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OREGON ORGANIZING COUNTRY CHILDREN

BY

MUSA GEER

ESS than ten years ago, State Superintendent Alderman, in a little Yamhill County school in Oregon, saw the children of the school taking up a collection to buy popcorn. At the same time, he saw a plot of vacant ground near the school house, and it occurred to him that they might better raise the popcorn than buy it.

From that idea 60,000 children have become better citizens. They have raised not only popcorn, but chickens, pigs, melons, potatoes, asters, roses, almost every thing that grows.

Many prejudices were broken down and, without realizing it, the fathers learned from the boys much that was efficient.

In the meanwhile the Oregon Agricultural College, the coöperating influence between the Oregon farmers and the scientists, established the "extension farm movement." This not only aids the parents, but helps the children. Provision was made by the college for a field worker to visit farming centres all over the state. Information was given out telling about ways to increase acreage yield, rotation of crops, better market facilities, more economical and better cooking.

The schools soon became the social centres, where a community spirit grew. This year lantern slides and phonographic records of the world's good music will instruct and entertain these gatherings.

The State Bankers' Association, when they heard of the idea, called it "earth education" and lent their aid to it. Two years later, Mr. O. M. Plummer, secretary and treasurer of the Portland Union Stock Yards, became convinced of the value of the children's work and, through his organization, helped to publish fifty thousand copies of a booklet that gave practical and scientific information on "How to Raise Prize-Winning Pigs." At the same time, the Commercial Club of Portland put out a similar publication on "Boys and Girls on the Egg Problem." Both these booklets were distributed to the pupils in all parts of the state. Superintendent Alderman wrote the profits from a fifteen-dollar prize on a teachers a letter in which he said:

Ask the children if they know how to grow potatoes, pumpkins, corn, etc. Ask how many of them like watermelons or muskmelons. Ask them if they know how to feed chickens; if they know that if they buy three settings of eggs from one neighbor and three hens from another, and in March put the two together, they will probably raise some prize winners for the fair. The children of Oregon can double the egg production in three years.

A marvelous interest was awakened in the boys and girls of Oregon. Gardens were laid out at home and at school. Good work brought good results and gained the hearty support of the parents.

The Oregon State Fair, in 1912, spent $3,500 in prizes for school industrial work. The railroads and electric lines gave free transportation to all displays that were made by the children. One little girl, who lived off the railroad, wheeled her prize-winning chickens two miles in a baby buggy to the fair. Another little girl, seven years old, put thirty dollars in the bank after the fair was over-her net

trained colt, a five-dollar prize for the biggest watermelon, and other cash prizes for vegetable displays. The best cake was baked by a twelve-year-old boy.

The Oregon legislature of 1913 passed a measure providing an appropriation to defray the expenses and salaries of two industrial field workers, who are to visit every county in the state, make a study of representative schools in every county, and file reports of existing conditions with. the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. One result of the hog-raising contest in 1912 was that enough pigs were raised by the boys and girls to supply the Portland Union Stock Yards for three months without any outside help.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT FARM LANDS

86.-Q. We think of starting a meat market and grocery store in Brooklet, Bulloch County, Georgia, and of raising lots of hogs as well. What do you think of the place and the plan?

A. The census of 1910 gives the population of Brooklet as 361, which we consider scarcely a large field for the commercial side of your plan. The hog-raising phase ought to be well adapted to conditions in the county, in connection with general farming. The percentage of improved land on farms is steadily increasing, and the average value of land has risen from $4.48 to nearly $22 an acre in ten years. We advise a careful study of the United States Soil Survey of Bulloch County, 1910, as your next step.

87.-Q. I want to take up a Government homestead, but hardly know which state to choose. How would you compare Colorado and Minnesota for fruit raising or general farming on such lands?

A. Outside of the Government irrigation projects there is to-day comparatively little homestead land that is really valuable for farming, especially for fruit raising. Such opportunities as there are, are likely to be better in Colorado for the specialized types of agriculture, and in Minnesota for general farming and dairying. We suspect that the traveling expenses involved in locating a satisfactory homestead would almost equal the total cost of buying better land that could be found with less search.

88.-Q. May I inquire about agricultural conditions in Sherman and Decatur counties, Kansas? Is there sufficient rainfall, or a supply of water for irrigation; and what crops are grown?

A. Conditions in these counties are thoroughly discussed in the Reconnaissance Soil Survey of Western Kansas, 1910, which you can obtain free from the United States Department of Agriculture. For more detailed climatic data ask the Weather Bureau at Washington for Section 38 of the Summary of Climatological Data. The chief crops and their acreages in Sherman County, according to the 1910 census, were: corn, 171,034 acres; wheat, 54,074; alfalfa, 41,624; wild grasses, 21,553; coarse forage, 8,776; and oats, 7,388; and in Decatur County, corn, 109,002 acres;

wheat, 80,771; coarse forage, 14,705; alfalfa, 8,658; wild grass, 6,565; and barley, 5,717.

