106 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



Nor is this all that has been done. Banks, commercial firms 

 and farm papers have entered the field in behalf of the Junior 

 farmers. We have at present a department in Hoard's Dairy- 

 man which we are devoting entirely to the dairy farm boy. In- 

 sofar as we can, we are trying to interest him, through his read- 

 ing, in the dairy farm, and I believe that our efforts are meet- 

 ing with a fair degree of success. Many of the banks through 

 the country are establishing boy and girl clubs to introduce bet- 

 ter stock into the community ; other banks and commercial firms 

 are offering prizes to clubs already established. We are al? 

 awake to the fact, that the farm boys and girls are of extreme 

 importance to us and that it is to our advantage to aid them 

 where we can. 



Now let us get back to the individual question, "How can 

 I best interest this boy in the dairy farming game?" I believe 

 the answer lies in those two principles employed by the organ- 

 izers of boys' and girls' clubs, namely : ownership and compe- 

 tition. A story which Mr. Fred Merrill of the DeLaval Separa- 

 tor Company tells illustrates very well what ownership means to 

 a boy. Mr. Merrill it seems was brought up on a farm and was 

 one of a family of several boys. It so happened that one day it 

 fell to the lot of one of his brothers to take care of several half- 

 grown calves. He had to keep them out*of a certain field, and, 

 as often happens, these calves persisted in going where they did 

 not belong. Two or three times the boy drove them back, but 

 finally they eluded him and got into the forbidden territory. 

 Then he lost his temper, and half crying, as a boy will when lie 

 is very angry, he started after them, shouting, "Damn all those 

 calves to hell but Cherry's and that's mine." 



That boy, young as he was, owned something connected 

 with the farm and was interested in it. To-day I am told he is 

 a farmer, and a very successful one. Possibly Cherry's calf 

 didn't have anything to do with his success, but it is more than 

 probable that it did. 



Now that spirit of ownership is more or less dominant in 

 every boy. He wants something that he can call his own and 

 naturally to the farm boy some farm animal is most desirable. It 

 may be a calf, a pig, a colt or a lamb, but it is sure to be some- 

 thing and right here I believe is the opportunity to begin inter- 

 esting that ]>oy in the farming game. 



