SELECTED FACTORS ASSOCIATED WiTH ATTENDANCE AT ADULT FARMER cusses m mcmaAN ' " “ Ermmmmoemp - ; Eimcmem mm WW ’ mm Barr Dam 1959 ' H E513 WHMWMWM| YRSI'I‘Y‘UTHAR 3 1293 10575 2905 WWWWHWNNT This is to certifg that the thesis entitled SELECTED FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ATTENDANCE AT ADULT FARMER CLASSES IN MICHIGAN presented by Philip Barr Davis has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Ph.D degree in Teacher Education , .7 ¢t/(/fl fi’LoWg/W f.’ Major professor / Dam July 17, 1959 0-169 Q7! HJ—G—?%&’mom NOV 2 '7 2015 12011!‘ SELECTED FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH AT ADULT FARMER CL ATTENDANCE ASSES IN MICHIGAN By PHILIP BARR DAVIS AN ABSTRACT Submitted to the School for Advanced Graduate Studies of Michigan State University of Agriculture and Applied Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Teacher Education 1959 Approvedj‘lzf 5W7 Purpose.--The purpose of this investigation was to study specific data which reveal the association between attendance at adult farmer classes and selected factors related to the farmers or their classes. Method.—-A review of literature helped identify some of the factors used in this study. Teacher trainers and teachers of adult farmers suggested others. A question- naire consisting of 30 factors was administered to farmers attending adult classes in 39 randomly selected communi- ties in Michigan. Additional questionnaires were com- pleted by mail by farmers in these communities who did not regularly attend adult classes. Returns from A72 farmers were used. Records of attendance for each farmer respondent were secured from the teachers of vocational agriculture at the completion of each adult class. Some data were secured from records of adult classes on file in the State Department of Vocational Education. Farmers were grouped according to the percentage of meetings attended. The chi—square test of independence was used to determine the relationship between the selec- ted factors and attendance. Findings and Interpretations.--Thirteen of the 30 factors were significantly associated with attendance. The seven following factors were significant at the one percent level: 1. Farmers who lived five and one-half miles or more from the center attended more meetings than those living closer." 2. Farmers who liked specifically the time of year class- es were taught attended more meetings than those who Asaid time of year made no difference. 3. Farmers, who felt the method used in classes made them want to attend, did attend more classes than those who thought methods used had no influence on their atten- dance. 4. Class meetings that covered farmers' problems caused those who appreciated this practice to attend more meetings than those not influenced by this practice. 5. Farmers, who preferred the time of day classes were held, attended more meetings than those who said the 'time of day made no difference. 6. Class meetings held less than 20 weeks in length were attended more regularly than those classes held over 20 weeks. 7. Dairying and Soils-Landscaping classes were attended more regularly than those in Livestock Production. The six following factors were significant at the five percent level: 8. Farmers who favored discussing their problems in class had better attendance than those who indicated this factor had no influence on their attendance. 9. Farmers indicating that attendance in previous years made them want to attend, had better attendance than those who said it made no difference. 3 10. Farmers who said the agricultural teacher's ability made them want to attend had better attendance than those who said it had no influence. ll. Farmers who said the agricultural teacher's person- ality made them want to attend had better attendance than those who said it had no influence. 12. Poultry farmers, dairymen, and general farmers had more regular attendance than other types of farmers; non-farmers had the poorest attendance. 13. Farmers preferring "carepools" had better attendance than those who said it had no influence. Similar studies are recommended in other states to verify further the findings or to identify other signifi- cant factors. State educational leaders in recognizing the impor- tance of attendance should capitalize on the findings of this study in working with teachers of vocational agricul- ture to promote adult education in agriculture. Because attendance tended to decrease where classes were held for more than 12 scheduled meetings or were con- tinued for more than 20 weeks, state leaders should study carefully these findings to determine what practices should be recommended. In communities where successful teachers of adults are assigned non—vocational secondary school responsibil- ities rather than adult farmer classes, state leaders should encourage their assignment in adult farmer education. ;-——_nwmr. A ._._ . ' r—Tfij—P—r- c.“..‘ To encourage regular attendance, teachers of voca- tional agriculture should deal with problems of adult far- mers and utilize discussion methods of instruction. Teachers of vocational agriculture should assist far- mers in pooling rides to adult classes and encourage at- tendance from year to year. ' ‘- -:;-.._— .—.,.. ~____==‘=_ _ SELECTED FACTORS ASSOCI ADULT FARMER CLASSES IN MICHIGAN ATED WITH ATTENDANCE By PHILIP BARR DAVIS A THESIS Submitted to the School for Advanced Graduate Studies of Michigan State University of Agriculture and Applied Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Teacher Education 1959 Amy I 3 43—50 a..." ——-- :— -.__.- n-gpq-uar—uw ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author is greatly indebted to the chairman of his guidance committee, Dr. H. P. SWeany, for his guidance, assistance, and encouragement throughout the study. In addition to Dr. Sweany, the author also wishes to express sincere appreciation to Dr. H. M. Byram, Dr. W. W. Farquhar, Dr. W. H. Roe, and Dr. R.A. Garner of Michigan State University for their sugges- tions and help. The author wishes to specially mention Dr. Jerome Li of Oregon State College for his assistance in the statistical analysis of the data. Acknowledgment is also given to the 39 teachers of vocational agriculture in Michigan who so willingly gave of their time to cooperate in gathering the data for this study. For her patience, assistance, and encourage- ment, the author is indebted to his wife, Madalyn, with- out whom this study would not have been completed. ii .9... ACKNOWLEDGMENTS LIST OF TABLES Chapter I. INTRODUCTION . Statement Background Purpose of Basic Need for th Delimitatio . . Definition of Terms . Summary TABLE OF S e Study . n O O O O of the Problem . of the Problem the Study . . Assumptions 0 0 II. REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES . Preliminary Review of Re Age of farm Distance fr Marital sta Considerations search on Selected Educational Enrolled in high school Farm status Size of farm Membershi On-farm visits Time of da Place to h Attendance Methods of instruction used e r O O O 0 cm class center tus of farmer . . . background of farmer . vocational agriculture 0 C p in other organiz O O O O C O O I I o I o o o o O 0 0 CONTENTS 000.009. 0 Fa O by instructor . old meeting . Off-the-farm employment Type of courses offered Outside speakers . . . . Social or recr units Studies on Att General Summary 6 O O 0 iii 0 at previous classes 0 O y - Day of week - Time 0 C O O eational activities Type of farming - Productive man WO 0 I ations H) K m 0-00.00. o o O O 0 o O I O O CEOTS O O a O a HI. 0 O O C O O O r k I o 0 I c I 0 o o a O o o o O b (D O D O O O O O I 0 O 0 O 0 H00... 0 O O O 0 O O endance at Adult Classes in Page ii vi . ‘_'___.__,_. _ u r . . . . E . a . . s . . . I . . . . . c r p v x o . ~ v . . n a A ~ . u . r a n . . u a u o a . v . n . . < u s g a .. n a , . . .. .. . . s A z 4 . . E n . . . .. . . u o a . n e r . . a r . . . n . P . . . .. .. ,. . _ r .. .. a . . . . a . a . . n a o . .. . a . . n n . a _ . . I . c . . .. .. .. . n . a c : ~ I , . . . a . .. . r . . . . a i u . . o r n . a n . .. a o . . . n . a o u . . . . .. . I y b w n n r I . . . . . . . . . . . . . u . .. r u a . . . a . . a . a a .. s . . . . . . . . . o n .. . . . . . .. . . a a .. n a a . u n u a n .. n a . I. . n r u a r a o z e .. a o ,. v u Chapter III. PROCEDURE . . . (Introduction . . IV. FINDINGS Developing the Questionnaire Source of Data . . . . . . . Method Used in Securing Data Treatment of Data . . Introduction . . . . . Significant Factors . . . Factors Not Significant . . . . . O 0 O C O O I O I . O O O 0 Distance from class center . Time of year classes are held The way the class is taught . Topics covered my farm problem Time of day classes are held Length of class in weeks . . Subject of class meetings . . All members allowed to discuss pr Attended class in previous years Ability of agricultural teacher . O I O O O O O C I IOCmOO... Personality of agricultural teacher Type of farming . . . . . . . . Riding with neighbor . . . Additional Significant Items . . Number of meetings . . . . . . . Individual or group respondents . Age of farmer . . . . . . . . . Marital status . . . . . . . . Education of farmer . . . . . . Years of vocational agriculture Farm status . . . . . . . . . . Size of farm . . . . . . . . . Livestock and crops PMWU . . . 0ff~the-farm employment . . . . Membership in organizations . . On—farm visits by instructor . Gross income . . . . . . . . . Classes for spouse at same time Need for agricultural informatio Use of special speakers . . . Place selected to hold classes Variety of subjects covered . . . Entertainment and/or refreshments Vid ed 0 O O O O 0 O O O I O O l l O O n O Smary . O O O C O I I O C O O I 0 iv . . I v I , I I a I . . o I I I t O a . . . a . c u r r I , E O O V I I I Q . n a n c w u n a n . a . n u I n r I I t O n P 1 r 6 . . O V a I I I n . I I h a I O I 0 ~ . n D t .- I l n . a G l O l l n I . I r A . a . .. .. u . c n . . - . n x . a . . . . a . . u a - n .. v ‘ . . a w r o o o . ~ , . n n r n . .. E ~ . r . o a u a u . a a . .. . o a u . o . . . a .. . n n a n .. . g n « . e a n n . s n c a c a ~ .. .. a a a r r . . s u w n .. a . . a a o . . e u a a . . p c n a . a a p u a . a a . u s p n .. s . u v _ » ~ a u . .. r n n 1 . a a . E a . a n I n . .. - . . _. .. n c o n n - n a . u . u r a . . . . . a . r . a a . _. .. . s r n . . . . . . - . u o o . a . . a . . a n n n u r s . a n u . u a v - a . n .. u u n s . n a n 1 c n n s u e a u s a u r u fi Chapter Page V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . 121 Introduction to Problem . . . . . . . . . . 121 Purpose of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Summary of Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 BIBLIOGRJAPHY o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 13 6 APPENDIX . O . C 0 O O C O O 0 11+]- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF AUTHOR . Table Page 1. Enrollment in Adult Farmer Classes in the United States for Selected Years . . . . . . . 6 2. Relative Concentration of Enrollment in V0- cational Agriculture Classes of Young and Adult Farmers by States and the United States, 1954‘1955 o O o o a o o o o o a o o c o o o o 7 3. Relation Between Distance from Class Center and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . . . . 69 A. Relation Between Time of Year Classes are Held and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . . . . 72 5. Relation Between Way the Class is Taught and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . . . . . . 7A 6. Relation Between Topics COVered my Farm Prob— lems and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . . 76 7. Relation Between Time of Day Classes are Held and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . . . . 77 8. Relation Between Length of Classes in Weeks and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . . . . 79 9. Relation Between Subject of Class Meetings and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . . . . . . 81 10. Relation Between All Members Allowed to Discuss Problems and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . 83 ll. Relation Between Attendance in Previous Years and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . . . . 85 12. Relation Between Ability of Agricultural Tea- cher and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . . 7 13. Relation Between Personality of Agricultural 88 Teacher and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . 1A. Relation Between Type of Farming and Atten- LIST OF TABLES dance at Adult Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 vi .. n . . . c a u a n o . . n . . .. u . . n n . n - 0 I e . . . c . n c n . ) . . . y n p n I l G r R F . . . . a c .. , n r n . . .. p n p r . a n r n l I A n _ . a a n é Table Page 15. Relation BetWeen Riding With Neighbor and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . . . . . . 91 16. Relation Between Number of Meetings and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . . . . . . 93 1?. Relation Between Individual or Group Respon- dents and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . 9h 18. Relation Between Age of Farmer and Attendance at Adult Classes 0 O O C O . O I O O I O O O 95 19. Relation Between Marital Status of Farmer and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . . . . . . 96 20. Relation Between Education of Farmer and At- tendance at Adult Classes . . . . . . . . . 97 21. Relation Between Years of Vocational Agricul- ture and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . 98 22. Relation Between Farm Status of Farmer and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . . . . . . 100 23. Relation Between Size of Farm in Acres and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . . . . . . 101 2h. Relation Between Livestock PMWU and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 25. Relation BetWeen Crops PMWU and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 26. Relation Between Total Livestock and Crops PMWU and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . 105 27. Relation Between Off-the-farm Employment and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . . . . . . 106 28. Relation Between Membership in Organizations Meeting Once a Month and Attendance at Adult Classes . O O O C C I O ‘ i O O I O O O Q O O 107 29. Relation Between Membership in Organizations Meeting Once a Week and Attendance at Adult 108 Classes . C C O O . . I O O O . O ‘ . I O C O 30. Relation Between Membership in Organizations Meeting Twice a Month and Attendance at Adult 108 Classes . O C O . . . C O O C O O O . O C O 0 vii n u n n r O a a ... n D a u a n 0 . A. . . n r r. r . n . . a e n u a p a V . e n u a . .. r a n v r . n n , . n v .. H n . . n o a .. . r n A n . r r _. , . . n , .. . . y a . o o n . n v. .. n a . . a ... 1 a r ._ n a . . . , . . .. n . r . . ... n . ~ . . . A . . . . . ... . , . I V p .. . u .. u a . a n I a n o . .. a a n u a . . u a . n .. a . a . a . . a . I a r . n o a a n . e . u n u o . a .. . n . Table 31. 32. 33. 3A- 35. 36. 37. 38. Relation Between On-farm Visits by Instruc— tor and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . . Relation Between Gross Income and Attendance at Adult Classes 0 O O O O O O O I O O O O 0 Relation Between Classes for Spouse at Same Time and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . Relation Between Need for Agricultural Infor- mation and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . Relation Between Use of Special Speakers and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . . . . . . Relation Between Place Selected to Hold Classes and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . Relation Between Variety of Subjects Covered and Attendance at Adult Classes . . . . . . . Relation Between Entertainment and/or Re- freshments Provided and Attendance at Adult Classes 0 O O O I C O O C O O O O O O O C . viii Page 109 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 A a c n I o a c ._ . . u e . c p . . . u .. a . . n . o a n . . i . .. . . . .. c .. . a , . . . n A n . . v . a . . u 4 _. » . . CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A complete program of vocational agriculture con- sists of systematic instruction for three groups: in- school students, young farmers, and adult farmers. Dur- ing the earlier years of the vocational agriculture pro- gram in the United States, the in-school enrollment was always larger than the combined groups of young and adult farmers. However, the adult and young farmer programs expanded rapidly after World War II, and during the 19h?- l9h8 and the 1950-1951 school years, their combined en- rollments exceeded the enrollment of the in-school classes. Since 1950-1951, however, the number of adult and young farmer students has been declining. If it is important to reVerse this downward trend, a concerted effort must be made to reach more adult and young farmers. This study will attempt to determine those factors associated with attendance in order to enable present and future teachers of vocational agriculture to maintain and increase enroll— ments and attendance in their adult farmer programs. ___..,_...