ever since the development of the village as a community. Their forms have changed from one into another, depending upon such factors as family relations in the community, common or private ownership, methods of farming.

First agricultural organization T h e first agricultural organization was established as soon as man, abandoning his nomadic ways of life, founded permanent settlements and began to till the soil, raise plants, and breed animals. T h e soil, commonly cultivated by all tribes belonging to a kinship group, was later divided among village communities which were still made up according to kinship groups. T h e common utilization of the soil remained closely connected with the organization of social life within the village community.

Joint family agricultural organization In the beginning of this period, the period of village ownership, the organization of agriculture was in the hands of joint families. Such village communities appeared at the cradle of the civilized nations of today, and continue to appear among such simpler

Development

of Agricultural Organizations

27

agrarian countries, still existing today, as Egypt, Palestine, Transjordan, L e b a n o n , Syria, Iraq, 1 as well as in C h i n a , India, and Africa. 2 Later on the original type of village community began to disappear. As social and cultural progress developed, the village community sufficed no longer. W i t h i n the joint family organization a ruling class and a class of ruled people began to shape. T h i s process took place simultaneously with the dissolution of the village community based on kinship and on c o m m o n cultivation of t h e soil. Individual private property developed; the soil was taken over by individuals. T h u s , the tribal and kinship organization, which was no longer based on bonds of kinship but on political bonds. T h e s e transformations brought about great changes in t h e organization of agriculture. State and territorial agricultural

self-governing

organization

As the tribal and kinship organization, and the kinship community, gradually disappeared in favor of a political community, t h e state was compelled to take over various functions connected with the social life of the village and with the organization of agriculture, which constituted the main basis of social economy. T h e s e functions increased with the development of civilization and of social organization and are still increasing. T h u s , the state as the organized body of citizens b e c a m e also a body of people connected with agriculture, which took over many functions designed for the promotion of the interests of agriculture. I n t h e Middle Ages, territorial self-governments developed in villages. T h e village community b e c a m e not only an organ of authority, the lowest cell of the administration, b u t also a representative of all c o m m o n interests, class, professional, and even civilizational needs of the rural population. F o r long centuries t h e village remained a homogeneous center, being almost entirely inhabited by farmers; and t h e village community as a whole con1. E. deS. Brunner, I. T. Sanders and D. Ensminger, Farmers of the World. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1945), p. 78. 2. Tadeusz Klapkowski, Roczniki Socjologji Wsi (Annuals of Village Sociology. Warsaw: Institute of Village Sociology, 1938), III, 56.

28

Development

of Agricultural

Organizations

stituted the village organization of agriculture, which carried out many economic measures relative to the techniques of agriculture production and agricultural commerce. A similar pattern existed in China and has probably been seriously disturbed only by the wars of the last decade.3 As time passed, the existing conditions gradually changed. The composition of the rural population, as well as the problems concerning its social life, began to differentiate. Although the farmers still constituted a majority in the villages, the village priests, teachers, physicians, engineers, lawyers, artisans, merchants, etc., began to play an increasingly important role. With the industrialization of the country the occupational differentiation progressed faster and faster. This influenced the social life of the village, since the village community, no longer as homogeneous as before, could not remain exclusively an agricultural institution and decide, as before, all economic issues in its area. Social life continued imposing on it new tasks, e.g., general education, organization of libraries, defense of the country, taxation, hospitalization, insurance, communication, etc. Another factor which compelled the village community to reduce its contributions to the common agricultural organization was its inadequate initiative and the very low yields of its economic enterprises. Under such conditions, the necessity of taking away from the village community a number of duties in the field of agriculture and of transferring them to other, more competent institutions, became obvious. This applied to even a greater extent to the county territorial self-governments. General purpose voluntary agricultural

organization

The differentiation of rural life and the complication of economic problems of agriculture necessitated the development of new forms of agricultural organizations. The turning point of this development came in the eighteenth century, during which, as a consequence of the rapid progress of natural sciences, great changes occurred in the field of agricultural techniques. 3. Dan H. Kulp, III, Country Life in South China (New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, Bureau of Publications, 1925).

Development

of Agricultural Organizations

29

At first, various forms of voluntary agricultural organizations developed, with cultural and educational aims. These organizations became known as agricultural societies (agricultural associations ). The beginning of the existence of agricultural societies reaches into the second half of the eighteenth century. At that time, those societies (in Germany) were composed of people who studied rather theoretically agricultural phenomena, but did not work directly for agriculture. The high standard of science and the lack of corresponding subjects from the field of agriculture on one hand, and the inadequate education of the average farmer on the other, were the main reasons why only few people were interested in those societies. Not until agricultural theory and practice were developed (after Napoleon's defeat), not until rural farming was based on new scientific principles and agricultural schools were founded did more people begin to take an interest in purely practical agricultural matters. This again reacted on agricultural societies, where practical farmers began to play a decisive role, transforming them into societies which almost exclusively served the needs of practical farming. 4 One of the oldest agricultural societies was the Royal Agricultural Society in England, founded in 1768. At the same time, provincial agricultural societies were founded in Germany (the first probably in 1769). But not until 1842 did a central bureau of German agricultural societies, the Landesokonomiekollegium, come into being at Berlin. And in 1873, an agricultural council for all of Germany was created, exclusively comprising representatives of agricultural associations, with the aim of taking initiative with regard to governmental activities (besides carrying out organizational and representation activities). This social agricultural representation was replaced in Germany toward the end of the nineteenth century by a public representation—an agricultural selfgovernment. Nevertheless, the German agricultural societies carried on wide-spread activities, which were centralized in the German 4. S. Surzycki, Organizacja Pracy Spolecznej Rolniczej (The Organization of Social Agricultural Work. Warsaw, 1 9 3 1 ) , pp. 266-267, quoted in Roczniki Socjologji Wsi (Annuals of Village Sociology), III, 59.

30

Development

of Agricultural

Organizations

Agricultural Association (established after the English pattern). 5 In other countries such top organizations existed already. In 1867 the French Agricultural Association was founded; the Danish Agricultural Association came into being much earlier. The agricultural organizations developed over the decades can be classified by their more important types as follows: Special purpose voluntary agricultural

organization

The development of agriculture and its methods and techniques brought about the creation of special purpose organizations concerned with special branches of agriculture such as: cattle, horse, pig breeding; poultry; gardening; forestry; fish husbandry; etc. Women's voluntary agricultural

organization

The development of social life in the country among women gave impetus to the creation of women's organization. Youth voluntary agricultural

organization

Self-educational trends among rural boys and girls contributed to the creation of youth organization. Professional voluntary agricultural

organization

The various classes of rural population were responsible for the creation of the professional organizations—owners of large estates, small farmers, tenants, laborers, employees, etc. Agricultural

co-operatives

Along with those agricultural organizations, agricultural co-operatives were established. Traces of their prototype can be found in the eighth century in Switzerland—the "Allmendgenossenschaft." 6 Since the Reformation, up to the eighteenth century, many a community property was transferred to co-operatives and private owner5. T . Klapkowski, "Zrzeszenia Rolnicze jako Zagadnienie Spoleczne" (Agricultural Associations as a Social Problem), Roczniki Socjologji Wsi (Annuals of Village Sociology), III, 59-60. 6. T . Klapkowski, ZTzeszenia Rolnicze w Szwajcarji (Agricultural Organizations in Switzerland. Warsaw, 1 9 3 0 ) , p. 26, quoted in Roczniki Socjologji Wsi (Annuals of Village Sociology), III, 6 2 ,

Development

of Agricultural

Organizations

31

7

ship. The great social and economic changes in the nineteenth century, along with the development of general and rural education, brought about conditions conducive to the co-operative movement. The development of co-operatives in the second half of the nineteenth century went on in different ways in various countries, depending upon the character of agriculture and the density of population. However, in the twentieth century the co-operatives, regardless of their different beginnings in various countries, spread their activities, embracing more and more branches of rural life. Professional public agricultural self-governing organization—Chamber of Agriculture At the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century, a new form of agricultural organization—the professional public self-governing organization—was established in some countries. They were often called Chambers of Agriculture, and usually had a public status. They were organized in Germany in 1894, in Norway in 1919, in Hungary in 1920, in France in 1919 with amendments in 1924. The chambers of agriculture established in England, however, had no status in the area of public self-government. Totalitarian agricultural organization Some of the totalitarian countries, Italy in 1929, Germany in 1933, set up an agricultural organization based on rank, a hierarchical system which recognized no equality among their members— dictatorial agricultural organization.8 T H E D E V E L O P M E N T OF A G R I C U L T U R A L ORGANIZATIONS IN P O L A N D The Polish agricultural organizations have an old tradition and have always played an important role in rural life. Their development was stopped in the eighteenth century after the partitions of 7. Ibid., p. 62. 8. S. Surzycki, Organizacja Rolnictwa (The Organization of Agriculture) I, 8311., quoted in Roczniki Socjologji W s i (Annuals of Village Sociology), III, 67.

32

Development

of Agricultural

Organizations

Poland. The period of Polish wars for independence delayed their official establishment. Nevertheless, already in the nineteenth century, during the short existence of the Duchy of Warsaw, an agricultural organization under the name of "Krolewskie Towarzystwo Rolnicze" (Royal Agricultural Society) was founded in Warsaw in 1810. 9 This society represented the then contemporary methods of work but did not succeed in extending its activities to practical farming and soon declined because of the very difficult political conditions. However, the idea of establishing agricultural organizations in Poland was continually revived and led in the nineteenth century to the foundation of agricultural societies in all three territories occupied by Russia, Prussia, and Austria, despite all the social, economic, and political difficulties caused by the usurpers.10 The co-operative movement developed in Poland during the second half of the nineteenth century. Its pioneers were the credit co-operatives. They all contributed to the development of agriculture, providing cheaper credits than other sources and promoting industrialization. The first agricultural co-operative was established in 1 7 1 5 , as a credit co-operative under the name "Zakladka na Sprzezaj w Pabjanicach" (Chattel Mortgage on Horses and Yoke Oxen). 1 1 Among the co-operatives founded in the nineteenth century the "Hrubieszowskie Towarzystwo Rolnicze Ratowania si? Wsp61nie w Nieszcz^sciach" (Hrubieszow Agricultural Society for Mutual Help in Misfortune), 12 created in 1816, should be mentioned as especially interesting from the social point of view with regard to the element of charity characterizing it. From World War I to World W a r II Agricultural organization in Poland comprises two marked periods of development: the period of consolidation and unification, 1918-1932; and the period of chambers of agriculture, 1932-1939. 9. Ibid., p. 60. 10. Wladyslaw Grabski, Historja Towarzystwa Roltiiczego 1858-1861 (History of the Agricultural Society 1 8 5 8 - 1 8 6 1 . Warsaw: Gebethner & W o l f , 1 9 0 4 ) . 1 1 . Adam Krzyzanowski, Zakladka na Sprzezaj w Pabjanicach (Krakow, 1897). 12. Roczniki Socjologji Wsi (Annuals of Village Sociology), p. 63.

