Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1910-11-02

take the lead. The cities have 90 long
been drawing the best blood from some
rural communities that in many places
there Is precious little left to build
upon With the changing conditions
that are restoring the farm to lead
ing place in our national life there
will be no lack OF leaders, and the
time win come when every community
will have It's club or grange.
In the Mississippi valley states,
where Industrial cooperation has OBJ
tanned q strong foothold. cooperative
picnics are one Of the principal diver
sions. These are big affairs. including
all the people for miles around There
are speeches and amusements and pien-
ty to eat and every one goes home
happy.
A number Of country towns and ru-
raj communities have field day"
once or twice a year. which Is In the
nature Of a big picnic, at which ath-
letic contests predominant.
Local Fourth Of July celebrations
give the country boys q chance to
work on their patriotism for week IN
advance In helping to get things ready.
and they enjoy the day great deal
more than they would ready made
celebration In q big town, where all
they could do would be to stand on
the side lines and shout The best part
Of these affairs Is that they develop
originality and initiative on the part of
the young people. 1t teaches them to
develop any latent ability for leader
ship which they may possess The boy
who can get together nine farmer boys
on Saturday afternoons and organize
them into a ball team that can win
from the neighboring township ID the
one who Is going to be able to do
things when be gets older. It II no
small task to make an effective team
out Of nine boys when eight Of them
want to pitch and the other couldn't
catch bali to save his life.
It Is the farm boys Of today who
viii be foremost In the agricultural
communities Of tomorrow. One Of the
most important Of the social factors
affecting farm life il boys club.
Nebraska has q well developed sys-
TEN Of boys and girls corn clubs.
There are few in Iowa and Illinois.
and more are being organized. The
members Of these clubs each have
their plot Of corn They meet around
from place to place. get better &C.
quainted with one another and study
corn growing. Often an experienced
corn grower meets With them and
gives them some practical iessons In
some cases these clubs are under the
supervision Of the agricultural college.
which sends out letters Of instruction
to the boys every two weeks or 90 In
the agricultural college Some Of the
counties have local contests There
are prizes for the best corn and for the
best corn judging. Often the boys who
do the best work at the local contests
have their expenses paid to the state
contest at the agricultural college.
Similar contests In cooking and sew
ing are held for the girls. Work Of
this kind is an inspiration to the boys
and girls. They begin to see some Of
the real enjoyment Of farm life.
This work Is being extended to the
boys Of the cities By means Of summer
camps, where the boys are taken for .
vacation. at the same time getting In
struction and object lessons in agri-
culture. Many 4 boy who otherwise
would have spent his life In town
working for somebody else u thus
started on the way to become an indie
pendent farmer.
Another big factor in rural social life
Il the country literary society. This
reaches more people than . grange or
q club can reach Its disadvantage n
that the membership u % largo that
only few can appear on the pro
grams. But q great many can listen,
and they eagerly avail themselves Of
the opportunity. The country literary
society when rightly managed COM
bines both the social and the educa-
tional features and II great uplift to
the community.
Along with these other social factors
come the local lecture courses. The
talent u not always the best, but usu-
ally it u surprisingly good Then there
are ice cream suppers. picnics and
fishing excursions In the summer and
oyster suppers In the winter. The wo-
men often have ladies' aid society,
where they can meet and sew and visit
to their hearts content The men have
q fraternal order or two. where they
can get together on Saturday evening
During the last few years the 7. N. G.
A. has been extending to the country
and doing q great deal Of good work.
Often clubrooms and . gymnasium
are established, where the neighbor-
hood boys can meet and try their ath-
letic skill Where such rooms have
taken the place Of the grocery store a.
an evening meeting place for the boys
and young men there Il q noticeable
improvement In the community.
During vacation when the youna