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« BOYS’ AND GIRLS’ AGRICULTURAL »
«          CLUB NOTES.          »
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Some Dorset Ewes and
Lambs at A. & M. College.
Oklahoma has taken an advanced stand in not
confining the contests arranged for the Okla-
homa Junior Agricultural Clubs to corn or cotton
alone. The curse of any rural community is the
one crop idea. The agricultural hope of the fu-
ture lies largely in diversified crops. Then, let us
begin right with the boys and girls by encourag-
ing them to grow more than one kind of crop.
The contests planned by the A. & M. College
now under way most actively are as follows:
I, Corn; 2, Bread; 3, Cotton; 4, Vegetables; 5,
Flowers; 6, Sewing. This arrangement provides
two fields of effort especially suited to boys, two
especially adapted to the girls, and two others in
which both can meet on equal footing. Thus the
State contests afford a wide field of activity to
our young people. The boys and girls of Okla-
homa have responded to this plan with an en-
rollment that has never been equalled in the his-
tory of any St?tc-
We have received a large number of requests
from the Panhandle section of Oklahoma for con-
tests in wheat growing and milo maize. Wood-
ward County wants broom corn and Adair
County pines for a contest in sweet potatoes. In
this connection it is interesting to note that other
States are enlarging their ideas in regard to the
proper sphere of work for the Boys’ and Girls
Agricultural Clubs. Minnesota, Massachusetts
and Nebraska have aroused considerable interest
in their potato contests. California, while relying
largely on school gardens, is also encouraging
contests in tree growing and poultry raising.
The city of Monterey through the efforts of Mr.
Green and the Boys’ and Girls’ Agricultural
Clubs of the city have astonished not only Cali-
fornia, but the whole world with what they have
accomplished in tree growing. The boys and
girls of Petaluma and also of San Diego, Califor-
nia, are attracting considerable attention with the
success attending their efforts in poultry raising.
Some of our Texas boys and girls expect to star-
tle the whole world with their records in the hog
contests, promoted by The Farm and Ranch of
Dallas, Texas. With such a wide range of ma-
terial upon which to draw for future contests we
are sure that instruction in the Boys’ and Girls’
Agricultural Club work can always be kept well
up to the mark.
Large quantities of good field and garden seed
have been distributed this spring throughout the
State to members of the Boys’ and Girls’ Agri-
cultural Clubs by the A. & M. College, and the
beneficial results of this work are already apparent
in many parts of the State. Aside from empha-
sizing the importance of good seed, it may be a
means of introducing new varieties and affording
a nucleus and the beginning of a supply for the
whole community. Speaking in this connection,
Mr. R. T. Grooms of Miami in a recent letter to
the A. & M. College writes: “I want to say right
now that this distribution of good seed by the A.
& M. College to the boys and girls is the best
step that could be taken. Last year we received
fifty-four packages of seed in our county and
from the resulting supply some of the parties
this year have planted their entire crop.” The
A. & M. College is doing a great work for the
State in pushing in such an aggressive manner
the organization of the Boys’ and Girls’ Agricul-
tural Clubs, and still further encouraging the
work by furnishing free seed to the members of
such clubs under certain reasonable conditions.
Speaking of the interest of his pupils in club
work, Prof. O. W. White of Broken Arrow writes
as follows: “My club is very enthusiastic and it
has helped to maintain interest in school, and I
feel very much like thanking someone for the
good influence the club has had on my school,
and I think teachers are standing in their own
light when they fail to organize an Agricultural
Club.” In support of the same thought, Ruel
Neely, secretary of the Ellis Springs Boys’ and
Girls’ Club at Tishomingo, writes: “We hope to
do some good work this year, and we appreciate
the fact that we have an institution like the A.
& M. College to back us.”
Every City Superintendent in the State will ad-
mit that science cannot be properly taught in our
schools without a laboratory. Equally futile is
the attempt to teach agriculture in our public
schools without some means of applying the
principles thus learned. County Superintendent
Kern of Winnebago County. Illinois, says:. “The
movement to instruct our children in the simplest
facts with reference to the science of agriculture
will be a failure if confined to a printed page. A
school garden affords opportunity for watching the
growth of plant life, and at the same time teaches
one how to treat the soil so as to retain moisture
in case of drought, how to remove injurious in-
sects from plants, how to know the proper time
to harvest and many other things pertaining to
agriculture that can only be indelibly impressed
upon the minds of the pupils through the School
Garden.”
“The best way to have a “school garden,” says
a recent writer, “is to have it.” To be sure there
is inertia to overcome as well as prejudice. We
get so in the habit of doing nothing, and our suc-
cess in this direction is so phenomenal, that it
requires some energy to make a new departure.
We are afraid that people will say: “The School
Garden!—another fad. It’s all froth and contrary
to the sacred course of study.” But, if we wait
till everyone agrees with us, no progress will
ever be made. If you intend to do something,
make your plans this year. If you wait until next
spring, it will be too late to begin and you will
postpone the undertaking just as you did this
year. “Procrastination is the thief of time.”
While we have stressed the importance of the
school garden to the city school, we would not
have anyone lose sight of the fact that the school
garden, or the school farm, should also play an
important role in the work of the up-to-date, pro-
gressive rural school. Our country is essentially
an agricultural nation, and the products of the
soil are the basis of her industries and her pros-
perity. All the children of our great common-
wealth should be familiar with our crops, our
grains and grasses, our flowers and fruits, our
trees and shrubs, our weeds and objectionable
plants, our domestic animals, birds and insects.