Development

of Agricultural Organizations

33

The period of consolidation and unification, 1918-1932 During this period independent Poland faced the difficult task of consolidating and unifying the three parts of Poland occupied until 1918 by Russia, Prussia, and Austria, namely: 1. Former Russian-occupied territories: a. Central Poland (known as "Kingdom of Poland"), comprising six provinces (voievodships)—Warsaw, Lodz, Kielce, Lublin, Bialystok, Warsaw-City. b. Eastern Poland (incorporated into Russia proper), comprising four provinces—Wilno, Nowogrodek, Polesie, Wolyn. 2. Former Prussian-occupied territories: a. Western Poland, comprising three provinces (voievodships)—Poznan, Pomorze, Sl^sk. 3. Former Austrian-occupied territories: a. Southern Poland, comprising four provinces—Krakow, Lwow, Tanopol, Stanislawow. For a certain time the division of the country along the old partition lines had to be maintained. The occupants set up different systems of administration in the three parts of Poland, and the unification process required careful planning and adjustment. Agricultural extension work also varied in the three formerly occupied parts of Poland. In Central and Eastern Poland it was carried on partly by voluntary agricultural organizations which had already existed before 1918, partly by territorial self-governments, and partly by the Department of Agriculture. The voluntary organizations were reorganized and unified; in 1928-1929 a central organization came into being—the Central Association of Agricultural Organizations and Rural Circles in Warsaw (Centralne Towarzystwo Organizacji i Kolek Rolniczych). At the end of this period, the voluntary organizations gradually took over the extension work from the Department of Agriculture, which granted them subsidies to the amount of its previous expenditures for extension. The extension service operated on four levels: a. Rural Circles—in communities

34

Development

of Agricultural

Organizations

b. District Societies of Agricultural Organizations and Rural Circles—in counties c. Provincial Societies of Agricultural Organizations and Rural Circles—in provinces (voievodships) d. Central Association of Agricultural Organizations and Rural Circles—in all the formerly Russian-occupied territory. In Western Poland extension work was carried on by chambers of agriculture, which had been founded in 1894, simultaneously with those in all Prussia. Its extension methods and organization served partly as a pattern for the unification plan which established chambers of agriculture throughout Poland after 1932. The full details of its work will be discussed in connection with the analysis of the process of unification. In Southern Poland extension work was carried on by voluntary organizations, unified in the Agricultural Association of LittlePoland (Malopolskie Towarzystwo Rolnicze). In a similar way as in Central and Eastern Poland, at the end of this period the voluntary organization gradually took over the responsibility for extension work and the subsidies granted by the Department of Agriculture. The extension service operated on three levels: a. Rural Circles—in communities b. District Agricultural Societies—in counties c. Central Agricultural Association—in all the formerly Austrianoccupied territory. The Central Agricultural Association (Malopolskie Towarzystwo Rolnicze) had two sections: one for southeastern Poland in Lwow, and the other for southwestern Poland in Krakow. The period of chambers of agriculture, 1932-1939 After 1932, the extension services in the three formerly occupied parts of Poland began to be unified, and autonomous chambers of agriculture rapidly began to take the place of various voluntary organizations. A decree of the President of the Republic of Poland, issued on March 22, 1928, and amended on May 21, July 1 1 , and October 27, 1932, ordered the establishment of chambers of agriculture in

Development of Agricultural Organizations

35

all parts of the country. The reorganization process was completed in 1933. 13 Many factors were responsible for the final decision of the Polish agriculture to shift from the three different extension systems existing during the period 1918-1932 to the new educational extension —the chambers of agriculture. Among them, three factors seemed to be the most conclusive: The trend toward unification in agriculture, similar to that in other fields of the national economy. It had been generally acknowledged that the extension in Western Poland, which based its work on chambers of agriculture, operated better than those in other parts of the country. The economic depression, which weighed heavily on the agriculture, made a combined action of the rural society and the government indispensable. Voluntary agricultural organizations were financially too weak to cope with the situation. They had to strain all their resources to help their members, and were often compelled to ask the government for subsidies. By taking subsidies, they improved their financial situation, but, simultaneously, they endangered their most important ideological principle—the freedom and independence of their organization. By losing independence, they weakened their most valuable asset—their freedom of educating their members for future leadership in agriculture. On the other hand, the voluntary organizations served only their members, that is, only a small part of rural society. The development of the State, especially in times of depression, had to be based on the participation of all members of rural society, and not only on the élite members of voluntary organizations. The other branches of national economy—commerce, industry, trade— had their professional self-governments and, being better organized professionally, exploited agriculture to a certain extent. Poland chose a middle-of-the-road solution by creating the new educational extension based on chambers of agriculture, a solution which permitted the use of all agricultural resources of voluntary organizations, territorial self-governments, and governmental 13. Dziennik Ustaw R. P. (Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland), N o . 2, sec. 1 6 of January 1 3 , 1 9 3 3 .

36

Development

of Agricultural

Organizations

agencies in one unified organization—the Chambers of Agriculture—for the benefit of the farmer. The influence of the State was moderate. Every agency had its own sphere of influence and activity, based on the principle of its usefulness for the country. The organizers of the new educational extension had to face a problem which presented no difficulties for countries with a long background of independence and balanced budgets: there was a scarcity of personnel and sufficient funds were lacking. The demand for both was much greater than the supply. This section has sketched in broad terms the developments within Poland which led to the organization of the Chambers of Agriculture. It is now important to examine this period and what followed in more detail. T H E E S T A B L I S H M E N T OF C H A M B E R S OF AGRICULTURE During the period of consolidation and unification, 1918-1932, extension work in Poland was in the process of continuous organization. The knowledge from research was carried to the farmer simultaneously through four channels—the Department of Agriculture, territorial self-governments, voluntary agricultural organizations, and chambers of agriculture—and differed in three parts of Poland: the Central and Eastern, the Western, and the Southern. Because of these conditions existing in liberated Poland, the transitional period was compulsory. Its main objectives were the consolidation and unification of a country that for more than one hundred years had been partitioned into three artificial regions. First of all it was necessary to re-establish regions which corresponded to the natural and economic characteristics of Poland. In 1918, as noted earlier, Poland inherited three different extension systems, each covering a previously occupied part of the country. Because of such extraordinary circumstances, independent Poland had the opportunity of comparing the three educational systems of extension and of choosing the one which seemed best

Development of Agricultural Organizations

37

suited to the country as a whole and adaptable to its regions. Extension specialists, agricultural leaders with different backgrounds and differing principles, studied the agricultural conditions in all three parts of the country and exchanged their ideas at many agricultural meetings and conferences. They worked laboriously to decide what in the existing extension systems was the clean seed of the culture of the country and what only the husk, as well as what was the weed implanted by the former rulers under the guise of educational extension for their political purposes. Their task was complicated by the many elements involved, which either contradicted or excluded or supported one another. One element, however, helped the country to find a solution: namely, the people. The long occupation had not crushed their souls; the old independent culture was still smoldering in the ashes of destroyed Poland. Gropingly perhaps, they found the right way to establish methods of extension which corresponded to the character of the country as a whole, allowing for adjustments with regard to regional differences. T h e tremendous task was carried out in the short time of Polish independence. It was impossible to complete it entirely, but the greater part of the work was accomplished. An analysis of the work carried out by the different agencies shows: Department of Agriculture—As far as the work was performed by governmental agencies, it was a "system" for the whole country. There was too much red tape, too much attention devoted to the administrative part of the work, too much neglect of its economic side, frequent ignoring of its social aspect; its technological part, however, was treated fairly well. T h e personnel had mostly an urban background, had no understanding of rural life, and often looked on farmers as a lower class. It was a rigid "system," instead of being a flexible method. The territorial self-governments—They operated in every county through their rural committees of county councils, which constituted independent units. It was their task to initiate agricultural work in the counties, to define the scope of the work, to supervise it, and to co-ordinate all efforts of the local rural society and the

38

Development

of Agricultural

Organizations

local, provincial, and national governments in the fields of agriculture. The territorial self-governments of the counties were the connecting link between the government and private agencies. They were interested in the general economic development of their counties and did not pay enough attention to agricultural matters. Neither were they socially or professionally prepared to carry out the task of educational extension. Voluntary agricultural organizations—The work carried out by them was very inadequate: excellent in some parts of the country and very poor in others. The differences in the sum of their work, as well as in its quality, depended on the social conditions in the communities and mostly on proper leadership. The importance of the quality of the leadership was best illustrated by the fact that often neighborhoods, communities, even counties, in which the educational extension movement had flourished for a number of years, suddenly declined when a prominent leader of theirs died or moved away. Very often extension activities declined because of conflicts among the leaders. The organizers of Polish extension realized how important for its development the quantity and quality of rural leaders, men, women, and adolescent youth, was. The human material of leaders was supplied by general purpose voluntary agricultural organizations. The leaders were trained by the educational training centers for extension personnel and the organization and management of small farms (men and women)—working on individual model farms and team farms (see Chapter V I I I ) ; and by the agricultural preparation of youth—working in youth teams. Besides, many short-termed special classes (3-6 days) were organized by the extension service, at which leaders (men, women, and youth) were taught by subject matter specialists. The work of unpaid leaders had not only an important social aspect but also financial effects. Though data concerning the financial value of work carried out by leaders working in extension are not available, it has been roughly estimated to be higher than the sums spent for the paid professional personnel on all levels of extension.

Development of Agricultural Organizations

39

T h e extension in the United States considers the work of voluntary leaders to be socially and financially a very important asset. 14 T h e voluntary contribution of these leaders has been stated to be "worth more than the total cost of the Extension Service to all the contributing levels of government combined." 1 5 Realizing how important the work of these leaders is, the Extension Service in the United States aided and trained them in all their activities: " T h e county agents and extension specialists give special help and training to these men and women, usually known as 'local leaders,' who serve without pay and who constitute the backbone of the Extension Service in the counties." 1 6 Voluntary organizations are certainly one of the most desirable forms designed to spread educational extension, and one to which a matured rural society of every democratic country should aspire. In Poland, however, they demonstrated a few typical weak points such as, among others: 1 . Lack of continuity caused by irregular activities—typical for voluntary organizations. 2. T o o much politics, especially with regard to the not entirely completed land reform. 3. T o o frequent changes among the professional personnel— instructors (county agents), inspectors (subject matter specialists), caused by low wages, irregular payments of salaries, often by unfit personnel. 4. Improper evaluation of engaged personnel and their subsequent professional work by the leaders of the voluntary organizations who themselves very often did not have an adequate educational training. 5. T o o great dependence of the instructors (county agents) on the presidents and boards of directors of voluntary county organizations. 6. T o o low wages for the professional staff. 7. Inadequate training of the professional staff. 14. C . B. Smith and M . C . Wilson, The Agricultural Extension System of the United States (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1 9 3 0 ) , chap. X I I . 1 5 . E . deS. Brunner, I. T . Sanders, and D. Ensminger, Farmers of the World (New York: Columbia University Press, 1 9 4 5 ) , p- 1 8 s . 16. Ibid., p. 184.

40

Development

of Agricultural

Organizations

8. Lack of adequate administration, especially of bookkeeping. 9. Insufficient funds for extension operations. 10. Because of lack of own funds, the necessity for governmental subsidies which endangered the independence of the voluntary organizations. Besides the above-mentioned weak points, the most important factor which impeded the extension activities of voluntary organizations was the internal conflict between two types of general purpose voluntary agricultural organizations, namely, one representing mostly large estates, the other small farms. This cleavage has existed as long as large and small farms have existed. Since the enfranchisement of peasants, which began in Prussian-occupied territory in accordance with the law of April 8, 1823; in Austrianoccupied territory in 1848; in Russian-occupied territory in accordance with the law of March, 1864, Russia and Austria did their utmost to incite small farmers and owners of large estates against one another, following the ancient Roman doctrine "divide et impera." Prussian policy was different from that of Russia and Austria, because the Prussian government needed economically sound large estates as well as strong small farms, which she intended to transfer sooner or later into Prussian hands. 17 In 1918 independent Poland was confronted with the problem of parallel voluntary agricultural network in all three formerly occupied territories, covering the same area and representing small and large farms. As a consequence, a duplication of their activities and maintenance of two parallel personnel of extension in county, province, and region resulted. T h e unification of the agricultural organization in all three parts began and was carried out most easily and speedily in the former Prussian zone, and with the greatest difficulty in the former Russian zone. 18 However, though the unification action was completed by 1929, in all three parts of Poland conflicts within the framework of the voluntary agricultural organizations continued even after 1929. A typical example is offered 17. Stanislaw Gryziewicz, Na Marginesie Zagadnietiia Rozwoju Gospodarczego Polski (On the Economic Development of Poland. London: Society of Polish Economists in Great Britain, 1944), p. 28. 18. Rolnictwo (Agriculture), edited by the Department of Agriculture (Warsaw, April 1929), p. 5.

