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Title
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EWP 1917 Article
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Place
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Virginia
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Identifier
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1012818
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Is Version Of
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1012818_EWP_1917_Article.jpg
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Is Part Of
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Uncategorized
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Format
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Jpeg Image
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Number
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3954404191cf69ec9ab587544cd07da3a432e44af305a804f7cc3105a567b3c9
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Source
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/Volumes/T7 Shield/EWP/Elements/EWP_Files/Access Files/Upload temp/1012818_EWP_1917_Article.jpg
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Publisher
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Digitized by Edwin Washington Project
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Rights
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Loudoun County Public Schools
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Language
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English
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Replaces
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/Volumes/T7 Shield/EWP/Elements/EWP_Files/source/Ingest One/19 Dirt Don't Burn Studies/2019 Dirt Dont Burn Book/15.21 School Fairs Study/EWP_1917_Article.tif
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extracted text
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ng RURAL LFEIN [[p
~ OLD DOMINION||
Virginia Farmers Realize Big|| .,
Increase In Grops.
_— The
USE OF IMPROVED METHODS
Report of John B. Pierce Shews Re-
sults Obtained Through the Co-oper- WA
ation of Farm Demonstration Agents
Under the States Relatien Service.
Great interest Taken In Corn Clubs.
By WILLIAM ANTHONY AERY. F
Some 8,000 farmers of Virginia, un-
der the leadership of John B. Plerce,
who is a Tuskegee-Hampton product,
were influenced in the single calendar
year of 1916 to improve their methods SIIQI
of work and secure crop ylelds far be-
yond the expectatious of the most
hopeful advocates of the farm demon-
stration idea. Eighteea local farm
demonstration agents working in twen-
tytwo counties of Virginia under the MAK‘
States Relations Service South—the
fruition {itself of the epoch making
work of Seaman A. Knapp—have
brought to the Negro farmers not only Cn':r::
new ideas and better methods of till- P
ing the soil and caring for farm prod-
ters, if we | UCts, but also a new vision of farm life, | Judk
gently use |8 Cclearer insight into farming as a| and
rs. Think | business rather than as a mere occu- Tors
1 aside a|pation and a deeper sense of responsi-
noinln
1y or in a | bility for the all around education of (e
ses, cattle, | their boys and girlsy R
glan hares ( 1. facts tell the story of organiza-
s on the |, . gift to Virginia, for whatever | D. D-
ners, What| ) e the Negro farmer to increase his | Bapti:
anver com-| earning pewer also helps the white peo- | kins |
1sportation | ple to make genuine progress. During | ty, Al
1 merchant | 1916, so Mr. Pierce reports to Bradford | receiv
distributor | Enapp, chief of the States Relations | tjon
apitol Hill | 8ervice, Bouth, 449 Negro corn demon- |} me.
neral store | gtrators in Virginia, cultivating 2,150 | o
all because | o .reg ynder improved methods, secured
fi"’e'l ct:;‘ an average yield of thirty-three bushels
no.ngy n: per acre. Thia was an increased yield
of 9.9 bushels on demonstration plots
vver plots cultivated by ordinary meth-
le’; r:‘::}; ods. Im addition, 1,001 co-operators re-
maker iun|ported a yleld of twenty-four bushels
58 Beatrice | per acre on 1,002 acres.
1ld be com- Granting that a similar result could
Suppos ) | be obtained by all those who raise corn
rince Hall | i¢ only education could be carried ou
ts in Colo- | |, oaqdly, Virginia in a single year would
m:enl have add $10,000,000 to the value of her out-
::trc;:)g:?: put of corn. Who dares to be skeptical
lves decid- | or cynical of the Negroes' interest in
their own | better methods of farming in the light
on failed. | of these facts?
which will| Corresponding results have been sc-
eration, 80| cured In the small grains demonstra-
e to hang| tions. The average yield of oats per
crowns all| ,ore on demonstration plots was 189
bushels, representing an increased yield
—| of 5.7 bushels and of wheat 16.1 bush-
OR DIXIE| els, representing an increased yield of
UNCLE 6.5 bushels. Today over 1,000 Negro
farmers are using better methods of
irber shop,| growing emall grains on account of the
tools, government’s interest in them.
~up, loaned Does all this pay in dollars and cents, !
in increased interest in farming, in bet-
N me t0 | ter homes? To ask the question is to
answer it—certainly!
Hay, forage, cover crops! These
words commonly mean little. To the
e and dear| Negro farmer of Virginia they now
spell succeas on the land. The local
m flam demonstration agents have worked night
sating, you|and day to make farmers understand
ng the importance of making the land pro-
b, duce (without wearing it out) more
t care how| £o0d for man and beast and this story
of awakening life on the farm.
: “Community development along all %
8. YOull | 200d lines! ‘This s the object of the | “WOrk
was ¢
8 suit and
when
tereste
fe Land 134 Negro farmers' clubs which were | e Wi
m. organized in 1916 throughout Virginia | He
rs long, through the co-operation of John B. | bama
Plerce and sixteen local demonstration ginla
ing round | agents working under the States Re- Va. |
1ch. lations Service and the extension divi- course
thing, sion of the Virginia Polytechnic insti-
doud tute at Blacksburg. The total member. | e
g ship of the clubs was 1.838 and repre-
wd. K sented a progressive, farsighted group '
. Jones. of farmers in the Old Dominion.
These clubs made a good beginning in
NAARS co-operation by buying 2,234 tons of
lime. Five of the local agents alsc
kept a bulletin board, listing goods for
sale and goods wanted.
What do0 the local demonstration
agents do besides helping the farmers
till their land and grow better crops?
Here is a partial list, based on Mr.
Plerce's 10168 report of the farm and
farmstead Iimprovements which the
farmers of Virginia have made with
the advice and assistajce of the agents:
Buildings erected, 130; farm build-
ings patnted or waltewashed, 532: san-
ftary conditions (farm and home) im-
proved, 833; homes screened against
files, 837, farmers furnished with pians
and induced to adopt a systematic ro-
tatfon, 138; cotal acreage put under ro-
tadon, 1.605: dralnage system estab
lished, 39; home water systems in-
stalled or improved, 55, home grounds
improved, 394: home gardens planted
or improved, 1.108; farmers induced to
save surplus farm products for winter
use, 1.578.
Can there be any question that the
work of the local ugent iz limited mere
Iy to helping the farmer grow more
crops so that he can secure more mon.
ey to raise more crops? We think not.
That increased earning power is an
fmportant and basal factor must be
evident to the careful ohserver of ru-
ral conditions. That ierter living is
a worthy: goal for the hardworking
farmer aud his family is B ognized by
those who are engaged ta carrving to
the Negro farmers of Vicginia a xospal
of hopa which ix based upon intelligeat
¢ Work and Christisn good will.
.
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