292 ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



directious for the work, and then when harvest time comes, he re- 

 turns to help with the harvest, and note the results. This class of 

 experiments are very helpful, because they are based on accurate 

 observations. The next class is not so reliable, because they are 

 carried out by men who the Station does not know, and it can not 

 know how accurately the work may have been done. But in both 

 instances they find the men on whose farms the work was done 

 are very much interested, also the interest of the whole community 

 is usuall}^ aroused. The neighboring farmers are apt to tell one 

 another that "Bill Jones is carrying on one of those fool experiments 

 from the college," and if he is successful, they become interested, 

 and maybe next year three or four of them write and want to make 

 experiments for themselves. This is a line of work that is grov>'ing 

 very rapidly, and is particularly appreciated in the states where it 

 has been taken up, I will not go further in this line, because there 

 is two much ground to cover. 



Illinois has led in getting its boys interested in the line of corn 

 improvement. Then Indiana adopted the boy corn growers' move- 

 ment. The statement was made in my hearing that in one county 

 they had formerly produced an a\erage of 33 bushels of corn to the 

 acre. This year one hundred and forty boys, under eighteen year;^ 

 old, were each given an acre of ground in that county. These boys 

 grew the corn under the general direction of a representative of the 

 Experiment Station of that state. They selected the seed corn 

 according to his directions, and plantcG it according to his directions, 

 and what do you suppose was the average yield? Over 74 bushels of 

 shelled corn to the acre, or about 140 bushels, according to the way 

 you farmers count your corn. Yet the yield in that county before 

 had averaged onl}' 33 bushels to the acre! 



Illinois is a great corn state, and they are interested in corn, as 

 is shown by their experiments there, but our production is larger 

 per acre than theirs. Illinois took up the question, and the boys 

 took it up, and prizes w^ere offered. The latest development is on" 

 that I want to lay special stress on. A representative of the Experi 

 ment Station told me he went to several bankers of the state. Why 

 to the bankers? Because they are quick to see an opportunity to 

 make an investment. He succeeded in getting them to offer a 

 prize to the boys in the schools of the county who would make the 

 best showing raising corn. What is the prize; five or ten dollars, 

 which is forgotten almost as soon as received? No; it is a course 

 in the State College of eight or ten weeks. There they meet other 

 boys, and their interest is further aroused. Now, this action of the 

 bankers succeeded in getting the farmers in some of the counties 

 interested, and they say ''we don't need the bankers to do that for 

 our boys; we can do that ourselves," and they are offering their own 

 prizes, and not only getting the boys interested, but are getting 

 better farm work as a result. 



The results of their work have been published and may be secured 

 by those of you wdio wish to follow it up. 



Let me refer now to a class of work in which I am especially 

 interested: some of the extension work that is being done away 

 from the college — away from the classic halls. At the late expo- 



