The Poplar Standard

G.I. Youth Gives Germans Novel Farming Lesson

Deep in the heart of occupied Germany a thriving sample of Indiana agriculture provides a novel lesson in American farming methods for people of the war-ravaged country. A Midwest home demonstration agent and a G.I. youth on occupation duty pooled their efforts and ideas to show nearly 100 German youths how to be good farmers while augmenting their meager diet by using vegetables grown by themselves.

Pfc. Birch Bayh Jr. of Vigo county, Indiana, is the American soldier and Miss Mildred Schlosser is the home demonstration agent who are responsible for the project.

Bayh, 19-year-old Hoosier farmer, qualifies as an able instructor by virtue of his past record. Two years ago, as a contestant in the annual production-marketing contest of National Junior Vegetable Growers association, Bayh was tilling a seven-acre plot on his grandfather's farm, where he raised crops worth more than $1,677. The crops were so good, Bayh sent a special batch to his father, Lt. Col. Birch Bayh of the U. S. army, then stationed in China.

In the national contest, Bayh's efficient operation rated so high he won the Midwest regional NJVGA title and a $200 scholarship from the $6,000 in contest awards provided annually by A & P food stores. Using this fund to augment his savings, Bayh entered Purdue university where his studies were interrupted by a call to army duty. Later he was assigned to the German occupation forces.

Impressed by the soil near his station in that country, and encouraged by seeds sent as a gift to him by Miss Schlosser, home demonstration agent and NJVGA advisor of his Indiana club, Bayh quickly recruited nearly 100 youngsters in his area and started a garden project. He divided his land into 45 individual plots with two children assigned to each. The young growers were given a series of lessons in American methods, tilling, planting and weeding. The results of their efforts are already evident, with a bumper crop of tomatoes and corn well on its way to maturity. Most of these products are new to the youths, but they indicate that they'll eat them with pleasure.