__._-- ‘-...._ Statement of the Problem The problem of this study is to determine what factors contribute to the regular attendance of adult farmers enrolled in systematic courses of instruction. Although many teachers of vocational agriculture have worked diligently in providing instruction and as- sistance to the farmers in their communities, few adult education programs have reached the majority of the adult farmers in any one community who would benefit from such instruction. This statement can be supported by the in- formation in Table 2 which indicates only approximately 6% of the total number of adult farmers are enrolled in classes. What makes this large difference in potential and actual enrollments? Why don't more adult farmers take advantage of their opportunities to gain assistance in farming? What effect does off-the-farm employment have on adult farmer class enrollments and attendance? Are en- rollments and attendance associated with certain charac- teristics of the enrollees, the program, or the instruc- tion? All of these questions and many more have been asked before in previous research. Unfortunately, the few studies of adult education in agriculture that have been made haVe not been concerned with factors other than those pertaining to age of class members, distance from class center, and whether the members were owners or rent- ers of their farms. Is it possible that attendance to adult farmer classes can be associated with more than just these few factors commonly used in previous stud- ies? In order to determine the most important factors, a large number of items must be compared with actual at- tendance records of farmers enrolled in adult classes. The factors to be studied may be grouped under the following headings: 1. Scope of the business a. Productive-man-work-units b. Off-the-farm employment c. Gross income d. Size of farm 6. Type of farming 2. The nature of the instruction a. On-farm visits by instructor b. Personality and ability of agricultural tea- cher c. Use of special speakers d. Members being allowed to discuss problems e. Methods of instruction used f. Length of class in weeks 3. The course content a. Subject of class meetings b. Topics covered the member's farm problems c. A variety of subjects covered in the class h. Class organization a. Place selected to hold classes b. Time of day classes are held c. Time of year classes are held d. Distance from class center e. Entertainment and refreshments provided at class meeting. f. Instruction for wives g. Riding with neighbor . 5. Personal characteristics of farmers 'a. Age b. Marital status 0. Educational background d. Years enrolled in vocational agriculture in high school e. Farming status f. Members need for agricultural information g. Membership in organizations h. Adult farmer class attendance in previous years It is believed that some degree of association may be established between these selected factors and attendance. The problem, therefore, is to determine which of the factors listed previously are associated with the reg- ular attendance of farmers at adult classes. ggpkground of thgfiProblgm The need for this adult farmer education as a part of the total program of vocational agriculture in local communities has long been recognized by the agricultural leaders of this country. The Smith-Hughes law states Spe- cifically that the vocational agricultural program should be designed "to meet the needs of persons over fourteen years of age who have entered or who are preparing to en- ter upon the work of the farm or of the farm home."1 The Smith-Hughes law was one of the first official congressional acts which recognized the need for education beyond the normal public school age level. This law placed much of the responsibility of adult education, and spe- cifically adult farmer education, in the hands of the many public high schools across the country. In the attempt to carry out the intended purpose of the Smith-Hughes legislation, local teachers of voca- tional agriculture have initiated, organized, and conduc- ted classes for adult farmers. The enrollment figures for adult farmer classes for the period l921-22 through 1956-57 are summarized in Table 1. Although these figures represent a large number of the adult farmer population, it is estimated by many per- sons and supported through research that these figures constitute only approximately 6% of the total adult farmer lU.S., Statutes at Large, Public Law 347, 6hth Con- gress, Vol. 39, Part I, February 23, 1917, p. 934. — ' 6 potential enrollment. This small percentage becomes more significant when one realizes that the potential enroll- ment for adult farmers is greater by far than for young farmers or high school students. TABLE 1 ENROLLMENT IN ADULT FARMER CLASSES IN THE UNITED STATES FOR SELECTED YEARS* School Year Adult Farmers 1921“22 o o o o a o a o o o o c o o l, 333 1923-21} 0 o o a o o o v o o o o u a 15 , 227 1925-26 0 o o o o I o o o o o o a o 19, 239 1927-28 0 o o o o o o o o o a o o o 35, 192 1929-30 0 o o o a c a o c o o o o o 60, 562 1931-32 3 o o o c o o o o o o o o o 87, 139 1933-31.? 0 o I c o o o o o o o o o o 99, 293 1935_36 a o o o o o o o n c o o o o 107, 517 1937-38 0 o o o 0 o o o o a a o o o 158, 813 1939~h0 o o o o o a o o o o c o o 0 192,2 7 lghl-lpz o o o o o o O o o o o n a 0 214,5 2 ‘[ 1914'3 -111} o o o c o o o o o o o o o n 183 ’ 880 l9hh‘h5 o o o I o o o o I o o o o o 183 , O71 191+5-“6 . o o o o o o o o o o o o o 224, 613 1946-47 0 o o o o o o o u o o o o o 236, 118 1947-h8 o o o o c o c o o o o o o o 297, 713 191+8-lp9 o o o a o o o o o o o o o 0 290,275 191+9-5O o o o a c a O o o a o o o o 31.;5, 007 1950-51 0 o o o c o o o u o o o o 0 319,09 1951'52 o o o c o o o o o c o o o o 271, 160 1952.53 0 o o o o o o o a o o o n 0 275,108 1955‘5h o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 21+7,275 l95h~55 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272,363 1955-56 0 o o o o o a o o o o o c o 277, 8A9 1956'57 o o o o a o o o o c o o o o 270, 130 *Digests of Annual Reports of State Boards for V0- cational Education, Federal Security Agency, Office of Ed- ucation. In Table 2 the enrollment by states for 195h~55 is tabulated. The total number of adult farmers enrolled in vocational agriculture in 1954-1955 in the United States was approximately 60% as large as the in-school group; how- . , . . . . ‘ . n . . l n U . . l .. l n l n n . n h l . . .h l u . a. w u . ~ . . I a Q I I I O D I . . I I I I I U n. I I I l l O I I . . u I . I I C I I I t D I O I I V l I h I I I I I O ‘ O I C I V t O u I t I I 1 I I I a I I I 1 D C ' v\ I n. n I I I I I . I I I I I . A I 1 Q I I I u I I C ' I ‘ I I l I Q ‘ I l I V I I I l I I I I l I I I I I l . L . o. v ' I v 0 0 Q I o I I I I I I v I I I I ~ 4 l I I _ . i I I I I I I I I h I I I l I I I I L I I i I I . ‘ - I - I l . I 0 I h I I A I I I Q I I I C Q I I. I .t‘ . w I . . I n I ‘ I J c I L ’ I I I I I I l l I I I I c I 1 . u I I l A l u l I I I I I 1 I I v I I i I n v I V I I 1 I I I Q 0 I O I . I I Q I I O I I ‘ I I I U — I. .. . .. . .. v n I. I . e . 4 v .I. u. a 9 I 1 , . . TABLE 2 RELATIVE CONCENTRATION OF ENROLLMENT IN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE CLASSES OF YOUNG AND ADULT FARMERS BY STATES AND THE UNITED STATES - 1954-55 (a) (b) (C) (d) (e) State Number Adult Young Total Enrollees Per of Farms Farmers Farmers Hundred Farms Ariz. 9,321 263 .... 2 3 2.8 Ark. 145,076 10,362 955 11,317 7.0 Calif. 123,075 7,321 .... 7,321 6.0 Colo. 40,749 361 220 581 1.4 Conn. 12,753 40 109 149 1.2 Del. 6,297 '84 .... 84 1.3 Fla. 57,543 817 294 1,111 1.9 Ga. 165,523 49,534 1,055 50,589 30-0 Idaho 38,740 8 .... 87 .2 111. 175,543 12,829 522 13,381 7.6 Ind. 153,593 3,154 40 3,194 2.0 Iowa 192,933 16,790 597 17,387 9.0 Kansas 120,167 453 .... 453 .4 Ky. 193,487 3,578 2,153 5,731 2.9 a La. 111,127 7,843 3,042 10,885 9.8 '1 Maine 23,368 25 18 43 .2 Md. 32,500 427 .... 427 1.3 Mass. 17,361 358 .... 358 2.0 Mich. 138,922 5,032 936 5,968 4.3 Minn. 165,225 13,415 2,037 15,452 9.0 Miss. 215,915 24,681 344 25,025 11.5 Mo. 201,614 9,372 432 9,804 4.8 Mont. 33,061 222 203 42 1.3 Neb. 100,846 4,342 881 5,223 5.1 Nev. 2,857 102 66 16 5.8 NOH. 10, ll 0... O... O... 0.0 N.J. 22, 86 401 171 572 2.5 I‘Iolviex. 21,070 I... O... O... 0.0 N.Y. 105,71 2,056 $56 2,512 2.4 N.C. 267,90 7,902 6, 92 14,794 5.5 N.Dak. 61,943 1,606 144 ,75 2.8 (a) U.S. Department of Commerce, Census of Agri- culture, Number of Farms, Table 9, Vol. II, U.S. Govern- ment Printing Office, 1954, p. 30. (b) (c) Digest of Annual Reports of State Boards for Vocational Education. Fiscal year ended June 30, 1955. Federal Security Agency, Office of Education. .... up. u o c a . K x l - . i a v o u . . . v . o a o p c n D c I v 3.3. x6». ..d...m 1... II] 54... TABLE 2 - Continued (a) (b) (e) (d) e) Total Enrollees Per State Number Adult Young of Farms Farmers Farmers Hundred Farms Ohio 177,074 5,525 2,609 8 134 4.6 Okla. 118,979 8,325 4,243 12:568 10.5 Ore. 54,441 1,010 21 1,031 2.0 Pa. 128,876 2,262 0... 2,262 1.7 ROI. ’ too. too. 000. 0.0 8.0. 124,203 20,703 6,563 27,266 22.0 S.Dak. ,52 1,048 .... 1,048 1.7 Tenn. 203,149 8,703 1,012 9,715 4.8 Texas 202,947 14,081 3,072 17,153 5.8 Utah ,826 886 450 , 336 6.0 Vt. 15,981 83 73 15 1.0 Va. 136,416 10,162 2,461 12,623 9.2 Wash. 65,175 , .... ,16 1.8 W. Va. 68,58 502 323 825 1.2 Wis. 153,558 5,269 3,055 8,684 5.6 VJyO. 11,402 0... O... O... 0.0 Total 4,782,416 271,411 45,952 317,363 6.6 average ever, the percentage of the total potential adult farmers enrolled is still quite small. In Table 2 can be found the number of farms in each state and in the United States as a whole, the enrollment of young and adult farmers, and the enrollees per hundred farms. tion there is one operator pe ees per hundred farms is equal to the p ators enrolled. Since by census defini- r farm, the number of enroll- ercentage of Oper- As can be seen in Table 2, there were 4,782,416 farm operators in the United States in 1954. There were also 2,729,650 non-family hired workers.2 In addition there were many other men on farms who were out of school and not included in either the operator or the non-family hired Worker groups. Thus, the enrollment of 317,363 vocational agricultural young and adult farmers in the 48 states in 1954 was the equivalent of 6.6% of the farm operators in the United States; if the non-fam- ily hired Workers on farms were included, the enrollment would represent 4.2% of the total farming population; and if the uncounted men on farms were also included, the ' enrollment might even drop as low as 4% of the total adult and young farmer student potential. Since the total number of farmers reported in Table 2 included both young and adult farmers, the exact figures cannot be obtained for the number of adult far- mers in the United States in 1954. The official report from the United States Office of Education lists only 271,411 adult farmers enrolled in organized classes.3 One can only estimate that approximately 6% of the adult farmers are attending classes. 2U.S., Department of Commerce, Census of Agricul- ture, Workers on Farms, Table 3 (Washington: U.S. Govern- ment Printing Office, 1954), Vol. II, p. 238. . 3Digest of Annual Reports of State Boards for V0- cational Education. Fiscal year ended June 30 1955. Federal Security Agency, Office of Education {Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1955), p. 19 Purpose of thg Study The purpose of this study is to bring to light specific data which may reveal some positive association between the class member's attendance at adult farmer classes and such selected factors as were indicated as sub-problems in the "Statement of the Problem." Such information obtained from regular members of adult farmer classes should provide ideas for teachers of vocational agriculture which, if made available to them, will help in recruiting and maintaining attendance of adult farmers in systematic courses of instruction. Basic Assumptions In the area of adult farmer education there are many factors which are believed to be associated with en- rollments and attendance. Previous studies indicate that some definite relationship exists between selected fac- tors and enrollments. A few of these studies provide some evidence of an association with attendance. Based on the foregoing statements, this study is founded on the following assumptions: 1. Factors associated with attendance at adult far- mer classes may be isolated and evaluated. Pre- vious studies indicate that characteristics of farmers, or conditions associated with their farming activities, such as age, size of farm, lO WV 1 4. distance from the class center, educational background, and other specific factors are as- sociated with enrollments and subsequent atten- dance. Factors, in addition to those stated in the pre- vious paragraph, may also be isolated and stud- ied in the belief that they, too, are associated with attendance at adult farmer classes. Factors such as off-the—farm employment, productive man work units, gross income, ability and personality of the instructor, the number of on-farm visits by the instructor, membership and attendance at farm, civic, and church organizations, and many others, also, are associated with attendance at adult farmer classes. Valid answers from the respondents may be obtained through the use of a properly constructed, tested, and administered questionnaire. . The farmers in a random sample of adult farmer classes will be a relatively random sample of far- mers from which the desired information may be ob- tained. The chi-square test of independence is an accep- table statistical treatment to determine rela- tionship between factors and attendance. ll 12 Need for the Study Present national and world culture with its com- plexities requires adult education. Modern society is too complex for adults to depend upon the random exper- iences of daily life as their chief sources of learning. New knowledge, skills, and understandings are developing so rapidly that elementary and secondary education would, even if it were done well, be inadequate for adult living. Technological changes on farms make it necessary for farmers to learn new techniques that would help them i become more proficient in farming. Adult education is needed to provide opportunities for these men to go on learning regardless of their schooling or educational background. The same political and economic needs which jus— tify public schools for children can be used to justify adult education. Bogue writes: The saying that you are never too old to learn should be restated that you are never too old to need to learn. This view envisions education as one o the basic and continuing services which a demo- cratic society requires and provides for itself through its cooperative efforts. Some might argue that agricultural education in high schools will provide training for farm people. 001- ville found that only 14% of his adult farmer class mem- ¥ “J. F. Bogue, The Communit Colle e (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 19505, p. 215. 13 bers had had high school vocational agriculture.5 Guiler found that only 35% of his adult farmer class had had some vocational agriculture in high school.6 A study of 50 Institutional On-farm Training Classes in Nebraska revealed that 72% of the young veterans enrolled had never had vocational agriculture in high school. The re- mainder had received from one to four years of training in high school.7 If the primary purpose of agricultural education is to provide the nation with educated farm operators, we have not yet accomplished it through our 5 high school programs. Supplementary programs for adult farmers are needed. Many teachers of vocational agriculture have be- come discouraged in the results of their efforts to es— tablish adult farmer classes. It is important that a study be conducted to reveal to present and future voca- tional agricultural teachers some further evidence of the factors associated with attendance to adult farmer classes. 5David E. Colville, "The Reasons Why Farmers At- tend Short Courses and the Subsequent Influences on Their Farming Programs" (un ublished Master’s thesis, Ohio State University, 1945 , p. 23. 6Gilbert 8. Guiler, "An Evaluation of the Program of Adult Education in Vocational Agriculture at Canal Win- _ Chester, Ohio, 1950-51" (unpublished Master's thesis, 1 Ohio State University, 1951), p. 21. 7Burneil E. Gingery, "An Analysis of the Re- sponses of Nebraska Veterans Enrolled in Institutional 0n- farm Training Regarding Financing Future Adult Courses in Agriculture," Summaries of Studies in A ricultural Educa- tion, Supplement No. 8, Bulletin No. 255 (U.S. Department 03 Health, Education, and Welfare, 1955), p. 35. 11+ Delimitations It would not be feasible to regard g1; factors associated with attendance at adult farmer classes in one study. Previous studies in this area generally have been concerned with descriptive factors such as age, eda ucational background, distance from class center, and size of farm operated by each respondent in an attempt to establish associations with attendance. While these descriptive factors may be associated with attendance at adult farmer classes, it is believed that additional factors must be included in this study to present a com- prehensive overview of the many items associated with at- tendance. For this reason, this study will be enlarged, yet limited, to the 30 selected factors listed previously on pages three and four. This study will also be limited to the data re— ceived from 472 farmers enrolled in adult classes conduc- ted by 39 teachers of vocational agriculture in 39 commun- ities in the state of Michigan. Definition of Terms A definition of the terms is necessary for inter- pretation of the study. Each of the following will be de- fined in terms of the context in which it will be used: Adult farmer ,Those persons, usually 25 years or older, who are actively engaged in farming and have managerial responsi- bilities in the operation of their farms. 