A woman of keen observation writes of her hill town that what is needed
there is not more amusements, games, socials, but something to encourage
boys to become thorough and honest workmen; that the best workmen in the
village are foreign born; that the native-born boys and girls are
seekers after pleasure and ease, shunning work and giving scant heed to
the serious interests of life.
This has a familiar ring to it; but that there are appeals to arouse and
enlist the energy of country boys, witness the annual visit to
Washington of the champion corn growers recently. Thirty-five boys,
winners among 75,000 boys who raised corn on a single acre of land last
summer, and one little girl, leader among the girls’ canning clubs of
the country, were the guests of the government for a week, and bore
witness to the industry of the army of sturdy children who stayed at
home. The best record of the boy visitors was 207 bushels of corn to the
acre, or about eight times the average yield for the country. The girl
had raised a succession of tomatoes, beans, and turnips on her tenth of
an acre, sold some of it fresh and canned the rest, realizing $53.