The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1916-06-17

kept on the farms and contented. Now the atti-
tude has been changed and the parents are as
deeply interested as the boys and girls themselves,
and in many states and sections the parents and
children are contesting between themselves in or
der to see which can grow the bigger crops. A
notable instance of this was shown in Bartholo-
NEW county, Indiana, where two years ago the
boys beat the parents by a wide margin in the
production of corn per acre, but where last year
the parents came back" by making their acres
yield more than the acres titled by the boys.
This year the boys have put their heads together
and have their plans laid to win back the records.
Rapid as has been the advance of agriculture
during the last ten years. the future is going to be
filled with more wonderful revelations, through
the work of the boys and girls and the inspiration
that their work has been upon the farmers Of to-
day. If in the last ten years a farm has been able to
produce double its former crops, the next ten
years it will produce four times as much per acre
with proper soil treatment and cultivation. On
the acre of ground that last year yielded 200
bushels of potatoes. 400 and 600 bushels will be
raised, because the boys have demonstrated that
such yields can be produced. Over in the field
where 80 bushels of corn was considered a good
crop-in a state where the average yield was only
a few bushels more per acre-at least 80 to 100
bushels per acre will be raised in the future. be-
cause such boys as Dewey Hanes of Ohio raised
1887 bushels per acre, and the winners in some
other states outgrew him
'True education" is the basis for the work that
the boys and girls are doing. The clubs are the
mediums of practical instruction in the common
duties of the farm and farm homes. The boys are
taught better methods of farming, and the girls
are taught better home methods. The agricultural
colleges and experiment stations are finding that
the boys and girls are better teachers and more
practical because they are carrying
the entire country with them toward better farm
ing and better living ON the farm. The "old folks"
are learning the value of crop rotation, the use
of fertilizers and manures. the need of proper
tillage, good seed, and the other factors that en-
ter into the efficient management of the soil and
the farm.
How can the parents help the boys and girls
is the question being asked the leaders in the club
work by farmers in every section of the United
States. Parents can and should help by encour-
aging them to enter the contests and organized
clubs, and allowing the children the time from
regular work with farm chores to tend their own
plots of ground. The children should feel that
they are partners on the farms.
Parents, think what this work means to you be-
fore you refuse to help. You don't want your
children to have the same hardships, the same
toll with little to show for the years spent such
as many of you have had in the past. You don't
want your children to have the same discourage
ments because Of seasons when the crops were
poor and the market prices were low. You don't
want your children leaving the farms and taking
up lines of work that are less profitable. healthful
and productive of happiness.
You cannot afford to refuse your support and
your cooperation during the coming season. From
a financial reason alone-if for no higher reason
you cannot afford to go on with the anne methods
that you have bean using in growing your crops
and getting only half the yields that you should
receive.
If your boys can raise four times as much corr