15 Adult farmgr cla§§g§ Adult farmer classes in vocational agriculture are made up of farmers enrolled in an intensive course of systematic instruction on practical farm problems and ac- tivities conducted by a department of vocational agricul- ture. Young farmer Those persons, usually 16 to 25 years of age, who are actively engaged in but have not yet become estab- lished in farming. Young farmgr clagggs Young farmer classes in vocational agriculture 2 are made up of young farmers enrolled in an intensive ; course of instruction in agriculture conducted by a de- partment of vocational agriculture. Attendance The attendance records of each of the 472 respon- dents in this study have been divided into the following categories: Perfect - Those farmers who attended all of the meetings of the class in which they Were enrolled. Excellent - Those farmers who attended 75-99% of the meetings of the class in which they were enrolled. Good - Those farmers who attended 50-74% of the meetings of the class in which they were enrolled. Fair - Those farmers who attended 25-49% of the meetings of the class in which they were enrolled. 16 Poor - Those farmers who attended 24% and less of the meetings of the class in which they were enrolled. WM Because the methods of repOrting educational pro- grams in vocational agriculture include a large number of persons out of school, those students who are enrolled in the regular high school course in vocational agriculture have been identified as in-school students. Whenever this term is used, it is synonymous with high school students. Statistically significant For this study, statistically significant means that the factors are significant at the 1% or 5% level as determined by the chi-square test of independence. 1% level - Significant at the 1% level means that the observed difference would not occur by chance more than once in 100 instances. 5% level - Significant at the 5% level means that the observed difference would not occur by chance more than five times in 100 in- stances. PMWU A "productive man work unit" is a unit of measure- ment used in accurately estimating the amount of labor needed to produce crops and care for liVestock. A "pro- ductive man work unit" is equivalent to one man working a 10 hour day at average efficiency. Standards used were developed by the Agricultural Economics Department of Michigan State University in 1957- 1? Factor For this study, a factor is defined as a charact- eristic of farmers or adult farmer classes which can be measured objectively. Selected factor A selected factor is defined as that character— istic of farmers or adult farmer classes which has been arbitrarily selected for study in this problem. Summary The need for an educational program for adult far- mers is becoming more apparent with the realization that present day agriculture requires advanced knowledge. Al- though adult farmer programs are in operation in many 10- cal communities in the United States, a large percentage of the total number of farmers is not being reached. It is believed that this study through its review of related research, its collection of data, and treatment of data will reveal factors associated with attendance. By observation of these factors, teachers of vocational agriculture will be able to provide educational opportun- ities of interest to more farmers. A thorough study of research conducted previously in the area of adult farmer education has been summarized and is presented in the following chapter. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES Preliminary Considerations ‘ The provisions made through the enactment of the National Vocational Education Act of 1917 (commonly re- ferred to as the Smith-Hughes Act) for adult farmer classes stated: ...that such education shall be of less than college grade and be designated to meet the needs of persons over 14 years of age who have entered upon or who are preparing to enter upon the work of the farm or of the farm home... This act was the most far reaching law ever passed in the United States affecting the development of public school agricultural programs, not only in high school but, also, in adult farmer classes. Adult farmer education, however, did not result from the Smith—Hughes Act. In this country it has had a long historical development. The New England Town Meeting of the seventeenth century was a form of popular education for adults. Us- ually one meeting per year was held at which eVery male resident of the township was expected to be present with liberty to address the meeting. This appears to be the V lU.S., Statutes at Lar e, Public Law 347, 64th Congress, Vol. 39, Part I, February 23, 1917, p. 934. 18 Il.l ..:I II... will. .. 19 first effort, on record at least, of farmers attending organized meetings for the improvement of their own wel— fare -- for certainly the majority of the male residents of the townships in those early days in New England was farmers. In so far as the exchange of ideas was concerned some degree of adult education took place. In 1785, the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture was organized to encourage "a greater increase of the products of land within the American States," and for this purpose the society would print memoirs, offer prizes for experiments, improvements, and agricultural essays, and encourage the establishment of other socie- ties in the United States.2 By 1860, there were 941 ac- tive agricultural societies in the United States.3 A direct outgrowth of the New England Town Meet- ing came in the form of the Lyceum in 1826 when Josiah Holbrook, a graduate of Yale in 1810, and subsequently a teacher and farmer, became interested in instruction for adults. He is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Lyceum," and in a sense, can be credited for laying some of the first foundation stones for our present-day adult farmer schools. Briefly, the Lyceums were (1) "to procure for “ youth an economical and practical education and to diffuse 2Alfred Charles True, A Histor of A ricultural Ed- ucation in the United States, 1285-1225 (washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1929 , p. 7. 3Ibid., p. 23. 20 rational and useful information through the community generally, and (2) to apply the sciences and the various branches of education to the domestic and useful arts and to all common purposes of life.“+ The Lyceums were vol- untary associations of farmers and mechanics "for the purpose of self culture, community instruction, and act- ual discussion of common public interests." By 1839 more than 3000 Lyceums were in existence and they eXer- cised educational leadership among adults in the rural areas.5 Farmers institutes were begun about 1870 and de- veloped into a regular system of meetings under public control. These institutes, public meetings, and lectures for farmers spread so widely that by 1890 there were 26 states providing such farm meetings. By 1899 farmers in— stitutes had spread into 45 states, with more than 2,000 institutes attended by over 800,000 farmers held that year. By 1914 when the Smith-Lever law was enacted, the number of farmers attending institutes had increased to over 3,000,000. The peak was reached in 1915 with 7,060 different institutes held, but by 1927 they had declined to 2,260. The sharp decline was due largely to increasing hHenry Barnard (ed.), American Journal of Educa- tion Vol. 8, (Hartford, Connecticut: F. C. Brownell, 18603 g p o 231. 5American Association for Adult Education, Hand- Eook of Adult Education in the Unitgg States (New York: 931+,P090 --. __ ...—.... 21 numbers of other types of meetings for farmers.6 The early farmers institute was essentially a one or two-day meeting featuring addresses on various farm, home, and community topics. Discussions were car- ried out by the speakers, representatives of the agricul- tural colleges and experiment stations, and the more pro- gressive farmers. These meetings brought farmers and their families the results of research of the state ag- ricultural experiment stations, the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture and similar institutions, as well as the successful practices of farmers.7 . The Agricultural High School of Baltimore County at Sparks Station, Maryland, was opened in 1909 and was among the first public schools to introduce instruction in agriculture. This school also provided for adult far- mers a ten-meeting course with an average attendance of 125 men and women. Monthly meetings were held on Satur- day afternoons for the farmers' wives with an average at- tendance of 85 women. They studied home economics, car- pentry, home crafts, or modern literature.8 Therefore, vocational education in agriculture for adult farmers provided by the public schools under the provisions of the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 was but a natural development in the long process of adult farmer 6True, op. cit., p. 277- 7Ibid., pp. 278-279- 8Ibid., p. 353. 22 education. Farming requires a wide variety of skills and a great deal of scientific knowledge, much more than ap- pears to be commonly recognized by those not familiar with agriculture. It also calls for business and man- agerial abilities of a high order. Anyone can keep farm animals but only the farmer who is a good manager can make those animals keep him. Local communities, under the sponsorship of de- partments of vocational education in the public schools, are more and more accepting the responsibility of train- ing out-of-school farm youth and adult farmers to estab- lish and maintain themselves successfully in the busi- ness of farming. Since 1921 there has been an increase in the num- ber of adult farmers who have enrolled in evening classes in vocational agriculture. Latest reports reveal 272,363 adult farmers were enrolled in classes in 1954-55.9 Although this is a siz- able number, Table 2 (page 4) indicates that only approx- imately 6% of the total number of adult farmers are at- tending classes. The small percentage of farmers who attend classes seems to be in direct contradiction to the many needs these farmers may have -- needs which can be 9Digest of Annual Reports of State Boards for Vo- cational Education. Fiscal year ended June 30, 1955. Fed- eral Security Agency, Office of Education (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1955), p. 19. 23 partly or wholly met by attending classes designed to meet their needs. Review of Research on Sglected Factors Leaders in the field of adult farmer education such as Hamlin, Tabb, Dickerson, Mack, Ahalt, and others have conducted many investigations of adult farmer class- es. Teachers actively engaged in teaching adult farmers have focused their studies on factors considered to have some bearing on attendance at adult farmer classes. Items of age, size of farm, distance from the class center, ed- ucational background, and farming status usually were in- cluded to establish a cross-sectional View of the "aver- age" adult farmer. Many studies have also included items such as time of day, day of the week, and the time of year classes are held, site of class meeting, attendance at previous classes, methods of instruction used, use of outside speakers, so- cial and recreational activities, and many other factors to determine if these factors are associated with atten- dance, as well as enrollments. A number of these studies have been summarized and are included in the following re- view of research on selected factors. Age of farmer Tabb, in his study of farmers enrolled in adult farmer classes in Kentucky, found the average age to be 44. Further findings in a random sample of 869 farmers revealed the high interest group to be between 35 and 55 24 years of age with the lowest interest group over 65.10 Although Tabb's study did not deal specifically with at- tendance, the findings indicated an association between the age of the farmer and class attendance. Pierce found that 71.5% of the adult farmers en- rolled were beyond 30 years of age. Only 4% were over 60. The largest percentage was between 40 and 49 years of age.11 Guiler discovered in his study in the Canal Win- chester, Ohio area that the average age of the adult far- mer was 40, with ages ranging from 30 to 63 years of age. The largest number enrolled (25%) was in the 30 to 35 age- group.12 A study of 620 farmers by Webster reVealed a reas- onably young average—age of 34.5. Only 6% Were 60 and over.13 Many studies of young and adult farmers gave a 10W. R. Tabb, "A Study of the Age of Farmers At- tending Adult Farmer Classes and the Distance Traveled to Class" (Re ort of non-thesis study, University of Ken- tucky, 1954 , pp. 4—7. llDewey Pierce, "The Status of Adult Education in Vocational Agriculture in Ohio, 1951-52" (unpublished Mas- ter's thesis, Ohio State University, 1952), p. 43. 12Gilbert S. Guiler, “An Evaluation of the Program of Adult Education in Vocational Agriculture at Canal Win- chester, Ohio, 1950-51" (unpublished Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 1951), p. 15. l3George E. Webster, "The Discovery of Factors In- volved in the Conduct of Courses for the Repair or Con- struction of Farm Machinery and Equipment - A Study of Vermont's Experience" (unpublished Master's thesis, Cor- nell University, 1943), p. 13. 25 slightly different age-picture while providing a basis for considering age as a factor associated with attend- ance. Colville found that 80% of the farmers studied were under 45 years of age, 31% were under 30, and only 10% were over 50.14 When this study is divided into its young farmer and adult farmer components, hOWever, one finds 18% over 50 and an average adult farmer age of 38. Dickerson's study of young and adult farmers re- vealed that 93.5% of the young farmers were under 35 years of age, while 88.7% of the adult farmers were 25 and over; 52.4% were over 35 years of age. According to these data, the largest percentage (41.9) of the adult farmers fell in the 35 to 54 age group, while the largest percentage (69.4) of the young farmers was contained in the 16 to 24 age group.15 All of these studies appear to support Thorn- dike's research concerning the optimum age of learning. In reporting on one of his earlier studies he says: We showed that the ability to learn increased from early childhood to about age 25 and decreased gradually and slowly thereafter, about one percent per year. Childhood was found to be emphatically lhDavid E. Colville, "The Reasons Why Farmers At- tend Short Courses and the Subsequent Influences on Their Farming Programs" (un ublished Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 1945 , p. 19. 15Russell B. Dickerson, "The Development of Voca- tional Education in Agriculture for Young and Adult Far- mers in Pennsylvania for the Ten Year Period, 1931-41" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Pennsylvania State Col- lege, 1943), pp. 88-89. , 26 not the best age for learning in the sense of age when the greatest returns per unit of time spent are received. The age that is best in that sense is in the twenties, and any age below 45 is better than ages 10-14. Later investigations by Miles, Jones, and others made it probable that the decline in ability to learn from age 45 to 70 is not much more rapid than this, so that a man 65 may expect to learn at least half as much per hour as he could at 25 and more than he could at 8 to 10. These results perform the useful service of assur- ing any adult (21 to 70) who is not demented that he can learn most of what he needs to learn and with lit~ tle or no greater time cost than at age 15.16 Although it is recognized that this study by Thorn- dike dealt principally with verbal 1earnings and did not control all variables, it does indicate that adults be- tWeen the ages of 45 and 65 do have a considerable amount of ability to learn. While classes may logically be or- ganized around the needs and interests of farmers between the ages of 30 and 55, those farmers past 55 should not be forgotten. It is believed that the present study will find the age-groups of 30 to 55 to be predominant. How- ever, statistical treatment (comparisons of age-groups and actual attendance records) will be made to further support or reject the factor of age as being significantly asso- ciated with attendance. Distance from class center The factor of distance from the class center has been accepted by persons in adult education as being one of the more important factors associated with attendance. léEdward L. Thorndike, Adult Interests (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1933), pp. 2-3. 