Development

of Agricultural

Organizations

41

in the area of Central and Eastern Poland, where the Central Agricultural Society in Warsaw (Centralne Towarzystwo Rolnicze), mainly representing large estates, and the Central Society of Rural Circles in Warsaw (Centralne Towarzystwo Kolek Rolniczych), mainly representing small farms, waged for many years a political battle. Even after the two central organizations were united, their local organs continued to oppose each other in many counties, within the framework of the united organization. The official periodical Industry and Commerce (Przemysl i Handel) wrote about it in 1928:

Though we have learned during the past days from the press that Messrs. Fudakowski, president of the Association of Polish Agricultural Organizations representing large estates, and [Wiktor] Przedpelski, president of the Polish Association of Agricultural Organizations and Rural Circles representing small farms, have signed a declaration expressing the willingness of their so many years quarreling organizations to unite in one association, this reassuring news does not give any certainty as to how quickly and in what way the village will react. The signing of the abovementioned declaration is not synonymous with a discontinuance of quarrels on the part of the local organs, because the fight, conducted by central organs, has emphasized and sharpened all conflicts dividing particular groups of farmers; thence the difficulty of explaining the new situation.19 In his book Reform of Social Agronomy (Reforma agronomji spolecznej), Prof. Wladyslaw Grabski gave the following evaluation of the work of voluntary agricultural organizations: Since decades, agricultural organizations work for the spreading of progress among small farmers in this country, and yet the progress is very small. The agricultural organizations, though they are being granted considerable government subsidies, have not produced satisfactory results. These results, faced realistically, are not enough visible. Statistical facts not only do not show them, but it suffices to travel systematically across the country (and 19. Przemysl i Handel (Industry and Commerce), edited by the Departments of Industry and Commerce, Treasury, Agriculture, and Communication (Warsaw), September 8, 1928, No. 37, p. 1488.

42

Development

of Agricultural

Organizations

not where there is some show to be seen) to recognize how vast are its reaches, and how large the masses of population which, in their daily work, do not give evidence of the slightest positive influence of social organizations.20 The development of the co-operative movement greatly contributed not only to the official unification, but also to its internal realization. The work in co-operatives brought the small farmers and the owners of large estates together in their mutual effort to improve their economic standard, and quite unconsciously they became socially closer to one another. Chambers of agriculture—The deficiencies of educational extension operated by the Department of Agriculture, the territorial self-governments, and the voluntary organizations brought about the creation of a new organization which, while avoiding their faults, could further develop their accomplishments. This new public agency became known as the Chamber of Agriculture. The primary objectives of the Chambers of Agriculture, discussed in the next chapter, were to unite voluntary and professional efforts in one organization; and to combine the elements of sociology, economy, and technology, which factors, wisely applied, supplemented one another in the mutual effort to reach the final goal of educational extension: to make the life of the farmer better, easier, happier, and at the same time to produce enough, in the most economical way, food for other groups of the nation and for other nations. 20. Wladyslaw Grabski, Reforma Agronomji Spolecznej (Reform of Social Agronomy), quoted in Przemysl i Handel (Industry and Commerce), September 8, 1928, No. 37, p. 1489.

CHAPTER FOUR Chambers of Agriculture1

F

ROM 1918 TO 1932 the legal basis for the functioning of the Agricultural Extension Education was not alike in all parts of the country. Western Poland based its extension on an old Prussian law of 1894; the extension service in other parts of the country carried out its activities on a rather voluntary basis, legally conforming them to the general constitution of Poland, to the regulations of the Department of Agriculture and the territorial self-governments, and to the statutes of voluntary agricultural organizations. Besides, the Department of Agriculture, the territorial self-governments, and the voluntary agricultural organizations each year made agreements defining the utilization of subsidies. (See Chapter III, last section.) T h e legal basis of chambers of agriculture was a decree of the President of the Republic of Poland, issued on March 22, 1928 and amended on May 21, July 1 1 , and October 27, 1932. T h e detailed organization of chambers of agriculture was defined by their statutes, worked out by the Department of Agriculture. Chambers of agriculture were established in Poland for the purpose of extending the findings of science to farm people and of co-ordinating all activities in the field of agriculture—farming, gardening, animal husbandry, fishery, forestry, and others—with those of the public administration. Every chamber covered the area of one province, except the chamber in Wilno, which extended its activities to two provinces (Wilno and Nowogrodek), and that in Lwow, which covered three provinces (Lwow, Tarnopol, Stanislawow). Every chamber was a unit of agricultural self-government and a person of public 1 . Decree of the President of the Republic of Poland, issued on March 22, 1 9 2 8 , Dziennik Ustaw R. P. (Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland), N o . 2, sec. 16, of January 1 3 , 1 9 3 3 .

Chambers

of Agriculture

law. N o other agricultural organization was permitted to bear the designation "chamber of agriculture." The functions of the chambers of agriculture were threefold: to represent and protect the interests of agriculture; to take— within the limits of the law—autonomous measures designed for the promotion of agriculture; and to carry out all activities entrusted to them by law, to co-operate with government and local self-governing authorities in all agricultural matters, especially in the supervision of the activities of self-governing agencies on the lower levels, and to co-ordinate all action in the field of agriculture. The chambers of agriculture submitted to governmental and local self-governing authorities suggestions as to the general needs of agriculture, gave their opinions on all matters relative to agriculture, especially on legislative projects concerning it, and sent their delegates to governmental advisory bodies. If the authorities or interested persons approached them on agricultural matters, they appointed experts who examined the facts of particular cases and passed their opinion on them. Every chamber sent to the Department of Agriculture periodic reports on the situation in its area. The following measures were designed by the chambers for the promotion of agriculture: 1 ) establishment and maintenance of agricultural schools, and the management of agricultural education out of school; 2) experiment stations in all fields of agricultural production; 3) agricultural exhibitions and shows; 4) advice and expert help to farm people in all agricultural matters; 5) instruction in bookkeeping on farms; 6) plans for agricultural amelioration; 7) instructions in animal breeding (classification of breeding animals, keeping of pedigrees, control); 8) classification of seeds and agricultural products to be marketed as refined products; 9) plant preservation (from diseases, insects, birds, animals) and extermination of weeds;

Chambers

of Agriculture

45

1 0 ) assistance to farmers in all matters concerning fertilizers, seeds, fodders, agricultural implements, livestock, and other means of agricultural production; 1 1 ) veterinary assistance; 1 2 ) preservation of forests which were not State property, and afforestation of barren land; 1 3 ) protection from damages by the elements and assistance to farmers afflicted by them; 1 4 ) study of the profitableness of particular branches of agricultural production and estimation of actual production costs; 1 5 ) assistance to farmers in obtaining credits; 1 6 ) assistance in the marketing of agricultural products and in the adjustment of their prices, especially to those of grain exchange and market places; 1 7 ) collecting of statistical data on agriculture; 18) assistance to new farms created as a result of the land reform; 19) organization of agricultural insurance; 20) supervision of river, pasture, and forest. T o speed up their co-ordination with local self-governing authorities, the chambers of agriculture were empowered to turn over certain functions to them, or to take up activities which had been initiated by the local authorities. However, in all matters relative to their autonomous promotion of agriculture, the chambers had to depend on co-operation with voluntary agricultural organizations (co-operatives, societies, associations), to assist them in organizing farm people, to entrust them with the management of particular matters in their own spheres of activity, and to grant them subsidies, the use of which they supervised. At the request of voluntary agricultural societies, but only with the approval of the Department of Agriculture, the chambers were entitled to take over the property, obligations, institutions of those organizations for further use. T h e Department of Agriculture was entitled to turn over to the chambers—but only with their approval —such institutions and establishments administered by the government as belonged to the spheres of activity of the chambers.

46

Chambers

of

Agriculture

It was the duty of the government and of local self-governing authorities to give the chambers all assistance necessary for the performance of their tasks. Every chamber of agriculture was composed of a council, a board of directors, and the president of the chamber. Council A. One-third of the counselors were elected by rural members of the county councils of territorial self-governments, the so-called rural committees, which constituted independent units and comprised farm owners, tenants, and managers living in the area of the chamber, or persons working in the field of agriculture who had graduated from a high school or an agricultural school. Only owners, tenants, managers of farms or persons working in the field of agriculture with a high school or agricultural school education, who were already thirty years old (both sexes) and lived in the area administered by the chamber, could be elected. They served a term of six years and could be re-elected for another term. B. One-third were elected by members of voluntary agricultural organizations. The elected persons had to be members of those organizations and to meet the same occupational, educational, and age requirements as those elected by the first group. They served a term of six years and could be re-elected for another term. C. One-third were appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture from a list of candidates submitted by the counselors A and B. The persons to be appointed had to be active in the field of agriculture. Governmental employees, unless they worked for scientific and research institutions, colleges, or agricultural schools, could not be appointed. They served a term of three years. The first two groups of counselors numbered, according to the statutes of a chamber and its scope of activity, from twenty to seventy. The chamber in Warsaw had twenty-four elected counselors. The number of the appointed counselors could amount only to onehalf, or less, of the number of elected counselors; the Secretary of Agriculture not always made use of his right to appoint a full third of counselors. The elections took place every three years and only one-half of

Chambers

of Agriculture

47

the groups A and B were chosen, so that every three years one-half of newly-elected counselors took office and one-half of those in office retired, thus giving the newcomers an opportunity to work together with the remaining, more experienced counselors. All counselors worked without pay; but they received allowances for attending the meetings of the council and its committee if the chamber statutes so provided, and the council could grant its members traveling expenses, which were subject to approval by provincial governors. A counselor who absented himself three times from council meetings without offering explanations, or who neglected the duties entrusted to him, could be dismissed by a two-third majority vote, with at least one-half of the counselors present. T h e following matters relative to the management and supervision of a chamber were entrusted to its council: 1 . It made out budgetary estimates and the balancing of accounts. 2. It fixed the amount of fees for services rendered by the chamber, if such payments to the chamber were considered necessary. 3. It decided on loans for the chamber, purchases and sales of its real estate, mortgages on its real estate, on the acceptance of donations and bequests. All resolutions of the council had to be accepted by an absolute majority, with at least one-half of the counselors attending the meeting. T h e resolutions were subject to approval by the Secretary of Agriculture. T h e council convened at least once a year to vote the budget, the date of the meeting being prescribed by chamber statutes. Over all meetings of the council presided the president of the chamber; they were open to the public. Among its members the council selected committees entrusted with permanent or temporary tasks, such as: control, budget, economy, education, organization and farm management, agronomy, animal husbandry, fishery, forestry, women, youth. Except for the control committees, all the others performed their tasks in close cooperation with experts, who became members of the committees, though they did not belong to the council. T h e resolutions of all committees were transmitted to the presi-

