The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-05-09
FOUR-CROP CLUBS FOR
 ALABAMA AND GEORGIA BOYS

ALABAMA AND GEORGIA BOYS Considerable interest is being evinced in the agricultural clubs for country girls and boys, particularly the tomato and l the corn clubs directed by the extension departments of the state technical schools and the four-crop clubs under the auspices of the agricultural department of the Central of Georgia railway. For boys who live in the country this club work is major interest. 1t is certainly hard work and can scarcely be called a diversion; but it is a source of I interest and of a good deal of pleasure aside from the financial profits and tirs honors and prizes won by those who are most successful.
 | The four-crop clubs are an extension | of the corn clubs and are open to boys l living in counties of Alabama and Geor- gia that are traversed by the Central of Georgia railway.
 In 1911, 1912 and 1913 the company was active in promoting and establishing in terest in the corn clubs. It directed clubs and gave prizes and in this way helped to start club work among the out-of- town boys During these three years the state prizes given by the company were live stock, in order that the boys might be encoura ged to farm There were a pair of mules and two pairs of Percherons. For county contestants there were 30 cash piiItc tl f-D taciir llo pure DFcu ' pigs and 8 scholarships to tue agricul- :, tural short course in Georgia--a total of I 204 prizes.
 | Last year the company offered prizes l for boys four-crop contests instead of 1 for corn club contests. This was an ad- vance step in boys club work and was | made possible by the corn clubs of the preceding years. The boys were already I experienced in cotton growing and l trough the corn clubs they have learned | how to grow corn. Hence it was time to
 make further progress in farming. | The Centrals agricultural department | announced to the boys last year that each l contestant, instead of having an acre of 1 corn, would cultivate three acres, one in | cotton, one in corn and one in oats fol- l lowed by cowpea hay, making four crops on three acres. The prizes given were Percheron horses as state prizes in 10th l Alabama and Georgia, one being awarded l to the Alabama boy and one to the Geor- 1 gia boy making the best records with l their crops. The county prizes in coun- l ties where 24 or more boys were contest 1 ing were registered Shorthorns, and in counties in which there were from to | 25 contestants the prizes were pure bred | Berkshire pigs. Of the 30 prize winners l in the latter clubs. where there were less | than 20 contestants in a county 22 took | the pigs and eight Georgia boys chose | tne OptlOnal prlZe or Szo ScnOlarSn1pS l the agricultural short course. The state
 and county prizes totaled in value $26O0. 1 The yield made by these boys on diff | ferent crops show some interesting re- suits. The official figures, furnished by | the state organizers of boys club work show that the boys made an average net profit of $53. 80 on each of the three acres | cultivated. The average net profit from the cotton acres was s3S 51, from the corn l acres S5S Se and a tod
 in oats followed by hay the average net profits were $62.54.
 | The results from the acres planted in oats followed by cowpea hay, crops that are new to them, are strong argument for 'diversification of crops and for the inn portance of this as valuable combina- tion crop.
 It is believed that these four-crop clubs
 and contests will stimulate as great an ambition among the farmers for diversi-
 fled farming as the corn clubs have stim-
 ulated for growing more and better corn
 Any boy between 10 and 21 years living
 in county of Alabama or Georgia through which the Central of Georgia railway passes may enter the contest in his county and compete for the state prize or for a county prize. provided he may have three acres of ground to culti- vate. They may be separate or NSgether, ! and one is to be planted in corn, one in cotton and the third in winter oats fol- lowed by cowpea hay. Twenty-Five or
 more contestants in a country are, re- | quired to form four-crop club: and the railways prizes are for four-crop con tests only, but the acre in corn may also be entered in any local, country or state corn club contest
 The prizes will be awarded for the best total yield of all four crops at the great est net profit and a written account of how the crops were made will be re- | quired at the close of the contest
 The two state agricultural representa- l tives, MT. Duncan at Auburn and Mr. | Campbell at Athens, Ca, are actively at | work with the clubs and many of the boys have their work we'll under way Upon the advice of experts it has been decided to give pure bred live stock as
 county prizes this year, as the boys have shown an interest in stock raising and
 in farming on their own responsibility
 and in having something of their own in | their fathers farms.