The weekly soliphone., 1917-04-19
ARKANSAS TOWNS
 10 BE SELF-FED
Boys and Girls Agricultural Clubs To Aid In Development Of
 Plan, Under State Leader.

w. J. Jernigan, state leader in charge of the Boys and Girls Az ricultural Clubs, with the eXten- sion division of the U. of A. and the U. s. Department of Agriculture, has developed a plan whereby all the small towns in Arkansas will be asked to feed themselves during the coming year In speaking of the plan, MT. Jepnigan says:
 "The increased, membership and quantity of food products which will be raised by the farmers, rural boys and girls during the coming year and the campaign to develop backyard and vacant lot gardens throughout the state will, undoubt edly, relieve the food situation con- siderably; however, other means must be taken to insure each com munity of a sufficient food supply and a plan has been evolved where by this is made possible. According to this plan, all boys between the ages of 10 and IS, particularly high school boys, will be enlisted in the Agricultural Preparedness Clubs. These boys will not devote their time to back yard and vacant lot gardens but each boy will be asked to raise at least one acre of some staple crop near the city limits of his home town.
 Land owners living in the var ioEs towns in Arkansas will be urged to donate the use of 10 acres of land to these high school boys for the growing of food crops. The parents of the boys or the people of the town will lend the horses and implements with which to cul- tivate the land. The boys will vol Nntecr for service and be organ izcd into squads of 10. Each squad will cultivate 10 acres of land in q block, thus the boys can work to- gethcr and their work can be care fully supervised. The land owner on whose land the work is done may act as captain, but if this is inn possible, some other man selected. in the community may do the work. Large communities will be expect cd to organize more than one squad ! of boys and cultivate more than one ten-acre tract. In this case the boys should not only be given of fcial recognition by granting them the agricultural preparedness but tons, but competition should be created between the squads by of fering small prizes or by giving special recognition"
 "The boys will not be asked to raise garden truck on, these tracts. Instead, they will be expected to raise staple food crops other than vegetables, such as corn, peanuts, potatoes, etc,
 'The clubs which are organized will be placed under the supervis- ion of a practical farmer or the county agricultural agent.
 "In practically every community a commissary committee will be ap- pointed to establish storage houses in which these products can be kept until the town needs them as source of food supply. No food sup plies produced according to this plan will be sold outside of the community unless the commissary committee decides there is surplus which the community does not need
 Communities desiring to put this plan into operation should tel ephone their county agents. Coun- ties that do not have a county agent should get in touch with MT. Jerni- |, gan, at the Old State House, Little Rock, who will supply bulletins and other agricultural information for the asking. Wherever feasible, spec ial attention will be made to send ], an agricultural expert to outline