2? In past years the prospect of driving to a suitable meet- ing place in a doubtful medium of transportation over an even more undependable roadway could very well have great- ly influenced a farmer's attendance to class. In recent years, hOWever, dependable motor vehicles and imprOVed roads have made the factor of distance from the class cen- ter of less importance as a determent to attendance to adult farmer classes. Webster's study, concerned with the distance of farmers from 45 class centers, disclosed an average dis- tance of 3.7 miles. Seventy-six percent of the enroll- ees lived within five miles and 20% lived within 1.5 miles. None of the members traveled more than 12 miles to class.17 Tabb reported in his study of 869 farmers that the average distance traveled was 5.2 miles. The maxi- Ninety percent lived within 10 miles of the class center.l8 mum distance traveled was 22 miles. Guiler studied class attendance of 70 farmers in Ohio. He found that 51% of the young and adult farmers traveled from one to six miles. Only nine of them trav- eled 10 or more miles to the class center.l9 Although these studies indicate that some farmers will travel relatively long distances to attend meetings, 17Webster, 0 . cit., p. 17. 18Tabb, o . cit., p. 8. 19Guiler, o . cit., p. 19. 28 generally speaking, most farmers prefer to attend classes within five miles of their homes. These findings might also indicate that regardless of the situation, few far- mers will travel more than 10 miles to attend farmer classes. Marital status of farmgg Some correlation may be shown between the marital status of farmers and subsequent attendance to classes. This factor appears to be of less significance since the majority of farmers in this country are married. Data from the 1950 United States Census revealed that 62% of the farmers were married.20 These data included all ru- ral males 14 years and older. The percentage of adult farmers who were married Would be considerably higher. Webster, in his study of 620 young and adult farmers attending classes, found that over 60% were mar- ried. Thirty-three percent of the farmers involved in this study, however, were under 25 years of age, with 21 One might possibly estimate 125 members 21 and less. from these figures that approximately 75% of those far- mers over 21 were married. This approximation would sup- port the figures revealed in the 1950 United States Cen sus of Population.‘ 20U.S., Bureau of Census, Seventeenth Census of the United States: 1959. Population. Table 3,IV61. II, pp. 2D-29. 21Webster, loc. cit. . ...-.-— 29 The present study is not so concerned with whether a respondent is married or single but rather if a married enrollee maintains a better attendance record than an en- rollee who is single. Educational background of farmgg It is commonly recognized that the more education a person has, the more he realizes the need for additional training. If one accepts the foregoing statement, Mack's study of the differences between educational backgrounds and adult education interests will become more significant. Mack grouped his respondents into categories per— taining to the amount of formal schooling received. He found that persons with six years or less of formal edu- cation displayed the least interest in adult education. As the amount of education increased, the interest in adult education also increased. Ninety percent of the people included in the "high interest group" had gradu- ated from high school.22 Most of the research pertaining specifically to the educational background of adult farmers has been to determine only the amount of formal schooling received. Many of our farmers today have less than a complete high school education which may help to explain the low percen- tage of farmers attending adult farmer classes. 22John A. Mack, "Determining Community Needs for Adult Education" (un ublished Ed.D. dissertation, Cor- nell University, 1951 , p. 158. 30 Webster's study revealed 35% of the enrollees had completed the eighth grade. Thirty-two percent had grad- uated from high school while only 4% had completed col- lege. The enrollees averaged 10.1 grades completed in the public schools.23 Dickerson's research, involving almost 4700 young and adult farmers, revealed that 58.2% of the young far- mers and 36.9% of the adult farmers had some high school education. Surprisingly enough, more adult farmers (5.8%) had some college training as compared to only 3.2% of the young farmers enrolled.2h Different findings have been reported from Gui- ler's study in Ohio, where 96.7% of the young farmers and 87.5% of the adult farmers had completed high schools. On- ly 16.7% of the young farmers had gone beyond the high school level as compared to 25% of the adult farmers. Twelve and one-half percent of the adult farmers had grad- uated from college.25 In an earlier study Hamlin found that 43% of the enrollees had not gone beyond the eighth grade. Only 11% had gone beyond high school.26 One can readily see that the amount of education 23Webster, op. cit., p. 15. 2“Dickerson, lgg;_git. 2E‘Guiler, op. cit., p. 21. 26H. M. Hamlin, "Factors Affecting Attendance at - Agricultural Evening Schools" (University of Illinois, 1938), Mimeographed. p. 4. 31 differs from study to study and that this amount has been steadily increasing as our entire population believes in and receives more educational training. In view of the available information concerning the amount of formal education of enrollees of adult far- mer classes, the present study will attempt to determine if those farmers with more educational background main- tain better records of attendance. Enrolled in vocational agriculture in high sghggl One factor considered associated with adult far- mer attendance is that of having been enrolled in voca- tional agriculture while in high school. Colville discovered that 57% of the adult farmers in his study had vocational agriculture in high school. As one might expect this study revealed that a much higher proportion of the younger farmers had taken vocational agriculture in high school. Fourteen percent of those class members over 40 years of age had had high school vocational agriculture; 59% of those 35 to 40; 83% of those 30 to 35: and 89% of those 25 to 30 years of age.27 Guiler found that 86.7% of the young farmers in- cluded in his study had vocational agriculture in high school, while only 35% of the adult farmer group had had such training. Of those adult farmers under the age of 38, 80% had had vocational agriculture training in high g 27Colville, op. cit., p. 23. 32 school.28 While these two studies support the premise that a high percentage of members of adult farmer classes will have had some high school vocational agriculture, they also point to the fact that a large percentage of those farmers 40 and over did not have the opportunity for or- ganized instruction in agriculture. An attempt will be made in this study to compare actual attendance records of the respondents to determine if being enrolled in vo— cational agriculture while in high school is associated with attendance at adult farmer classes. Farm status On the premise that the farming status of the class member would be associated with subsequent atten- dance, many have included this factor in their studies. It is the general consensus that the better established more aggressive farmers attend adult classes, yet all studies do not fully support this hypothesis. Hamlin's study in 1938 found 58% to be tenants, but the economic situation at that time would probably account for such a large percentage of tenancy.29 Stud- ies since that time, particularly since World War II, indicate a different trend. Colville found only 6% of his adult farmers class- 28Guiler, loc. cit. 29Hamlin, loc. cit. 33 ified as tenants. Thirty-one percent were owners, 22% were part owners, 39% were in partnership, 1% were hired hands, and 1% occupied miscellaneous positions.30 _ Dickerson, reporting on his research, stated that 54.7% of the young farmers were owner-operators, 20.6% were renters, 16.1% were farm hands, and the remainder were in miscellaneous categories. The adult farmer group showed 61.3% owner-operators, 24.3% renters, and 9.5% farm hands. The remainder were classified in miscella- neous categories.31 Webster's study revealed that 55% were farm oper- ators, 30% were sons of farm operators, 11% were hired hands, and the remainder fell in several categories.32 The terms "farm operators" and "sons of farm operators" are ambiguous, and of course could include owners, rent- ers, managers, or hired men. This study would be more meaningful if one could know what was included within these two rather general terms. Guiler found in his study that 77.5% of the adult farmers were owners as contrasted to none of the young farmers. Twelve and one-half percent of the adults rented their farms as contrasted to 16.6% of the Young farmers. Many of the young farmers were in partnership at home or 300olville, op. cit., p. 28. 31Dickerson, op. cit., p. 90. 32Webster, op. cit., p. 22. 34 at home with income from one or more enterprises. Guiler stated: This information gives support to the general be- lief that young and adult farmers should be separated in the instructional program. For example, the fact that only five of the young farmers are operators of their farms in contrast to the large number of adults who are owner operators, should be taken into consid— eration when teaching farm 1essons.33 These studies reveal that the farming status of enrollees in adult farmer classes varies considerably ac- cording to the state in which the study was conducted and the current economic condition at the time the study was made. An attempt will be made in this study to determine if the farming status of those farmers in the study is associated with their actual records of attendance. Size of farm Another factor which has been considered to have some association to attendance is the size of the farm of the enrollee. This may differ widely when consider- ing the type of farming. For example, a farm for the production of broilers would be small when compared to a farm for the production of wheat and beef cattle. Yet, in a diversified or general type farming area, it is com- monly believed that size of farm is an indication as to whether a farmer is receptive to and realizes the need for participating in an adult education program. 33Guiler‘, OE. Cito, p0 21F. II .I 9|. .Ifllllruall1..|a .. L. . . .. .. . 35 Myer found that enrollees in Delaware came from small farms ~~ generally ranging in size from 31 to 75 acres.3h Pierce's research revealed that less than 4.5% of the farmers enrolled lived on farms under 50 acres in size. Eighteen percent lived on farms from 50 to 99 acres, 45% on farms from 100 to 199 acres, and 32% on farms of 200 acres and more.35 These data support the statement made earlier that the size of farm is associated with at— tendance, since the information given shows 77% of the farmers reporting are from farms of 100 acres or more. Guiler found that 41.4% of the farmers studied were from farms of between 101 and 200 acres in size. Thirty percent were from farms between 201 and 300 acres, and 14.3% from farms over 300 acres.36 Strangely enough, the young farmers tended to operate larger acreages than did the adults. Guiler felt this was true because of the higher percentage of renters among the young farmer group. Hamlin found 60% of the farmers studied were oper- ating farms under 160 acres in size.37 34Frederic E. Myer, "A Study of the Needs of Out- of-School Young and Adult Farmers in Delaware With Regard to Agricultural Information and Training," summaries of Studies in A ricultural Education, Supplement No. 8, Bul- letin No. 258 (U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare), p. 74. 35Pierce, 02. Cite, p. 1&8. 36Guiler, op. cit., p. 23. 37Hamlin, loc. cit. 36 The average size of farm has increased consider- ably in the last two decades to make more economical units, particularly in the use of farm machinery. This increase in average farm acreage coupled with the in- creased use of farm machinery might well explain why many of the adult farmer classes select topics pertaining to farm management and farm machinery. These questions arise: "Does the size of farm have any association with attendance to adult farmer classes?" "Will the farmer from a large farm have a bet- ter attendance record than the farmer from a small farm?" This study will attempt to determine if any association exists. Membership in other organizations As the use of labor and time saving devices in- creased and the means of transportation and communication improved, farm people have had the time to participate in many additional activities. Many members of the farm pop- ulation today enjoy the same opportunities for membership in civic, service, and social organizations formerly en- joyed only by residents of towns and cities. Few studies have been made pertaining to the exact correlation existing between membership in organizations and attendance to adult farmer classes; however, these studies do reveal that members of adult farmer classes be- long to many types of organizations. Hamlin found in 1938 that 56% of the farmers stud- 37 ied were members of the Farm Bureau, 38% belonged to no general farm organization, and the remainder belonged to farm organizations other than the Farm Bureau.38 Guiler reported in his study 13 different organi- zations to which the farmers belonged. The five organi- zations most frequently mentioned were church, Farm Bureau, Community Club, Grange, and the F.F.A. Eighty-six percent of the young farmers and 79% of the adult farmers were church members. Fifty-two percent of the adult farmers belonged to the Farm Bureau in contrast to only 31% of the young farmers. Many more of the adult farmers held of- fices in the organizations to which they belonged than did the young farmers.39 If these two studies are representative, then one could surmise that farmers who attend meetings of civic, social, farm and church organizations also attend adult farmer classes. The present study will attempt to determine if attendance at the many and varied community activities is associated with attendance at adult farmer classes. On—farm visits by instructor It is generally accepted that the more comprehen- sive higher quality programs involve a system of meaning- ful on-farm visits to the farms of the members enrolled. 38Ibid. 39Guiler, op. cit., p. 32. 38 Ideally, a basic strength of the vocational agricultural program throughout the nation has been the on-farm visits of the teacher of vocational agriculture. This is true at all levels -- in-school students, young farmers, and adult farmers. A principle upon which a good agricultu- ral program is founded is the ability of the teacher of vocational agriculture to relate his class room methods and materials to the needs of the students enrolled. In using the factor "on-farm visits by the in- structor" the writer is attempting to establish the asso- ciation that this factor may have with attendance at adult farmer classes. The initial on—farm visit by the teacher of voca- tional agriculture has been one of the primary methods in securing enrollments and subsequent attendance. Deyoe suggests that "preparatory to organizing a course for a group of adult farmers, a teacher should make visits to the farms of the persons likely to attend."l*O This visit also makes it possible for the teacher to secure informa— tion from which to plan the course. Guiler found that 80% of the farmers studied felt the teacher should make more than one visit every three months. Forty-nine percent stated they would like to have the teacher visit them eVery other month. In the Year that this study was made, the teacher visited each hoGeorge P. Deyoe, Supervised Farming in Vocational Agriculture (Danville, Illinois: The Interstate, 1943), Po . 39 student an average of three times. Guiler further stated that "according to the data received, some additional ef- fort should be made toward increasing the number of visits per member throughout the year."“1 Although research on the factor, "on farm visits by the instructor," is limited, the available evidence indicates that enrollments and attendance could be en- hanced through more personal contact between the instruc- tor and present or prospective enrollees. This study will attempt to determine whether this factor is associated with attendance. Time of day - Day of week - Time of year It is a rather obvious fact that the time of day, day of week, and time of year the adult farmer classes are held would be factors in maintaining a reasonable atten- dance. Newcomer's study covering the possibility of an adult educational program in the Clarksville, Maryland area found that the farmers were interested in attending classes held during the winter months, early in the Week, and in the evening hoursJ’2 Murray and Biser in reporting on successful young AlGuiler, op. cit., p. 93. thrank R. Newcomer, "The Possibility of Adult Ed- ucation in Agriculture at Clarksville High School, Clarks- ville, Maryland," Summaries of Studies in A ricultural Ed- ucation, Supplement No. 5, Bulletin No. 251 EU.S. Depart- ment of Health, Education, and Welfare), p. 63. 