Newspaper Page Text
“Learning By Doing'’
. Houston 4-H Offers Many
Opportunities For Youth
by
Larry E. Pierce
County Extension Agent
For many years the 4-H
Clubs of Georgia had the
reputation of being “just for
farm kids”. This reputation
was rightly deserved in the
1920’5, 30’s and 40’s. But as our
population changed from
rural to urban, so did the 4-H
Club. Today in Georgia the 4-H
Club has over 160,000 boys and
girls enrolled with about 60
percent of these living in
urban areas.
When 4-H started in Georgia
purpose was to
leach farm boys and girls how
to gorw more and belter
vegetables and livestock to
help supplement the family
food supply. The 4-H’ers
learned about these by ac
tually raising an animal or
growing a garden. From these
experiences the 4-H’ers
learned how to grow better
livestock and more vegetables
but more importantly, they
learned about life. Learning
by doing has always been the
best teacher and 4-H uses this
principle as the basis for all its
project work.
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ijyday wo still have our
livestock and gardening
projects for those 4-H’ers that
live in areas where they can
successfully carry out these
projects, hut to these wove
added many more projects
that can be enjoyed in the
inner city as well as on the
farm. Some of these projects
include: electronics; dog care
and training; photography,
and recreation. With all the
changes that have been made,
4 M still offers a high quality
CASH RECEIPTS FROM FARMING...
| WHERE DO THEY GO? |
be in the range of S2O to 523 billion second only to last
year's record-setting 525 billion.
Where do these cash receipts from farming go'.’ About
three-fourths of the farmer's cash income goes to pay his
production expenses lor inputs, services, interest, taxes
and rent. In 1972 (the most recent statistics available) the
biggest outlay was for feed, claiming 14 percent of total
cash receipts, heed costs were followed closely by the out
lay for capital items which claimed 12 percent. This in
cluded expenditures for buildings and machinery used in
the farm operation.
Out of the consumer's food dollar, the farmer received
about 34 cents. Os this the farmer kept eight cents for his
labor, investment and management.
The farmer spent the remaining 26 cents to buy inputs,
hire additional labor, and to pay interest, taxes on farm
property and rent.
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learning experience for boys
and girls from the sth grade
through high school.
In Houston County we, the
Extension staff, are placing as
much emphasis as time allows
on 4-H and youth work. Our 4-
H enrollment has increased
f rom 500 to nearly 2,000 kids in
the past three years. Our
program is set up so that
eventually all sth and 6th
graders in the county will be
given an opportunity to join
the 4-H Club and leant"what it
is all about. Seventh graders
and above have a slightly
different set-up whereas they
will be meeting after school
with Junior-Senior Clubs. We
have Junior-Senior Clubs in
Warner Kobins and Ferry so
that all older 4-H’ers do have
an opportunity to stay in 4-H
beyond the sixth grade.
An area we are placing
more emphasis upon is special
interest groups. We now have
a 4-H Horse Club with 50
members and plans are being
made for a 4-H Rifle Club.
So far you may have gotten
the idea that 4-H is all work
and no play. This just isn’t
true. In 4-11 tun is stressed
iilmosl as much as learning
by-doing. Wc try to develop
the total person - mind and
body. The 4-H camping
program held at the Rock
Eagle Center near Eatonton,
Georgia, is the finest of its
kind in the nation. This
summer several thousand 4-
H ers from across Georgia
will be attending the beautiful
camp. Houston County has 90
4 H ers scheduled to attend
camp at Rock Eagle August
12-16.
In addition to Rock Eagle,
several special camps are
located throughout the state
for our older 4-H’ers. These
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| The Houston County Farmer:
He's Our Friend — I
II m
He's Your Friend! I
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Farmers are found in fields plowing up, seeding down, returning from, planting to, fertilizing with,
spraying for and harvesting it. Wives help them, little boys follow them, the Agriculture Depart- '•s§£
ment confuses them, salesmen detain them, meals wait for them, weather can delay them, but it
takes Heaven to stop them.
When it’s time to buy a new truck he can quote from memory every expense involved in operating
the farm last year, plus the added expenses he is certain will crop up this year. He instinctively
converts the price to the pounds of pork he must produce in order to pay for it at today’s prices.
A farmer is a shirt-sleeved executive with his home his office; a scientist using fertilizer attach- ;s£■£
ments, a purchasing agent wearing a cap; a personnel director with grease on his hands, a nutri
tionist with a concern for energy values, animals and antibiotics. As a production expert he’s
faced with a surplus; while as a manager he’s always battling a price cost squeeze handling more
capital than most of the businessmen on Main Street.
He’s not much for droughts, ditches, disease, weeds, experts, the four-day week, helping with
;s:s housework or bugs.
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Nobody else is so far from the telephone or so close to God. His greatest fringe benefit is that his
family shares his business life. He’s himself; you’ll never find him trying to appear as something
he’s not. |i
Who else can remove all those things from his pockets and on washday still have overlooked five
washers, a rusty bolt, three feed pellets, the stub of a lead pencil, and an old receipt.
A farmer is both faith and fatalist —he must have faith to continually meet the challenges of his £:£:•;
capacities amid ever present possibilities that an act of God (a late spring, an early frost, blight,
tornado, hail, flood, or drought) can bring his business to a standstill.
He is privileged to see the sun rise through smog-free air and to walk under open sky. His close
ness to nature strengthens his faith. By his hand alone he produces enough to feed so many it
makes his production capacity the envy of the rest of the world.
You can reduce his acreage, but you can’t restrain his ambition. Even when his spirit is low and
things seem bleak, he can be recharged anew when he hears "The market is up.’’
The First National Bank —
Of Houston County (
Each depositor insured to $20,000
FDIi
federal deposit insurance corporation g
camps cover special subject
areas such as wildlife,
loresiry, communications,
leadership-citizenship, and
community pride.
And finally 4-H offers a
chance lor young boys and
girls to develop leadership
abilities not offered in many
other clubs and organizations.
Leadership is developed in
many ways. Each 4-H'er has
an opportunity to as
an officer in his club and lead
the club in the opening
ceremony at each meeting.
Each 4-H’er is encouraged to
give a demonstration in his
project so that others can see
what he has accomplished in
his project work. Competition
and awards for doing a good
job play an important part in
developing leadership.
Everyone likes to be rewarded
for a job well done, especially
young people. The rewards for
striving “to make the best
belter" include trips to
district competition for all 4-
H’ers, with trips to Slate and
National Congress for ninth
graders and above.
It’s easy to see that we re
prejudiced towards 4-H.
We’ve seen shy young boys
and girls use 4-H in developing
confidence in their own
natural abilities and then go
on to become leaders in their
schools, communities and
state.
The 4-H Club has changed
since its beginning out on the
farm But it still has the same
goal today as it did many
years ago. That is, to help
teach young people how to live
belter in the only world
have.