The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-25
YOUNG CORN CLUB MEMBERS HAD BIG
 TIME AT CAPITAL Secreary Wilson Took Great Pride in the Corn Raisers
 From the South
NONE HAD EVER BEEN
 FOR FROM HOME
Spirit of Independence, However, Was Evident in the Way They Con- ducted Themselves During
 Their Washington Stay
From the Washington Star.

II ioIu lHo washing OldT.
 Last evening Il tired but happy boys shook the snow of Washington from their feet and began their homeward journey after week of continuous sightseeing, N ovation and general good time. They #~ came not as the average tourist to search q out the citys points of interest alone, z but, instead as the invited guests of the Secretary of Agriculture, who made their * comfort and enjoyment matter of his z personal supervision.
 They were the II prize winners of the < Boys Corn clubs contests, which has been organized and fathered by the de- rartment of agriculture for the innova- tlon of modernized methods of farming Throughout the states These boys ranged In age from Il to 16 years, and accepted their honors with dignity well beftting the occasion, for the trip, the money and the laurels were the just reward of merit 1 which they had earned by the toll of their hands and the sweat of their brows Besides this wonderful trip to the Cap l ital City. which, by the way, was the first ] time they had been here. they all won cash prizes averaging not less than s2oO tO 6dy HOlHhiS ol idi iiiih5 iiiiPAciASAeS, ponies bicycles, watches, etc. lz All along the line of progress from the t school teachers to the President himself 2 encouragement and commendation was f literally showered upon them x On the train coming to Washington q Floyd Gayer of Oklahoma, one of the boys, wanted cup of coffee. but on learning that the cost was 10 cents. de- clined to order it, or, as he expressed it, Right there I stopped and told 'em that 10 cents for one cup of coffee was too much for a farmer to pay"
 But, my boy said Dr. Knapp of the demonstration wor'r, department of agri- T culture, you had a hundred dollars in your pocket, didn't you?p M
 Sure" answered the boy, "but am not going to spend that l am going to buy mule. Anyway, 10 cents is too much for farmer to pay for one cup of coffee" Floyd is about 15, a wide-awake, typical westerner, who knows what he wants and how to get it.
 Another young American was put on the wrong train at Pittsburg. where he changed cars, and carried eight miles in the opposite direction from Washington When asked what he did when he found out the mistake, he replied unconcernedly With the plaSe ar ol seasoheu Siope trotter:
 Made 'em bring me back for nothing, of course.'
 This well poised specimen of independz ence is about 13 or IA years old and has never been over eight miles from home before s
 Still another sturdy youngster who bids fair to become millionaire or political genius refused to pay $1 for his break 4, fast aboard the train. Rather than be guilty of this extravagance he concluded to go hungry. By, ;dnd by when the train made a stop of sufficient length, he got off and bought some bologna saul sage and some sandwiches, and lived on them until he arrived in Washington and vas put up at the hotel
 Ira Smith of Arkansas, who made the wonderful record of 119 bushels at B cents per bushel. and Joseph Stone of George have the distinction of being the infants of the party. They are both un- der 12 years. Joseph has been i'll with pneumonia, consequently his father ac- companied him.
 After Secretary Wilson had finished his address to the boys Wednesday morning and had given each his diploma of merit Incidentally, the Secretary spent more time over these yonng proteges of his than he ever gave to congressional or other dignitaries), he seized little Joseph up pretty thoroughly, and then said to the boys father
 "Any time you get tired of raising that boy just let me know"
 The parental glow of pride needs no comment, but small Joseph took the goon things that came his way with calm phi- losophy, for he serenely but vigorously chewed his gum throughout the whore performance, as though prize trips, di- < plomas, interviews with cabinet officers and presidents were quite ordinary evesnts.
 The young man who has the worlds record in corn raising this year, having produced 22ss4 bushels to his one-acre field at a cost of 43 cents per bushel, Is Jerry N. Moore of Winona, s. c.
 In prizes this boy was acquired through sheer pluck and merit close to $500, and has found market for his splendid crop of corn at $3 per bushel. He will clear up about s100O on his years work Ills yield was so far ahead of those of the other contestants that the department sent three of It's most reliable man down there to weigh, measure and shell some of the boys crop, so as to be sure that the result was all that the producer claimed
 Jerry is the son of Methodist minister, and so steadfast are the fathers preju- dices that he required his son to leave for home 80 as to arrive Saturday even- ing, Sunday travel for his family being forbidden. Moreover, the minister would not consent to the boy taking the trip unless a place in a private family could be found for him to stay, as he was op- posed to having him in a hotel, where, he said, he might acquire the cigarette habit or get into bad company.
 These boys have not had their pathway strewn with roses. Quite the contrary, for their methods were in direct contrast to the system of their fathers and fre- quently they meet with nothing but oppo- sition. There have been cases where the demonstration agent had to go Security for the fertilizer, because of the antipatny |, of the parents to all innovations. An other difficulty lay In the fact that sey- eral boys, like Jerry Moore, cultivated pine stump land.
 This is the third year of effort for Stephen Henry. He won the township prize, then the county prize and now the state prize. The Tennessee boy had to miss the trip because his father brooded so over his going away from home for the first time that he became ill., and the boy had to be deprived of the trip on that score.
 retary Wilson down. is intensely inter- ested in these progressive farmers. and Curing their stay from Monday to Satur- day night put forth extra effort to give them good time.
 The wiseacres of the agricultural de-