county have participated directly in the test-demonstration program,
either as unit or area demonstrators using test-demonstration mate-
rials. Educational material based on test-demonstration farms has
been presented to all farmers in the county through tours, individual
farm visits, visual aids, meetings, and newspaper articles. This means
that with very few exceptions, every farm in the county has benefited
directly or indirectly through the education program developed on
test-demonstration farms.
Since the test-demonstration work is a part of the over-all pro-
gram of the Agricultural Extension Service, the subject matter spe-
cialist has assisted in all phases of farm and home development.
This service has been especially helpful since development of test-
demonstration farms is not limited to soil conservation, but includes
development of the whole farm and home.
In addition to the test-demonstration farms, following are some
of the more important activities resulting from TVA assistance in
developing the agricultural program in Benton County:
1. The Tennessee Valley Authority supplied 4,819,200 tree seed-
lings, which were planted on 975 farms. These trees were planted on
4,016 acres of eroded land.
2. A detailed soil survey of the entire county has been completed
cooperatively by the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Agricultural
Experiment Station of the University of Tennessee. This information
is available to the farmers of the county for their guidance in plan-
ning proper land use. This soil survey together with other data on
agricultural resources and findings on test-demonstration farms, has
been used in making an agricultural study of the county to determine
the potential agricultural development. This study has been of great
assistance to the Program Planning Committee in developing a long-
time agricultural program.
3. The association of unit and area test-demonstration farmers
purchased a power terracing outfit and operated it with the assistance
of the county extension agents. Work with this power outfit served
to demonstrate the value of terracing in soil erosion control. After
demonstrating the value of terracing, the outfit was sold to a private
operator. These demonstrations have resulted in a continued demand
for terracing, and the acreage terraced annually with the assistance
of the county and assistant agents has been from 400 to 1,500 acres.
4. A full-time forester is assigned to Benton County in the co-
operative work with the Tennessee Valley Authority. Since this
intensive forestry work was started the reforestation of eroded land
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