It is especially important that our children in
rural communities should have a practical knowl-
edge of the management of the farm, of the com-
position of the soil, and of the adaptability of the
farm and its soil for the cultivation of certain
plants, and the counter effect of such plant growth
upon the soil. “Much of the work of the school,
including instruction in geography, arithmetic,
science and literature might be correlated profit-
ably with instruction in agriculture and nature
study. A school garden with the actual work in-
telligently directed might prove an inspiration to
honest toil and better living. As the effect of
teaching vocal music daily in the schoolroom is
felt in the church, the Sabbath school, in society,
and in all public gatherings, so the teaching of
agriculture and nature study, through the school
garden or school farm will affect and improve
every farm and garden and lawn and flower box
in the neighborhood. The attractions of farm life
may be thus enhanced and the exodus to the city
diminished.’ ’
Club Buttons.
The A. & M. College will send out next week
preliminary planting reports to all club members.
Those who properly fill and promptly return
these reports to the College will receive the hand-
some club button.
STRONG GERMED EGGS FOR INCU-
BATORS.
(Continued from page I.)
at all times. After a few days old some of the
prepared chick foods on the market give good re-
sults, or a mixture of cracked grain, consisting of
3 parts wheat, 2 corn, 1 oatmeal, makes a good
food. Pulverized charcoal should be kept before
the chicks at all times. It is a good preventive
of bowel trouble.
A great many chick ailments are aggravated
Colony House Used By A. & M. Coll:ge.
by the use of impure drinking water or unclean
vessels. Drinking vessels should be washed
every day and scalded once a week. Special care
in this matter will have a great influence on the
health of the chick.—V. R. McBride, Poultryman
A. & M. College.
MAKE A START WITH SHEEP.
A letter was received by the writer from a
sheep raiser in Comanche County. The following
is an extract from this letter:
“I for one have found there is a greater profit
in raising sheep on the Oklahoma farm than in
any other line of live stock. I have been in the
sheep business here in Oklahoma for eight years,
in Comanche County, and by hard talking have
influenced many farmers to start with a few
sheep on their farms, and all find them to be the
best paying live stock on the farm.”
A goodly number of letters reach the College
from time to time, inquiring about sheep, where
sheep may be bought, the best kind to purchase,
etc., which would indicate quite a general interest
in this class of stock. The writer feels sure that
it would add to the revenue of many farms if a
flock of sheep were kept. Besides being profit-
able, sheep are a great assistance in keeping the
farm clean, as they are great weed eaters, where
they are turned into fields when the weeds are
young and tender. They are reported to eat five
out cf every six of our known weeds, where a
cow or horse will eat only one out of every six.
The chief difficulty that the average person will
have at this time in getting a start in '.he sheep
business is to find sheep to purchase. There
are probably not more than 75,000 sheep
in Oklahoma, and the greater number of these
are located in the range sections. The estab-
lishment of the stockyards in Oklahoma City
should help materially in solving the problem of
securing a supply of breeding sheep. Any of the
commission firms at the Oklahoma City stock-
yards should be able to fill orders for iange-bred
sheep if given considerable time to fill the or-
ders. Now, these range-bred sheep are the right
kind for the average farmer to buy, they will
be grade Merinos, and if they carry a cross
of Shropshire, Lincoln or other mutton blood, so
much the better. It would not be advisable to
buy Mexican sheep or low grade sheep of any
other kind. The ewes purchased for the founda-
tion flock should be good, large ewes from one
to four years old, and weighing over one hundred
pounds. Where possible it would seldom be
practical to start with less than fifty ewes, and a.
larger number would be better still. A flock of a.
dozen would require almost as much care as fifty
or one hundred. These range-bred grade Meri-
nos should be bred to a Dorset ram if possible.
The writer believes that to insure success and
profit with sheep, fall or winter lambs must be
raised. The gestation period with sheep is 150
days. Therefore, if they are to drop early fall
lambs they must be bred about June or earlier.
Dorset sheep breed at this time more readily than
any other kind. Merino sheep come second in
this respect. Shropshire and most other breeds
cannot in general be gotten to mate before Sep-
tember. During the hot months of July and Au-
gust, not even the Dorset and Merino sheep can
be gotten to breed, and they must be bred earlier
than this if fall and winter lambs are to be raised.
The reason why it is recommended to purchase
range-bred grade Merino ewes is that thousands
of these are available, while Dorsets are not to
be had in any large numbers. Fairly good results
may be expected, however, by using as recom-
mended, grade Merino ewes and the Dorset
males. These fall or early winter lambs, by good
feeding and care can be made to weigh ninety to
one hundred pounds by May 1, when they will
find a ready market and will always be in de-
mand. Such lambs should bring from $5.00 up-
ward.
A pure bred Dorset lamb, five and one-half
months old, belonging to the Experiment Station,
weighed yesterday by the writer, weighed i2o
pounds. This lamb had been weaned for a
month and had not been especially forced. By
raising fall lambs and selling them in the spring,
the greatest profit can be made with minimum
losses, since the lambs may be disposed of before
the summer season, when young lambs are al-
ways liable to contract a number of parasitic dis-
eases which often have fatal results causing se-
rious loss to the sheep owner.—W. A. Linklater,
Department of Animal Husbandry.
—
Prof. Treager of the Blackwell Baptist College
delivered an address to the students of the Col-
lege in the Chapel Tuesday evening, April 25.
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