Evening star., 1942-04-14
Maryland Farmers
Look 10 D. {. Boys
And Girls for Help
Conferences Held
To Map Plans for
Truining Centers

Steps were taken at two confer
ences in nearby Maryland yesterday
to train Washington adults and high
school boys and girls for work on
Maryland farms this summer.
At College Park, Md, DR.. T. B.
Symons. director Of the extension
service at the University Of Mary-
land, called d meeting to institute q
program similar to that which pro-
vided for the training at McDon-
ough School of some 400 Baltimore
boys for farm work. A committee
was formed at the conference. DR..
Symons said, to enroll persons from
Washington who wish to take the
course.
Meanwhile, farm leaders of Mont
gomery County met in the Office of
o. w. Anderson, county agent at
Rockville, to discuss tentative plans
to get high school students for sum-
mer harvest work.
Ickes Farm Offered.
DR.. Symons announced that Mrs.
Harold L. Ickes, wife of the Secre-
tary of the Interior, had offered
their Olney farm as training
center for Is boys, and other farm
owners in the same region had made
similar offers.
The extension service director ex-
planned that individual farms we're
needed to train Washington people
for farm work because facilities such
as those at McDonough were not
available in this section.
E. I. Oswald, assistant director of
the Extension Service, who headed
the committee that arranged for the
McDonough training, is chairman of
the committee formed yesterday.
Under the plans considered at
Rockville, boys over 16 would be
housed in the various county school
gymnasiuns and be taken to their
farm jobs by county bus. From 20
to so workers would be given accom-
modations in each school, depending
on facilities. The schools expected
to be used are at Damascus, Pooles-
vile, Sherwood and Gaithersburg,
Md.
Two Daily Meals at Schools.
The collective plan would include
provision of breakfast and supper at
the schools. The meals would be
prepared by girls being trained in
home economies The MONDAY meal
would be furnished by the farmers.
Members of the discussion group
said an equitable wage scale still
had to be developed, though the boys
were expected to put in regular
farmers working day, generally re-
garded as 10 hours.
A spokesman for the group said
he felt the farm labor situation in
the county was serious and that
farmhands must be found before
the pea and hay crops come along.
The tentative program also would
provide regular farm labor groups
such as thrashing crews. It also was
proposed that survey of county
farm labor needs be made prior
to establishing formal program.
Surplus Hoped For.
In addition to the labor groups, it
is hoped that enough boys may be
found in Washington and nearby
counties to provide individual work
ers where needed
Among those attending the meet
ing with Mr.. Anderson were j. D.
King, president Of the Montgomery
County Farm Bureau; w. w. Hodges,
bureau vice president; DR.. Edwin
Broome, county school superintend-
ent; Frank Davis. supervisor of
school property; Mrs. Mae Howard,
head of the Silver Spring employ
ment Office; Basil Mobley and VIII
liam Ward, dairy farmers; r. H.
Miller, jr., master of the Pamona
Grange; Thomas C. Darby, chair
man of the County Agricultural War
Board, and j. w. Jones, former
Farm Bureau president.