48

Chambers

of Agriculture

dent of the chamber, who took the proper course concerning them. Among the committees selected by the council there had to be always a permanent financial-budget committee and a permanent control committee. The control committee had to examine the books, the cash accounts, and the financial management of the chamber at least once a year. The results of the examination were submitted by the control committee to the chamber council, after being previously communicated to the board of directors. Board of directors The council elected from among its members the board of directors, the number of whom was prescribed by chamber statutes. The board usually numbered five to nine directors. They served a term of three years. The president of the chamber presided over their meetings, at which all resolutions were passed by an absolute majority. The board of directors was the executive organ of the chamber. Its activities comprised the following functions: carrying out the resolutions of the council; administering the property of the chamber; preparing budgetary estimates of all revenue and expenditure during the next year; managing the financial matters of the chamber; submitting to the council for approval the yearly balancing of accounts in conformance with the budget and all other accounts relative to the revenue and expenditure of the chamber; managing and controlling all experiment stations and institutions of the chamber; submitting to the council for approval bookkeeping and budget regulations; drawing up the agenda for council meetings; submitting to the council for approval yearly reports on the chamber and its activities; and deciding in all other matters which did not belong to the competence of the council and of the president of the chamber. The president of the chamber The board of directors elected from among its members the president and the vice-president of the chamber. The election was subject to approval by the Secretary of Agriculture. They served a term of three years. The president was the official representative of the chamber. He

Chambers

of Agriculture

49

supervised the carrying out of all resolutions accepted by the council and the board of directors, convoked their meetings, over which he presided, and controlled the activities of the chamber bureau. All documents determining legal property obligations of the chamber had to be signed by the president and at least one director. The bureau of the chamber In accordance with a resolution passed by the board of directors and with the previous approval of the Secretary of Agriculture, the president of the chamber appointed a person who was not member of the council to head the bureau of the chamber. T h e chief of the bureau was directly responsible to the president and participated in the meetings of the council, the board of directors, and the committees to report on all matters relative to the bureau and give his opinion on them. All permanent employees of the bureau were appointed by the president on recommendations of the chief of the bureau and after the board of directors had approved the appointments by a formal resolution. Temporary employees were appointed by the president directly on the recommendation of the chief of the bureau. T h e bureau of the chamber carried out administrative and executive work connected with the activity of the chamber. The financial management of the chamber Every year the board of directors drew up a preliminary budget of all income and expenses of the chamber estimated for the next year. The budget was subject to ratification by the council. T h e Secretary of Agriculture was entitled to make changes in the budget, if important public interests justified it and if the changes did not necessitate an increase in the general sum of expenses. T h e revenue of the chamber consisted of: three percent of the governmental land tax, as collected in the area administered by the chamber; fifty percent of the provincial self-government land tax, as collected in the area administered by the chamber; fees fixed for the chamber in accordance with legislative regulations; subsidies received from the government, the territorial self-governments, and others.

50

Chambers

of

Agriculture

Governmental control of the chambers T h e control of the chambers was entrusted to the Secretary of Agriculture. T h e direct control was exercised by the provincial governors. Both the Secretary of Agriculture and the provincial governor were to be given in advance information on chamber meetings and their agendas, and they participated in the meetings either personally or through their representatives. T h e Secretary of Agriculture was authorized to dissolve the council of a chamber. In such a case, the board of directors and the president of the chamber resigned immediately. Until the formation of a new council, the Secretary of Agriculture decided on all questions handled by the council, while the duties of the president and of the board of directors were taken over during the interim by a commissioner appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture for that purpose. This chapter has described the legal basis and duties of the Chambers of Agriculture under which, after organization, the extension activities were carried out. Before amplifying the extension phase of the Chamber, however, it is important to discuss their relations to the experiment stations. As in the United States, these stations were research institutions (theoretically?) producing the knowledge which the extension workers of the chambers took to the farmers. It is to this phase of the study that the next chapter turns. This will be followed by a discussion of the relations between the chambers of agriculture and the agricultural colleges.

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103

TABLE 9 REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE OF CHAMBERS OF AGRICULTURE FROM 1934 TO 1939 ( i n t h o u s a n d s of

zloty)1

Budget P e r i o d

Revenue

Expenditure

1934-35

7,885

7,899

1935-36

8,239

8,374

1936-37

8,041

8,140

1

1937-38

9,568

9,605

1938-39

11,173

11,175

TOTAL

44,876

Polaka

Gotpodarcia,

p.

[sic]

45 >193

1202.

TABLE 10 REVENUE OF CHAMBERS OF AGRICULTURE IN 1939-1940 (on t h e b a s i s of f i n a l s t a t e m e n t s of a c c o u n t of a u t h o r i z e d chamber b u d g e t s - i n z l o t y ) 1 Chambers of Agriculture

Revenue

Bialystok

561,640

Kielce

697,965

Lublin

656,977

Lodz

531,160

Warsaw

1,157,678

Poles ie

528,321

Wilno

959,733

Wolyn

825,513

Krakow

655,816

Lwow

1,753,220

Pomorze

1,574,516

Wielkopolska

2,296,635

TOTAL 1

Polakm

IO4

12,199,174 Ooapodarcsa,

p.

1202.

TABLE 11 EXPENDITURE OF CHAMBERS OF AGRICULTURE IN 1939-1940 (on the basis of final statements of account of authorized chamber budgets - in zloty)* Chambers of Agriculture

Expenditure

Bialystok

558,140

KieIce

697,965

Lublin

656,939

Lodz

531,160

Warsaw

1,157,678

Poles ie

528,321

Wilno

959,733

Wolyn

825,513

Krakow

655,816

Lwow

1,782,02 0

Pomorze

1,617,891

Wielkopolska

2,296,635

TOTAL

1

Polmka

12,267,811

GoapodmrcEm

, P-

12C2.

105

TABLE 12 EXPENDITURE OF COUNTY SELF-GOVERNMENTS FOR THE PROMOTION OF AGRICULTURE (in thousands of zloty)^

Budget Periods 1934-35 . . •

Expenditure for the Promotion of Agriculture 8,575

1935-36

8,568

1936-37

8,730

1937-38

9,601

1938-39

12,741

TOTAL

48,214

106

TABLE 13 EXPENDITURE OF COUNTY SELF-GOVERNMENTS FOR AGRICULTURE (on the basis of final statements of account of preliminary budgets for 1936-1937 - in zloty)^

Zloty

In Percentage of the Budgets of County Self-governments

2,243,909

12.63

Lodz

538,520

9.29

KieIce

956,014

10.30

Lublin

904,153

10.99

Bialystok

534,461

10.25

Wilno*

552,064

9.64

Nowogrodek

160,150

11.00

Polesie

306,749

11.30

Wolyn

488,323

9.71

Poznan*

557,023

9.10

Pomorze

137,545

8.70

Slask

506,616

8.74

Krakow

443,607

Lwow

380,000

9.42

Stanislawow

188,361

10.00

Tarnopol

213,220

9.07

9,120,716

10.00

Voievodships (Provinces) Warsaw

TOTAL

^ Poltka • Data

Goapodarcia,

for

p.

1203.

1937-1938.

107

TABLE 14 EXPENDITURE OF COUNTY SELF-GOVERNMENTS FOR AGRICULTURE, AS ASSIGNED IN PRELIMINARY BUDGETS FOR 1938-1939 (in zloty)*

Voievodships (Provinces)

Zloty

Warsaw

In Percentage of the Budgets of County Self-governments

2,162,607

10.3

702,045

13.3

Kielce

1,600,733

12.5

Lublin

1,283,863

11.9

Bialystok

633.294

13.0

Wilno

703,588

21.7

Nowogrodek

261,014

11.3

Polesie

579,483

4.7

Wolyn

721,395

15.5

Poznan

722,372

4.8

597,197

2.6

Slask*

710,953

0.8

Krakow

694,113

9.5

Lwow

637,838

7.4

Stanislawow

309,644

7.0

Tarnopol

421,055

7.4

.12,741,195

9.6

Lodz

Pomorze

. . . . . . .

TOTAL ^ Polnka

Goapodmrcnm,

p.

1203.

Together with the p r o v i n c i a l

108

self-government.

TABLE 15 EXPENDITURE OF COUNTY SELF-GOVERNMENTS FOR AGRICULTURE (on the basis of final statements of account of preliminary budgets for 1937-1938 in zloty)* Voievodships (Provinces)

Zloty

Per Cent of the Assigned Sums

1,857,320

92.9

663,588

88.6

KieIce

1,216,195

101.0

Lublin

1,230,265

128.5

Bialystok

510,506

97.9

Wilno

552,064

96.4

Nowogrodek

229,636

98.0

Polesie

306,435

98.0

Wolyn

503,313

80.4

Poznan

418,435

77.7

Pomorze

145,862

91.0

Slask

478,613

104.9

Krakow

567,510

109.0

Lwow

440,700

82.0

Stanislawow

242,353

103.1

Tarnopol

302,003

98.2

9,664,796

96.0

Warsaw» Lodz

TOTAL

* Polaka Qoapodarcia, p . 1 2 0 4 . • Together v i t h the e x t r a o r d i n a r y

budget.

log

TABLE 16 EXPENDITURE OF COUNTY SELF-GOVERNMENTS FOR AGRICULTURE (on the basis of final statements of account of preliminary budgets for the first semester 1938-1939 - in zloty) 1 Voievodships (Provinces)

Zloty

Per Cent of the Assigned Sums

1,178,396

54.4

Lodz

321,245

45.7

Kielce

640,689

40.0

Lublin

no data

no data

Bialystok

236,834

37.4

Wilno

318,000

45.0

Nowogrodek

117,456

45.0

Poles ie

269,852

46.5

Wolyn

348,000

48.0

Poznan

274,836

34.7

Pomorze

240,000

40.0

Slask

328,319

46.1

Krakow

294,541

42.4

Lwow

259,304

40.0

141,512

45.7

167,158

39.7

5,136,142

43.4

Warsaw

Stanislawow

. . . .

Tarnopol TOTAL

^ Polmka

110

Gompodmrcza,

p.

1204.

Agricultural Extension Education

111

Table 1 shows the distribution on the county level of agricultural personnel in the different provinces. Table 2 shows the distribution on the provincial level of the personnel of chambers of agriculture and of provincial agricultural voluntary organizations, as well as their specialization. Table 3 shows how the educational training centers and the organization and management of small farms were interwoven. T h e productive period of mass education by the training centers (see Chapter V I I ) influenced the development of the program of the organization and management of small farms. Table 4 shows that, although the educational training centers were concentrated in the area, individual model farms were spread throughout the country (see Chapter V I I ) . Table 5 shows that out of 242 counties in Poland, 204 were covered by the program of the organization and management of small farms; that its activities were adequately distributed throughout the country, and that each county had an average of 2.5 professional personnel working for this program. Table 6 shows that the home economics program was steadily developed during the last four years of the described period (19361939). T h e decrease in membership (second column) in 1938 can be explained by the strict control of the participants, carried out during that year and resulting in the elimination of a certain number of them. Table 7 shows that the home economics program covered 238 counties out of a total of 242, and that it was carried out by from one to four women organizations belonging to different political groups. Table 8 shows that the program for the agricultural preparation of youth covered 241 counties out of a total of 242, and that it had priority over the home economics program (238 counties) and the program of the organization and management of small farms (204 counties). T h e tables relative to budgets contain Polish monetary units. Corresponding figures in dollars have not been presented on purpose, since the reader might be tempted to compare the budget of the agricultural extension education in Poland with that in the

112

Agricultural Extension

Education

United States. The budget of the extension service in Poland should be analyzed only in due proportion to the general budget of Poland and to the budgets of countries possessing similiar economic conditions—such as the countries of East Central Europe. In 1938-1939, the revenue of the Polish State amounted to 2,474,000,000 zloty, and its expenditure to 2,458,000,000 zloty. 10 The funds for the Polish extension service came from four sources: the chambers of agriculture's own revenue; county territorial selfgovernments; Governmental subsidies; and voluntary agricultural organizations. The most important sources were the first two. Table 9 shows that this revenue was steadily increasing during the last five budgetary years of the described period, except in 1936miTable 10 and 1 1 show the revenue and expenditure of individual chambers of agriculture. The excess of expenditure over revenue was covered by reserves, which almost all chambers of agriculture possessed. Table 12 shows that the funds paid out for the agricultural extension education during the last five years of the described period were steadily increasing, and that they were greater than the funds paid by chambers of agriculture out of their own revenue (see Table 9). Tables 13 and 14 show the expenditure of county territorial selfgovernments in the individual provinces (voievodships), and their increase from 1936-1937 to 1938-1939. Table 15, containing the expenditure of county territorial selfgovernments, shows that the funds were not only allotted but that 96 percent of their total amount was actually spent. Table 16, containing the expenditure of county territorial selfgovernments, shows that the funds were not only allotted and spent, but adequately distributed throughout the year. Within the first half year (semester) 43.4 percent of the total amount was spent. 10. Maty Rocznik Statystyczny 1939 (Little Statistical Yearbook, 1939. Warsaw, Central Bureau of Statistics, 1 9 3 9 ) , X , 376.

