. The story of agriculture in the United States. both by correspondence and by consultationwith the agent. The agent holds meetings on thesedemonstration farms, gathering there not only thefarmers of the vicinity, but also business men andothers. Notv, if there is virtue in the seed and in the scientificmethods prescribed by the directors of this work, theresult will show in better crops; and this has proved tobe the case. Corn crops have been from fifty to onehundred and fifty per cent larger, and cotton crops haveaveraged from forty to more than one hundred andfifty per cent larger on these
. The story of agriculture in the United States. both by correspondence and by consultationwith the agent. The agent holds meetings on thesedemonstration farms, gathering there not only thefarmers of the vicinity, but also business men andothers. Notv, if there is virtue in the seed and in the scientificmethods prescribed by the directors of this work, theresult will show in better crops; and this has proved tobe the case. Corn crops have been from fifty to onehundred and fifty per cent larger, and cotton crops haveaveraged from forty to more than one hundred andfifty per cent larger on these demonstration farmsthan elsewhere. Thus, by actual tests, the farmersare being shown that deeper plowing, better drainage, THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 321 selected seed, intensive cultivation, the us^ of fertilizers,and rotation will do all that has been claimed for themby the chemists, the biologists, and all the other expertsand professors who have for many years been teachingthese things. In connection with this work, Dr. Knapp also began. Boys Corn Club the organization of boys corn clubs. Each boy whojoined such a club agreed to cultivate an acre of cornunder the direction of the Department of first, local bankers and business men subscribedmoney to purchase the best seed. The boy membersof these clubs agreed to study the literature sent out bythe Department and to follow its directions many instances, when this was done, the boys cropswent far ahead of those raised by their fathers! 32 2 AGRICULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES Then there were prizes given, generally by the businessmen, in each locality. Other prizes were awarded atcounty and State fairs. In 1909, the boy winners ofState prizes in Mississippi, Arkansas, Virginia, andSouth Carolina were given by the Department a trip toWashington, where they spent a week seeing the sights. This is only the beginning of the story of farm demon-stration work. The corn clubs were followed by clubsfor raisi
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectagriculture, bookyear
