McMILLEN: Mr. Witcraft’s comment about adults reminds me of a frequent criticism heard in the rural field that such activities as Scouting interfere with a boy’s responsibilities to his farm home. Is this so, and need it be so?
L. O. PARKER, COUNTY FARM AGENT: It is true that they could interfere, but I don’t think it happens often. When the Unit Leader and Committee are rural people they will recognize this problem and avoid it.
ELEAZER: Getting to and from meetings sometimes poses a problem. Perhaps a less frequent Troop meeting would be the answer, with Patrol meetings in the boys’ homes in between.
NICHOLS: The camp may be the biggest problem, if it comes in the middle of the harvest season.
FOX: Camp doesn’t really have to interfere, does it? Each Troop would naturally schedule its camp dates to miss the busiest season in that area.
NICHOLS: I didn’t mean that the camping problem was hard to overcome. Certainly it is so important to a farm boy that we must get it in somehow. Going to the Council camp helps us realize that we belong to something bigger than our own Troop in our own little community. In the same way, inter-Troop activities help us keep on our toes.
PARKER: I certainly agree that camping is important, but it is the Scouting activity which is most likely to conflict with home responsibilities. Councils with rural territory should be very aware of the problem, and should handle it realistically.
CARSTENSEN: This whole discussion of competitive activity raises another question which we in the Grange feel is important. That is, that leaders of all youth movements should recognize the need for closer contact and understanding—the need for planning together so that their problems will be coordinated rather than conflicting.
We have tried to work this way in developing our Juvenile Grange program; we have made an effort to support such activities as the Boy Scouts, the 4H, Future Farmers, etc.
FOX: I am not too much concerned about the danger of competition. Neither the 4H nor the F.F.A. cover the entire country, by any means. Furthermore, my experience has been that boys can belong to both F.F.A. and the Scouts and do a good job of both. Then, too, since Future Farmers are all older boys, their activities become a continuation of the leadership training received in Scouting.