40 and adult farmer programs in Maryland found that classes were held in every month of the year, but that the large majority were held during the winter months. The major- ity of classes were held on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Ninety-seven percent of the classes were conducted in the evening hours of these four days.1+3 Mack found the months preferred for adult classes were October through March with lesser preference shown for September, April, and May. June, July, and August received only 2.7% of the total votes as suitable months to hold classes. Mack also found that Monday through Thursday were the preferred days with only 7% indicating Friday and less than 2% indicating Saturday. The predominant times during the day for classes were 7 to 9 p.m. and 8 to 10 p.m. Almost 10% of the respondents indicated after- noon as a desirable time for classes, with 3% preferring forenoon and 3% late afternoon.hh Mack also studied how often farmers desired class- es to be held. Sixty-five percent of the respondents pre- ferred one meeting a week, 33% indicated two meetings per week, and 2% indicated three times or more a week.h5 Parent was concerned with the relation between 43Ray A. Murray and Lloyd C. Biser, "Successful Young and Adult Farmer Classes," Summaries of Studies in Agricultural Education, Supplement No. 7, Bulletin No. 253 (U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare), p.48. hhMack, o . cit., pp. 143—146. h5Ibid. 41 the time of day classes Were held and the improved prac- tices adopted by the class members. His study revealed an 18% increase in improved practices adopted when in- struction was carried out through a combination of after- noon and evening hours. This combination was better than any other single time or any combination of two or more times. In regard to the time of the year, Parent stated: The greatest percentage increase of improved prac- tice adoption was gotten when adult classes were of- fered through-out the year. A considerable percen- tage increase of adoption was also attained when the instruction was offered during a combination of the winter and spring periods. When adult classes were offered during a combination of the fall and winter periods, and even when the instruction extended into the spring, percentage increases of improved practice adoption were noted. The winter period, when used alone for the instruction of adult classes, also showed a percentage increase of adoption, though the increase was considerably less than the above named combinations of periods. It is obvious then that the most successful adult classes are conducted by teachers who offer instruc- tion throughout the year. Considerable success is also apparent when a combination of the winter and spring periods are used for the instruction. A com- bination of the fall and winter periods which may or may not extend into the spring period also produce desirable results. The most popular months according to Dickerson's research were October through April with little interest in May and practically no interest in June, July, August, and September. He found that farmers favored the months of December, January, February, and March for adult classes. #6Weber J. Parent, "Certain Factors Influencing the Success of Evening School Work in Vocational Agriculture" (unpublished Master's thesis, Louisiana State University, 1914'1), pp. [+7‘5lo Almost 95% Preferred to meet only one night per week. The most popular times Were from 8 to 10 p.m. with 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. next in favor. According to the data 91% of the young farmers and 94% of the adult farmers pre- ferred eVening meetings scheduled sometime between 7 and 11 p.m.l'fl Pierce found 48% of the young farmer classes and 3.8% of the adult farmer classes began in November. No classes began in April or May but some started 11.2 a, 100% o 6 A0 A6 ' Total 2 113 35A A69 chi-square : 16.92 with 8 degrees of freedom; significant at the five percent level. According to these data, farmers are more in- clined to attend classes regularly when they respect the ability of their instructor. When over 75% of the re- spondents indicate that the ability of the instructor made them want to attend class, the importance of able instructors becomes obvious. Personality of agrigyltural teaghgg Much of the success of adult farmer classes de- pends on the personality of the teacher of vocational agriculture. This has been stated so many times it is almost a truism. Moreover, the writer found no study in 88 which a statistiCal comparison was made between the per- sonality of the teacher and attendance at adult farmer 1’ classes. TABLE 13 RELATION BETWEEN PERSONALITY OF AGRICULTURAL TEACHER AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES Kept you Made you Attendance from No want to Total attending influence attend 0-24% 1 20 32 53 1 25-49% 0 35 19 81+ :- 50-7h% 0 50 95 1&5 A 75-99% 0 37 101+ 11.1 100% 0 9 36 #5 . l Total 1 151 316 1.68 " chi-square = 17.91 with 8 degrees of freedom; significant at the five percent level. The present study reveals that 316 of the 468 far- mers responding indicated that the personality of the ag- ricultural teacher made them want to attend classes. This group maintained an average attendance of approximately 66%. Of the 468 farmers responding, 151 indicated the personality of the agricultural teacher had no influence on their attendance. The latter group recorded an aver- age attendance of approximately 58%. Only one of the A68 farmers said that the personality of the agricultural tea- 89 cher kept him from attending. In view of these statistics it would appear that the teacher of vocational agriculture who displays the personality characteristics of easily meeting and talk- ing with farmers, carrying on a person-to-person public relations program, and being identified with adult pro- grams, encourages better attendance. Further studies on the relationship between the personality of the teacher of vocational agriculture and success in conducting classes for adult farmers are needed. Type of farming The data from the 471 farmers responding to items_ nine and ten (number of animals and acres of crops) on the questionnaire were grouped into one of eight types of farming categories based on AO% or more "productive man work units." The two largest groups, general farm- ing and dairying, recorded an average attendance of ap- proximately 65%. These two groups made up 74% of all per- sons responding. Those farmers who dealt mainly with livestock, cash grain, fruit, vegetables, and poultry re- corded average attendances of approximately 59%, 57%, 61%, 62%, and 69%, respectively. Those persons who list- ed themselves as non—farmers recorded an average atten- dance of only 33%. The general, dairy, and cash grain farmers in combination recorded an average attendance of approxi- mately 62%. The smaller groups of livestock, fruit, . . h u I . . _ ._ n u t- ... . - . . . .. . I I .II M. I‘l’ulullla .1 .:.I|.|.I . I -I...’ III|.. . . ..... 3.1.115-..) 1.1.... ti... . . .. . .. . . i I w .5211...) Cu... ...1.\...nllau.ta.m.)nnun.. . ”H.111 .M... ..fl... . ... .... . .. .. .v .... a .. |u|. II 1 Jan I .l . . . . ... . . . .. . . ...:Jr... W... -. . . .....h... _ . .... . . . vegetables, and poultry farmers and the non-farm group 90 registered an average attendance of approximately 57%. TABLE 1h RELATION BETWEEN TYPE OF FARMING AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES Type of Attendance Farming* 0-24% 25-49% 50-74% 75-99% 100% Total General 20 31 51 60 20 182 Livestock 1 3 5 2 l 12 gaghoggain 15 12 2h 15 8 74 Dairy 12 31 St. 55 11+ 166 . Fruit 3 A 5 5 3 20 . Vegetables 1 O O 2 O L 3 Poultry 0 O 5 2 0 l Non—farmer l 5 O O 0 Total 53 86 11.5 141 1.6 471 I “A” * A % or more BNWU When attendance records were examined, it was re- chi-square a h2.85 with 28 degrees of freedom; significant at the five ' percent level. , vealed that poultry farmers, dairymen, and men engaged in - general farming are more consistent in attending adult classes than farmers who are engaged in other types of farming. Non-farmers are not inclined to attend classes. Based on the method of categorizing respondents, the attendance records, and the chi-square test of inde- I . .... Idl.“l-.1..: .. .. :1. Hush—... \........H..4u.u..w..ll . ...” .... .. . .... v ... . .u 91 pendence, these data reveal that "type of farming" is significantly associated with attendance at adult far- mer classes. Riding with neighbor The factor of a farmer being influenced to attend adult farmer classes because he was able to "share a ride“ to the meetings with neighbors proved significant at the five percent level. This factor has not been included in previous studies of adult farmer classes. TABLE 15 RELATION BETWEEN RIDING WITH NEIGHBOR AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES Kept you Made you Attendance from No want to Total attending influence attend 0-26% 0 42 lo 52 2 5-49% 0 66 17 83 50-71.% 0 117 26 11.3 75-99% 0 98 4h 142 100% O 29 17 A6 Total 0 352 114 A66 chi-square a 11.69 with 4 degrees of freedom; significant at the five percent level. Of the 466 respondents to this factor, 114 far- mers indicated that being able to ride to the meetings with their neighbors made them want to attend. This L— .1 .I IIIIIII.I..I. .W. .. .uI. .....\.|.u.... “33...... . . I? .....T . . . . . a .. I .1 . . . . .r .v . - .... .. I ..I...r...;m.......l1....~.... . . . ..I . .... I \ 92 group recorded an average attendance of approximately 69%. The 352 respondents who indicated this factor had no influence on their attendance recorded an average at- tendance record of approximately 61%. No respondent in- dicated this factor kept them from attending. Since one-fourth of the respondents indicated that riding with their neighbors made them want to at- tend adult classes, it would appear that teachers of vo- cational agriculture might wish to encourage neighbors to attend adult classes together. By riding with one another, attendance of one farmer could influence the attendance of his neighbor. Additional Significant Items It may be interesting to note at this time that two items, "number of meetings" and "individual or group respondent" Were significant at the one percent level. While this study was not concerned with these two items as factors associated with attendance, the treatment of the data does reveal that an association does exist. Number of meetings With the exception of one class which met 21 times, the average attendance of classes meeting more than 10 times was higher than those classes which met only 10 times. The farmers attending classes which met for 10 meetings recorded an average attendance of approx- imately 57%. Those farmers attending classes meeting for . 2 ...—1.81.! -I...... .....I...I..I.I... lulu-... «hflw . I ......" .‘u; .r . . . . ... .uvtmIcufid‘Hquilv . . ......af... .... .. . f I. . ..r . . . u. u...- .-. .. . .l .... 93 more than 10 meetings recorded an average attendance of approximately 63%. This is an indication that farmers will attend classes which meet for more than 10 meetings and will attend more regularly than previously believed. TABLE 16 RELATION BETWEEN NUMBER OF MEETINGS AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES Attendance Number of Meetings 0—21% 25-19% 50-71% 75-99% 100% Total 10 23 17 50 51 15 156 11 3 6 16 8 2 35 12 6 13 16 27 7 69 14 9 16 20 17 9 71 l5 6 25 36 l7 3 87 16 0 3 2 9 5 19 17 1 2 0 5 2 10 21 5 l 2 1 o 9 28 o 3 3 7 3 16 Total 53 86 115 112 16 472 chi-square = 7h.04 with 32 degrees of freedom; significant at the one percent level. When one Views the data from another position, slightly different results are obtained. Those farmers who attended 75% and more of the class meetings in which they were enrolled were attending classes which met for an average of 11.8 times. Those farmers who attended 7h% H. .... . 3.... .. fl! ..._¢..J..I.I. \«l..hfi . .. ... .. ... a I ...1 94 or less of the class meetings in which they were enrolled were attending classes which met for an average of 12.2 times. This may indicate that although farmers will at- tend classes regularly which meet more than 10 times, the regularity of attendance begins to decline after 12 meet- ings. Individual or group respondggtg Four hundred and twenty-eight respondents com- pleted the questionnaire during one of their regular adult class meetings. The "individual" respondents were, persons who attended classes very little. They were. mailed questionnaires to be completed individually. The large difference in the percentage of attendance between the "individual" (34%) and the "group" (66%) respondents was observed long before a statistical analysis was made. TABLE 17 RELATION BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP RESPONDENTS AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES Attendance Individual Group Total 0-247. 21 32 I 53 25-h9% ll 75 86 50-74% 9 136 145 75-9973 3 139 1&2 100% O 46 46 Total 4h 428 472 chi-square : 73.91 with 4 degrees of freedom; significant at the One percent level. .- ....-.v_._—- ' I I i... I;!'--. .I I 95 Factors Not Significant The remaining 17 factors with which the present research was concerned were not found to be associated with attendance at adult farmer classes in Michigan ac- cording to the chi-square test of independence. The in- formation gathered concerning these 17 factors may be of interest, however, in revealing some of the characteris- tics of the respondents in this study. Since no signif- icant relationship was found to exist between these 17 factors and attendance, the emphasis should be on what the totals revealed. Age of farmer Of the 463 respondents, 337 were between 30 and 55 years-ofeage; 90 were between 35 and 39 years-of-age. TABLE 18 RELATION BETWEEN AGE OF FARMER AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES Attendance Unger 25-34 35-44 45-54 55 & Total 5 over 0—2437. 2 9 19 12 6 48 25-49% 7 19 26 21 12 35 50mm 17 36 18 30 12 113 ‘ 75-99% 10 36 so 35 11 11.2 100% 4 9 23 7 2 1+5 Total 40 109 166‘ 105 43 A63 .. _-_.—-. ..Iflurl I" 1.... . . . ...-I 55...... 51:: An... . a . . ... u - ll 96 The entire group aVeraged slightly less than 38.5 years- . ... _——A_—'——_-— _-. . . ., . of-age which is Younger than reported in studies reviewed / , in Chapter II. This indicates that adult farmer classes today are attracting a younger group of farmers than at- tended in past years. Marital status . i Data from the 469 persons responding reveal that 421 or 89% are married. This percentage is considerably higher than that reported in the 1950 census.1 This TABLE 19 RELATION BETWEEN MARITAL STATUS OF FARMER i AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES ~ ' Attendance Married Single Total 0-2495 ' 47 5 52 25-49% 79 7 86 50-74% 126 17 143 75-99% 127 15 142 100% 42 4 46 Total 421 48 469 source, which indicated that 62% of the farmers were mar- ried, included all rural males over 14 years of age. Since lU.S., Bureau of Census, Seventeenth Census of the United States: 1950. Populatiqg. Table 3, Vol. II, PP . 2D-29 . 97 over 91% of the respondents in this study were over 25 years of age, the disparity between 89% and 62% might well be explained. Education of farmer The educational background of the 452 persons re- g sponding to this part of the questionnaire varied consid- erably. Three-hundred and one respondents had completed 12 years or more of schooling. Fifteen of these had com- TABLE 20 - RELATION BETWEEN EDUCATION OF FARMER ‘ AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES , Sififiiitea 0—2476 2 5-49% §BESZ%an75-99% 100% Total 6 & less 0 O O 3 O 3 7 O l 3 2 O 6 8 5 14 33 22 8 82 9 1 l 2 12 4 2o 10 6 8 3 9 l 27 11 2 2 6 3 0 13 12 34 A3 75 70 ' 23 245 13 2 5 7 5 2 21 14 l 5 6 3 2 l? 15 o ' 1 l 1 o 3 16 or more 1 2 3 6 3 15 Total 52 82 139 136 43 452 I I I I1..." I ..II: I . I I. . IIIIIIIIIII Ill... . 4 ....I I .. . . I1 ... . II ...... . . . .. . I . $IIA.-.I.III. . ...!............I.:. In... ....«I 11...?» .. .. . ..u... ..v. IIIII‘ 3..“ T. . I . I..r .- . . .. .II a. . .... . 98 pleted four years or more of college. Only nine persons had completed less than eight years of schooling. The average schooling completed was slightly over 11 years. The respondents who attended 75% and more of the classes in which they were enrolled had completed an av- erage of 11.1 years of schooling. Those who attended 74% or less of the classes in which they were enrolled had completed an average of 11.2 years of schooling. Years of vocational agriculture Although vocational agriculture has been taught over 40 years, only 221 of the 421 respondents had been enrolled in this program while in high school. Two-hun— dred of these 421 respondents had had no vocational ag— riculture at all. Those respondents who attended 75% TABLE 21 RELATION BETWEEN YEARS OF VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES Attendance O l 2 3 4 Total 0-247. 21 4 9 3 6 43 25-49% 40 4 4 9 l9 76 50-74% 56 9 16 16 35 132 75-99% 61 14 8 14 30 127 100% 22 5 O 3 13 43 Total 200 36 37 45 103 421 BI. :1. . . . I..I.. .I . I.I.I ...! ...... 