The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-09-10
Boys CORN CLUB
IDEA is GROWING
Eighty Thousand Southern
Youngsters Imbued With
Progressive Spirit.
KNAPP STARTED MOVEMENT
Hundreds Of Governments Trav-
cling Agents Supervise
Work.
KNAPP STARTED MOVEMENT
Especial to The Times.Dispatch. !

tSPeclai 10 me IlmeS- DiSpe tch.1
washington. September s.-"Eighty
thousand Southern youngsters, each
with an acre of land in corn. hoeing
cnltivating. thinning. fertiIizing: some
with mules, some with horses. one
sturdy specimen OF young American
training a goat TO pull the harrow.
each and all imbued with a grim de.
termination TO win In the great race
ior the largest yield per acre, the last
zap or which has even now started un .
der the intense September sun. Surely
there have been few more inspiring
spectacies than this one OF the great
BOYS Corn Club movement, which has
spread throughout the length and
breadth OF the Southland within ave
years. bringing with 1t untold dement's
OF enNShtment, cooperation and know
leoge OF better methods and causing
THESE Southern youths to startle the
world with the story of their labor.
and their results" This was the opti-
MYSTIC statement made by a we'll known
railroad industrial man here to-day.
The late DR.. Seaman A. Knapp. 20
whose tireless energy and far-sigh.eo
policy is due more than to any othe.
cause the great success of the move.
ment. hve years ago grasped the i'm.
mcnse possibilities present in the
southern States for agriculture The
doctor also realized the innate energy.
enthusiasm. determination and grit Of
the Southern boy. and he decided to an.
peal to II. He made his appeal:
through 1t he reached The hearts and
heads OF the parents. literally opening
the eyes TO the dormant possibilities
which lay around them, and 1t is not
too much to say that through il has
been brought about the immense corn
crop OF the Southern States of last
year--a crop OF nearly one billion
bushels. yet a crop which seems in
fair way to be surpassed by the pres
ent years yield.
Started On Small Scale
Like all great movements, the
Boys Corn Club idea was started on n
small scale. Ae few counties were
taken up. and few clubs in each
county begun. Yields at arst were on.
ly fair. and many difficulties were mat
with. The idea was essentially sound,
though. In Its appeal and its scope,
and 1t was not long before 81 had
sprung into prominence. Then It grew.
County after county. State after State
fell In line Congress became enthusi-
astic and appropriated money the
press applauded and the people OF the
city wondered at the deeds of thoee
enrolment of the clubs in the South
was 1925. with Jerry Moore, OF South,
Carolina. leading the list with the re-
cord breaking yield of 22S bushels OF
corr from one acre. This year nearly
$4,000 boys are on the rolls, and every
one of them is fighting might and main
TO break last years mark.
Think of IT. Eighty thousand boys
bound together in a single purpose.
working toward common goal-the
Improvement OF the profession OF their
fathers. and the profession which is
to be their own when they will havo
reached manhood. 1t is monument
worthy OF any man. and DR.. Knapp
could ask for no more fitting epitaph.
The government now has hundreds
of travelling agents who supervise the
work. attending to the registering OF
each boy, the plotting of his acre and
the measuring Of his results. In ad.
dition to these there are thousands
of teachers and agents who visit tina
boys acre each week and see how tho
work Is getting on, and IL the lad is
keeping up to instructions. For there
are instruction-honks at then1--issua.l
by the government, and which must
be rigidly adhered to by each mem
Der.
Mig Sums for Prizes.
Not only the government, but State,
town and county governments arre
closely Interested in the boys clubs
Large sums OF money have been ap-
proprtated for prizes, and not only ar.
there prizes for the best yield In tho
club. but the largest yield In the coun-
ty,the largest in the state. and, final.
ly, the largest OF the whole organiza-
ton which IS n most handsome re-
ward indeed, and one which brings
national prominence to the winner
Last fall, young Jerry Moore and the
boys who had captusSd the State
prizes were brought to Washington.
Continued on Third Page)