from the 20 acres purchased last. I planned to add all modern
conveniences to the house. A lighting system has been installed and
I plan to put in a complete water system next year. I have sheds
for housing the farm tools when not in use, and insist that they
be kept there. My net income averages around $2,000 per year. I
have sold $1,600 worth of green peas this season and just to-day
received $300 in small checks from neighboring farmers for seeds
and plants grown by me. My farm is self-supporting. I do not buy
anything that I can grow, and sell all surplus crops. I have eight
children, all of whom are being educated as fast as they are ready
for it. Two of my children are graduates of Hampton Institute.
I was one of the first to take up demonstration work in Gloucester
County and through it showed that money could be made out of
growing garden peas and other truck crops. Since most people at
that time were practicing fishing and oystering, no one believed
that truck gardening could be successful. When my success became
known, one after the other began to take it up until to-day
Gloucester County has become a great trucking center.
What success I have had in land buying, soil improvement, home
making, and education of my children may be credited to the
extension service through its agents who have rendered me most
valuable service for which I am deeply grateful.
In Gloucester County, Va., more than 90 per cent of the heads of
negro families own their own homes, the jail is usually empty, and
the courts have little to do.
[Illustration:
FIG. 10.—Herschell Glenn, of Rockdale County, Ga., who made
a profit of over $265 through club work in 1924. (Photograph
furnished by Georgia Extension Service)
]
One of the best records made in boys’ club work in 1924 was made by
Herschell Glenn, of Rockdale County, Ga. (Fig. 10.) He made a profit
of over $265 on his club work during the year and also had for his
own use 15 bushels of corn and a pig weighing 200 pounds. He has
had the satisfaction of knowing that his good work has aroused and
inspired hundreds of other boys in Georgia, including a large number
in his own community and county, who will try to excel his record in
1925. In reporting to his local agent he used the following simple
and expressive language:
I had 2 acres in cotton. My total cost was $31.50; the total amount
of seed cotton, 3,150 pounds; total value of seeds and lint cotton,
$289.52; net profit, $265.85; and net profit per acre, $132.90.
My corn did not do so well. I only got 15 bushels from my acre. I
hope to do better next year. My pig is fine. I have fed her six
months. She weighs 200 pounds. I am proud to be a club boy and will
continue next year.
A negro home demonstration agent in Wayne County, N. C., gave a
very good statement which indicates what is being done by negro
women agents in changing home conditions. It will be noted that
she followed the desirable plan of putting other people forward to
give testimony and express the sentiments of her people. There is a
fine recognition of individual effort and community cooperation in
this method of reporting which might well be commended to extension
workers generally.
I have been in the county two years and seven months. It is a
pleasure to note the improvement of the people along every line.
They eat better food, sleep in more fresh air, are happier at work,
take better care of their children, have higher ideals, and have
learned to sell the surplus food instead of wasting it and to buy
things which they need. More important than tangible results are
their changed ideas and attitude toward the work. One man speaking
at a community meeting said: “The agent has put new life into
dead bones. I feel better and am doing better and everybody in
the neighborhood is doing better whether he belongs to the club
or not.” In the same meeting a woman said: “I am 57 years of age,
have 20 children, 45 grandchildren, and 7 great grandchildren, but
have learned more in two years about caring for children, my home,
and health than I had learned in 55 years before. I have 7 milk
cows and 75 hens. I sell eggs, milk, butter, apples, peanuts, and a
few other little things and now I can see day breaking. I am just
learning how to live.”
The negro home demonstration agent of Autauga County, Ala., sketches
a general outline of progress which goes into a little more detail in
regard to the various activities. She says:
Gardening is no longer a part-time project, but is carried on
through the year by both women and girls engaged in club work. We
have been able to keep vegetables the year round, even though we
have had a long dry spell. The number of insects and other pests,
such as worms and plant lice, have been kept down by the constant
use of soapsuds and wood ashes. Our winter gardens are doing fine.
