The Expert Turns Farmer
A county agriculturalist who has spent three years advising local farmers decides to test his own theories by homesteading land.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
County Agriculturalist L. M. Lampson is a cautious individual who adheres to the principle of trying it on the dog first. For the last three years, he has been a busy man telling the Benton County farmers how to farm. So earnest has he been in his work that he has at last convinced himself that there is really something to this farming business after all and has decided to stand for a little of his own medicine. Mr. Lampson, his brother Bruce Lampson of Pullman, and his brother-in-law Edward Ludwicks of Coeur d'Alene have filed on 160-acre homesteads near Leslie station, about six miles from town. By March 1, the Lampson colony expects to be comfortably settled. This change of residence will not interfere with Mr. Lampson's work as county agriculturalist; he intends to continue to give advice and let his brother and brother-in-law do the manual labor.
“So earnest has he been in his work that he has at last convinced himself that there is really something to this farming business after all.”
Agricultural extension remains a vital part of Benton County's economy, where experts still bridge the gap between academic research and local irrigation-based farming. The irony of the 'expert' actually putting their hands in the dirt is a timeless trope in the history of Washington agriculture.
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