Agricultural Extension

Education

113

During the last five years of the period 1918-1939, the number of professional extension staffs was steadily increasing. As of January 1 , 1938, their personnel numbered: County personnel (county level)

1,839, i.e., 7-6 persons per county

Personnel of chambers of agriculture and of provincial agricultural organizations (provincial level) Total

971, i.e., 4.0 2,810, i.e., 11.6

"

"

As of January 1, 1939, it numbered: County personnel (county level )

2,026, i.e., 8.4 persons per county

Personnel of chambers of agriculture and of provincial agricultural organizations (provincial level)

1,231, i.e., 5.1

Total

3,257, i.e., 13.5

"

«9

9. Polska Gospodarcza (Economic Poland. Edited by the Departments of Industry and Commerce, Treasury, Agriculture and Land Reform, Communication, Post-Office and Telegraph, Warsaw), Vol. X X , No. 33, p. 1204.

CHAPTER NINE

Conclusions

T

HE DEVELOPMENT OF the different kinds of agricultural organization and consequently of agricultural extension depends first of all on the form of government a country has—its proximity to real democracy. T h e other factors which influence the effective operation of extension work are: the attitude of a government toward agriculture; the relations between national, provincial, and local governments—centralization or decentralization; the relations between governmental agencies and public and private organizations; the attitude of private corporations toward agriculture; the ratio of agricultural to industrial prices; the desire of rural people to enjoy the same facilities in schooling, electrification, hygiene, hospitals, communications as urban people have.

From 1 9 1 8 to 1939 the extension service in different countries was conducted under different names and based on different organization. In Europe three trends of agricultural policy were noticeable during that period. There was a liberal trend toward reducing all governmental interference with rural life to a minimum and basing rural organization on voluntary agricultural organizations and private institutions (England, Switzerland). There was also a moderate trend admitting governmental direction within certain limits and assigning to various agricultural organizations specific spheres of influence (Czechoslovakia, France, Poland, Hungary, Norway, Rumania, Bulgaria) ; mostly in countries where the financial resources of the farm people were too small to permit the establishment of voluntary agricultural organization without the financial assistance of the government. And, finally, there was a totalitarian trend based entirely on governmental dictation of programs (Germany, Russia, Italy). 1 1 . S. Surzycki, Organizacja Pracy Spolecznej Rolniczej ( T h e Organization of Social Agricultural W o r k . Warsaw, 1 9 5 1 ) , PP- IFF-; quoted in Roczniki Socjologji Wsi (Annuals of Village Sociology. Warsaw: Institute of Village Sociology, 1 9 3 8 ) , III, 86.

Conclusions

" 5

It is very important to study the origin and growth of extension, since only a thorough understanding of its foundations makes it possible to draw comparisons and to find the best method of extension for every country. W h a t matters is not the name of an extension service but its scope and method of action. For the purpose of analysis, the question of " W h a t is extension?" should be answered first. Dr. Clarence B. Smith says: 2 Some concrete objectives of agricultural extension are: 1. T o bring the farmer the knowledge and help that will enable him to farm still more efficiently and to increase his income. 2. T o encourage the farmer to grow his own food, set a good table, and live well. 3. T o help the members of the farm family to a larger appreciation of the opportunities, the beauties, and the privileges of country life, and to know something about the world in which they live. 4. T o promote the social, the cultural, the recreational, the intellectual, and the spiritual life of rural people. 5. T o place opportunity before rural people whereby they may develop all their native talents through work, recreation, social life, leadership. 6. T o build a rural citizenry, proud of its occupation, independent in its thinking, constructive in its outlook, capable, efficient, self-reliant, with a love of home and country, in its heart. Director Milburn L. Wilson says: 3 "Extension means better homes and better farms with which to feed, clothe, and strengthen the Nation." Professor Edmund deS. Brunner explains: 4 "Extension" is simply a word we use to indicate the whole complex of activities that enter into a program educational in its philosophy, its focus, its objectives, and its methods. Extension is 2. Clarence B . Smith, What Agricultural Extension Is (Washington: United States Department of Agriculture, 1 9 4 4 ) , p. 5. 3. Milburn L . Wilson, Conference Report on the Contribution of Extension Methods and Techniques Toward the Rehabilitation of War-Torn Countries (Washington: United States Department of Agriculture, Extension Service and Office of Foreign Agricultural Relations, 1 9 4 5 ) , p. 2 3 1 . 4. Brunner, ibid., p. 2 3 1 .

ii 6

Conclusions

preeminently a method and a process, not a system. It is a program that has developed here over 30 years, and always has been built upon the needs of rural people. Its strength and its faults in considerable measure grow out of those needs. It is never far from the grass roots. Put another way, we know that Extension is simply the effort to put vital information of the agricultural scientist, whether he be physical or social scientist, at the disposal of the farmer and his wife. It is the battle to narrow the gap between ever-advancing knowledge and practice, whether that knowledge relates to soil analysis or conservation, to animal husbandry or human nutrition, to community organization or parents education. Boleslaw J. Przedpelski defines it:

5

Extension is similar to the catalyst in a chemical reaction. It carries the knowledge from research to the farmer. But this "catalyst" is extraordinary in that it not only speeds the reaction, but puts the knowledge into practical form, so that the farmer can digest it. This reaction, which usually goes from research to farmer, is also reversible, carrying back by the same catalyst—the extension —problems from the farmer to research for checking and solution. Douglas Ensminger states: 8 Extension not only takes the findings of science to the farm and there assists in further testing and refining it, but also takes the problems of the farmer to the research activities designed to meet the ever-increasing problems facing farm people. Extension may be thought of as a two-way channel—extending on the one hand the findings of science to the farm people and on the other hand presenting the problems of the farms to the research specialist for study and analysis. In the Euro-American countries the following foundations for agricultural extensions are visible: a. Voluntary agricultural organizations b. Territorial self-governing institutions 5. Przedpelski, ibid., p. 86. 6. E . deS. Brunner, I. T . Sanders, and D . Ensminger, Farmers of the (New York: Columbia University Press, 1 9 4 5 ) , p. 4.

World

Conclusions

n j

c. Agricultural professional self-governing institutions d. Agricultural colleges e. T h e government—Department of Agriculture—sometimes in co-operation with the Department of Education f. A combination of all or several of these agencies As to the efficiency of the extension service based on the abovementioned agencies, the opinion differs. For instance, some extension specialists maintain that extensions operated by voluntary organizations are more democratic than those directed by the governments. It is difficult to support this point of view, especially with regard to voluntary organizations subsidized by the government. T h e fact that workers in voluntary organizations are elected, whereas in those directed by the government they are appointed, does not seem to be a factor determining their democratic character, which rather depends on the kind of government the people of the countries concerned have. In really democratic countries there should be no basic difference between governmental workers and those of a voluntary organization. T h e y both have an elected and an appointed staff. O n the other hand, in totalitarian countries there is neither in the government nor in the voluntary organization any elected staff, since those who are elected de facto are also appointed. Therefore, whether extension is built and based on private, public, or government agency is of minor importance in such lands. "Under a dictatorship the agency would do what the central government ordered or it would cease to be." 7 T h e specific role which local (county), state (province), or central (federal) organs of government as well as the voluntary organization assume in directing the various activities of extension determines its character. Therefore, special attention should be given to the proper division of functions among the local, state, and central government authorities; the same applies to the voluntary organization as well. T h e methods and techniques of extension have been repeatedly analyzed and many interesting conclusions have been drawn at 7. J. H. Kolb and E. deS. Brunner, A Study of Rural Society (New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1940), p. 472.

n8

Conclusions

several conferences, the last of which—the conference on the Contribution of Extension Methods and Techniques Toward the Rehabilitation of War-Torn Countries—took place in Washington, D. C., on September 19-22, 1944, at the United States Department of Agriculture. Among the contributors to the final reports on the conference were specialists from 27 interested countries, whose expert opinion added to the significance of the report. As a rule, however, only few conference members were sufficiently acquainted with the practical "know-how" of extension in more than one country; hence it was difficult to compare different extension programs with one another, to draw conclusions, and to suggest improvements which might be communicated from one country to another. General conclusions T h e basic principle of extension, so often emphasized during the past decades in many countries and so well-defined by E . deS. Brunner, namely, that "extension is a socio-educational process," must always be taken under consideration. It should be understood that even the best selected seed of the extension plant cannot be transferred indiscriminately from one country to another unless the appropriate social bed for this extension plant has been cultivated. But extension is more than a socio-educational process; it also involves economic and technological elements, designed to give the farmer certain visible financial results by the application of proper means of economy and extension technique. "Farming is a business undertaking and like any other its results must eventually be translated into terms of money." 8 There is no doubt that the social elements determine the development and success of extension economy and technique; wherever economy and technology attempt to apply certain extension methods without taking the composition of social elements into consideration, their effort sooner or later must fail. Bearing this in mind, due attention must be given to the selection 8. Robert Rae, "Extension in the United Kingdom," Farmers of the World, ed. by E . deS. Brunner, I. T . Sanders, and D. Ensminger (New York: Columbia University Press, 1 9 4 5 ) , p- 169.

Conclusions

ng

of proper extension personnel. This very important question is not enough esteemed in many countries. Three committees out of nine during the Conference on the Contribution of Extension Methods and Techniques considered personnel, and their findings concerning qualification of personnel in extension were very exact. They called for 9 people with rural background and a desire to be educators, for those wise enough to be friendly and human and to recognize the worth and intelligence of the simpler and perhaps illiterate peasant; who can understand people and problems; who is not only motivated by the convictions and ideals of the educator, but can understand and organize communities; and who preeminently can win and hold the confidence of their people. This problem arises especially in so-called illiterate countries, where extension is so closely connected with ancient folk customs and habits. T h e more illiterate a country is, the more difficult it is to understand its methods of extension and consequently to judge it properly. It is much easier for a member of "folk" society to learn the extension of a "Euro-American Rural Society" than for a member of the "Euro-American Rural Society" to learn extension in "a folk country." Thus, the success or failure of extension work in backward countries entirely depends on the ability of the Euro-American personnel to tackle the problem with real understanding. W h a t a backward country needs is not superior advice given it from abroad, but the full co-operation and enthusiasm of an extension personnel who are willing to go to the concerned countries and to work with the natives and for them. This procedure may properly be illustrated by the old rural saying that in farming the machine must go to the farm, and not the farm to the machine. T o enlarge once more on the definition of extension as a "catalyst": the extension personnel must bring their knowledge to the farmer and his family and not limit their activity to planning and directing from the distance. Only closest co-operation between the two can produce the desired result. 9. Conference Report on the Contribution of Extension Methods and Techniques, p. 237.

