THE CONSERVATION OF FUTURE FARMERS
Arvold, Alfred G.
The Conservation of Future Farmers What One State is Doing to Keep B ys and Girls on the Farm By ALFRED G. ARVOLD ONE OF THE MOST important agricultural problems before the American people today...
...To reward these ninety-five boys and girls for their painstaking efforts, they were invited—with their transportation furnished- -to be the guests of the Agricultural College for one week...
...They wanted to perpetuate the movement to give their boy and girl friends a chance to come to an institute...
...During the past five years, Mr...
...But this was not all...
...How One State is Meeting the Problem THE BOYS' AND GIRLS' INSTITUTE recently held at the North Dakota Agricultural College, under the direction of Gordon W. Randlett, Head of the Extension Division, who, with the co-operation of the various county superintendents, carried it to a successful end, is an example of such a movement...
...and Potatoes...
...They were not selfish...
...These contests have been conducted through the office of the county superintendents...
...The Conservation of Future Farmers What One State is Doing to Keep B ys and Girls on the Farm By ALFRED G. ARVOLD ONE OF THE MOST important agricultural problems before the American people today finds expression in the statement—How to Keep the Boys and Girls on the Farm...
...Horse Friends was one of the most popular lessons to the boys...
...An active interest has been aroused...
...Pupils of any school in the state, between ten and seventeen years of age, who shall have won honors in the county contests are made eligible to active membership...
...As the population increases, so will the demand for farm products increase...
...That is an economic law...
...Their products had scored the highest...
...That the boys and girls of this great agricultural state shall be in harmony with their environment, the members of this association are banded together for the purpose of studying newer and better methods of managing the affairs of farm and home under the direction of the Agricultural College and for the dissemination of such knowledge...
...In the year just passed—1910—thirty-two counties in the state entered the contest...
...They, with the assistance of their superintendents, organized a Boys' and Girls' Institute, elected officers and adopted a constitution which stated the purpose of the organization in the following words: "It shall be the purpose of this organization to enlarge and enrich the life of country youth by acquainting them with the advantages of scientific farming or home economics...
...The greater part of the afternoons and evenings was spent in playing indoor baseball, swimming, listening to stories, seeing the city, visiting the big stores just before Christmas, trolley car rides, elevator rides, and going to see moving picture and vaudeville shows...
...They ranged from ten to seventeen years of age...
...The problem of How to Keep the Boys and Girls on the Farm has received a great impetus and a partial solution in North Dakota...
...They were told in the simplest possible manner, by the members of the Agricultural College faculty, of The Wonders of the Soil, How Plants Eat and Breathe, something about Corn Culture, Home Life on the Farm, What is Milk...
...They had shown the best results...
...If they are not interested in farming in the years when their minds are most plastic and susceptible;—if they cannot be shown that all men are dependent upon the farmer and that agriculture is one of the most dignified of professions, they, like thousands of other country boys and girls, will leave the farm and rush to the city...
...The future will need more and better farmerS than the present...
...When they were not in the class rooms, they visited laboratories, green houses, museums, wood and iron shops, barns and seed houses...
...Like all great enterprises, these contests had a small beginning...
...The motto of the organization, as provided in the constitution is UP AND DOING...
...These amusements were novel to most of the little country folk...
...Much has been said and much more has been written upon this subject, but little has been actually done toward the solution of it...
...Eight thousand boys and girls competed for honors...
...The "Institute" is Formed IN THE last day of the institute, the ninety-five boys and girls met, and adopted resolutions thanking the Agricultural College for its hospitality and instruction...
...Ninety-five (sixty-five boys and thirty girls) of the eight thousand won out...
...It is a step in the right direction...
...They were given illustrative lessons, or demonstrations on Butter Scoring, How to Make Apple Trees, Cattle as Machines, Cooking, Home Sanitation, Decoration and Sewing...
...They received it...
...These young boys and girls had been awakened to the great possibilities of farm life...
...Any movement which has for its object the vitalization of agriculture and the creation of a love for farm life among the country boys and girls of to-day is worthy of the support and commendation of any man...
...They represented twenty-one counties, came from every corner of the state and all together traveled an aggregate number of 30,000 miles...
...The conservation of future farmers in North Dakota is in progress...
...Where millions are being expended to conserve the soil, scarcely one dollar is being spent to keep the boys and girls on the farm...
...The future farmers are our present country boys and girls...
...Land, to produce, must be intelligently tilled...
...They were seekers of farm knowledge Most of the boys and girls supplied themselves with small pocket note books and took down pointers to keep for future reference...
...To conserve future farmers is just as important as to conserve the fertility of the soil...
...All the instruction was of an agricultural and industrial nature...
...Randlett has been supervising contests in corn growing, potato culture, fruit canning, bread making, sewing, and many other activities among the boys and girls of the rural schools in North Dakota...
...They had manifested a love for country life...
...They, however, soon assumed enormous proportions...
...They furnished an excellent pastime for them all...
...They were ambitious to get expert knowledge and advice about farm problems and farm life...
...All could not win...
...The county superintendents acted as the escorts and chaperones of the party, the Agricultural College as the hosts and hostesses...
...What the Boys and Girls Received THEY came, they saw, they conquered...
...These boys and girls formed the first North Dakota Boys' and Girls' Institute...
Vol. 3 • January 1911 • No. 4