89.-Q. A friend and myself, both familiar with practical and scientific agricultural methods, think of starting a farm on the order of the Taft Ranch described in the January WORLD'S WORK, though, of course, much smaller. We wish to raise cattle, hogs, horses, poultry, fruit, and vegetables. Our capital is $13,000. Which of the following states do you consider best suited to our purpose: Arkansas, Texas, California, or Oregon?

A. Either the Ozark country of Arkansas and Missouri or eastern Texas ought to supply the necessary items of cheap land, mild climate, sufficient rainfall, and sufficient available acreage to permit future expansion. Soil and climate are excellent in California and western Oregon, but prices are likely to be prohibitive. In our opinion, the success of the Taft Ranch depends as much upon the magnitude of its operations as upon any other element. As $13,000 is probably a small fraction of the investment it represents, you are, in this respect at least, somewhat handicapped. However, many of the details of management on the Taft place should prove successful on other farms whether large or small.

90.-Q. Please advise what a young married man, in danger of losing a $2,000 position through a change in his business. should do with $4,500 as an investment. I have a liking for farming, but do you think two people, willing to work hard, could get a living from a small farm for a year or two, looking toward success later?

A. We believe that two people endowed with health, a real love for the country, and, if possible, some farm knowledge, could make a success of farming with $4,500 in several parts of the country, but it is for you to choose whether your investment shall be in this direction or along financial lines. We frankly believe that a good farm will give greater returns for the amount invested than the strongest 4 per cent. or 5 per cent. bonds, but, of course, the paying ability of the farm depends on the investor himself, whereas the return from stocks and bonds does not. You must expect, however, to take at least two years, and probably four or five, to get really established.

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D. S. JORDAN 277 SARAH COMSTOCK 279 J. W. HARRINGTON 286

A NEW ART IN HEALTH EXHIBITS (Illus.)
WHO GOVERN THE UNITED STATES II (Illus.) ARTHUR W. PAGE 293
THE NEW FREEDOM VII -

CONSERVATION THAT PAYS ITS WAY
GERMANY: A MODEL OR A WARNING?

WOODROW WILSON 302
E. T. ALLEN 310
SAMUEL P. ORTH 315

THE TRUTH ABOUT TUBERCULOSIS - - EDGAR ALLEN FORBES 321 DANA GATLIN 325 H. W. LANIER .341

AMUSING AMERICA'S MILLIONS (Illustrated)
CONQUERING THE COST OF LIVING (Illustrated)
"THE ANGEL OF THE ROUNDHEADS"
NINE PATRIOTIC INVENTORS -

THE MARCH OF THE CITIES

PHILADELPHIA'S WOOLEN STOCKING

FORWARD TO THE LAND

THE VALUE OF GOOD NEIGHBORS
HOSPITALS FOR COUNTRY FOLK

G. L. PRICE 349 FRANKLIN FISHER 352

TERMS: $3.00 a year; single copies, 25 cents. For Foreign Postage add $1.28: Canada 60 cents. Published monthly. Copyright, 1913, by Doubleday, Page & Company. All rights reserved. Entered at the Post Office at Garden City, N. Y., as second-class mail matter

Country Life in America

CHICAGO

357

358

359

The Garden Magazine - Farming

GARDEN CITY
N. Y.

S. A. EVERITT, Treas. RUSSELL DOUBLEDAY, S.

1118 Peoples Gas Bldg. DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY,

F. N. DOUBLEDAY, President H. S. HOUSTON, Vice-President

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THE

WORLD'S
WORK

JULY, 1913

VOLUME XXVI

NUMBER 3

I

THE MARCH OF EVENTS

T IS a good time to have confidence not only in the essential prosperity of the country but in one another. It is unfortunately a common thing to hear people in business speak in condemnation of all men in politics, and similarly unfortunate that men in political life hold an attitude of suspicion toward men of business. The trouble arises mainly in the difference in their viewpoints. It is strikingly exemplified at times by the experiences of business men who go into politics, and vice versa. They are confronted with new sets of facts and conditions which very often make a great difference in the angle of their vision. There are, of course, business men with no outlook outlook beyond their pocketbooks, but they are probably fewer than at any other time in the history of the country. There are men in politics with narrow views and unworthy purposes,

Each group is afraid that the other will "play politics" and do them an injury.

A great deal of money and, what is more important, a great many reputations could be saved if the men of business and the men of politics could come to understand each other with intelligence and charity. In both pursuits there are many indications that American morals are improving and improving rapidly. The attitude of employers toward labor is very different from what it was twenty-five or even fifteen years ago. There is less sharp practice than there used to be. And the attitude of business toward the public has changed for the better. In politics, the last few years have seen vigorous fights against many forms of "honest graft" that long existed unmolested. Campaign contributions with strings to them are done with, and we have even come to a day when a President publicly denounces the profession of lobbyist which has flourished in Washington for generations. With conditions so much improved and the illegitimate relations between business and politics less and less active, it is surely time to begin to build up a feeling of mutual confidence and respect between the men in these pursuits. Copyright, 1913, by Doubleday, Page & Co. All rights reserved

but even a casual investigation will convince any one that our politics is cleaner than ever before. There are exceptions in both groups, wicked men in both business and politics, but the humanity underlying both classes is much the same, particularly in the ability clearly to see the shortcomings of the other.

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