El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-07-25

| the Boys Corn club that it pays to mix
! a little knowledge In with the dirt
| when growing cOrn-that it increases
/ the yield for one acre from say 20
/ bushels to 220.
Now even the most conservative
/ farmer even one whose conservatism
/ is so grounded in kindred ignorance
| that he is unable TO read and write,
does know how to add and subtract,
knows the difference between 20
bushels and 40 bushels and 80 bushels
of corn to the acre. it has long been
! held to be desirable to teach farmers
children how to read and write and
| to grow corn? And why not do it at
the same time they are learning these
other things?
The experimental rural scnooI at
Rock Hill, S c., teaches practical ev-
cry day farming 1t is better to take
a single plant, corn. and see what the
new rural school did with it The
school was in its second year, when its
pupils were more in number, when
they were actually farm children.
brought in every day by a wagon from
their homes, and taken back in the
same way at night.
Told by a pupil, the narrative runs:
1t began in the winter, began with
a study of the birthplace and the home
felt the soil and when the teacher
asked US about it. we said it was moist
Then she asked US how much water
there was in it That was a puzzler
Wit to suggest weighing it wet and
then drying it out and weighing it
again. We took three pounds, and
when we had thoroughly dried If it
weighed but two and three fourths of
2 pound. And the very smallest and
youngest of US knew that a quarter of
pound of water had been driven out
The teacher told US 1t had evapOrated,
and that was a good, new word.
Then she showed US something
else She put the same dried dirt in an
T~rnw eel 4 2
let 1t get red hot When it was cold
again we weighed it. and we saw it had
lost some more weight Was that
water, too? No. the water had all gone
before. So the teacher told US about
hUmus, that IL was organic matter
IN the soil, tiny bits of leaves and
sticks and so on We guessed that 1t
was the humuS that had been burned
out of the soil, and we now knew that
the soil in our garden had water in it
and organic matter in it. But there
was more
The teacher asked US to look close
" and we saw sand. How like little
rocks the grains of sand arei How
were the little rocks made2 We rub
two rocks together over a piece of
white paper and we see-sand is made
by rubbing rocks Do we think this
could happen naturally? Rocks roll
ing down hill, rocks rolling on the
bottom of a stream, would be rubbed.
We put some stones into a pickle jar,
and pour in water. 1t was almost
clear in the jar. And then we shook
the bottle hard, and let it settle.
Which falls first2 Silt, sand Ct vrav-
el? Then we went 10 the mouI.- of a
little stream just after a rain and
there we found silt, then sand, then
gravel, then the stones, just as in the
bottle 1t was lots of fun, and we
learned a great deal
We put grains of corn between
ramp sheets of blOtting paper, and put
some in a warm and some in a cold
place We knew it was a joke when
the teacher told US to put some grains
in damp SaWdust and some in dry saw
dust to see which would come up first,
for we knew that in the dry it never
would We put some grains in a tin
can filled with soil that had holes
punched IN the bottom, and some in a
can of soil without any holes. We put
some grains in damp paper in the air
and some in a tight box
THE grains of corn that were cold
that were dry, that were too much
soaked in the can without holes, that
had no air all did not sprout-"germ-
mate the teacher taught US to say.
But those that had moisture, and heat,
and air. and not too much moisture,
all began to grow. We took some ears
of corn and tested them for seed
planting five grains from each ear
and numbering the ear so that we
could see what ears would give the
best seed We viii remember that we
must do this whenever We plant corn,
so as to get the best seed.
Spring came and we began to think
of our corn in the garden We must
plant Tar enough apart so as to give
our corn air and sun. but we don't
have to plant as far apart as on the
farm because we will cultivate our
corn by hand and not with mules We
mark off the hills. one and a half feet
apart and make them IN rows two feet
apart We are going to put five grains
in each hill, for it is easier to pull up a
stalk than to replant. And then, how
many hills in your row? And how
ma will fnk
When our corn is about six inches
high we give it some nitrate of soda
fertilizer, for corn must have food
and this kind of food is not in our
soil. We find out all about when to
cultivate the corn, and how to keep a
dust mulch on top of the ground to
keep the under part of the soil from !
drying out too quickly, and many,
many things
I'VE have enemies. Smut appears. !
We burn the infected stalk to keep it |
come up. We study all the different |
kinds Of weeds and find out how many
many seed they have, and how neces- |
sary 1t is to dig them up by the roots /
and get rid of them altogether. We I
know now that we must cultivate our |
corn for three reasons to loosen the /
soil so that the corn can get its food /
and drink, to keep a dust mulch so that
the water will not all evaporate. and /
to kill the weeds that otherwise would 4
steal the food and water from our 4
corn.
our corn is in bloom. It has flow
ers. We find out that the tasseI is one |
part of the flower and that the silk |
In another part. and that without both /
ports there will he no corn
I'VE cut the silk off one ear, and /
we tie it up in a hard ball on another !
Later when the grains are filled and |
the corn is ready for roasting ears |
we find that where we cut off the silk I
there are no grains. and where we !
tied it up there are only a few. And |
every little grain has a silk of its own. /
THE corn is ripe. The leaves die.
We gather It We shell some Of 1t and /
we make an Indian mill out of two I
smooth stones and grind some of it and I
make ash cakes. just as the indians 4
did before Columbus came. We read \
all about how corn was first used by |
white men, and how it was the prin-
cipal food at the first Thanksgiving
dinner when the cOlOnists had so very
little to be thankful for. And we also
read Writers Corn Song and Hia-
Watha's Fasting many times.
Autumn comes, and Halloween. and |
we have a party and sit on corn shuck
mats that we have made from the /
5hucks we grew and eat popcorn we
have grown in our school garden and |
we know that we have followed the !