The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1911-09-08
Tnr soYs, coen AUS

T. ghty thousand southern young
sters, each with an acre of land IN
corn, hoelng, cultivating, thinnin :, j
fe%rtiliz,ne,, some with mules, some
with horses, one sturdy specimen OF
young America training q goat to
pull the harrow, each and all imbued
with a grim determination to win IN
the great race for the largest yield
per acre, the last lap of which
even started under the intense
August srn. Surely there have
been few more inspiring s~pectacles
than this me of the great Boys
Corn Club movement, which has
spread throughout the length and
breadth of the Southland within five
years. bringing with it untold benz
fits of enlightenment, cooperation
and knowledge of better methods
and causing the Southern youths to
startie the word with the story of
their labor and their results.
The late DIR. Seaman A. Knapp,
to whose t~lreless energy and Tar
sighted policy is due mor than any
other cause the great success OF the
movement, five years ago grasped
the immense possibilities present in
the Southern STATES for agriculture.
The doctor also realize the innate
energy. enthusiasm, determination
and grit of the Southern boy, and
he decided to appeal to it. He
made this appeal; through it he
reached the hearts and heads of the
parents, literally opening their eyes
to the dormant possibilities which
lay around them, and it is not too
much to say that through i. 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 a fair way to be surpassed
by the present years yield.
Like all great movements, the
Boys Corn Club idea was started
on a small scale. A few countie!
were taken up, and a few clubs il
each county begun. Yields at frs
were only fair, and many difhcultie:
were met with. The idea was es
sentially sound, though, in its ap
peal and it's scope, and it was no
long before it had sprung Int
prominence. Then it grew. Coun
ty after county, state after state, fel
in line. Congress became enthusi
astic and appropriated money, th'
press applauded and the people o
the city wondered at the deeds o
those sturdy country youths. Las
year the enrolment of the clubs il
the South was 1925, with Jerr,
Moore, of South Carolina. leading
the list with the record breaking
yield of 22S bushels of corn from
one acre. This year nearly 8O,OO(
boys are on the rolls, and every on,
of them is fighting might and mail
to break last years mark.
Think of it! Eighty THOUSAND
boys bound together in a singl
purpose, working towards a com
: mon goal-the improvement of tn
profession of their father, and tn
: profession which is to be their owl
when they will have reached man
!; hood. 1t is a monument worthy Q
, any man, and DR.. Knapp could asl
for no more fitting opitaph.
The government now has hun
dreds of travelling agents VIII
supervise the work, attending t
, the registering of each boy, tn
plotting Of his acre and the measu1
ing of his results. In addition t
y these there are thousands of teacher
e and agents who visit the boys acr
each week and see how the work j
getting on and lfthe lad is keeping U
j to Instructions. For there are in
! structions-books O: them-issue'
by the government, and which mus
be rigidly adhered to by each mem
9 Der.
e Not only the government, bu
state, town and county government
v are closely interested in the boys
clubs. Large sums of money hav
s been appropriated for priz. =, an
not only r there prizes for tn
best yield in the club, but the larq
est yield in the county, the larges