I4I6 



Rural School Leaflet 



which had come from each potato that I had planted to see which was the 

 poorest tmit and which the best. After that I weighed all of the potatoes 

 and put them away where they might be seen by any one who might be 

 interested. All of these potatoes weighed five hundred and seventy-one 

 pounds. I picked out ten of the smoothest, nicest looking potatoes and 

 entered them at our school festival. Four of them weighed nearlv two 



Gilbert Cummings and the thoroughbred Holstein bull calf that he won at the fair at Morris, 



New York 



pounds and a quarter. At our fair I received first prize — five dollars. 

 By getting a first prize here I was encoiu^aged to enter the county contest 

 at the Morris, New York, fair. The Otsego County Farm Bureau had 

 offered a Holstein bull calf as the first prize at this fair. There were about 

 one hundred and twenty-five entries at the Morris fair, but I was fortiinate 

 to win the bull calf. 



I think the school fair, or festival as we have called it, is a good thing 

 because it gets children interested in seeing what they can do to produce 

 something themselves. Even though all cannot wdn the first prize, more 

 is produced than if no effort is made. The township school fair brings 

 the children of the different districts of the tow^nship together in healthy 

 competition. The Morris fair is the last fair of the year in Otsego County 

 and it is just late enough to receive the best entries of farm products. 

 It comes about the first of October. Here all the school children who had 

 won prizes in the different towns of the county made their entries ; and in 

 addition to these there were many other entries of potatoes and other farm 

 products. An agricultural fair of this kind is of value to those interested 

 in agriculture, because here the fanner can see what other farmers are 

 raising. 



The calf which I won is nearly white. He is a thorough-bred, registered 



