Evening star., 1933-06-21
Provincial Manners of Farm Bows
Disappear Under Scientific Progress
Development of f. H
Clubs Results in
Change.
By WILLIAM HILL.

= CIENCE has lifted the veil OF
provincialism that once hung
| about the farm boy.
~ Gone u the proverbial wisp Of
hay and the bewildered look gen.
orally ascribed to him by his city cousin.
If those urban ideas ever were true,
| the All campers on the lawn near the
| New National Museum certainly indi-
| cate such ideas have gone the way Of
candlelight and horse-drawn street cars
For almost q week the occupants of
| the brown canvas city have been here,
discussing farm methods, seeing the
city, learning the intricacies Of govern
mental machinery and studying particu-
larly one Of its latest and most impor-
tant products-the farm relief measure
enacted by the special session 0 Con-
gresS.
Farm Problem Foremost.
Troublous times since 1929 have
focused national attention on the
farmer as one Of the keys to economic
recovery. As result, farm legislation
was one Of the first pieces Of emer-
gency legislation to emerge from the
congressional hopper.
And through the more than $50 boys
and girls of the All clubs encamped
here, the administration realizes It has
contact with the farm throughout the
country-a chance fully to educate agri-
culturists as to how the Government is
trying to help them through acreage
reduction and q processing tax.
The All movement is "a years old.
had county agents in most of the States
attempting to help the farmer raise
bigger and better crops.
White Collar Men Doubted.
Often the going was hard. Veteran
farmers were little shy Of the Gov
ernments white collar men who wanted
to show them how to grow corn. One
Texas farmer absolutely refused to CO.
operate with the county agent until
business men Of nearby town guaran-
teed to pay him profits equaling his
yield OF previous years in case the new
tangled" ideas wouldn't work. But the
ideas did work.
Federal cooperative demonstration
work grew. Because many boys were
as active on the farms as their fathers,
some Of the county agents extended
their aid to them also. The boys got
together with the agent and 1t was from
this beginning that the All movement
got its start.
DR.. Seaman A Knapp. who in 1909
was IN cnarge OF farm cooperative eX-
tension work in the Agriculture Depart
ment here, envisioned q national organ
ization Of farm youth and called o. B.
Martin, who was then State superin-
tendent Of education In South Carolina,
to take charge Of the work.
Mr.. Martin began organization In the
South. He formed agricultural clubs
among the farm boys, principally for
corn growing; taught them scientific
methods and encouraged them to learn
to do by doing"
Began Organizing Girls.
The next year Miss Marie Cromer.
also Of South Carolina, began ofsanix-
ing the girls into tomato canning and
poultry clubs y I
Boys and girls belonging to these
clubs were between 10 and 18 years. An
acre Of corn for the boys and tenth
Of an acre Of tomatoes for the girls
were the project units. For club mem
bership. handling Of each project by
the individual boy or girl was required
The movement spread to the North
In 1912. The year before that, how