99 and more of the classes in which they were enrolled had received an average of slightly more than 1.2 years of vocational agriculture in high school. Those who at- tended 74% and less of the meetings in which they were enrolled had received slightly less than an average of one year of Vocational agriculture while in high school. This would indicate that adult farmer programs could be of extreme importance to those farmers who did not have the benefit of instruction in vocational agriculture in high school. This may also indicate the necessity of providing systematic instruction for these farmers in order for them to keep abreast of changing technology in agriculture. Farm status It has been the belief of many that the status of farmers could be associated with attendance. This was not the case_in this study because no association could be determined at either the five percent or one percent level of significance. It is interesting to note that 258 of 457 respondents were farm owners. The "owner" and the "owner and renter" groups made up 85% of all respondents. This is quite a contrast with Ham- lin's findings in 1938 when 58% of the farmers were ten- ants.2 Only 9.8% of the farmers in this study were class- 2H. M. Hamlin, "Factors Affecting Attendance at Agricultural Evening Schools" (University of Illinois, 1938) Mimeographed. p. 4. '1 III |.I.IIN.ILI.. ..h 6.4 a 100 ified as "renter." Of course, the economic situation in 1938 and 1958 could account for this great difference. The difference might also be that Hamlin's study was made in Illinois, and the present study was made in Mich- igan. Only 1.3% of the persons in the present study were farm laborers. TABLE 22 RELATION BETWEEN FARM STATUS OF FARMER AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES Attendance (Owner Owner Manager Renter Laborer Total Renter 0-24% 31 14 2 5 O 52 25-49% 45 28 2 6 2 83 50-74% 75 40 8 16 2 141 75-99% 80 40 5 9 2 136 100% 27 10 0 8 O 45 Total 2 58 132 17 44 6 457 Size of farm The largest group of farmers in this study bper- ated farms of 260 to 499 acres in size, although relative- 1y large groups were also found on farms ranging from 100 to 139 acres, from 140 to 179 acres, from 180 to 219 acres, and from 220 to 259 acres. The overall average size farm of all respondents was approximately 276 acres. Only 4.8% of the farmers operated farms of less than 70 acres. Four . . ...I, I. I ...lr... .a....u......|.|.fl.H.. . . . .. . .I. -. Jul-GI V..r ..I I . IIIInw. ...I¢a..1....I.. .. .. I . . 101 and three-tenths percent of the farmers responding oper- ated farms of 500 or more acres in size. Thirty-eight percent of the farmers operated farms of 100 to 179 acres, while 27% of the farmers operated farms of 180 to 259 ac- res in size. TABLE 23 RELATION BETWEEN SIZE OF FARM INIICRES AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES Acres 0-24% 25-49% 58E7igda755995 100% Total Under 10 O O l O O 1 10-29 0 l 2 l O 4 30-49 0 2 4 3 0 9 50-69 0 l 3 3 l 8 70-99 6 9 12 11 5 43 loo-139 13 7 18 22 8 68 140-179 8 17 17 28 6 76 180-219 5 12 25 15 5 62 220-259 4 13 18 19 6 60 260-499 11 17 36 33 14 111 500-999 5 2 8 5 o 20 Total 52 81 144 140 45 462 The respondents who attended 75% and more of the classes in which they were enrolled had farms averaging 228 acres in size. Those who attended 74% or less of the 102 classes in which they were enrolled had farms averaging 239 acres in size. The significance of this difference was not determined. This seemingly large average size of farm is indicative of the changes that have taken place in present day farming. Generally speaking, larger farms are required for efficient operation and for an income sufficient for a reasonable standard of living. Livestock and crops EMWU The computation of productive man work units is one method of measuring the size of a farming operation. In the present study, the PMWU were computed for both livestock and crop enterprises, and then were totaled. Three hundred and nine farmers of the 471 responding had less than 300 PMWU in livestock enterprises. Only 39 far- mers reported 500 or more PMWU in livestock with the av- erage for all farmers being approximately 260 PMWU per farm. Of the 471 respondents, 373 had less than 300 PMWU in crop enterprises. Only 37 farmers reported more than 500 PMWU in crop enterprises with the average of all farmers being approximately 238 PMWU per farm. In totaling both livestock and crop PMWU, the average of all farmers was found to be approximately 448 per farm. This may indicate that present day farmers are using additional labor to help operate their farms in addition to all the labor saving devices now being . ......I.. .I o «II ..I I111 . .. .. ...- . .:..a. .d-I-I. I I a -.. ..... 103 TABLE 24 RELATION BETWEEN LIVESTOCK PMWU AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES PMWU 0-24% 25-49% 56E52%an75-99% 100% Total Under 100 24 25 31 30 14 124 100-199 8 12 29 38 7 94 200-299 10 15 30 25 11 91 300-399 5 12 26 26 7 76 400-499 3 14 ll 14 5 47 500-599 2 4 9 2 1 18 600-699 0 3 4 2 l 10 700—799 1 0 0 1 0 2 800-899 0 1 2 3 0 6 900-999 0 0 1 0 0 1 1000 a more 0 0 2 0 0 2 Total 53 86 145 141 46 471 used. As seen in Table 26, 150 of the 471 farmers had - less than 300 PMWU. One hundred eighty-four farmers re- ported over 500. Ninety-nine of 471 had over 700 PMWU in their yearly operation. The farmers who attended 75% and more of the class meetings in which they were enrolled re- ported an average of 446 PMWU. Those who attended 74% and less of the class meetings in which they Were enrolled reported an average of 457 PMWU in a year's operation. I . . . 1 I _ ..I I I . I . I . .III Illl'.11~\..h..l. |||II .Illulllr . ..I .I I III] I‘IIIIJH . .\ . I. I 1 . .III m.“- I II. .. .....mmflfl ......Ifis. ... .. “13:: ... I III.. I .I .. .. n . . ...1.. .. fir... .... VA... .. . ... I .I. . .q. III”... funk.“ ....lSmI ..I. ...-n...»5.....11.r....I.Ii..........fir a" ... . .1... .1. :_ 1 ......I a... ...I... .1 . v t . .. ...I. I . . .. .. . . . . . .Il . I...-A4 104 TABLE 25 RELATION BETWEEN CROPS PMWU AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES PMWU 0-24% 25-49% 56332888323993 100% Total Under 100 15 22 41 29 14 121 100-199 16 29 43 53 12 153 200-299 7 18 33 32 9 99 300-399 6 6 5 13 4 34 400-499 2 2 l2 7 4 27 500-599 2 3 6 2 l 14 600-699 1 3 1 0 0 5 700—799 1 0 0 1 o 2 800-899 1 0 0 1 0 2 900-999 0 0 o 0 0 0 1000 & over 2 3 4 3 2 14 Total 53 86 145 141 46 471 Off-the-farm employment Many farmers today are employed part-time off their farms to help meet some of their expenses. This is particularly true during slack farming seasons. Accord- ing to the findings of the present study, 97 of the 386 farmers reported working 100 or more days off the farm during 1957. The largest group, however, 180 of 386, worked less than 10 days off the farm. . . . . “III-.... . ......III.II.4.1.1.9385. . . .. ... .. . ...... ...... .. 105 TABLE 26 RELATION BETWEEN TOTAL LIVESTOCK AND CROPS PMWU AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES PMWU 0-24% 25—49% Aggfgiinc75-997I 100% Total Under 100 8 8 9 8 6 39 100-199 6 14 15 11 7 53 200-299 6 8 22 19 3 58 BOO-399 8 9 l9 36 5 77 400-499 7 7 21 22 3 60 500-599 4 6 22 11 8 51 600-699 2 9 9 9 5 34 700-799 3 14 7 9 3 36 800-899 4 4 5 7 3 23 900-999 3 5 2 1 13 1000 & over 2 5 ll 7 2 27 Total 53 86 145 141 46 471 Those farmers who attended 75% and more of the classes in which they were enrolled were employed off their farms slightly more than an average of 50 days. The farmers who attended 74% or less of the classes in which they were enrolled averaged slightly more than 57 days working off their farms. Possibly some farmers do not operate efficient sized farms or they are caught in the cost-price squeeze affecting agriculture today. 106 TABLE 27 RELATION BETWEEN OFF-THE—FARM EMPLOYMENT AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES §%m§§§s 0-24% 25-49% 56E74%an75-99% 100% Total 8:3: 10 19 26 60 59 16 180 10-24 5 7 2o 16 7 55 25-49 3 8 1 10 0 22 50-99 3 7 8 10 4 32 100-149 1 3 10 6 3 23 150-199 2 l 5 6 l 15 200 & over 10 16 9 15 9 59 Total 43 68 113 122 40 386 Membership in organizations On the premise that farmers who are members of farm, church, civic, and service organizations also at- tend adult farmer classes, this factor was included in the present study. No association of this factor with attendance was found according to the chi-square test of independence. Information concerning membership in or- ganizations is found in Tables: 28, 29, and 30. Accord- ing to Table 28, 209 of 405 farmers reporting Were mem- bers of two or more organizations which met once a month. Each respondent was a member of slightly under an average of two organizations which met once a month. 107 TABLE 28 RELATION BETWEEN MEMBERSHIP IN ORGANIZATIONS MEETING ONCE A MONTH AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES more Attendance 0 l 2 3 4 5 than Total 0-24% 8 10 14 11 3 1 l 48 2 5-49% 15 18 23 12 7 1 0 76 50-74‘70 33 29 33 19 3 4 l 122 75-99% 30 3 5 33 14 5 2 0 119 10073 10 8 7 7 3 3 2 40 Total 96 100 110 63 21 11 4 405 Data from Table 29 indicate that 172 of the 404 farmers reporting were not members of any organization which met once a week. Ninety-one of the 404 farmers were members of two or more organizations which met once a week. Each of the 404 respondents were members on the average of less than one organization which met once a week. From Table 30 one finds that 307 of the 403 re- spondents were not members of any organization which met twice a month. Only 97 of the 403 respondents were mem— bers of one or more organizations which met twice a month. The findings of this study indicate that member- ship in organizations has no influence on attendance to adult farmer classes. .. . U . . . . . .. _ . ._ I _ . . III . . I . II.I.I.I.I III. II ||.|e..| . I IYII I. I . ..I...I II III ...I.........:.....31I.v..... ..I...I... .. . . . . . . . .... . I........ II II.I...I4 a... ..I. ...I ...... . .... a .... . . . . . . ...... .....1 4.2.1.“... 14:241.... ....... _ t. .I a... . r 108 TABLE 29 RELATION BETWEEN MEMBERSHIP IN ORGANIZATIONS MEETING ONCE A WEEK AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES Attendance O l 2 3 4 Total 0-24% 23 16 7 1 l 48 25-49% 34 25 13 2 l 75 50-74% 7 48 47 21 6 0 122 75-9993 51 42 17 5 4 119 100% 16 ll 9 4 0 40 Total 172 141 67 18 6 404 TABLE 30 RELATION BETWEEN MEMBERSHIP IN ORGANIZATIONS MEETING TWICE A MONTH AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES more Attendance O 1 2 3 4 5 than Total 5 0-24% 38 6 3 1 o o o 48 25-49% 52 ll 7 4 l 0 0 75 50-74% 87 15 12 3 2 l 1 121 75-9973 92 12 12 2 1 o o 119 100% 3 8 1 o 1 o. o 0 4o Total 307 45 34 11 4 1 l 403 . Insulin“ l rul...‘ . ... ..IaI..IIv... I..I Elana. . I I... . a ...i |1.II.I WII . .DIVII Hint. ...I-F. . .I . . w. I. . . I.. On—farm visits by instructor It has long been contended that one of the strengths of the vocational agricultural program can be the on-farm instruction conducted by the teacher of voca- tional agriculture. The review of research, however, re- vealed no study which found a relationshipxbetween the number of visits made to class member's farms by the tea- cher of vocational agriculture and the member's atten— dance. The treatment of the data in this study did not TABLE 31 RELATION BETWEEN ON-FARM VISITS BY INSTRUCTOR AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES more Attendance 0 l 2 3 4 5 than Total 5 0-24% 18 9 7 4 2 5 4 49 25-49% 23 14 11 13 11 5 3 80 - 50-7473 36 16 18 17 9 12 17 12 5 ~ 75-9976 37 22 21 12 9 11 18 130 100% 11 5 6 8 2 3 4 39 Total 125 66 63 54 33 36 46 423 find any association to exist. 0f the 423 farmers who re- sponded to this item, 125 or 29% reported the teacher had not visited their farm in the last 12 months. One hundred fifteen of the respondents indicated the teacher had vis- I....I‘ ..IIIII.|n." ... ...I... .. I. . no. .. . . . . ..1 .II ... ..5. 3...“. ... .. .. . . .. . . . . . .. . ...1. “$4.. .... .u .. .. .. J llO ited their farm four or more times in the last 12 months. The number of visits by teachers of vocational agricul- ture who cooperated in this study averaged slightly more than 2.2 per farm. There was no difference in the number of visits between those farmers who attended 75% and more and those who attended 74% or less of the class meetings in which they were enrolled. This may indicate that class attendance is not influenced by the number of visits made by the teacher of vocational agriculture. Gross income The factor of "gross income" was listed as option- al on the questionnaire to allow those respondents who did not wish to answer the freedom to leave this portion blank. No association between the gross income of the respondents and their attendance Was found to exist. The 353 farmers who did respond had an average in- come of approximately $8,860.00. 0f the 353 respondents, 19 had gross incomes under $1,200.00, 57 had gross incomes under $2,500.00 and 108 had gross incomes under $5,000.00. There were 84 farmers with gross incomes over $15,000.00, 161 with gross incomes over $10,000.00, and 245 with gross incomes over $5,000.00. The farmers who attended 75% and more of the classes in which they were enrolled had gross incomes averaging $8,458.00. Those farmers who attended* 74% or less of the classes in which they were enrolled had gross incomes averaging $9,153.00. Net incomes computed from the data received would not be meaningful because of i: ! . ...aaa 1...... 1.4.1.11 .I. .. .... 111 '1. the tremendous differences in efficiency and types of -m' farming of the individual respondents. This information does indicate that farming today is big business requir- ing large investments. TABLE 32 RELATION BETWEEN GROSS INCOME AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES Income 0-24% 25-49% 50-%Z%enggfsg% 100% Total 33250. 599 0 o 2 2 1 5 43600—1199 2 1 4 4 3 14 531200-2499 7 7 7 11 6 3g :'- $2500-4999 5 ll 13 l7 5 51 35000-9999 9 16 24 27 8 84 . $10 , 000—14, 999 6 18 21 24 8 77 i $15,000 & over 7 15 32 24 6 37 Total 36 68 103 109 37 353 ‘3 Classgsgfor spouse at same time This factor was included in this study in an ef- fort to determine if the husband and wife attending class- es at the same time had any association with attendance. No association was found to exist in this study. The overwhelming majority, 409 of 454 respondents, indicated this item had no influence on their attendance. Thirty-seven respondents reported this factor made them .I.:I... 14.x. .- . 1.1.1. It: II————_____—_____-__-------------—------‘flflp ‘ ...-..-.1___;_.._.._ 112 TABLE 33 RELATION BETWEEN CLASSES FOR SPOUSE AT SAME TIME A AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES Kept you Made ou Attendance from -No want To Total attending influence attend i“* 1 l 0-2470 1 47 4 52 A 25-49% 4 71 6 81 50-74% 3 123 12 138 75-99% 0 130 9 139 w 100% 0 38 6 44 T‘ Total 8 409 37 454 , 4 want to attend which could indicate that husband and wife were able to attend class together or a class was held . for wives at the same time that husbands were meeting. Only eight reported this factor kept them from attending. This factor was not associated with attendance. Need for agricultural information It was revealed in previous studies that the in- dividualfs need for information was a primary reason for attending adult classes. The present study supports pre- vious research but no significant association with atten- dance was found. Of the 470 respondents, 386 or 82% re— ported the need for agricultural information made them want to attend classes. 113 TABLE 34 q RELATION BETWEEN NEED FOR AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES Kept you .Made you Attendance from No want to Total attending influence attend a 1 0-24% 0 12 41 53 25-49% 0 19 67 86 50-74% 1 24 119 144 75-99% 0 21 121 142 . 100% o 7 38 45 * Total 1 83 386 470 0f the 470 respondents, 83 or 17% reported this factor had no influence on their attendance. Only one person indicated the need for agricultural information kept him from attending. Use of special speakers Many teachers of adult farmer classes utilize special speakers part-time in their instructional pro- grams. A review of previous studies has revealed that special speakers are both an advantage and a disadvan- tage. 0f the 461 who responded to this factor, 286 re- ported that using special speakers part-time made them want to attend. One hundred seventy-three indicated that 114 the use of special speakers had no influence on their at- tendance. Only two farmers reported the use of special speakers kept them from attending. With this large per- centage, 62% or 286 of 461 indicating special speakers made them want to attend, teachers of vocational agrié culture may include more special speakers into their in— structional programs. In such cases teachers should or— ganize a portion of the meeting to provide opportunities for group discussion, a highly valued technique for teach- ing classes. TABLE 35 RELATION BETWEEN USE OF SPECIAL SPEAKERS AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES Kept you Made you Attendance from No want to Total attending influence attend 0-24% 0 21 3O 51 25—49% 0 35 47 82 50-74% 0 59 84 143 75-99% 2 46 92 140 100% o 12 33 45 Total 2 173 286 461 Place selected to hold classes The place selected to hold classes has been con- sidered important in previous studies. This factor was . l Inn-I..: nail: In. ......I. ...I I...: . . .. u n . 115 not significant in the present study. Of the 471 respon- dents to this factor, 201 or 43% reported the meeting place made them want to attend. Classes can be held in a center where appropriate facilities are available for a particular class without fear that the attendance of the members will decrease. TABLE 36 RELATION BETWEEN PLACE SELECTED TO HOLD CLASSES AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES Kept you Made you Attendance from No want to Total attending influence attend 0-247. 