Fairport Beacon

FARM YOUTH IS DOING ITS PART

Ohio's farm youth through its 4-H Clubs and Future Farmers organizations is doing its part in the war effort. Each boy and girl is carrying a special project to produce food or fiber or to supply labor hours. Both organizations sponsored projects this year in which each member pledged to produce enough food or fibre to keep one of our fighting men for one year.

While each individual effort may seem small, the total produced for the state presents an amazing figure. Almost six thousand tons of food were produced by the 4-H Club members _and an equally large amount by Future Farmers. In addition a livestock and poultry program was carried on which yielded many more tons of food.

Farm Labor Program

The government's emergency farm labor program gave the boys and girls an opportunity to perform real service for hard-pressed farmers. Records kept by Federal farm labor agents in the state revealed the fact that high school boys-and girls, mostly in rural. areas, accounted for more than 90 per cent of the state's part and harvest time labor force. Schools were operated on a part- time basis during the harvest season and students worked in orchards and fields gathering apples, peaches, grapes, potatoes, beans and tomatoes. Farm authorities admit that the harvest could not have been made without the help of the 4-H, Future Farmer and student groups.

Bond Selling: Auction

A steer feeding program, 4-H Club project in many counties, yielded an all-time top in bond selling in one rural county. The steers, purchased in November and fed through the summer as a project by both boys and girls, were auctioned off at the county fair. Bids were accepted only in War Bonds. The animal judged winner in the feeding contest brought a total of $135,000 in War Bonds, easily the highest price ever registered for a white-face. The more than forty animals which were under the hammer that afternoon brought War Bond purchases of almost a million and a half dollars.

Other Activities

Farm boys and girls have hung up enviable records in other fields of war effort, solicitation in U.S.O. and other drives, fat and scrap metal collections. One county in which students of rural schools handled the entire scrap metal collection reported that each student accounted for more than a ton of metal, a record. Paper collections in rural counties have been handled almost entirely by the school children and the records show that percentages of collection have been highest in these areas.