120

Conclusions

E L E M E N T S OF E X T E N S I O N In its final stage (the period of consolidation and unification, 1932-1939; see Chapter III) the Polish agricultural educational extension was based on chambers of agriculture as its keystone organization. Among the many elements which defined the structure and significance of this keystone organization and, consequently, influenced the work of the extension service, the most decisive were: the area of activity; the scope of activity; the manner of selecting the representative bodies of the chambers; the relation to voluntary agricultural organizations; the governmental control; and the finances. The area of activity.—As a rule, a Polish chamber of agriculture covered the area of one province (voievodship), except for two chambers, which covered the areas of two and three provinces respectively (see Chapter I V ) . On the county level, the chambers did not have their own organizational links. Extension work in the counties was based on general purpose voluntary agricultural organizations, which played the role of organizational links for the chambers. The principle of basing extension in the counties on general purpose voluntary agricultural organizations instead of on organizational links to the chambers appeared to have many advantages of a social and financial nature. It permitted the use of unpaid voluntary workers to a greater extent than it would have been otherwise possible, and helped to develop, quantitatively and qualitatively, leadership. Moreover, as has been found in situations as diverse as those of the United States and China, the use of voluntary leaders multiplies many-fold the outreach of the professional employee. As it was pointed out in Chapter III, the work of voluntary staffs was uneven. In case of failure, however, the professional staff was always at hand to replace the voluntary worker until the cause responsible for the failure was eliminated. It is obvious that the general purpose voluntary agricultural organization, if it was to be a base of extension, should have been recognized as such by all farmers of a county and should have represented all farmers in the county.

Conclusions

121

On the national level, the chambers of agriculture also did not have their own organizational link. They belonged, however, to a national agricultural organization, forming one of its autonomous sections together with other agricultural agencies. The weak points resulting from it have been discussed in Chapter VIII, the most important one being financial difficulties. On the other hand, this set-up on the national level was advantageous in that the chambers of agriculture were almost independent in the handling of their internal extension problems. They also exchanged, within their section (see Chapter V I I I ) , information on their various activities and methods, and through the whole national organization on the activities of other agricultural agencies. The co-operation among individual chambers was strengthened through meetings of chamber presidents, which took place about six times a year. They were usually held in Warsaw, but once a year in the field, every year in a different area. The meetings lasted from 3 to 10 days, and the host chamber gave a demonstration of its characteristic extension work. The scope of activity.—The Polish law of chambers of agriculture (see Chapter I V ) assigned three fundamental functions to them: the representation and protection of the interests of agriculture; the undertaking—within the limits of the law—of measures designed to promote agriculture in every way; the carrying out of all activities entrusted to them by law, and of co-operation with government and local self-governing authorities in all matters relative to agriculture. The law contained clauses concerning the participation of chambers of agriculture in the supervision of the activities of selfgovernments relative to agriculture. These clauses had a very vital significance, since they assured a close co-ordination of all activities in the area of a chamber not only with voluntary agricultural organizations but also with the territorial self-government. Thus, it became possible to utilize properly the funds which the local territorial self-government allotted to agriculture. The financial resources of the territorial self-governments were greater than those of the chambers. (See Tables 12-16.) The manner of selecting the representative bodies of the

122

Conclusions

chambers.—The representative body of a chamber of agriculture was the council. Before chambers of agriculture were established, the extension service had been operated by voluntary agricultural organizations, territorial self-governments (mostly county self-governments), and the government. In order to preserve the continuity of work it was logical to base the representation of chambers on these three agencies. The founders of the new extension organization did not intend to replace one team of people working for extension by another; on the contrary, they wanted to utilize all elements willing to work for it, whose quantity and quality had always been insufficient. T h e new organization aimed at a change of the organizational form which would permit a greater concentration and co-ordination of work and eliminate the previous squandering of energy and duplication of activities. That was the reason why one-third of the council members were elected by voluntary agricultural organizations, one-third by territorial self-governments, and up to one-third appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture. The regulation empowering the Secretary of Agriculture to appoint one-third of the counselors appeared to have been advantageous with regard to the conditions prevailing in Poland, not only because through the appointed council members a co-operation with the government could be assured, but also because they were intellectuals (e.g., agricultural college professors) residing in cities, so that it would have been difficult for them to become council members by election. (See Chapter IV.) Besides, the manner of selecting a council had no great importance, since all that mattered was to give all people working for agriculture in a certain area an equal right to representation. As regards chamber councils, the Polish electoral law made certain that they would be composed in a manner guaranteeing the representation of those most important groups in the field of agriculture; and, on the other hand, it maintained a high intellectual standard in the councils. The relation to voluntary agricultural organizations.—The Polish law of chambers of agriculture acknowledged the great importance of voluntary agricultural organizations in their co-operation

Conclusions

123

for extension. This became manifest not only in that the voluntary agricultural organizations were given one-third of council membership, but also in the regulation that chambers of agriculture had to base their work in the counties on general purpose voluntary agricultural organizations and to support them. Such a formulation of the law had a special significance for the further development of agricultural conditions: the voluntary agricultural organizations surpassed the public organizations in that they greatly contributed to the attainment of social aims in their work for the promotion of agriculture; they educated the farmer in his social duties and implanted in him the idea that only a consistent, co-ordinated action and sound economic foundations might bring positive common and personal gains. The government control.—As regards the supervision of chambers of agriculture, the Polish law entrusted the control of all chambers to the Secretary of Agriculture, and of individual chambers to the governors (voievods) in their provinces. The Secretary of Agriculture (Minister of Agriculture) had to approve their budgets and balancing of accounts. He had the right to appoint one-third of the council members and to confirm the elections of chamber presidents and vice-presidents. He had to give his approval to the appointment of chiefs of chamber bureaus by the board of directors. He was authorized to dissolve the council of a chamber and to appoint an interim commissioner. He and the provincial governors concerned had the right to participate in the meetings of the councils and the boards of directors personally or through their delegates, to speak out of turn, and to suspend resolutions incompatible with the law. The Polish farmer was too much of an individualist, and his individuality penetrated into the voluntary agricultural organization. Besides, the voluntary agricultural organization, though intellectually highly developed, had too little administrative experience and was too poor to operate extension independently. Hence, the government control was desirable, especially as far as legal matters and finances were concerned. All this shows that the governmental supervision over the activities of chambers of agriculture was quite considerable.

124

Conclusions

The finances.—(As to the financial resources of chambers, see Chapter IV.) The revenue of chambers of agriculture, derived from a percentage of the governmental and the territorial selfgovernment land tax, and collected in the area administered by a chamber, was not sufficient to cover all their financial needs. It never sufficed for the carrying out of an adequate program of activities connected with an autonomous promotion of agriculture, which had been taken care of before the establishment of chambers by the government, the territorial self-governments, and voluntary agricultural organizations. For that reason, once chambers of agriculture were established, the funds for the Polish extension service were taken from four sources: chambers of agriculture's own revenue; county territorial self-governments; governmental subsidies; and voluntary agricultural organizations. The distribution of these funds was undertaken more or less along the following lines: The revenue of chambers covered all expenses of the extension service on the provincial and national levels, as well as the salaries of almost all subject matter specialists and of some county instructors. The funds allotted by county territorial self-governments covered the expenses of the extension service on the county level. In cases of want or disaster in a county, assistance was given out of the revenue of chambers, and by the government. Governmental subsidies were used for the maintenance of the experiment stations, the plant conservation service, the educational training centers, and the organization and management of small farms. The funds allotted by voluntary agricultural organizations hardly sufficed to cover their own expenses. As was mentioned before, the revenue of chambers was not sufficient to cover the expenses of the extension service in the area of a chamber. Its amount could not be fixed by chamber authorities, since it constituted a monthly paid percentage of the land tax and was, in fact, a subsidy guaranteed by law. Naturally, the more efficiently extension operated in the area of a chamber, and con-

Conclusions

125

tributed to the promotion of agriculture, the higher was the revenue of that chamber. T h e only exception was to be found in the western provinces (Poznan, Pomorze, Slqsk), where the chamber authorities themselves levied their taxes on the farmers living in their areas. This procedure might have had its advantages: the farmers of the areas concerned decided for themselves how much they were going to pay for the extension service. T h e financial dependence of the chambers on the their farmers proved valuable, because it compelled them to take the needs of their areas into consideration and to administer those areas in accordance with the interest of the rural society. However inadequate, the securing of funds from all levels of extension activity had the great advantage of making all beneficiaries pay at least something for the benefits derived. This applied not only to extension in Poland but also in many other countries; for instance, Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, as stated by Clayton E . Whipple during his observation over a decade of work with Balkan extension. 10 Summarizing, the writer of this study comes to the conclusion that the organizational framework of chambers of agriculture in Poland, as laid down by the existing law regulations, corresponded more or less to the principles accepted by a number of European countries before 1932; namely: by Prussia (introduced by law in 1894), France (in 1919, amended in 1924), Bavaria (in 1920), Lower Austria (in 1922), Belgium (in 1924), Rumania (in 1 9 2 5 ) . 1 1 An exception to this conformity can be found in the manner of selecting the representative bodies of the chambers, which in most of the above-mentioned countries were directly elected by the rural society, and in Poland indirectly through voluntary agricultural organizations and territorial self-governments. This manner of selecting the representative bodies of chambers was good for Polish 10. Clayton E . Whipple, "Extension in the Balkans," in Farmers of the World, p. 1 1 1 . 1 1 . Annuaire International de Legislation Agricole, 1 9 2 8 - 1 9 3 2 (International Annual of Agricultural Legislation, 1 9 2 8 - 1 9 3 2 . Rome: International Institute of Agriculture); as quoted in Rolnictwo (Agriculture. Edited by the Department of Agriculture, Warsaw), December 1 9 3 2 , p. 322.

12Ô

Conclusions

conditions, especially for the continuity of extension work. Although the elections were indirect, they permitted the Polish farmer to be represented and to represent extension on all levels. T h e only other exception can be found in the rights of the Secretary of Agriculture, which were in Poland somewhat wider than in the above-mentioned countries. It is difficult for the author to say whether these rights were actually too wide, because during the last six years of the described period they were practically applied by the Secretary of Agriculture, Juljusz Poniatowski, who was an enthusiastic supporter of general purpose voluntary agricultural organizations and had devoted all his life to the welfare of the Polish small farmer. A differently motivated secretary might have behaved otherwise with respect to the rights he possessed under the law. Bearing in mind the short period of the existence of the chambers of agriculture, as well as the economic cycles discussed in the next pages, the author concludes that the Polish extension performed its task in accordance with the definitions given by such American agricultural authorities as C . B. Smith, M . L . Wilson, E . deS. Brunner, and D . Ensminger fairly well. As regards the chambers of agriculture, they were undoubtedly a further step in the development of Polish rural life and agriculture in the 1930's and the best possible organizational and administrative set-up under the existing conditions. EXTENSION AND ECONOMIC

CYCLES

In an economy such as Poland's, characterized by many small holdings and a considerable degree of pressure of population on land, the fluctuations of the business cycle have a very great influence on any enterprise such as extension. Therefore, no conclusions about the usefulness and efficiency of agricultural extension education in Poland should be drawn without first taking into consideration the economic cycles occurring during the described period (1918-1939). This point is so important that it is necessary to digress and give the reader supporting evidence. Data on the economic cycles were not available during the first

Conclusions

i2j

years of Polish independence, 1918-1924. Since 1924, however, the Institute for the Research of Business Cycles and Prices in Warsaw began to publish current data on the basis of three indexes (production, prices, and value of shares on the stock exchange). 12 Economic changes developed as follows during the described period: 1 . 1924-1925 2. 1925-1926 3. 1926-1929 4. 1929-1933 5. 1933-1936 6. 1936-1939

1 year—Recovery 1 year—Depression 3 years—Great Recovery, with a boom in 19281929 4 years—Great Depression, reaching its lowest point in 1933 3 years—Stagnation, with slight improvement 3 years—Substantial recovery 13

