Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1914-03-28
BOYS AND GIRLS AND H. c. L.


A Kansas boy grew one hundred
thirteen bushels of corn from one
acre without an ounce of commercial
fertilizer. 1t is possible for boy or
girl to grow over thousand pounds
of human food from a fourth acre.
Why complain about the ''high cost
of living" when it is possible for any
boy or girl to grow several hundred
pounds of food from plot of ground
so fit. so fit. in the back yard? There
are many vacant lots in every town
that usually grow up to weeds that
should be put to growing food and
thus aid in the reduction of the h. c.
l. Two-thirds of the farms in Kan
sasrhave enough waste ground about
the buildings to grow enough vegeta-
BILE food for the family for year.
Then why not add to the beauty of
the village and town by having the
vacant lots produce vegetables and
flowers? Why should it not be fine
thing for hundreds of Kansas towns
to start ''City Beautiful Campaign"
What better work could be under
taken by the women's clubs than
flower and vegetable garden contests?
Why not a dozen little flower gardens,
surprise plots,' scattered over every
little city? They could be cared for
by the school children under the
supervision of appointed ''leaders.'
A little competition might be created
by dividing the town or city into
competing districts.
Why would it not be fine thing
for every third-class city, at least, to
have its whole school organized into
some productive contests = family
garden, flower garden, tomato con-
tests, potato contests, bread contests.
etc. = all to eliminate. in great
Exhibit Day" next September when
every child shall bring to the school
a sample of something grown or made
during the summer? Would it not
be a fine exhibit? Should a pupil
not have some school credit for such
work? For girl to bake fifty loaves
of bread during the summer might
be as educational as to diagram a
sentence from Paradise Lost or to
translate a sentence from Caesar.
Such an exhibit would bring to the
school building almost every man,
gan and child in the town. Then
child could have earned some
q 81, produced some food for the
IA r. contributed to the beauty of
the town and home, or made some
thing useful. One small town in
southwestern Kansas has already or
ganized its whole school into seven
contests-kafir, potato, tomato, fami-
ly garden, manual training, bread
and sewing. That school exhibit
will be worth seeing. Then the
children will grow enough vegetables
for the family tables and will get an
appreciation of the relation between
production and consumption they
could not get in any other way.
The institute officers, bankers and
commercial clubs that are neglecting
to promote tle Boys Corn Contests
are missing great opportunity. The
boys will fix our standards of produc--
ton. An extra five bushels of corn
per acre in towns trading territory
will be worth more to the town than
big factory. The banker who fails
to help interest bright boy in i'm
proved agriculture is driving nail
in the coffin of his own business The
saloon keepers in other states are al
ways putting out 'sbaits" for the
boys. Why should not the banker
encourage the bright boy to like
farming, to study farming, and to
become good farmer in that COM