The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-28

Alabama is the only state In the union
Professor Duncan. From 265 boys a
few years ago We now have 1854 boys
in this state who are members of the
corn clubs and through them we are
ievolutionizing the growing of corn in
Alabama and incidently the agricultural
life of the state is being revolutionized
with It
There are four things which we teach
boy and try to emphasize when teach
ing him. They are ta) how to prepare the
soil, (b) how to select seed from his pro-
duct, (c) how, where and when to use
fertilizer and (d) then cultivation of his
growing crop. We need more mule power
on the farms of Alabama. The soil must
be plowed deep. The average farmer
now is plowing his lands from two to
three or four inches deep and they should
be plowed six and eight and u inches
This keeps the land from washing into
series of unfarmable gullies and gives the
roots of the plants opportunity to
penetrate the soil and secure the nourish-
ment that is necessary TO successful
farming.
A Typical Incident
Through the boy members of the clubs
and the girl members of the tomato clubs
a wonderful work is being performed.
To illustrate. let me tell of one man to
whom a government demonstration agent
went and asked permission to show him
how to improve his farming methods and
produce better crops and larger Yields.
The demonstrator was told to get out
that the farmer did not want any book
farming, as they call it. A short time
after this event a corn club was organ
lied in the neighborhood and this farm
ers boy became a member. The boy
was taught to plow deep, how to culti-
vate, how TO test his seed, how to ferti-
lize and other features and met with much
opposition from his father who believed
the son was wasting his time. However,
the boy succeeded in securing small
patch TO cultivate as he pleased and when
harvest time came around the boy har-
vested 60 bushels of corn where his father
had secured 10. The father was con-
verted and now is believer in the mod
ern methods.
daily, and | have seen hundreds of them
work out in the same way. Through the
boys and girls we are reaching the fathers
and mothers and the home and domestic
life of the Alabama farmer is undergo
ing great change"
Mr.. Duncan showed many slides on the
curtain of scenes in fields where the
corn boys and tomato girls were a work
scenes before and after modern methods
were used, pictures of some of the boys
and girls and their teachers He told of
the tomato girls who were doing as much
in their way as the boys how they
raised their tomatoes and canned them
scientifically in counties where wear or
two ago no one had ever heard of a
canned food of any kind.
Unusual Statistics
He quoted statistics which were almost
unbelievable in which he showed the re-
markabe increase in yields since the
corn clubs had been organized. Pictures
were flashed of the recent trip of the
corn club prize winners 10 the Column
bia Corn exposition, and to Washington
D. c. THE most important individual
in our modern state government he
said lis the county school superintend-
cnt 1t is through him we are reaching
and organizing and teaching these boys
and girls who in turn teach their fathers
and mothers and altogether are working
change which will make new agIicul-
tural state out of Alabama
1--WE can raise just as good corn and
better here than in Indiana or Ohio or
Illinois Corn Is semi-tfopical plant
and this is it's native home. All we need
and what we have lacked is to use some
brains aud energy and nodernize our
methods.
Professor Duncan repeatedly mentioned
some of The recent prize winners in the
corn club and tomato club contests. among
them Junius Hill OF Etowah county, who.
il is declared, last year raised the best
corn that has ever been placed on exhibit
tinn in the world according to statements
from the federal agricultural department
and Willie Atchison. the Jefferson eolif-
Nv hoy who won one Of the state prizes