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 By Lynda Hollenbeck
Courier StaffAn area of Saline County history that a local history buff claims has never been addressed previously will be the focus of an upcoming presentation for the Saline County History and Heritage Society.
Shirley Parson Coppock, a member of the organization, said Ron Matlock, Saline County Extension agent, will present “The Importance of the Agriculture Extension Service in Saline County.”
The event is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, in the conference room of Woodall Central Fire Station, 220 S. Main St. in Benton. The meeting is open to the public, Coppock said.
Matlock plans to conduct a Power Point presentation to cover many of the areas the Extension Service program has used to benefit the county, Coppock said.
In conjunction with the program, Matlock plans to set up a display of scrapbooks of Home Demonstration (now Extension Homemakers clubs) and 4-H clubs in the county.
“The story of the county extension agents goes back to the early 1900s,” Coppock said. In 1887, Congress provided funds for the establishment of an agriculture experiment station in each state, she noted.
Two years later, Arkansas accepted the grant and established its station in connection with the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
According to Coppock, objectives of the Extension Service were to improve agricultural methods and teach home economics.
She pointed out that these have been “valuable missions through the years and continue as the outreach grows with population changes and demands.”
Coppock said Saline County Quorum Court records obtained at the county clerk’s office list a budget appropriation on Oct. 24, 1917, for a “farm fund - Farm Demonstrator - $1,000, Canning Club Agent, $600.”
“For some reason, the Quorum Court in October 1916 did not approve this budget item,” Coppock said. “A front page articles in the Benton Courier on Oct. 27 stated: ‘No appropriation was made for the farm demonstrator with a vote of 4 for, 19 against. Several ladies attended the meeting, hoping to secure an appropriation to carry on the canning and home demonstration work, but this measure was also defeated 15-9, and for another year Saline County will be without this important work.”
An appeal in support of the Extension work by a former Arkansas governor, Thomas C. McRae, was printed in the Oct. 26, 1926, Benton Courier. In that appeal, McRae, advocated the benefits of the program for farmers and their wives.
Coppock noted that McRae’s “persuasive message was helpful, for during its annual session on Oct. 27, 1926, the Saline County Quroum Court approved an appropriation for the Home and Farm Fund for a total expenditure of $3,300.”
The Extension Service in the 1930s was “vital in showing farmers how to produce better crops, the need for proper conservation of soils ... ,” Coppcok said.
The J.G. Gerard Hereford Ranch was used as an example for Saline County, she said. It drew visitors from throughout Arkansas and other states.
“Gerard credited the success of the ranch by explaining that the soil in every field had been analyzed,” Coppock said. “With all recommendations by the Extension Service carried out, that resulted in the ranch producing 97 percent of the feed needed for 100 head of cattle.”
Crop management and rotation was another important lesson for farmers, Coppock said.
In the scrapbook of the Bauxite Home Demonstration Club, reports show that it was organized in August 1933. “The group learned how to make mattresses with canning and sewing also stressed,” she said. “The Bauxite organization sold penny pencils and raffled a quilt to raise funds to purchase a pressure canner to be used as needed by members in their homes.
“Pressure canners were not so common in those days,” she added.
Coppock noted that after World War II, a German exchange teacher, Gertrude Schmitt, visited Camp Quapaw for two weeks to observe the work of the Home Demonstration and 4-H clubs of Saline County.
“A professor and head of the home economoics department of a state school, North Rhine-Westfailia in British-occupied West Germany, Schmitt was conducting research to develop a center to improve home and family life, Coppock noted.
She explained that this project was to be patterned after the Saline County Home Demonstraiton and 4-H clubs.
The Centennial edition of the Benon Courier reported there were 23 Home Demonstration clubs in Saline County in 1936 with a total membership of 664 people. Many other clubs have been organized since that time, she noted.
In 1956 the Benton Home Demonstration Club was organized with 36 members, Coppock said. Among the club’s projects was the building of a pavilion at Tyndall Park in 1961.
“The club raised funds for this by selling sunbonnets andholding rummage and bake sales. The group also purchased and donated books to the Gann Library.”
Coppock noted that Matlock has been affiliated with the Saline County Extension Service more than seven years. Before coming to Benton, he served as extension agent in Jefferson, Pope and Clark counties for a total 21 years in this field.
A native of western Kentucky, he is a graduate of Murray State University.
Before earning a mater’s degree at the University of Arkansas, Matlock worked with Riceland Food and Hartz Seed Co. in Stuttgart. He and his wife, Debbie, have two daughters and five grandchildren.
Coppock serves as program chairman for the Saline County History and Heritage Society. Art Wilson is president of the group.
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