PART III— FOR CLUB LEADERS AND TEACHERS 



CHAPTER XXI 

 AGRICULTURAL CONTESTS AND CLUB WORK 



Much has been done in recent years in the organization 

 of boys' and girls' clubs. Most of these clubs have been very 

 successful in the work vehich they have undertaken. Local 

 clubs are first formed. In hundreds of cases these have been 

 organized into county clubs and a number of states have 

 state-wide organizations. 



Influence of Club Work. — Through their club work 

 young people have been-,affected in many ways. They observe 

 more closely and recognize good and bad qualities in crops they 

 raise. Insects and plant diseases are studied more closely. 

 The influence of soils, the effects of certain fertilizers and 

 special methods of tillage are studied more carefully. Their 

 views have been broadened by the reading of agricultural 

 bulletins, and visiting the work of special schools, highly 

 developed farms, and by visiting the work of their own com- 

 petitors. Practically they have in many cases been able to 

 decide which of the several lines they have undertaken will 

 be most profitable commercially, and some have undertaken 

 these commercial lines for themselves. Power of initiative has 

 thus been developed (Fig. 151). 



The value of organization and cooperation is brought out 

 by the club work — the value of working together to a com- 

 mon end, as the development of a good strain of seed corn or 

 poultry, or the cooperation in producing a uniform product for 

 a special market demand. All these points and many others 

 have been discovered in club work. 



A secondary influence, and yet a vital one, is the effect 

 upon the parents and other people of the community, where 



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