Durant weekly news. (Durant, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 190?-1944, 1913-06-06
OKLAHOMA FARM BOYS CLUB
Interesting Organization That Has
Been Developed In This
State
BY JOHN W. WILLIAMSON.


State Supervisor Boys and Girls Clubs.
One of the most interesting features
of the college extension division of the
Oklahoma A. & M. College is the de-
partment of the Boys and Girls Agri-
cultural Clubs. The club work was
first undertaken in 1909 when a State
club was organized with $50 members.
The following year efforts were
made to induce rural schools to orga-
nize school district or local agricul-
tural clubs. At the close OF the year
/ fifty-five local clubs had been organiz-
ed with total membership OF 1,50O
boys and girls. To meet the growing
needs of the work the State Board of
Agriculture in February, 1911. en-
ployed a special supervisor to organize
and direct the work Of the Boys and
Girls Agricultural Clubs. The work
then grew by such leaps and bounds
, that a few months later a lady as
sistant was employed to plan and d.
rect the special work FOR the girls. All
boys and girls not under 9 nor over
IS years of age were made eligible for
membership. An active campaign was
inaugurated in every county in behalf
of the Boys and Girls Agricultural
Clubs with the result that the enroll
ment was increased to 10000 in 1911
and to 31,603 in 1912. OF this number
1921 were boys and 15,342 we're girls.
These we're distributed among 1900
local and fifty-eight county agricul-
, tural clubs.
! Object Of Clubs
The object of the club work is first
through the offering of substantial
prizes for the local, county and state
contests to stimulate the boys and
girls to put forth their best efforts in
the production OF useful and valuable
objects, and second. to instruct these
boys and girls in the best methods Of
doing this work and thus spread the
gospel of efficiency in production.
! The plan of conducting the work is
to hold a series OF contests under the
supervision of a Judge from the A. &
NJ. College at the district school. the
county fair. the State Fair at Oklaho-
ma City, special short courses in the
fall at the district agricultural schools
and ending with the farmers winter
short course in the A. & M. College at
Saltwater
At first the contests were limited to
. corn growing for the boys and bread
making for the girls. In 1911 contests
we're added in cotton growing for the
boys and in sewing for girls, and the
prizes offered were free trips to the
district agricultural schools. the State
Fair School and the farmers short
courses. In 1912 and 1918 number
of addition contests were planned and
more than $1,000 in cash prizes were
} offered in addition to the scholarships
formerly given. Contests were arrang-
ed in sewing, cooking, canning. poul-
try raising, hog raising, butter-making,
and in growing corn kafir corn, milo,
cotton, cowpeas, peanuts and broom
corn. The most popular contests for
boys were those in growing corn. kafir
and cotton. The most popular contests
with girls were those in sewing, cook
ing and canning
Some Contest Winners
Miss Esta Beaman of MeeKer, Okla,
who by superior methods of farming
raised 95 bushels and 10 pounds Of
corn on an acre Of blackjack, stumpy
rocky land in Lincoln County, was the
champion corn grower of the State and
won the 5000 cash prize offered by the
Kansas City Star of Kansas City, Mo.
The Boy Kafir King OF the State was
Orion McMath of Reed. Okla, who
made yield of 124,93 bushels of kafir
on an acre of ground and won the
5000 cash prize offered by United
States Senator Robert Owen. The
Kafir Queen was Miss Opal Kesterson
of Custer City, who made a yield of
1859 bushels and won the $50 cash
prize given by Congressman Dick T.
Morgan.
The best record on cotton was re-
ported by Ralph Telford of Letitia,
Okla, who made 1000 pounds of seed
cotton and $50 pounds of lint cotton.