er farm in Fairfax County to be 400% above the average in
the state.

[142] Derr Report, 1937; and "State Dairy Herd Improvement Association,"
_Herndon News-Observer_, August 8, 1935.

[143] Beard/Pryor, January 23, 1979.

[144] "Fairfax Farmer Threw Away His Plow in 1928 and Amazing Results
Have Been Revolutionary," _Richmond Times-Dispatch_, September 17, 1951.

[145] Oliver Martin, _On and Off the Concrete in Maryland, Virginia and
West Virginia_ (Washington, 1930), 26.

[146] Derr Reports, 1926, 6, and 1927, 13.

[147] Milk prices dropped from $4.05 per 100 gallons in 1920 to a low of
$2.10 in 1932. By 1935 they were still low, but had risen some to $2.25.
The prices given are July figures; January listings were generally a bit
higher. See _Virginia Farm Statistics_ (Richmond, 1936), 59.

[148] Beard/Pryor, January 23, 1979.

[149] H. B. Derr, "Helping Farmers," _Herndon News-Observer_, April 14,
1932; and Derr Report, 1927, 13.

[150] Derr, "Helping Farmers."

[151] Derr Report, 1932, 5.

[152] Derr Report, 1926, 6.

[153] Derr Report, 1932, 6.

[154] McNair, "What I Remember"; and _16th Census of the United States,
1940, Agriculture--Volume I, Statistics for Counties_ (Washington, 1942).

[155] C. T. Rice Herd Record Books, 1923-1937, in possession of Mrs.
Mary Scott.

[156] Derr and Beard Reports, nearly every year, see especially 1926,
1932.

PART III

_Professionalization and an Increased Standard of Living_

Specialization, whether in truck farming, dairying or poultry raising,
streamlined the farmer's work and gave him an in-depth body of knowledge
in a particular field. This expertise made for occupational prestige and
increased status in non-farm communities; acknowledgment of the farmer
as a professional developed markedly during the 1920s and 1930s.
Detailed knowledge had been essential to the general farmer but it was
not widely recognized as a specialized skill. The professionalization
taking place was also due to the farmer's own recognition of his unique
role and his attempts to enhance it through farmer's clubs, educational
opportunities and community projects. It also reflected a larger concern
in the nation with upgrading standards and promoting solidarity among
discrete occupational groups, a remnant from the movement towards
efficiency and proficiency of the Progressive Era.[157]

An important advance for the farmer was the increased opportunities in
agricultural