1 32 20 53 25-49% 1 51 33 85 50-74% 0 87 58 145 75-9973 0 73 69 142 100% o 25 21 46 Total 2 268 201 471 Two hundred sixty-eight of the 471 respondents reported the meeting place had no influence on their attendance which may indicate that they were not concerned with the particular location where classes were held. Probably other factors were more important to this group. Only two respondents indicated the meeting place kept them from attending. 5 . I l 'I I :1 I n I ‘n l ,I Q' Huclll Q unfit-... .I.-II . ... ..I! .I I . s. ..1..a...I.|n.~ . I .I.— .- 116 Variety of subjects covered The factor, variety of subjects covered, did not prove to be significant in the present study. The large majority, 321 of 468, in the "made you want to attend" category may indicate, however that the farmers in this \ study were interested in discussing more than one subject ' TABLE 37 RELATION BETWEEN VARIETY OF SUBJECTS COVERED AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES Kept you Made you 4 Attendance from No want to Total 3 . attending influence attend ' 0—247. 2 16 35 53 25_49% 1+ 28 52 81+ 4 ' 50-7456 2 49 93 144 75-9936 0 35 106 141 " ’7 100% o 11 35 46 ‘- Total 8 139 321 , 468 during the period the class is in operation. 0f the 468 respondents, 139 reported that covering a variety of sub- jects had no influence on their attendance. Only eight farmers reported that covering a variety of subjects kept them from attending adult farmer classes. It appears that the topics covered in the classes were not pertinent to JI 1...! law... . . . wand—...HHWH .u r . 11? their major farm problems, a factor found to be highly significant. Entertainmgnt and/or refreshments provided The provision for refreshments and/or entertain- ment at adult farmer classes has been considered quite extensiVely in previous studies. The present study found TABLE 38 RELATION BETWEEN ENTERTAINMENT AND/OR REFRESHMENTS PROVIDED AND ATTENDANCE AT ADULT CLASSES Kept you Made you Attendance from No want to Total attending influence attend 0-24% 0 34 19 53 2 5-4993 1 51 34 86 50-74% 2 94 48 144 75-99% 1 85 53 139 100% 0 33 12 45 Total 4 297 166 467 no association between this factor and attendance. While 166 of the 467 respondents reported that having entertain- ment and/or refreshments made them want to attend, 297 farmers reported that this factor had no influence on their attendance. Only four farmers indicated this fac— tor kept them from attending. While providing entertain- l .3" ”....H-.wu1..r.u..... .. .n .r. .q 1 .... 11.11.. . 1... 12.1.1.1. ; 11.1.0... 1 . . . ..I. .11... . . . . f. 118 ment and/or refreshments may add to the enjoyment and congeniality of the class, they have no association with imprOVed attendance. Summary The statistical treatment, the chi-square test of independence, of the data gathered for this study indi- cates that 13 of the 30 factors being studied are associa- ted with attendance to adult farmer classes in Michigan. Seven factors were signifiCant at the one percent level: distance from class center, time of year classes are held, the way the class is taught, topics covered my farm problems, time of day classes are held, length of class in weeks, and the subject of class meetings.- Six factors were significant at the five percent level: all members allowed to discuss problems, atten- dance in previous years, ability of agricultural teacher, personality of agricultural teacher, type of farming, and riding with neighbor. The additional items, "number of meetings" and "individual or group respondent," although not included in the 30 selected factors, were found to be significant at the one percent level. The item, "individual or group respondent," refers to whether the questionnaire was mailed to a farmer to complete or was completed by a far- mer during a regular meeting of a group of farmers attend- ing an adult class. . .. . . : ...1 .. .ol . .-....Wfifivwl... w... .. . . - . ... 11I| |111.11 . . 1. 1 .u 1 111..1 11.1.IuflQH.1I-J.qu.\uu..1.fluw41|.l.fl.d In“ .11-110...... _. ... . .- .. 1 m... .. .. ...”. ... .I.-.... ... . . .... madeaHu. .J1 . .. . .. . . ....y...u...-. 1... .PW.. . ..1 . 1.. n . .... .1. .r . 11... .. 71. 1 111111.. . 1.1.1.111. 11...|1..11 1...... . oi 119 .1 The remaining 17 factors included in this study were not significant at either the one or the five per- cent level. The information gathered may be of interest, however, in their agreement or disagreement with the findings of previous research. Findings of the following factors were in agree- -./ ment with findings of previous research: age of farmer; years enrolled in vocational agriculture in high school; membership in farm, civic, religious, and social organ- izations; off-the—farm employment; need for agricultural information; variety of subjects covered; and use of spec- ial speakers. 4 Findings of the following factors were not in agreement with the findings of previous research: marital status, educational background, farming status, size of. farm, place selected to hold classes, and entertainment and/or refreshments provided. Factors that had not been studied to any extent X previously were: productive man work units, teacher vis- its to farms, gross income, and classes for spouse. The ' information presented in this study of these four factors may be of assistance to persons engaged in the area of adult farmer education. The findings revealed in the present study in one state suggests that reSearch should be carried on to fur- ther substantiate the 13 factors found to be associated with attendance. Another method of treating and analyz- 1... Iu11..- .1.1l. 1 . . 11.nu........h.mf..fiq .12..“ z 1... 120 ing data such as multiple regression, which measures in- terrelationships of factors, may also find significances existing in the remaining 17 factors. The importance of adult farmer education in the present and coming years is a challenge to research to determine additional fac- tors associated with attendance at adult farmer classes. CHAPTER V SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS Introduction to Problgg It has been assumed that educational programs for adult farmers should be an important segment of the total program of vocational agriculture in local communities throughout the United States. Although teachers of voca- tional agriculture have conducted or supervised many classes for adult farmers, only approximately 6% of the potential adult farmer students are being reached. Purpose of Study The purpose of this study was to determine what association existed between 30 selected factors and at- tendance at adult farmer classes. It was believed that information of this kind will enable teachers of voca- tional agriculture to organize classes that will be ac- ceptable to adult farmers and encourage larger enroll- ments and regular attendance. Previous studies related to adult farmer educa- tion have been primarily concerned with characteristics of farmers who attend adult classes. No association of actual attendance records and these characteristics of farmers has been determined. 121 --. ___- . .._=_‘____=1__:- .1 . ."iu l1..1..l.l 11.: 1:. .. I1. 122 Procedures A questionnaire was used to gather the data per- taining to the selected factors studied in this investi- gation. The development of the questionnaire had its be- ginning in the review of related studies. Additional fac- tors not previously studied but believed to be associated with attendance toaidult farmer classes were included. The data for this study were gathered from 428 adult farmers enrolled in classes in 39 randomly selected centers in Michigan during February and March 1958. Ad- ditional information was secured by mail from 44 adult farmers who attended only a few of the classes in the same 39 centers. The actual attendance records of each of the 472 farmers were secured from the teachers of the adult classes during the months of may and June 1958. The at- tendance records of the 472 farmers were classified into five categories: the records of those farmers who at- tended from O to 24% of the meetings were classified "poor"; records of those who attended 25 to 49% were classified "fair“; records of those who attended 50 to 474% were classified "good"; records of those who attended 75 to 99% were classified "excellent"; and records of those who attended all of the meetings of their particu- lar adult farmer class were classified "perfect." Some additional information was Secured from the records of the Division of Vocational Education, Department of Pub— .I . 1 [.1 1|Ifnl.11111... . 1 .1. .11 1 1. . .. . . . 1|. 123 lic Instruction, Lansing, Michigan. Each item of the questionnaire, the attendance records of each respondent, and the information secured from the State Department of Public Instruction were coded and transferred to a master data sheet. The data on items nine and ten of the questionnaire were computed to productive man work units before coding. IBM cards were punched from the information on the master data sheet. One card contained all of the data from one farmer who completed an acceptable ques- tionnaire. The cards were processed by the "101" IBM machine which sorts, totals, and prints the results. The data for each factor were totaled for farmers grouped in each of the five different attendance categories. From these totals, statistical relationships were determined. Summary of Findings Using the chi—square test of independence, the 30 selected factors were analyzed to ascertain the relation- ship between each factor and attendance at adult farmer classes. Thirteen factors were found to be associated with attendance. Seven of the 13 factors were found to be signif- icantly associated with attendance at adult farmer classes at the one percent level: 1. Distance from class center. The findings revealed the percentage of meetings attended improves with distance —‘— ...--.. in I 12h from the class center within the area normally served by the school. Within school districts one can con- clude that distance is not a factor preventing good attendance. It appears that those persons sincerely interested in a particular class will attend regular- ly regardleSs of the distance. $1m§,of ygar classes are hgld. A large majority, 68%, indicated "the time of year classes are held," in this case February and March, made them want to at- tend. The data for this factor indicate that atten- dance to adult farmer meetings is best during winter and early spring months. Way the class is taught. It was not the purpose of this study to determine what methods of instruction for adult farmers were associated with attendance, but was to ascertain if there were any association between how the member felt about the way the class was taught and actual attendance. An association was found to exist for those farmers with the best attendance records were more favorably influenced to attend because of approved methods of instruction be- ing used. One could conclude that teachers of adult farmers should determine early in the class the most favorable ways in which to conduct classes for those attending. In View of these findings, it would seem that future investigations may be undertaken to deter- mine the relation between specific methods or tech- L ,l : . . . O . . u . . . . . K m . * . .I.| II I . . . . ... I . .I ! Iluli.|| I. "I ......II., ....llna...i .. x . . . I. .llllnu . ... ..uri. 151-41"; .. . .. .. .1. . '| ...-.:.:1...........ut...........u-ll...n. i... .. ... fly... r... . . . . _ n ....- .n .:....L . -.. .. .. . ....G.... ..u. u 1...... u .y .\ 7. 125 niques of instruction and attendance at adult farmer classes. Topics covgggd my farm problgmg. Farmers attended a higher percentage of class meetings when their own farm problems were studied. It is importnat, there- fore, for the teacher to offer instruction in sub- ject areas closely related to class members' farm problems. Timg of day clasggs are held. Sixty-seven percent of the respondents indicated "time of day classes are held" made them want to attend. These farmers 1 had a 10% greater attendance than the smaller group, L 30%, who indicated "time of day classes are held" had no influence on their attendance. One would ex- pect that offering instruction at a time of day suit- able to the majority of farmers in the community will aid in maintaining attendance. Lgpgth of class in wegkg. According to the analysis of the data, attendance was higher when the classes were less than 20 weeks in length. Those farmers who attended classes less than 20 weeks in length had significantly better attendance record than those farmers who attended classes more than 20 weeks in length. One can deduce, therefore, that classes should be less than 20 weeks in length if attendance is to be maintained at a high level. Subject of class meetings. This study indicates that .... the subject of the class meetings is significantly as- sociated with attendance. This factor, in conjunction with the significance of the factor "topics covered my farm problems," would indicate that regular atten- dance will be enhanced by selecting subjects for class meetings which are important to the farmers attending. It would seem necessary, therefore, for teachers of vocational agriculture to consider only subjects of interest to the farmers of the community in organiz- ing adult farmer classes. The remaining six of the 13 factors found to be {‘1 associated with attendance at adult farmer meetings were 5 significant at the five percent level: 1. All members allowgd to discu§§ problems. Over 75% of the respondents indicated being allowed to discuss their problems made them want to attend adult farmer classes. This indicates that where class members are allowed to discuss their problems and exchange ideas with those members having similar problems, atten- dance increases. 2. Attended class in previous years. Although 50% of the farmers indicated "no influence" on this factor, those persons who indicated previous attendance "made them want to attend" had a greater attendance than those who said previous attendance had "no influence" on their present attendance. One can conclude, there- fore, that those farmers who have attended classes in 127 previous years tend to be interested in continuing their education by attending present classes. Ability of agricultural teacher. An overwhelming majority, 75%, indicated the ability of the instruc- tor "made them want to attend" class. Only two far- mers indicated the ability of the agricultural tea- cher "kept them from attending." One can infer from these figures that successful adult farmer programs require persons who have the ability to work with adults. Personality of agricultural teacher. Sixty-seven per- cent of the respondents indicated the personality of the agricultural teacher "made them want to attend." Attendance records support these data in that atten- dance was better among members of this group than among those who said the personality of the agricul- tural teacher had "no influence" on their attendance. It appears that the teacher of vocational agriculture who displays the personality characteristics of eas-’ ily meeting and talking with farmers will induce bet- ter attendance. Carrying out good person-to-person relations encourages farmers to attend classes more regularly. It is recognized that a subtle screening process may have already taken place pertaining to the personality of the teacher of vocational agricul- ture in this study in that only one person indicated this factor kept him from attending. This factor may 1 128 }' have been even more significant if more respondents had indicated this factor of personality "kept them from attending." Since this investigation treated personality as a simple factor, it does not identify characteristics of a personality that may be significantly associated l with attendance. An investigation that seeks to de- termine if certain types of personalities are asso- ciated with attendance would tend to clarify this factor in terms of helping to identify more success-v ful teachers of adult farmer classes. h 5. Type of farming. Poultry farmers, dairymen, and gen- f eral farmers were more regular in attendance than were persons engaged in other types of farming. It may be recognized that these three groups of farmers are generally engaged in year-round operations which may indicate an availability for attending classes. Those farmers who operate a seasonal type of farming such as fruit, Cash grain, or vegetables may not be as available during the time classes are generally meet- ing. Non-farmers who were considered members of adult farmer classes had lower attendance records than any kind of farmer. 6. Riding with neighbor. Although only one-fourth of the respondents indicated that riding with their neighbor "made them want to attned," the attendance of this 129 group was higher than those respondents who indicated "no influence." One might infer from the difference in the attendance records of these two groups that farmers who share rides are more highly motivated or encouraged to attend adult classes regularly. Tea- chers should encourage farmers to share rides to take advantage of this factor for promoting attendance. Two additional items included in the statistical analysis proved to be significant at the one percent level. They pertained to the number of meetings and the compar- ison of responses obtained from class members by mail with those responses obtained in class meetings. 