I feel that beautifying the home and surroundings should get first
consideration, due to the fact that most of the time is spent in
the house. Homes have been whitewashed, yards cleaned, and flowers
planted in each case. Instructions have been given from time to
time in the care and handling of a cow and the care and handling
of milk in the home. Very few women are taking this instruction,
but these few are making and saving money. One separator and six
sanitary milk pails have been bought this year. We have worked hard
this year with poultry, trying to do away with scrubs and put in
more standard breeds. I have succeeded in getting 30 women and 5
girls to buy standard-bred eggs. As a result we have 1,300 more
standard-bred chickens this year than we had last year. Our aim is
to turn out 100 pullets on each yard.
Canaan community in Montgomery County, Ala., furnishes a fine example
of the ultimate objective of home demonstration work among negroes.
It is a good illustration of the fact that demonstrations are
progressive. When one step is taken and success is achieved, the very
situation is a stimulus to additional steps until the whole home and
its environment become an inspiring object lesson of better living.
The following story indicates that practically all the homes in that
community are in various stages of advancement in extension work:
Almost every house in Canaan community shows signs of effort in
home improvement, and the demonstration home of this community is
now in process of development. The house has been remodeled and
the interior decoration completed. Plans for the yards, walls,
and fences are under way. This community also leads in bedspread
making, having 15 finished bedspreads. It is the plan of the agent
to have one demonstration home complete in each community where
demonstration work is carried on. The Smothers’ home at Mount Meigs
is the best example of home improvement in Montgomery County. The
State agent and the landscape specialist, with the cooperation
of the county agricultural agent, laid off the walks, surveyed
the road, and planted the shrubs, flowers, and Bermuda grass. The
owner found that his two-room house was not in keeping with his
surroundings and so he decided to remodel. He and his wife left
the plans of the house entirely to the judgment of the State and
county home-demonstration agents and were satisfied with the plans
for an addition of three rooms, a kitchen, back porch, bathroom,
and an 8-foot L porch. The plans were executed by an architect at
Tuskegee Institute. The construction is now complete and as soon
as the plasterers are through, the furniture will be installed.
At the request of Mr. and Mrs. Smothers, the home-demonstration
agent helped in the selection of new furniture. The curtains and
draperies are being made by the club girls of Mount Meigs, and
girls of another community are framing appropriate pictures.
The following extract from the report of the home-demonstration agent
of Washington County, Tex., is typical of the numerous examples of
good work accomplished by negro club girls:
Lena Williams, age 16, of Washington County, Tex., has learned to
can vegetables and make jelly and pickles so well that her services
are in great demand. This year, after attending to her work at
home and keeping up her club activities, Lena made a profit of $63
by canning for other people and even a greater profit from the
sale of some of her products, both canned and fresh. With this
money she bought a purebred Poland China pig, costing $10, and 12
purebred Rhode Island Red pullets and 1 cockerel, costing $14. Lena
also attributes her good fortune in having some good warm, tasty
apparel for school to her activity in canning, as she invested the
remaining $39 in clothes for school wear, and plans to start a bank
account from her investment in chickens and pigs.
It should be noted that any girl club member who makes the right
start in productive enterprises is almost sure to go ahead into other
phases of better home making and self-improvement. It is therefore
very essential to make the proper start. The initial stage from the
viewpoint of the demonstrator is most vital. The importance of the
starting point was emphasized by Seaman A. Knapp, when he said:
Where to commence is the first problem of reform. Shall we trust
the people and commence by increasing their resources, or shall
our efforts be directed to improving farm dwellings and home
conditions, the construction of better highways, the introduction
of the telephone, rural free delivery, a community library, or
improved social and religious privileges? Evidently it depends
upon the degree of advancement in rural communities. The remedy
that would help one might be utterly unapplicable to another.
