Pennsylvania State University. Agricultural Extension Service.

In 1911 Pennsylvania State College president Edwin E. Sparks requested money from the state legislature to begin a system of county agricultural agents to act as conduits of information between the School of Agriculture and Experiment Station and practicing farmers. Not until 1913 did the General Assembly allocate $18,000 for agricultural extension which provided agents in Bradford, Chester, and Lancaster counties, to start.

By 1921 sixty-two of the sixty-seven counties had full-time agents. Pennsylvania was one of only six states that had a centralized extension organization independent of local control. The agents provided technical information from the USDA and the experiment station, supervised experimental plantings, judged at local fairs, organized 4H youth clubs, publicized their activities in newspapers, and recruited students for Penn State.

The extension service employed specialists in economics, forestry, pesticides, soils, agronomy, family life, and other subjects.