By Hon. Charles W. Pugsley, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture
Boys’ and girls’ club work is the most important phase of extension work carried on the the United States department of agriculture and the agricultural colleges under the Smith-Lever law.
There were 600,000 club members this year, 1922.
In 1921 club members produced over $7 million worth of products at a cost of $4.5 million, which cost includes leadership.
Banks loaned club members $2 million this year to carry on their projects, and will no doubt increase their aid next season.
Various agencies provided $734,000 in prizes for 1922 winners to aid and promote club work.
Number of former club members attending college, 2,100.
Club members give $20,000 public demonstrations annually, influencing 500,000 farmers and farm wives.
Club work does more than demonstrate the better practices in agriculture and home economics—it trains for citizenship and leadership—it produces better men and women.
Club work should be expanded to enlarge it so that it may reach millions instead of thousands.
Of all the extension work, I am convinced that the work with the boys and girls is the most profitable and brings the most returns for the amount invested.
From page 4 of the Reidsville Review, Monday, March 26, 1923. Club work would later be called 4-H and millions of kids would be active in the program.
No comments:
Post a Comment