For example, if it were found that the average farmer in a rural
township lived in a house valued at about $100, without barn,
garden, cow, or pasture, with an insufficient supply of poultry,
and unable to read and heavily involved in debt, it would be the
height of unwisdom to commence the rural uplift by establishing
a public library or even a school. The rural toilers must be
first properly nourished, clothed, and housed. It is the order of
greatest necessity. The means to do this can not be given to them
and if it were, there would be no uplift. They must be shown how to
earn it by a better tillage of the soil, and how to husband their
earnings by greater thrift. A low wage, a small amount of work
accomplished in a day, and an uneconomic use of resources are a
part of any civilization limited by a low earning capacity.
No more frequent mistake is made than to assume that the low wage
is the result of oppression. As a rule the wage is determined by
the accomplishment. In India it requires from 14 to 24 servants to
do the work of a small household, where 2 would do it better in
some portions of the United States.
Upon the farm one man in the United States with a good team and
modern machinery can do the work that 50 to 100 men do in many
oriental countries. Consequently, when oriental farm laborers
are paid 5 to 10 cents per day they are paid up to their earning
capacity and that capacity is insufficient to sustain a high
civilization.... In attempting to raise the condition of the
colored man, we frequently start too high up, and in talking of the
higher progress talk right over his head. When I talk to a negro
citizen I never talk about the better civilization, but about a
better chicken, a better pig, or a whitewashed house.
DEMONSTRATION RESULTS
At the close of the first decade of negro extension under the
Smith-Lever Act, it is well to make permanent record of some of the
achievements of the negroes in extension work, not only as a matter
of recognition and commendation, but also to set up milestones to
mark progress. At the close of the next decade these figures will
have even greater interest than now. In fact, they will increase in
importance and value with the passing of time.
The statistics which follow are not complete because they pertain
to the activities of negro agents only. Hundreds of white agents
have done some work with negroes, which is not reported separately.
It is probably safe to say that the numbers represented in the 1924
report might be doubled. Since a system of extension work for negroes
by negroes has been evolved, the tendency has been to turn the
responsibility over to negro agents. The most harmonious relations
prevail between white and negro agents in all the States and white
agents always stand ready to advise and help.
FARM DEMONSTRATION WORK
During the calendar year 1924, 3,659 negro farmers undertook
demonstrations with cotton and 3,072 carried the work to completion
and submitted reports. These demonstrations represented a total of
23,043 acres. In addition, 2,630 junior club members planted an acre
or more of cotton and 1,734 of them completed the work and submitted
reports. Many of these boys cleared more than $100 each on their
acres and some more than $200. This is not bad for boys who attend
school regularly. Making the usual allowance of about 140 work hours
in a year in the production and harvesting of an acre of cotton,
these club members earned an average of about $1 an hour for every
hour they worked.
Corn has always been a favorite crop for demonstrations by adults
and juniors in the South, because it is used so much for food and
feed and because it responds so well to special attention in that
section of the country. The 1924 annual reports show that 4,317 negro
farmers undertook demonstrations with corn and that 3,292 finished
them in good shape. The demonstrations covered 25,442 acres. Of
8,018 club members who planted an acre apiece, 4,308 completed the
work with marked success. If each successful demonstration should
influence only five neighbors, the totals would be impressive, and
demonstrations of outstanding size, success, and continuity are
even more far-reaching. From a demonstration viewpoint alone, it is
estimated that a million negro farmers and home makers are being
influenced effectively.
It is worth while to trace the influence of demonstration in
increasing the production of cotton and corn, but it is equally
significant to trace the influence of demonstrations on the growing
of other crops. Additional attention during the last few years in the
South has been given to work with legumes. In order to continue the
production of large crops of cotton and corn there must be some soil
building. (Fig. 11.) This can be done most readily with such crops as
cowpeas, soy beans, vetch, velvet beans, clover, and alfalfa.
[Illustration:
FIG. 11.—Negro agent advising a farmer regarding the value of
cowpeas, soy beans, and other legumes for soil improvement. During
1924, negro farmers conducted 9,860 demonstrations with cowpeas,
soy beans, and other leguminous and forage crops, of which 8,358
were completed on a total acreage of 54,366.]
