42 AITNTJAL EEPOETS OF DEPAETMENT OF AGEICULTTJEE. 



Boys' and girls' clubs. — Another important activity developed by 

 the department and the agricultural colleges prior to the passage 

 of the extension act and continued under the new machinery is the 

 boys' and girls' club vs^ork. In the Southern States this undertaking 

 is associated with the county-agent system; in the other States it is 

 conducted independently. Through it the extension agencies are 

 brought into close touch with the State and local school officers and 

 teachers, who cooperate in the formation and management of the 

 clubs. 



In the Southern States 110,000 boys and girls were enrolled during 

 the year. Among their activities the following are of special 

 interest : Of the 60,000 boys, many were interested in growing winter 

 legumes for soil improvement. Four-crop clubs were formed in 'some 

 of the States, with rotation on 3 acres of ground, to show the financial 

 advantage of improving soil fertility. Many of the boys were 

 organized into clubs to raise pigs and poultry. Fifty thousand girls 

 were enrolled in the canning clubs. They were taught to make home 

 gardens and to preserve for home use the garden products as well as the 

 waste fruits and vegetables of the entire farm. 



In the Northern and Western States the enrollment of boys and 

 girls was more than 150,000. The leading club projects were the grow- 

 ing of corn and potatoes and garden and canning work. Through 

 these clubs, work in crop rotation, soil building, and the proper dis- 

 tribution of labor and enterprises throughout the year was undertaken 

 by the boys and girls. Many members are working out three and 

 four year rotations of crops and are spending their net profits in the 

 purchase of pure-bred stock, hogs, poultry, sheep, and labor-saving 

 machinery for both farm and kitchen. Numbers of them are buying 

 land, thus early acquiring the habit of thrift and the sense of the 

 dignity of land ownership. At 938 public demonstrations in the 

 home canning of fruits and vegetables 118,000 persons were in at- 

 tendance, including more than 50,000 women and 10,000 men. Of the 

 1,557 club members who attended the midwinter short courses at the 

 colleges of agriculture, 9G8 had their expenses paid by the local 

 people, institutions, or organizations as a recognition of their achieve- 

 ments. 



Extension specialists. — The agricultural colleges for many years 

 have done a large amount of extension work through the members 

 of their faculties and the experiment-station staffs. At first this was 



