Farm Boys and Girls Part 14

This exhibition should be made as a big annual event, if possible, such as will attract all manner of persons and make friends for the county a.s.sociation. In its ideal arrangement the money expense will be kept down to a minimum. Also keep out the idea of premiums. The contest plan of promotion will some day receive its desired consideration and lose its place as a means of promoting social and spiritual well-being. As a matter of fact it fosters much envy, ill-feeling, and bitter strife and thus strikes at the root of the good-fellowship which you are striving to encourage. _But, urge every boy to bring something for the sake of the help he may contribute and let the honor of this service and the approbation of his fellows be his high reward._

One boy may come with a mammoth pumpkin; another with a device of his own invention for catching ground squirrels; still another with a new method of tying a knot; another with a bushel of highly bred corn; others with farm and garden produce of the same attractive nature; others with wild gra.s.ses, curios, or geological specimens; others with the parts of a miniature menagerie. One boy may have caught a badger alive; another a coyote; another a jack rabbit; another a huge turtle.

Another may bring a cage of rattlesnakes or a box full of snakes of all sorts; another a set of original plans and specifications--for an ideal farmhouse, or farm barn and surroundings; for making the well sanitary; for a milk house; for keeping flies out of the house or barn; a recipe for driving ants and other insects from the house. The boys in one family may come with a lot of samples of soil, showing how differently each must be treated for the same general crop results. Others may bring specimens of "cheat" and noxious weeds, and the like, with a scheme for destroying them. Another may have a plan for a patent churn or a labor-saving device in the kitchen.

Thus there may be brought to the boys' fair an interesting and most instructive variety of objects, plans, and devices, all looking toward the improvement of home conditions. Such a gathering as this will bring not only the parents and other adults from the home county, but great flocks of outsiders will also come in and learn and become deeply interested in the affairs of the County Young Men's Christian a.s.sociation.

SPIRITUALITY NOT LOST SIGHT OF

It ought to be easy for the average thinker to appreciate the fact that all the foregoing rough-and-ready work in the lives of the boys can be made a practical means of the salvation of their souls as well as of their bodies and intellects. Spiritual perfection is not reached at a bound. There must be much doing of the crude yet worthy things which grow naturally out of his inner nature before the boy can finally achieve a degree of spiritual development that may prove a permanent and fixed part of his adult life. Yes, there will be some Bible study, an occasional short prayer, and now and then a real sermonette in connection with the work of the organization, but much more frequently the Christian life and character will come as a sort of discovery in the boy's life and that through his own conduct.

Through all this wholesome exercise of his better and cleaner interests, the youth will gradually be led away and kept away from those things which contaminate both the body and the spirit and introduce the individual to a coa.r.s.e, debauched life. In other words, Christianity will be a thing achieved and that through the young man's efforts rather than a thing instantly caught in some emotional revival meeting only gradually to waste away in the months immediately following. One well-built specimen of Christian manhood--a character of the sort which the ideal work of the County Y.M.C.A. may finally construct--is worth a dozen of those suddenly converted men whose secret lives are so often embittered with the consciousness of backsliding and following ever after the old evil ways.

It will be observed at a glance that in the foregoing outline there is an avoidance of the heavier work-a-day tasks and problems. It is the thought of the author that the boys have quite enough of such labor as it is and that the County Y.M.C.A. can do its best service if it provides a set of new activities of a more recreative sort. The central idea--second to the perfection of his spiritual nature--is that of giving the boy a larger amount of social experience through self-training in matters that will bring out his latent unselfishness and his self-reliance. The heavier problems of an economic sort suitable for discussion among the boys and the girls of the country districts will have due consideration in another chapter.

In planning the various parts of the county work and the club life of the boys, there must be extreme care not to arrange for too many and too frequent meetings. It is especially to be desired that the boy do not acquire the runabout habit, even though he may in every case go to a desirable place. Therefore, in arranging the programs it will be seen to that the meetings are held somewhat infrequently, but that on each occasion the meeting be continued until some intensive work has been done. For example, it would be much preferable to have all or a major part of one afternoon and evening of the week for the exercises rather than to have brief evening meetings a number of times during the week.

WORK IN A SPa.r.s.eLY SETTLED COUNTRY

The following statement will show what was achieved during the first year in the Y.M.C.A. of Washington County, Kansas, which has a rural population of about ten thousand people.

_General Statement_:--

181 boys enrolled in Bible-study groups, meeting weekly.

35 men give time to the supervision and planning of the work.

236 boys attended ten boys' banquets.

51 out-of-town delegates attended the county convention.

175 men and boys attended the convention banquet.

161 boys took part in the relay race.

91 men and boys on baseball teams.

24 boys played basketball.

56 men attended 10 leaders' conferences.

65 men conducted one day financial canva.s.s.

200 boys given physical examination.

26 took part in the annual athletic meet.

13 young men's Sundays conducted by secretary.

6000 miles (approx.) traveled by secretary.

283 citizens back of work.