It is very encouraging to note that the negro farmers carried on
9,860 demonstrations with leguminous and other forage crops in 1924
and that 8,358 of these enterprises were completed on a total acreage
of 54,366. In connection with these totals should be considered
2,679 club members who were enrolled to grow legumes and 1,799 who
completed the work on their acres. When it is considered that most
of this work was done on rented land and that most of these crops
require inoculation and special care, these figures have unusual
value. Of course all the legumes were not planted for soil-building
purposes. Some of them were cash crops and some were grown for
feed. The order of popularity of the principal crops among these
demonstrators is indicated by the number of demonstrations begun
in 1924, as follows: Cowpeas, 2,885; velvet beans, 1,498; peanuts,
1,313; soy beans, 1,269; lespedeza, 476; and alfalfa, 272. Vetch,
which was included in a miscellaneous total of 384, is increasing in
popularity faster now than any other winter legume.
The success of negro farmers with such crops as sweet potatoes,
tobacco, and potatoes shows a strong tendency on their part
toward diversification in cash and food crops. During 1924, 1,817
demonstrators were enrolled to grow sweet potatoes and 1,461 of them
completed the demonstrations and reported their results at the close
of the season. The club enrollment for this popular crop was 836, of
whom 590 completed their enterprises and reported. The enrollment
for potatoes was 993 adults and 619 juniors and the completions were
878 and 448, respectively. In tobacco demonstrations 229 men were
enrolled and 211 finished and reported. In junior extension 482 boys
grew tobacco. In field-crop activities the enrollment of negro girls
has been very small, just as it has been among the whites, which
clearly indicates that the boys do most of the work on the farm and
the girls in the home.
As a further contribution to the effort of the South to feed itself,
the activities of negro farmers with cereals other than corn are
indicative. In 1924 demonstrations were undertaken with wheat, oats,
rye, barley, and other cereals, and 2,580 men, 983 boys, and 5 girls
were enrolled, of whom 1,871 men, 682 boys, and 5 girls completed.
In these demonstrations the yields were much larger than those of
near-by farmers or county averages; frequently they were twice or
three times as large. When a person undertakes, as a representative
of his county, State, and Nation, to make an object lesson to his
neighbors, he assumes a large responsibility.
Some of the most successful demonstrations in truck farming, from
a financial standpoint, have been made by negroes. Good stories of
their work with melons, berries, cabbage, turnips, carrots, celery,
and other similar crops come in constantly. Some of the enrollment
figures in horticultural demonstrations deserve attention and
favorable comment. Negro farmers undertook 1,392 demonstrations in
trucking and market gardening and completed 971 with marked success.
A total of 8,729 persons were enrolled to make object lessons in
home gardens and 6,502 of them were carried through to completion.
The enrollment in fruits was 2,045, of whom 1,403 completed. Some
extraordinary service was rendered by these farmers in spraying
and pruning, which made their results more satisfactory and their
examples more potent. In fact, many demonstrators became teachers and
leaders through the merits of their work.
Unusual significance may very properly be attached to the livestock
demonstrations of negro farmers. The large number of cows, hogs, and
chickens owned by them indicates increased land ownership by negroes.
It throws light also on the increased production of feed crops. The
annual reports for 1924 show that 9,936 adult farmers and farm women
were enrolled as livestock demonstrators, of whom 7,379 completed the
year’s work and submitted reports. It is safe to assume that most
of the 264,432 animals used in these demonstrations were purebred.
Likewise, it means progress when it is realized that negro boys
and girls cared for 102,070 high-class farm animals in their club
enterprises. The enrollment of negro boys and girls in livestock work
is worthy of the detailed statement given in Table 2.
