Why Did the Master Gardener Program Start?
• The Cooperative Extension Service has been helping people solve their agricultural problems since 1914. Extension agents/advisors supervised Victory gardens during World War I and World War II and have helped community gardeners for many years. Today, Cooperative Extension, throughout the United States, helps both rural and city dwellers wanting information on gardening, landscaping, pest management and other plant related topics. The demand for useful information by home gardeners has skyrocketed in recent years. With the increased demand for information, a more effective way of providing information was required. A voluntary educational program that would teach people about plants and gardening, and they would then extend this knowledge to other people, seemed to be the best approach.