1. Total number ofgmgetings. The ayerage attendance to classes meeting more than 10 times was at a higher level than those classes meeting only 10 times. How- ever, attendance increased only for two additional meetings. After this point, attendance tended to de- crease somewhat again. This is an indication that farmers will attend classes which meet for more than 10 meetings and probably will do so if additional meetings are felt to be valuable. Individugl or group respondgggg. Forty-four persons were mailed the questionnaire to be completed indi- vidually. These Ah were people who had attended class- es very little. Their average attendance was 34%. The group respondents completed the questionnaire during one of their regular adult class meetings. Their av- (95 u u 1 u . . . . u c ‘ n . - u n l- I. .0 I I I I Inl- J|.l}. I .. II ....| . III .... .I. .. I ... . . . . I .IIIIIIII ...I I. .I . . . . .I..|.I III- . .. . . I I. ..........I...d.a v.1... I..”.J. . ... . . . ...... . ......rdts an... .. .. 130 erage attendance was 66%. This large difference was expected before any statistical treatment was car- ried out. The inclusion of these ht individual respon- dents was for the purpose of gaining a sample of adult farmers who were known to attend classes very irreg- ularly. Their responses when analyzed were consistent with persons among class respondents who attended fewer classes. The remaining 1? factors were not found to be as- sociated with attendance at adult farmer classes accord- ing to the chi-square test of independence. The data gathered did, however, reveal important information that may be significant in practice if persons believe that a significant association does exist where none was found. Of the entire group, 40 respondents were under 25 years of age, 109 were between 25 and 34, 166 Were be- tween 35 and hh, 105 were between 45 and 5b, and 43 were 55 and over. The average was slightly less than 38.5 '. years of age. Eighty-nine percent were married. Sixty-seven percent of the respondents had com- ' pleted 12 years or more of school. Only nine farmers had less than eight years of school. Fifteen had com- pleted four or more years of college. The average school- ing completed was slightly over 11 years. Only a little over 50% of the respondents had had some vocational ag- riculture in high school. Over 85% of the respondents were classified as III I ... II... ..I . I II IIII I.. .1 III I. . . I I . I.. I III I I I I I II]! I . . I I . .I.... III (a. .I 1 s . I . III and- ....IIIrfl... ..I...... I . 131 either "owners" or "owners and renters.“ Ten percent were "renters,".three percent were "managers," and only one percent were "farm laborers." Although h8% worked less than 10 days off their farms, one-fourth reported 100 or more days in off-the-farm employment. The average size of farm of the respondents was 276 acres. Five percent were less than 70 acres, h% were over 500 acres, 38% were between 100 and 179 acres, 27% were between 180 and 259 acres, and 2A% were between 260 and 499 acres. Although one-third of the respondents had less than 300 PMWU, approximately 40% reported over 500 PMWU in their farming operations. The average was AhS PMWU per farm. The average gross income of the respondents of $8,860.00 indicates that farming today is big business. Although 21% had gross incomes of less than $2500.00, one-fourth exceeded a gross income of $15,000.00. Twenty-nine percent of the respondents reported the instructor had not visited their farms in the past year. Over 27% reported that the instructor had made four or more visits to their farms in the last year. An average of two visits to each respondent's farm was made by the teachers of vocational agriculture who cooperated in this study. In regard to the operation of adult classes, 70% indicated that covering a variety of subjects made them want to attend. Twenty-nine percent reported this factor II .uEIII. . III. .I.... an... .. . . .7! ..I.-.I- .-I-....Jmu.IJII..a-. ...t ..I ..~ . I . I . .. . .b . ...d I.. 3.01“”... "I 132 had no influence on their attendance. Although 63% of the respondents indicated that having entertainment and refreshments had no influence on their attendance, 3b% indicated this factor made them want to attend. Thirty- seven percent of the farmers reported the use of special speakers part-time had no influence on their attendance. Sixty percent indicated the use of special speakers part- time made them want to attend. While 57% of the respondents indicated the place selected to hold classes did not influence their atten- dance, 42% reported this factor made themyvant to attend. The overwhelming majority, 90%, indicated that having classes for their spouse at the same time that they at- tended classes had no influence on their attendance. Eighty-two percent of the respondents reported the need for agricultural information made them want to attend classes. Seventeen percent indicated this factor did not influence their attendance. In addition to attending adult farmer classes, each respondent belonged to an average of 3.6 organiza- tions. It should be emphasized here that some of the findings of this study do not agree with some of the find- ings reported in Chapter II. It may appear that the find- ings of these 1? factors not found significantly associa- ted with attendance in this study may cast some doubt on their importance. However, they may have an important I... II ...II I.. “I..“... .. .I.... I...-.-....Ifl . bearing on attendance, in general, at adult farmer class- es. It is believed that the findings of this study rep- resent the conditions in adult farmer education. It would seem that other research workers may wish to sub- stantiate the 13 factors found to be associated with at- tendance at adult farmer classes in Michigan or even check the 17 not found to be associated. This may be done by following a similar technique in other states or by the use of other statistical analyses that isolate factors that may be related and also associated with at- tendance. Significant relationships may be found with the remaining 1? factors if other methods of treating and analyzing data are used. Full consideration by teachers of the 13 signifi- cant factors should result in maintaining a higher per- centage of attendance of adult farmers at class meetings. Recommendations This investigation and the implications of the findings suggest further action that might be undertaken on the state or local level to promote and improve adult- education in agriculture. Recommendations in these areas are presented below: 1. Similar studies using a different statistical treat- ment such as multiple or partial correlation or fac- tor analysis to determine or isolate factors associa- ted with attendance would be desirable to substantiate 13L. '. 1 ' or refute the findings reported here. The techniques used in this study of 30 selected fac- tors be applied to research in adult farmer education in other states or in other years to obtain data and, thereby, test the findings under a variety of condi- tions. Other factors in such other studies may be isolated and identified for teachers of vocational agriculture to use in securing larger enrollments and a higher percentage of attendance at class meetings. State educational leaders in recognizing the impor— tance of a continuing educational program for those persons beyond public school age should be concerned with providing more educational opportunities for adults. Assistance should be given teachers of vo- cational agriculture to aid them in reaching a larger number of farmers. Data from this study should be helpful in counseling teachers of adult farmers. In communities where successful teachers of adults are assigned non-vocational secondary school responsibil- ities, rather than adult farmer classes, state leaders should encourage their assignment in adult farmer ed- ucation. To encourage regular attendance teachers of vocation- al agriculture should organize and conduct their adult farmer classes during the late fall, winter, and early spring months. Because attendance tended to decrease 135 where classes which held more than 12 scheduled meet— ings were continued more than 20 weeks, state leaders and teachers should probably study carefully the val- ues that have been considered inherent in programs continuing throughout the year with more class meet- ings to determine if such values can be justified when attendance drops. To encourage regular attendance, teachers of vocation- al agriculture should deal with problems of adult far- mers and utilize discussion methods of instruction. Teachers of vocational agriculture should assist far- mers in pooling rides to adult classes and encourage attendance from year to year. An investigation, surveying farmers who do not attend adult farmer classes to determine why, may reveal in- formation of value to teachers of vocational agricul- ture in organizing and conducting classes for adult farmers. BIBLIOGRAPHY Books Bogue, J. P. The Community College. New York: McGraw Hill Book Company, 195 . Cook, G. C. A Handbook on Teaching Vocational Agricul- ture. Danville, Illinois: The Interstate, l9h7. Deyoe, George P. Su ervised Farmin in Vocational Agri- culture. DanviIIe, Illin01s: The Interstate, 1943. . Dixon, Wilfred J. and Massey, Frank J. Introduction to Statistical Analysis. New York: McGraw-Hill g Book Company, Inc., 1957. Ekstrom, George F. and McClelland, John B. Adult Educa- tion in Vocationgl Agriculture. Danville, Illi- nois: The Interstate, 1952. I Hamlin, Herbert M. Agricultural Education in Community Schools. Danville, Illinois: The Interstate, 1949 O I Johnson, Palmer 0. and Jackson, Robert W. B. Introduc- tion to Statistical Methods. New York: Pren- tice-Hall, Inc., 1953. r4” Phipps, Lloyd J. Successful Practices in Adult Farmer Education. Danville, Illinois: Interstate Prin- ters and Publishers, 195h. Snedecor,E George W. Statistical Methods. Ames, Iowa: c we State College Press, 1955. Thorndike, Edward L. Adult Interests. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1933. True, Alfred Charles. A Histor of A ricultural Educa- tion in thg Unitgd States, 1755-1925. Washing- ton, D. C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1929. 136 137 Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers. Thgses, and Digggrtations. Revised edition. Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press, 1955. Bulletins and Periodicals American Association for Adult Education. Handbook of Adult Eduggpion in the Unitgd States. New York: American Association for Adult Education, 1934. Amsberry, R. L. "Factors Which Contribute Toward Regular Attendance in the Comprehensive Adult School," Agricultural Education Magazine, Vol. 15, Dan- ville, Illinois: The Interstate, January 1943. Barnard, Henry (ed.). American Journgl of Education, Vgé. 8, Hartford, Connecticut: F. C. Brownell, l O. . Hamlin, H. M. "Part-time and Evening Classes in Voca- tional Agriculture in Illinois," Bulletin No. 79, Illinois Board for Vocational Education, 1941. Michigan State University, Cooperative Extension Service. "Farming Today - What it Costs, How it Pays," Department of Agricultural Economics, 1957. Sweany, H. Paul. "Some Educational Needs of Families Engaged in Part-time Farming in Michigan," Re- search Bulletin No. 3, East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State College Press, 1951. Public Documents Digest of Annual Reports of State Boards for Vocational Education. FiSCal year ended, June 30, 1955. Federal Security Agency, Office of Education. Gingery, Burneil E. "An Analysis of the Responses of Nebraska Veterans Enrolled in Institutional On- farm Training Regarding Financing Future Adult Courses in Agriculture." Summaries of Studies in A ricultural Education, Supplement No. 3, Bulletin No. 255, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. L— ..1 ._ II II-IIIIIII I..II.II.. I .. I...I. HI I III .I I..\IIII 138 Hamilton, Forrest L. "A Study of the Problems and Pro- cedures Used in Planning, Organizing, and Carry- ing Out an Adult Education Program in Twenty-one Vocational Agriculture Departments in Southeast- ern Oklahoma." Summaries of Studies in Agricul- tural Education, Supplement No. 9, Bulletin No. 263, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Johnson, Delmar. "The Influence of High School Boys in Getting Their Dads to Enroll in Adult Farmer Classes and to Carry Out Improved Farming Prac- tices." Summaries of Studies in Agricultural Ed- ucation, Supplement No. 10, Bulletin No. 265, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Mullins, Erdman. "A Study of Factors Influencing Partic- ipation in the Program of Vocational Agriculture as the Basis of Developing an Adult Farmer Pro- gram in the Haysi Area of Dickenson County, Va." Summaries of Studies in Agricultural Education, Supplement No. 10, Bulletin No. 265, U.S. De- : partment of Health, Education, and Welfare. g' Murray, Ray A. and Biser, Lloyd C. "Successful Young and Myer, Frederic E. “A Study of the Needs of Out-of-school Newcomer, Frank R. "The Possibility of Adult Education Thompson, Gerald B. "A Survey of the Participation of Adult Farmer Classes." Summaries of Studies in Agricultural Education, Supplement No. 7, Bul— letin No. 253, U.S. Department of Health, Educa- i tion, and Welfare. Young and Adult Farmers in Delaware With Regard to Agricultural Information and Training." §Eflr maries of Studies in Agricultural Education, Sup- plement No. 8, Bulletin No. 256, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. in Agriculture at Clarksville High School, Clarks ville, Maryland." Summaries of Studies in Agri- cultural Education, Supplement No. 6, Bulletin No. 251, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Farm Families in the Activities of the Bixby Com- munity Council." Summaries of Studies in Agricul- tural Education, Supplement No. 6, Bulletin No. 251, U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare 0 . I. q .I.. III/Iran... -.I. IuIII....I.I.I.I...I...IIJI... qua-3.- . I ....k. 139 U.S. Bureau of the Census. Seventeenth Census of the United States: 1959. Population. Table 3, Vol. II. U.S. Department of Commerce. Census of Agriculture. Workers on Farms. Table III, Vol. II, Washing- ton D. C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1954. U.S. Statutes at Large. Public Law 347, 64th Congress, Vol. 39, Part 1, February 23, 1917. Unpublished Material Colville, David E. "The Reasons Why Farmers Attend Short Courses and the Subsequent Influence on Their Farming Programs." Unpublished Master's thesis, : Ohio State University, 1945. I Dickerson, Russell S. "The Development of Vocational Ed- ucation in Agriculture for Young and Adult Farmers in Pennsylvania for the Ten Year Period, 1931-41." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Pennsylvania State College, 1943. Guiler, Gilbert S. "An Evaluation of the Program of Adult 3 Education in Vocational Agriculture at Canal Win- chester, Ohio, 1950-51." Unpublished Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 1951. Hamlin, H. M. "Factors Affecting Attendance at Agricul- H tural Evening Schools." University of Illinois, .. 1938. (Mimeographed.) '3 Mack, John A. "Determining Community Needs for Adult Ed- ucation." Unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, Cor- ' nell University, 1951. f Murray, Ray A. and Ahalt, Arthur M. The Possibilities of Systematic Education for Young and Adult Farmers n in Maryland. Part IV, "Survey of Farmers in Se— lected Communities." Miscellaneous Publication No. 208, College Park, Maryland: University of Maryland, Agricultural Extension Station, 195A. Nicholson, David H. "Why Adults Attend School." Unpub- lished Ed.D. dissertation, University of Missouri, 1948. I I. ...I.... II+I.pI ...IIII I.I.I... 140 Parent, Weber J. "Certain Factors Influencing the Success of Evening School Work in Vocational Agriculture." Unpublished Master's thesis, Louisiana State Uni- versity, 1941. Pierce, Dewey. "The Status of Adult Education in Vocation- al Agriculture in Ohio, 1951-52." Unpublished Mas- ter's thesis, Ohio State University, 1952. Strong, Wayne D. "Organization of the Instructional Pro- gram in Agricultural Evening Schools in Iowa." Unpublished Master's thesis, Louisiana State Uni— Versity, 1941. Tabb, W. R. "A Study of the Age of Farmers Attending Adult Farmer Classes and the Distance Traveled to Class." (Report of non-thesis study.) Uni- Versity of Kentucky, 1954. Webster, George E. "The Discovery of Factors Involved in the Conduct of Courses for the Repair or Construction of Farm Machinery and Equipment - I A Study of Vermont's EXperience." Unpublished I Master's thesis, Cornell University, 1943. i APPENDIX II I III..IIIIIIII IIII I HHII ..Illb. 04 L4 .1 noso a ooo.ma moo.4a-ooo.0a mooeIOOOm moo¢IOOmN mma~-ooma mmaa-ooo omm-omma . Hoaoapeo. .emma ea mewsnmm Scam oHom mpodpopg mo onao> Haven opmsHXopddm 920% .\Av opmoflonw ommoam .mH tam: mommmao amt mo mafia Uovfl>onm mpnosnmohMop n0\onm unoseflmphopnm mommmao vac: op topooaow madam umho>oo mpoonnnm Mo hpoflhm> honnwwoq Spas McAdam nonomop HonSpHSoHnwm mo speamnomuom mfioanonm Show as pono>oo nuance mommeo mqflnomop mm osHpIpnmo toms mnoxmodm Hmwoomm coapmsno%nfi HmQSpHsoHawo pom vooz pawns» ma mmmao one has oga Monsoon HmMSpHSOflamm Ho hpwawn< mnmoh macaaoho Ga oovaopp¢ Icatwmc c Charm QL Frflg . . . .4 . Ho wfiflflma 0 wGHUGmDPw mhwEhmM PHSUM EOLM SOHQmEHOMSH hmfiumw OP wH whHmQEOflpmeU mfiSB mMH