TABLE 2.—_Enrollment of negro boys and girls in livestock
demonstrations, 1924_
——————————————+———————+——————
Line of work | Boys | Girls
——————————————+———————+——————
Hogs | 3,774 | 682
Dairy cattle | 505 | 2,732
Beef cattle | 83 | 4
Poultry | 2,154 | 7,753
——————————————+———————+——————
Some idea of the substantial nature of the accomplishments of negro
agents may be found in the record for 1924, which shows that they
helped to procure better sires for the flocks and herds of 3,552
farms and that they had flocks and herds culled on 4,848 farms. They
also introduced better balanced feeding for farm animals on 9,520
farms.
Negro demonstrators used 68,126 tons of fertilizer and 8,288 tons
of lime in their exemplary farm enterprises in 1924, and they
plowed under 13,547 acres of cover and green-manure crops in their
soil-improvement operations. Terracing was done on 1,738 farms and
soil erosion was thereby prevented on 43,299 acres. Drainage systems
were installed on 573 farms and 18,405 acres were thereby made more
productive and valuable.
The climax of negro extension work comes in the constructive
features just as for the whites. Special import should therefore
be attached to the fact that the agents had 463 barns, 411 hog
houses, and 787 poultry houses built according to approved plans.
Some rural-engineering work of a constructive nature was done on
3,967 farms under the guidance of negro extension agents. All this
development means that thousands of the best negroes are learning
lessons of thrift, economy, and enterprise. They are coming to
realize more and more the importance of owning land and building
permanent homes. Another decade will probably show even greater
results along these lines.
HOME DEMONSTRATION WORK
It is certainly very gratifying to note that a large number of negro
women and girls are doing excellent home demonstration work. When it
is remembered that they have to help a great deal in cotton, tobacco,
and other fields, there is unusual significance in the fact that they
are willing and anxious to take part in the special activities which
make for better living and better homes. In 1924, 21,509 women and
27,114 girls were enrolled in the various activities which pertain
definitely to the improvement of the home.
It is interesting, also, to compare the figures on home gardens
with those on food preservation and preparation. There seems to be
a logical sequence here. During the year, 12,355 women and 14,641
girls were enrolled in home gardening; 13,911 women and 13,826 girls,
in food preservation; and 14,731 women and 16,537 girls, in food
preparation. As a rule, the work begins with garden demonstrations,
so it would seem that the interest increases as the work progresses.
It should be remembered also that women and girls did most of the
work with poultry. The proportion of members completing these
demonstrations and the number of method demonstrations necessary for
instruction were about the same as the averages of agents in other
parts of the country and in other lines of work.
Gardening work is begun with the most staple and standard crops and
soon leads to winter and perennial gardens and the growing of small
fruits. Wherever home ownership obtains, the garden demonstrations
are followed by orchard and lawn demonstrations. Fruit trees suitable
to climatic and soil conditions are planted around the homes, and
such activities always approach their climax in beautified front
yards and lawns.
The number of dwellings constructed and remodeled under the guidance
of negro women agents and the number of club members demonstrating
the beautification of home grounds indicate clearly the progress of
negro home demonstration work. Such activities show that other steps
have been taken before the family is ready to build. They show,
also, that a great deal of interest has been aroused and that the
earning power of the people must have been increased to make such
improvements possible. In 1924, 569 houses were built in accordance
with plans furnished by negro extension agents and 1,002 houses
were remodeled in accordance with the suggestions made by them. The
fact that so much work was done to make homes attractive indicates
that demonstrators are anxious to make improvements. This point is
still further emphasized by the number of members who were enrolled
in demonstrations in the beautification of home grounds. A total
of 6,433 women and 6,427 girls took up this important enterprise;
in 1,336 homes the grounds were laid out according to a definite
landscape plan; and 335 school and community grounds were planted
according to plans.
Paint and whitewash are good indexes of improvement and prosperity.
Demonstrations of this nature exert a fine influence from the
standpoint of morals and civilization. In 1924, 2,259 dwellings were
painted or whitewashed as the result of extension influence. Many of
the dwellings which were built or remodeled installed running water
and lighting and heating systems. Altogether, 151 houses installed
one or more of these improvements.