Williams news., 1916-06-22
By MELVIN RYDER.

fV Ohio said about the seventeen-year old
 LN corn and wheat champion grower of g SS N the Buckeye state. after hearing the & 4 boy tell over thousand farmers how
 lS2 they ought to go about raising corn
 1SST and wheat in order to get three and fo"r times as large yields per at much less cost per bushel and much greater profits per acre
 The secret of the success of the boys and girls club work and the dozen different projects which the farmers of the future' are carrying on so successfully is to be found in Governor Willis uve-worded remark. The boys who are showing tae men how to farm the heroes of the agri- cultural world of today. They are the evangests "no are carrying the gospel of better farming into every section of the state and showing their fla thers and mothers how to farm better and how to live better on the farms.
 The United States department of agriculture is. Tn charge of this work. Their experts have built up national organization with each state and county as a unit and their paid agents are in enarge or the details of organization and tabula. tioh or all the work that has been done and is to De done The season of 1916 is now under way and even the most optimistic in charge hesitate to predict how far the boys and girls will go before the seasons results are known in solving the problems before the farmers of today and leading these same farmers into the bigger and happier farming life that is possible through the use of better methods and the gaining of better crops of higher quality and market value
 Not many years ago Southern lad larry Moore startled the entire country by growing more corn on one acre than many farmers are pow growing on ten acres. Newspapers and maea zines throughout the country commented on his excellent work. and predicted that farmers would ma that they might also grow larger and better quality crops if they would follow his methods They did not realize until after the next season lust what this boys achievement was worth to the country not until they learned that the entire south was following Jerry Moore and growing more corn that sold for millions of dollars
 Each year the work of the boys and girls has grown and the end is farther than ever away ithe boys have been specializing in growing crops aud live stock. the girls in tending gardens can. uing farm products and studying home eco ,naniics and better home1ife. In numbers the boys and girls are several times greater than the stand ing army of the United States In enthusiasm they are far ahead of any other organized body in the world. In importance and in recorded results the world has never seen the equal of the same boys and girls. And the season of 1916 has just opened the season that is certain to double or triple in results the last and greatest season of 1915.
 To best understand what the boys and girls found when they started their work it is neces- sary to look back through the centuries and see how the science of farming began. The occupa- ton of farming is one of the oldest in the history ef the world. When men knew little else, they knew how to plant seed and reap harvest that was sufficient for their daily needs During many centuries, the farmer plodder, who worked thate he and his family might exist. Probably he found little joy and happiness in his work The production of life in seed was @ mystery to him. and he accepted the mystery without trying to solve It. 1t was enough that the plant grew and produced fruit, and the early farmer never asked himself how he could treat his soil and the seed so that it would produce twofold instead of one There was plenty of land, and when one field did not produce we'll he moved to another field or region. and did not bother about the first area
 There came time, however when his soil be- came barren in great areas. The seed no longer grew as it had and the plants were weak and the fruit of little value Then it was that science stepped in and the really scientific farming had a sEart Science showed that soil that had been cropped until 1t was partly worn out could be re- stored to its productive ability by the return of the elements that had been removed Science showed the farmer that the soil was live thing and that the life in the soil must be maintained It examined the roots of the plants and studied the way that the plant transforms the raw ma terials in the soil into the finished product of the fruit of the plant. It found that some plants had nodules on their roots that were filled with bac. teria which had the power to take up nitrogen from the air. and it found many other truths that have since been the basis for much of the work done by agricultural teachers
 During the last ten years the advance of the science of farming has been very rapid but the practical application by the farmers of the prin. ciples and practices that have been proved yal,,- able has not kept pace with the discoveries It is the boys and girls who catching up and there
 u is the explanation of the results that they have been getting Their parents might have done the same things. but they did not. The boys who are growing corn started where their fathers left of and put into practice the teaching that the fathers considered impractical theories In most cases the parents kept their hands off, so far as the boys acres were concerned. Many of them were suspicious of the entire work. and were content to Let their boys enter because. they thought that wonid be the best way for the young 'uns" to be