Such were the economic changes statistically recorded by official sources. This picture, however, did not entirely conform to the experiences of the Polish farmer, who had to bear the full impact of economic changes. The fifth period (1933-1936) for instance, considered by official sources as a period of stagnation, with slight improvement, was for the farmer who experienced it at his own expense, not better than the period of Great Depression (1929-1933); and his financial situation grew even worse in 1934-1935. The reason was obvious. While during the period 1933-1936 prices generally went up, the agricultural prices went down. Thus, the financial situation of the farmer worsened and his purchasing power decreased.14 This must be mentioned here, because the de1 2 . Monthly Statistical Tables Relating to Business Conditions in Poland (published by the Institute for the Research of Business Cycles and Priccs in Warsaw); cited by Dr. Ferdynand Zweig, Poland Between Two Wars (London: Seeker & Warburg, 1 9 4 4 ) , p. 55. 1 3 . F . Zweig, ibid. 1 4 . Maly Rocznik Statystyczny 1939 (Little Statistical Yearbook, 1939. Warsaw: Central Bureau of Statistics), 1939, X , 249, 252: "Table 9. Agricultural prices in Warsaw (average prices in zloty per 100 kg.) wheat rye barley oats potato 1933 29.5 17.2 16.2 15.1 3.71 1934 19.9 14.8 18.5 14.1 3.54 1935 17.9 13.2 18.3 15.2 3.31 1936 22.8 15.2 19.2 15.6 3.13"

Conclusions

128

pressions harmed the work of the extension service, especially its technical activities. B u t formal "recovery," which actually turned out to be a depression for the farmer, was not only harmful—it was disastrous for the extension service. Out of the many instances illustrating the difficulties which the extension service had to face throughout the periods of economic changes, one that was verified by the author of this thesis and the farmers in his neighborhood, should be related here: In the fall of 1928, the farmers of Jelna, a village situated in the province of Nowogrodek, were advised by extension workers to use on their rye fields more artificial ferilizer, namely, the potassium fertilizer, which had proved to be very effective in previous years. This was during the period of Great Recovery, even of a boom, and the farmers of Jelna were favorably disposed toward the extension service and its advisory activities. Except for a few, most of them accepted the idea of using more fertilizer. T h e advice of the extension workers was based on the price situation, which was in 1928: For rye 42.6 zloty per 100 kg. For potassium fertilizer (20% K 2 0 ) 7.87 " " " "15 Their ratio was 5.4:1; for every pound of rye sold the farmer could buy 5.4 lbs. of fertilizer, which he got on credit. After waiting one year for the new crop, the farmer found, when the time of harvest came, that the use of fertilizer brought him an increase of his rye yield. B u t he was yet to discover that this was his only profit; for, in the meantime, economic changes had taken place and the prices were (in 1 9 2 9 ) : F o r rye

29.6 zloty per 100 kg. (drop in price)

For potassium fertilizer (20% K 2 0 ) 7.87 zloty per 100 kg. (price unchanged)

16

T h e i r ratio was 3.8:1 now; for every pound of rye sold the farmer could buy only 3.8 lbs. of fertilizer. 15. Ibid.

16. Ibid.

Conclusions

129

Assuming that on the basis of official economic predictions the fall in rye was only temporary, the extension workers advised the farmer to wait with the sale of his rye and to secure a loan, which he needed for his sustenance, by giving his rye as security. Again the farmer waited a year, until 1930, at which time the repayment of his loan was due. The rye prices, however, did not recover, as it was predicted by economists; they dropped again, while the price of fertilizer remained unchanged. These prices were, in 1930: For rye 19.4 zloty per 100 kg. For potassium fertilizer

(20%K 2 0)

7.87 "

"

"

"»

Their ratio was 2.5:1 now; the farmer was forced to sell his rye in order to repay the loan, and at the price of one pound of rye he could get only 2.5 lbs. of fertilizer. For this sad experience, not the extension workers but economic changes and wrong predictions were to blame. As long as the ratio between rye and potassium fertilizer remained 5.4:1, the advice of the extension workers was sound. But the economic changes in 1929, which they could not foresee, and those in 1930, which contradicted the predictions of the economists, brought the farmer a final ratio between rye and potassium fertilizer of 2.5:1, and only losses instead of profits. Thus, the negative elements of economic changes affected the farmer far more strongly than the positive elements resulting from the advice of extension workers; and only those farmers who had not heeded that advice gained nothing, but neither did they lose anything. During that period (1929-1933), the prices of agricultural products dropped, but the prices of the goods which the farmer bought remained unchanged. The situation grew even worse for the farmer during the period 1933—1936, officially considered as one of stagnation, with slight improvement, for the prices of the products which he sold fell, while those of the products which he bought went up. It is clear from this illustration that the behavior of agricultural prices and costs in Poland was quite similar to that in other countries 17.

Ibid.

130

Conclusions

of the world during the same period. It was not only in Poland that such untoward economic circumstances affected the extension service. T h e annual reports of the Director of Extension of the United States Department of Agriculture also showed during the early 1930's a decline in the local tax support of this agency. Indeed, the upward trend in agricultural extension in the United States, which began with so-called New Deal, was initially accomplished only because of emergency federal approprations for the expansion of the personnel. The economic changes, especially those the true character of which remained hidden, were harmful to the authority and the development of the extension service. Many a farmer was not enough acquainted with economics to distinguish between profits achieved by proper farming methods in accordance with the advice of extension workers and losses caused by economic changes, which were not related in any way to the advisory activity of extension; he could not see that only owing to economic changes the decrease of his purchasing power was more considerable than the eventual profit resulting from the proper technical advice of extension. I M P O R T A N C E OF SOCIAL ASPECTS Impeded in its activities by real and disguised depressions, with its influence diminished and its authority so shattered that in many counties its work ceased entirely, the Polish extension could have hardly survived very long had it carried on only its technical activities. Fortunately, in most chambers of agriculture and counties it was the social aspect first of all which had played and still played the most important role in the activities of extension. After the Great Depression, a number of committees were established to examine the causes of the decline of extension activities in the counties. During 1933-1936, general purpose agricultural organizations held hundreds of meetings in communities and counties, at which these causes of the weakening or utter decline of the extension service and rehabilitation measures were discussed. Among the factors found to be responsible for the decline of extension in many counties social shortcomings (lack of leaders, insuf-

Conclusions

131

ficient cooperation among groups) were mentioned in the first place, and financial deficiency in the second. ORGANIZATIONAL FOUNDATIONS A more detailed evaluation of the Polish extension in its last stage (1932-1939) could be given only if that period had been longer and its economic conditions more normal. There are various organizational bases of extension at which a country might aim. From 1933 to 1939, the following trends of organizing extension services predominated among people and agencies working for agriculture: 1. Extension based on general purpose voluntary agricultural organizations (discussed in Chapters III and V I I I ) 2. Extension based on territorial self-governments (discussed in Chapters III and V I I I ) 3. Extension based on the government (discussed in Chapters III and V I I I ) 4. Extension as it was 5. Extension based on chambers of agriculture on all levels of administration (national, provincial, county, community) (discussed in Chapters III and V I I I ) 6. Extension based on special purpose voluntary agricultural organizations The trends 1 - 5 have been already discussed. As far as point 6 is concerned, among rural leaders, and especially among subject matter specialists, the opinion was voiced that extension should be based on special purpose voluntary agricultural organizations. To the followers of this trend belonged also Boleslaw Skladzinski, co-organizer and manager of the educational training centers and of the organization and management of small farms. However, a country should have reached a higher level of specialization to base its extension on special purpose voluntary agricultural organizations, while Polish agriculture depended during the described period on general farming. To shift it from general farming to specialization would have required many changes; first of all, considerable investments—capital.

132

Conclusions

Besides, extension based on special purpose voluntary agriculture organizations would have appeared to be advantageous only for so long a time as there were an adequate number of agricultural leaders supplied by general purpose voluntary agricultural organizations. Extension based on special purpose voluntary agricultural organizations also runs the danger of becoming too much commercialized. It might work successfully in times of prosperity, but it would hardly survive times of stagnations and depressions. The role of general purpose voluntary agricultural organizations is underestimated by many extension organizers. Especially to those who want to get immediate financial profits, the work of general purpose voluntary agricultural organizations and its results are not visible enough. How considerable these accomplishments are becomes evident from the fact that, when the activities of general purpose voluntary agricultural organizations decline or entirely cease, then, owing to the subsequent lack of rural leaders, extension also declines, no matter what its organizational basis is. A P P L I C A T I O N OF R E S E A R C H During the period 1932-1939, the method of carrying knowledge from research to the farmer was of great significance in Poland: During the preceding periods extension had directly conveyed agricultural knowledge in all areas from research to all farmers, regardless of their agricultural educational preparation. This method often failed. Responsible for failures were: Farmers.—Not all farmers were socially and technically enough prepared to adjust themselves to the instructions provided for them by research and conveyed to them by extension. Extension workers.—Many of them were neither theoretically nor practically prepared enough and were unable to convince all farmers of the usefulness of the instructions, so that only those farmers who were socially and technically educated took advantage of the instructions given them. Experiment stations.—They had no contact with practical farm ing, so that many of their instructions which had an altogether sound theoretical basis could not be worked out adequately for

Conclusions

133

adaptation by the average farmer. Sometimes the experiment stations even withdrew certain of their instructions from use by the extension service, to work on them again and adapt them better to practical farming. To remove all these shortcomings, the Polish extension applied two remedies, one already known, the other of a special significance. The first remedy served: the promotion of the general and agricultural education of the farmer; the creation of a school of personnel (see Chapter V I I ) ; and the adaptation of local experiment stations to practical farming (see Chapter V ) . The second remedy brought a significant change: while the Polish extension ceased to spread agricultural knowledge from research directly to the farmer, it introduced it again in three stages: through model farms, through team farms, and through all farmers (See Chapter V I I ) . The first stage: On model farms the most gifted farmer-leaders, extension workers, and experiment station workers combined their efforts to check and sift all instructions as to their applicability to practical farming. The second stage: Team farms served as a center for the popularization of the already checked instructions and provided an additional control of their shifting. The third stage: All interested farmers were given an opportunity to adapt the instructions to their work. All the conclusions apply to Poland, but they might be applied as well to other countries possessing a similar economic and educational background and showing a similar development. Some of the significant elements of Polish extension could even be accepted by countries which have reached a much higher educational and economic level. The author of this thesis is convinced that his opinion of certain details has not crystalized yet, and that they should be made the subject of further studies. However, he is certain that the Polish education extension served its principal purpose—to make the life of the farmer better and to improve production.

Bibliography BOOKS Baird, E., W . Chmielecki, and B. Skladzinski. Organizowanie Drobnych Gospodarstw Wiejskich. Warszawa: Zwigzek Izb i Organizacji Rolniczych, 1929. Brunner, Edmund deS., and Irving Lorge. Rural Trends in Depression Years. New York: Columbia University Press, 1937. Brunner, E . deS., I. T . Sanders, and D . Ensminger (eds.). Farmers of the world. New York: Columbia University Press, 1945. Bujak, Francis. Poland's Economic Development. Translated by K. ¿ u k Skarszewska. London: George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1926. Chalasinski, Józef. Mlode Pokolenie Chlopów, 2 vols. Rzym: Wydawnictwo Polskiej Y M C A przy A P W , 1946. Chemielecki i Kawecki. Rachunkowosc Rolnicza. Warszawa, 1928. Górka, Olgierd L. Outline of Polish History, London: M . I. Kolin, Ltd., 1942. Grabski, Wladyslaw. Historja Towarzystwa Rolniczego 1858-1861. Warszawa: Gebethner & W o l f , 1904. Grappin, H. Histoire de la Pologne des origines à 1922. Paris, 1922. Gryziewicz, Stanislaw. Na Marginesie Zagadnienia Rozwoju Gospodarczego Polski. Londyn: Wydawnictwo Stowarzyszenia Ekonomistów Polskich w Zjednoczonym Królestwie, 1944. Halecki, Oscar. A History of Poland. New York: Roy Publishers, 1943. Klapkowski, Tadeusz. Zrzeszenia Rolnicze w Szwajcarji. Warszawa, 1930. Kolb, J. H., and Brunner, Edmund deS. A Study of Rural Society: Its Organization and Changes. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1940. Krzyzanowski, Adam. Zakladka na Sprzezaj w Pabjanicach. Kraków, 1897. Kulp, Dan. H. Country Life in South China, Vol. III. New York: Teachers College Bureau of Publications, 1925.