_Financial Statement_:--

Pledges unpaid from previous year $120.25 Pledges for year 1568.25 $1688.50 ------- Received during year 1386.15 Due unpaid pledges 302.35 $1688.50 ------- Amount paid 1352.89 Due unpaid 298.00 Available balance 37.61 $1688.50 -------

REFERENCES

Neighborhood Improvement Clubs. Professor E. L. Holton.

Agricultural Extension Bulletin, Manhattan, Kan.

Camping for Boys. H. W. Gibson. a.s.sociation Press, New York.

Careful directions for camp life.

Training for Boys; Symposium. _Harper's Bazaar_, March, April, August, September, November, 1910.

Keeping Home Ties from Breaking. E. A. Halsey. _World To-day_, January, 1911.

Training Men to work for Men. E. A. Halsey. _World To-day_, March, 1911.

The Organization and Administration of Athletics. Dr. Clark W. Hetherington. Annual Volume N.E.A., 1907, p. 930.

_Rural Manhood_, issue of June, 1910. Rural Leadership Number.

Social Activities for Men and Boys. Albert M. Chisley.

Y.M.C.A. Press, New York. A valuable book covering a wide variety of activities.

_Rural Manhood._ Henry Israel, editor. 50 cents per year. A most valuable exponent of the County Y.M.C.A. work.

The Physical Life of the Boy. Dr. D. G. Wilc.o.x. (Pamphlet.) Address, Federated Boys' Clubs, Boston.

CHAPTER X

_THE FARMER AND HIS WIFE AS LEADERS OF THE YOUNG_

No less urgent and divine is the call for spiritual aid and leadership in the rural districts to-day than was that which came to the apostle Paul of old in form of a vision and a voice crying, "Come over into Macedonia and help us." In the open country field, far removed from church or social center, is the demand for leaders and directors especially great. Men engage for a lifetime in an enthusiastic endeavor to ama.s.s wealth and to build up great business concerns. But the man or woman who heeds the call to go forth into the country districts and save the bodies and souls of the young--that person will not only experience exceeding great joy and enthusiasm in his work, but he will thereby lay up for himself in the memories of the redeemed a precious treasury of golden deeds.

Country parents as a rule are not in a position to do the best things even for their own children, much less to go out as leaders of the young at large. They are sometimes lacking in the necessary means, more frequently too busy, and most frequently not sufficiently informed as to be fully awake to the meanings and possibilities of any such undertaking. However, in nearly every country neighborhood there is a man or woman, or both, who possess many of the big opportunities for enlisting in the service of the young. Those who have no small children of their own to care for would naturally be freest to get away from the present home duties. Then, some parents having children of their own not infrequently catch the inspiration and heed the call. At any rate, it is entirely fair and reasonable to a.s.sume that some one of the neighborhood could do it were there the disposition.

As a means of arousing any such persons to attempt to do some constructive work among country boys and girls, the following detailed suggestions are offered. Those who feel at all called to undertake this service may be a.s.sured that the interest grows more intense with time and effort put forth, and that the joy of accomplishing something in behalf of the young people of one's own vicinity is perhaps unsurpa.s.sed by that of any other type of human endeavor. In the discussions to follow we a.s.sume that some farmer and his wife have heeded this divine call.

PREPARATION FOR THE SERVICE

Since very few are sufficiently versatile to undertake any and every kind of social work, perhaps the first step is that of choosing a definite line of action. And let the choice be in the direction of the chooser's leading social interest. As a means of preparation for efficient work a brief course of training is to be much commended. It may be found practicable to slip away from home during the winter months and take a farmers' short course in one of the agricultural colleges.

Or, one may find the peculiar instruction and inspiration needed by attending a convention or conference of the ablest leaders representative of the work. One of the rural-life conferences now frequently held might be found ideal. Go prepared to take notes, to ask questions, and especially to obtain a large number of literary references.

The use of helpful literature is most important at this stage. A magazine which admirably covers this particular field is _Rural Manhood_, published by the a.s.sociation Press, New York City. Then, secure the report of the Country Life Commission, and a number of the latest works of a similar nature, some of which are listed below. Write to the Department of Agriculture at Washington for their bulletin on the organization of boys' and girls' clubs. Also from the extension department of the agricultural college may be obtained for the asking all available literature of this same general cla.s.s.

Now, make a careful survey of the neighborhood, or the larger field, with a view to finding out the specific conditions in relation to the chosen line of service. Make lists of names and ages of the boys and girls, including all other data of a helpful nature. Proceed with the thought that the work to be undertaken is not to be merely a means of entertainment, but of education for the young.

WORK PERSISTENTLY FOR SOCIAL UNITY

In his most instructive volume "The Rural Church and Community Achievement," President b.u.t.terfield says: "We are in great need in this country of an inst.i.tution or inst.i.tutions which have for their definite objective the study of the conditions and problems of farm home-life; not merely the matter of home management, or home keeping, but the fundamental relationships of the family to the development of a better community life in the rural regions." Now, let the newly enlisted social worker a.s.sume that he is to undertake something by way of bringing about a fuller integration and unity of the people of the neighborhood.