O.J. Kern, Superintendent of Schools in Winnebago County, Illinois, worked with the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station to spread the word about new seed corn varieties. He organized the Farm Boys Experiment Club in 1905, in cooperation with the agricultural college, to help to introduce new corn varieties and methods through the youth. His activities were contemporary to similar work being done by A. B. Graham in Ohio. Kern wanted to provide practical education for rural boys that included study of animals on the farm and farm economics to connect textbook learning to practical application. He lectured, printed annual reports and wrote a book about his work. Similar groups started soon after in Texas and in Iowa. These were a forerunner of 4-H clubs.
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Why not a course of training in the country school for the country boy which shall teach him more about the country life around him? Along with his study of the kangaroo and cockatoo, why not study the animals on the farm and a proper feeding standard for them? Kern’s thinking led to the Farm Boys Experiment Clubs, a forerunner of 4-H clubs.
