562 THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



The Corn Club Movement 

 in America. 



The followiniT paper was read 

 by Mr. F. C. Jackson at a recent 

 meeting of the Calinjjford branch 

 of the N.S.W. Aqricultural Burean: 



It deals with a question which 

 is of special interest to us, as 

 showing the rapid development of 

 a fonn of aj^ricultural education 

 which, thousrh \ et in its infancy in 

 • Australia, has great possibilities 

 for the future. Western Australia 

 has initiated a svstem of wheat 

 jrrowin'T for bovs on very much the 

 same 'lines, and so in lesser degree 

 have some of the other States. 



In 1909 ac^ricultural education in 

 America was greatlv stimulated by 

 the introduction of maize-growing 

 competitions into the schools of 

 the Southern States. 



The objects of the movement 

 were (i) to substitute modern me- 



thods of farming for obsolete 

 ones, and (2) to stop the increas- 

 ing exodus of rurals youths to 

 cities, bv making farming life 

 I'leasant, and demonstrating its en- 

 hanced profit tinder new conditions. 



The following table shows the 

 groAvth of the movement : — 



Year. No. of Members. 



1909 10,543 



1910 46,225 



191 1 56,840 



191 2 60,000 



The svstem differs from the 

 school gardens to which we are 

 accustomed in Australia, chiefly in 

 that each member of a com club 

 cultivates one acre of maize at 

 home on his father's land or on 

 rented ground, and keeps continu- 

 ous records of his operations and 

 expenditure, etc. At the end of 

 the season his acre is inspected, 

 and T)rizes are awarded on the fol- 

 lowing basis : — 



May. 1914 



c 



a ^. 

 +j 



X c 



s a 



(a) Greatest yield for acre 30 



(b) Best exhibit of 10 ears 20 



(c) Best written account, 



showing history of crop 20 



(d) Best showing of profit on 



investment, based on the 

 commercial price of corn' 30 



Total 100 



The boy whose land and labour 

 produce the greatest yield does 

 not necessarily win a prize, as 

 the cost of labour, fertilisers, etc., 

 may have been so great as to 

 make the farming unprofitable. 

 Every l>oy in a corn club must ex- 

 hibit at the local show 1; or if 

 there be no show in his village or 

 town, then a school show is held, 

 which often proves the origin of 

 an anntial district show. 



An essav m.ust be submitted, des- 

 cribing the season's operations, 

 since cN'ery boy should be able to 

 express in good English the rea- 

 sons for the various operations he 

 performs, and he should be able to 

 record his observations in a scien- 

 tific manner and to discuss agri- 

 culture intellig-ently. 



The competitor must f'lrnish a 

 financial statemient of the season's 

 operations. The market value of 

 his crop represents his receipts, 

 against which he has to charge jGi 

 for rent of land (even if his father 

 gives him the use of it free), 5d. 

 for every hour he works, 2^d. for 

 every hour he uses a horse, 4/2 

 for every load of manure (even if 

 he gets it for ndthling), and what- 

 ever commercial fertilisers he uses 

 at market prices. LWess he can 

 show that his method would pay 

 in farming on a large scale, then 

 he has little hope of obtaining a 

 prize, no matter how high his 

 yield may be. 



No difficulty is experienced in 

 America in obtaining valuable 

 prizes from Chambers of Com- 

 merce, Boards of Trade, railroads, 

 banks, and commercial men gener- 

 ally, who are only too anxiious to 

 increase the maize jrield, knowing 

 full well] that by so doing they 

 are stimulating commerce general- 

 ly. The State Governors issue 

 dinlomas to all bovs having a 

 yield of at least 75 bushels to the 

 acre, at a cost not exceedin? 1/3 

 per bushel, and the first pri7,e-^^■i^- 

 ner of each State is sent, at the 

 Government e^-^'""'--- ' - V.'^i.shing- 

 ton for one week, where he tin 



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