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Lednicki, Waclaw. Life and Culture of Poland. New York: Roy Publishers, 1944. L'Est Européen Agricole. Organe Officiel du Comité Permanent d'Etudes Economiques des Etats Agricoles de l'Europe Centrale et Orientale. 8 vols., 1932-1939. Paris: Librairie Jouve & Cie. Lorge, Irving, and Edmund deS. Brunner. American Agricultural Villages. American Statistical Association, Monograph no. 1 . New York: Columbia University Press, 1933. Murray, Michael (ed.). Poland's Progress, 1919-1939. London: John Murray, 1944. Polska Gospodarcza. 3 vols., 1937-1939. Wydawana przez Ministerstwo Przemyslu i Handlu przy Wspoludziale Ministerstw Skarbu, Rolnictwa, Komunikacji, Poczt i Telegrafow. Warszawa. Przemysl i Handel. 6 vols., 1928-1934. Tygodnik Wydawany przez Ministerstwo Przemyslu i Handlu przy Wspoludziale Ministerstw Skarbu, Rolnictwa oraz Komunikacji. Warszawa. Rolnictwo. 1 1 vols., 1929-1939. Wydawane przez Ministerstwo Rolnictwa. Warszawa. Roczniki Socjologji Wsi. 3 vols., 1936-1938. Warszawa: Instytut Socjologji Wsi. Sarolea, Charles. Letters on Polish Affairs. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1922. Smith, Clarence Beaman, and Meredith Chester Wilson. T h e Agricultural Extension System of the United States. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1930. Super, Paul. Events and Personalities in Polish History. London: Baltic Institute, 1936. Super, Paul. T h e Polish Tradition. London: George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1941. Surzycki, Stefan. Organizacja Pracy Spolecznej Rolniczej. Warszawa, 1 9 3 1 . Thomas, W . I., and F. Znaniecki. T h e Polish Peasant. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1927. True, Alfred Charles. A History of Agricultural Extension Work in the United States. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1928. Yates, Lamartine P., and D. Warriner. Food and Farming in Postw a r Europe. London: Oxford University Press, 1943. Znaniecki, Florian. Socjologiczne Podstawy Ekologii Ludzkiej. Poznan, 1938.

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Zweig, Ferdynand. Poland Between Two Wars. London: Seeker & Warburg, 1944. PUBLIC DOCUMENTS Dziennik Ustaw R. P. Obwieszczenie Ministra Rolnictwa i Reform Rolnych w Sprawie Ogloszenia Jednolitego Tekstu Rozporzadzenia Prezydenta Rzplitej 0 Izbach Rolniczych. Nr. 2, poz. 16 z dn. 1 3 . 1 . 1933. Glowny Urzad Statystyczny R. P. Maly Rocznik Statystyczny 1939. Vol. X. Warszawa: Glowny Urzad Statystyczny, 1939. Poland, Ministry of Information. Concise Statistical Year-Book of Poland. London: The Polish Ministry of Information, 1941. U. S. Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Statistics, 1941. Washington: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1941. REPORTS Conference Report on the Contribution of Extension Methods and Techniques Toward the Rehabilitation of War-Torn Countries. Washington: U. S. Department of Agriculture Extension Service and Office of Foreign Agricultural Relations, October 1945. Sprawozdania Izb Rolniczych za lata 1932-1938. Wydawane przez Izby Rolnicze. Sprawozdania Zwi^zku Izb i Organizacji Rolniczych R. P. za lata 1934-1938. Nakladem Zwi|zku.

Index Administration division, see Poland Agricultural organizations, in general, 26-31; first agricultural organization, 26; joint family agricultural organization, 26; state and territorial agricultural self-governing organization, 27; general purpose voluntary agricultural organization, 28; special purpose voluntary agricultural organization, 30; women's voluntary agricultural organization, 30; youth voluntary agricultural organization, 30; professional voluntary agricultural organization, 30; agricultural co-operatives, 30; professional public agricultural selfgoverning organization—Chamber of Agriculture, 3 1 ; totalitarian agricultural organization, 31 Agricultural colleges, 59-60 Agricultural extension education, 75112 Agricultural organization in Poland, the development, 31-36 Agriculture, see Poland Area, see Poland Austria, see Occupants of Poland Baird, E., 64 Beltsville Research Center, Beltsville, Maryland, U S D A , 53 Boleslas the Valiant, see Kings of Poland Bronikowski, W . , quoted, 56 Brunner, Edmund deS., 1 , 126; quoted, 1 1 5 - 1 1 6 , 1 1 8 Bujak, Francis, 56; quoted, 9, 1 3 Casimir the Poland

Great,

see

Kings

of

Central Poland, 19, 33 Chamber of Agriculture of Lublin, 66, 74 Chamber of Agriculture of Lwow, 43 Chamber of Agriculture of Warsaw, 66, 68, 7 1 , 74 Chamber of Agriculture of Wilno, 43, 74 Chambers of Agriculture of Poland: the establishment, 34-42; the organization, 43-52; and experiment stations, 53-58; and agricultural colleges, 59-60; revenue and expenditure, 104-106 Chmielecki, W . , 6 1 , 63-64 Chopin, Fredcric, 16 Christianity: Poland, 7; Lithuania, 8 Climate, see Poland Conference on the Contribution of Extension Methods and Techniques Toward the Rehabilitation of War-Torn Countries in Washington, D.C., September 19-22, 1944, U S D A , 1 , 2, 1 1 8 ; quoted, 119 Congress of Vienna, 1 4 Co-operatives, 32, 42 Copernicus, Nicholas, 1 0 , 16 Crops, see Poland Curie-Sklodowska, Marja, see Sklodowska-Curie, Marja Dabie, 74 Dabrowski, Henryk, 1 4 Department of Agriculture of Poland, 3 6 -37. 43. 45' 4 8 " 5 ° . 57. 6 3> 6 5> 7 1 . 73-74, 84, 1 1 7 , 1 2 3 Department of Agriculture of the United States, see United States Department of Agriculture

138

Index

Department of Education of Poland, 117 Depression, 127, 130 Eastern Poland, 19, 33 Economic cycles, 126-129 Educational Commission, 13 Educational Training Centers, 61-74 Elements of extension, see Extension, elements Ensminger, Douglas, 126; quoted, 116 Experiment stations of Poland, 53-58 Extension: definition, 115-116; elements, 120-125; social aspects, 130131; organizational foundations, 131,132 Extension work; 75-84, 94-113; provincial level, 76-78; county level, 78, 79; community level, 79-80; national level, 80-81 Extension work in figures, 94-113 Extension workers: the honorary staff, 76-78, 94; the professional staff, 777 8 - 94-97 Forestry, see Poland Frak, 64 Fudakowski, 41 Gdynia, 25 Geographical setting, see Poland Germany, see Occupants of Poland Grabski, Wladyslaw, quoted, 41-42 Granary of Europe, 10 Golden Age, 9 Historical summary, see Poland Jadwiga, Queen of Poland, 8 Jan Sobieski, see Kings of Poland Jelna, 128 Karaluch, 7 4 Kawecki, 63 Kings of Poland: Miecislas I, 7; Boleslas the Valiant, 7 ; Casimir the Great, 8; Yagiello, 8, 9; Jan Sobieski, 10; Stephen Batory, 11; Stanislas

Poniatowski, 12; Sigismund-August, 17; see Jadwiga, Queen of Poland Knapp, Seaman, A., 62 Kollontay, Hugo, 13 Kosciuszko, Tadeusz, 13, 15-16 Kowalski, 64 Land: utilization, 19; parcelling, 22; reclamation, 22 Lcdnicki, Waclaw, quoted, 11, 13-15 Library in New York, see Public Library in New York Library of Congress, 2 Livestock, see Poland Mickiewicz, Adam, 16 Miecislas I, see Kings of Poland Mieczyiiski, 54 Mikulowski-Pomorski, 59 Milk production, see Poland Napoleon I, 14 National Scientific Institute of Rural Economy, 53-55, 57-58 Occupants of Poland: Austria, 2, 12, 16, 18, 33-34, 40; Prussia, [Germany], 2, 12-14, 33-34» 4 ° ; Russia, 2, 12-14, 33"34> 4 ° Organization and management of small farms, 61-74, 82, 98-100 Organizational foundations of extension, see Extension, organizational foundations Paderewski, Jgnacy, 16 Parliament of Poland, establishment, 9 Personnel, see Extension workers Pilsudski, Joseph, 15-16 Poniatowski, Juljusz, 67, 126; quoted, 89-93 Poland: geographical setting, 6-7; historical summary, 7 - 1 7 ; administration division, 19; area, 19; climate, 20; population, 20; topography, 20; soil, 21; agriculture, 21-24; crops,

Index 23; livestock, 23-24; milk production, 24; forestry, 24 Population, see Poland Prussia, see Occupants of Poland Przedpelski, Boleslaw J., 67, 89, 93; quoted, 1 1 6 Przedpelski, Wiktor, 41 Public Library in New York, 2 Pulaski, Casimir, 1 2 , 16 Pulawy, see National Scientific Institute of Rural Economy Recovery, 127 Research, 53-58, 59-60, 1 3 2 - 1 3 3 Reymont, Ladislas, 16 Rudnicki Janusz, 67 Russia, see Occupants of Poland Secretary of Agriculture, 48-50, 126; see also Department of Agriculture Servitudes, easments, 23 Sienkiewicz, Henryk, 16 Sigismund-August, quoted, 17; see also Kings of Poland Skladziriski, Boleslaw, 6 1 , 64-65, 67 Sklodowska-Curie, Marja, 16 Smith, Clarence B., 126; quoted, 1 1 5 Social aspects of extension, see Extension, social aspects Soil, see Poland South Poland, 19, 33 Stagnation, 1 2 7 Stanislaw Poniatowski, see Kings of Poland Staszic, Stanislaw, 1 3

139

Stephen Batory, see Kings, of Poland Stwosz, Wit, 16 Territorial self-governments, 36, 3738, 1 0 6 - 1 1 0 Topography, see Poland Traugutt, Romuald, 14 True, Alfred C., quoted, 62 Types of soil, see Poland, soil United States Department of Agriculture, 2, 53, 59, 62, 1 3 0 United States of America, 18, 50, 59 University of Cracow, 8, 10 Voluntary agricultural organizations, 36, 38 Western Poland, 19, 33 Whipple, Clayton E., 1 2 5 Wilson, Milburn L., 126; quoted, 1 1 5 Wilson, Woodrow, 16 Wiszniewski, Eugeniusz, quoted, 93-

94

Women, their role, 3; organizations, 30, 82-83, 1 0 1 - 1 0 2 Yagiello, see Kings of Poland Yagiellonian dynasty, 8-10 Youth, organizations, 59, 72, 83, 103 Zamoyski, Jan, quoted, 16 Zulawski, 64 Zurawski, 65