Small Agriculture: A National Agricultural Library Digital Exhibit

Farm Work for City Youth

National Agricultural Library

city youth

This publication concerns an urban youth farm-work program. It is presented by the Extension Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture in the interests of America's town and city youth as well as its farmers.

The material is based on 4 years' experience with the Victory Farm Volunteers youth recruited for farm work under the emergency farm labor program authorized by Congress each year since 1943. Pictures of this youth program are used to tell the greater part of the story.

Recruiting, organizing, and supervising young workers have been the cooperative task of the extension services of the Department of Agriculture and the land-grant colleges and their local county agent representatives, with generous help from schools and youth agencies.

If a farm-work program for city youth were not useful to the Nation's farmers, the Department of Agriculture could hardly presume that city youth were its concern. Youth is, however, a vital source of the labor used to plant, cultivate, and harvest our agricultural crops. And during the Second
World War, youth played a new but important role as substitute "hired men" on the farm. Neither could the Department venture on the subject of work-experience needs for city boys and girls, were not educational authorities already agreed on its importance.

Youth need to learn how to work, and farm work offers many learning opportunities and teaches work habits.

Because some responsibility must be taken for making farm work available to town and city youth, this publication endeavors to kindle greater interest in keeping open youth's employment avenues to the farm.

U.S. Department of Agriculture

1947

Program Aid Number 27