The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-10-22
RURAL SCHOOLS
IN MISSOURI
Work In Page County Makes
Very Fine Showing
BOYS CORN CLUBS THRIVE
Miss Jessie Field, County supern-
tendent of Education, Has Brought
Her Schools Up To a High
Grade of Efficiency.
BOYS CORN CLUBS THRIVE
BY HERVEY w. LAIRD.

] D1 GEhN W. EAinOs
Private Car Southern States superin-
tendents of Education, Clarinda, Ia, Oc-
tober A.-(Special. 1.-THE first day of real
work was spent in the rural schools of
+ Page county under the guidance of Miss
/ Jessie Field, county superintendent of ed
/ ucation and held to be in charge of the
! most remarkable development of the eff
/ fort to adjust the country schools to the
! needs of the people. iowa being corn
state, the tendency has been to bring this
product to the front SO that every day
is finding the children better acquainted
with it and more enthusiastic In its
growth.
Miss Field is a remarkable woman. She
was elected to the position she holds while
out of the state, or it amounted to that.
! The real selection lay in the republican
county organization, which gave her the
! nomination while she was teaching In
! Montana, and over one other woman and
/ two men. This was in 1906, since which
/ time she has not only had the nomination
! of the dominant party, but the indorse-
ment of the democrats. She has made
life study OF practical education, and par
! ticularly that which would be to the in
/ terest OF the farmers of the county With
the interest in corn her efforts have nat
| uraly tended to work In this grain.
To bring about practical results here
boys corn clubs have been organized,
running this year to go Last year from
$50 boys 20 were selected to go into the
county contest and from these three were
| chosen for the merit of their corn rails
ings. These are given, as reward
short course in agriculture at the State
Agricultural school at Ames, and become
the members for the county in the boys
corn judging contests Of the state, for
i h fFl 10 80 1A
Page county have taken prizes at all con-
tests. Indicating the great interest in the
work, the two leading boys in the contest
last time wrote Miss Field that they
thought farming the greatest work In the
world, and they wanted to keep at it.
Miss Field began this work some time
ago In a meeting with 10 of the teachers
of the county, at which P. @. Holden, ex-
pert of the agricultural school, attended.
A day was spent in the discussion, it be-
ing agreed that corn was the most i'm
portant and corn testing was set apart as
the first thing to be taken up. All of
the teachers took II up and at the next
institute the reports showed that the in
terest was intense, spreading in a short
while to the other schools until in every
one of them the corn raising problem is
| studied and worked out in practical
way, and in the time covered the yield
In Page county has been increased at
least 10 bushels to the acre.
Some sidellghts.
The work for corn culture has had
the effect of stimulating the entire school
| life of the county, Miss Field says that
the interest of the children in this class
of service has enthused them on every
other line of study until it is a fact
that wherever the study of farm work
of this kind is best the studies along
al ha III
of putting a boy to work on something
he knows about and appreciate has
inspired him to excellence in all other
lines.
While the work among the girls is not
what Miss Field hopes to bring it up to,
there is a great deael of interest in
manual training that the girls have part
in. However, here, as well as in corn
| culture, the boys are leading. Lessons in
| this sort of study are made a prize to
be contended for The members of
school are given stars for promptness
and when ten of these are secured they
| give a quarter holiday for manual train
| ing. When asked why 1t was made a
reward, Miss Field indicated her good
| judgment by saying that It worked bet
| ter than way, not only making the ser
| vice itself of more value in the eyes of
| the child but an incentive to prompt at
| tendance upon the schools.
| Practical Showings.
| At the schools visited there were show
| ings of practical work. At one boys
experimental with sons, illustrating the
| effect upon them by the rains At an
| other girl and boy made a chem
| ical test for butter fat in milk, and at
| third half a dozen boys showed skill
! in various lines of work. There were
examples of many lines OF regular school
| work but the party was interested in
the main with the agricultural and man.
ual arts successes.
| All of the school houses are neat we'll
| built and with handsome grounds. Prizes
| are given for condition of grounds. At
+. one place where the building is very
| fine 1t was reported that the plans were
drawn by an old farmer, who was pres
| ent. He Is said to have been told by
! the architect that 1t could not be built
and the story is further told that the
old fellow stood over the architect with
club until he drew the plans as he
had made them with a pencil.
Another man said: I'VE want our chill
| dren in school to have as good houses
| as they have at home" Another fellow,
| seeing the experiments in milk test made
| by the boy and girl remarked that that
| boy had better mind or he would be a
superintendent of a farm the way he
| was going This is the keynote of the
| whole idea, making places on the farm
| that the children on the farms can fill
| ana in the filing OF which there will
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