Show HELP m FAR M WOMAN WORM man housewives of progressive farmers asked for views many seek means of increasing personal r income and better means of marketing produce other farm topics of interest prepared by the united states department part ment of agriculture to ascertain certain ns the tha fields in which farm women desire specific assistance asal stanco a letter of inquiry has been addressed to tho housewives of progressive farmers in all tho the counties of 0 the united states this letter asked no questions and loft every woman free to discuss any need which occurred to her she waa invited to take tho the matter up with her neighbors and make a reply which not her personal need but tho the recognized need of the women of her community replies replied to this letter have been received in great numbers there has not been time for a complete analysis bf these letters but from those thosa which have been read it Is evident that women want help it in practically every phase of homo home management from tho the rearing and care of children to methods of getting the heavy work such as aa washing done by operative cooperative co agencies many women seek means of increasing the precious personal income which they receive from poultry butter making or the garden in their are many asked tho the department to suggest new handicrafts or gainful homo home occupations and others seek better means of marketing the pro serves cakes or fancywork that they now produce the overwork of farm women woman and 1 their fear of tho the effect of overwork on their children is the text of many of these letters the difficulty of securing domestic help duo seemingly to the fact that daughters of farmers no longer take positions as home makers has added to the farm housekeepers burden many ask the department to prova to the men that their work Is worth something in dollars and cents still others express a 4 realization that their own lot Is hopeless and self angly ask aak that better things in tho the way of education cheaper schoolbooks 11 improved schools lectures it libraries br aries arles and museums be provided for lhoir children many request that the department establish a womans comans bu reu issue weekly or other publications designed for women and dealing with matters matter 3 of cooking clothing homo home education of children and cato of the sick dick operation cooperation co in soil poll survey work with the view of making soil surveys more valuable to the farmer a new basis of operation cooperation co has been established by the department of agriculture with states through their experiment stations agricultural colleges and agricultural bureaus under this plan the department will give precedence in conducting detailed soil surveys to those states which cooper co oper ate with the department in the matter and which request that such surveys be made during the past year 19 states have appropriated money for eoll boll surveys in operation cooperation co with the department it if tho request tor for soil surveys on the of mope operating cooperating co rating states absorbs all the departments funds for such work no projects will bo be undertaken in non cooperating states it la is believed that where the soil surveys are made at the special request of the state agricultural ri agency and in districts where the state Is actively engaged in extension work the state authorities wll will be willing and able to help tho the farmer to gain the greatest possible benefit from tho the departments reports and toll oil survey maps farm demonstration work in the he boys demonstration wort work in the louth ml members embers of the boys corn clubs in the various southern states stacee produced yields of over bushels of corn to the acre the work of th tha canning and poultry clubs ili through rough which the girls of the farm are encouraged to preserve in a form suitable for home use or sale suc such h products product sus aa tomatoes and other vegetables and fruits as an can be profitably produced tor for local consumption on many farms has yielded satisfactory results in the northern states baates a good beginning has been made in farm dem work during the year this work Is prosecuted for the most part in operation cooperation co with the tha agricultural colleges through county agents who devote their entire time to the study of loral local agricultural conditions and needs and act as counselors and advisers to farmers encouraging the adoption of improved methods and where advisable the cintr introduction of new crops while the organization and estul Ash merti of this work in the north and west Is too recent to indicate in any ery e definite way what may be ba expected to result from it a summary of the work of the agents in the 30 counties long longest est established discloses that more than farms have been v visited and more than 1800 formers farmers meetings addressed with an attendance exceeding operative cooperative co work has been carried on directly with nearly 2400 farmers many of w whom hom are being encouraged to select and test carefully their seed corn legal standards for food the establishment of legal standards for judging foods would render the food and drugs act more effective less sz pense in its adminis administration administrate and supply need fril legal criteria on ler der present condl tlona Lions it Is necessary essery in the individual prosecution to establish I 1 by evidence ft a standard for each individual article this proe procedure la Is very expensive and its cost Is out of proportion to iti lt value moreover it may result in lack ol ni uniformity in different with legal standards stan darda established the control of 0 foods would bo be more uniform and measurably loss less expensive the lack of such Is today one of the greatest difficulties in tho the administration of the food and drugs act those standards however should id be in the form of definitions because numerical standards furnish recipes for sophistication tho the standards moreover should bo be flexible to permit improvements Improve monta in production organization of the department ot of agriculture there were emp employed loyes in tho the department on july 1 1913 of those these 2924 were employed in washington and outside of washington of 01 tho the entire force 1812 were engaged in scientific investigations and research 1323 in demonstration and extension work 68 in administrative and supervisory work in fit regulatory and related work and were clerks and employed emp loyes below tho the grade of clerk cleric the production of eggs according to statistics of tho the dopart department part ment of agriculture the products of the american hen aggregates ato a total value of over annually poultry and eggs are produced in all sections of the country bu but it Is a noticeable fact that the bulk ot of these important products la Is produced by the farmers of tho the mississippi valley in this section there are practically no large poultry farms such as are arc commonly found la the eastern states and on tho the coast poultry keeping therefore la is us ully incidental tho the liens hens being considered and treated generally as an agent for converting material which would otherwise go to waste into a salable product consequently the poultry and eggs produced constitute merely a byproduct of the general farm in order that the farmer may sell more eggs better eggs and obtain a better price for them the department has issued the following suggestions improve your poultry stock keep one of the general purpose breeds such as the plymouth rock wy wyandotte Wyan 1 dotto 0 orpington or rhode island red provide ono one clean dry frecho nest for every four or live five hens bens conclude ull all hatching hatch ng by may 15 16 and sell or confine male birds durina tho the remainder of the summer gather the eggs once dally daily during ordinary times and twice daily dur ing hot or rainy weather in summer place eggs agga as soon as gathered in a cool dry room use all small or dirty eggs at home market frequently twice a it possible during tho the summer the department has also issued the following suggestions to the country tand abid cash buyer candle all eggs and buy on the loss off basis I 1 allow the farmer to see bee you candle the eggs occasionally and return thosa rejected it if he witches them pack carefully in strong clean bleau cases or fillers do not keep in a musty collar cellar ox 0 near oil barrels or other wl merchandise ship dally daily during warm weather bouillon cubes not concentrated meat essence the belief ot of many people that bouillon cubes are concentrated meat essence and of high nutritive value ls la shattered by a bulletin of the department part ment of agriculture the department authorities say that while they are valuable stimulants or flavoring agents they have little or no real food value and are relatively expensive in comparison with homemade home made broths booths and soups the bulletin compares the contents and food value of bouillon cubes with meat extracts and homemade preparations of meat the ordinary commercial bouillon cubes according according g to this bulletin consist of from one half to three quarters table salt As they range in price from ten to 20 cents an ounce purchasers of these cubes are buying salt bait at a high price the departments meat chemist has haa carefully analyzed semisolid semi solid meat extracts fluid meat extracts and commercial meat juice which are offered on the market to the american America af public in addition to the bouillon cubes he fre lias has also conducted experiments in making homemade home made beet beef broth and meat and vegetable soup both the bouillon cubes and the meat extracts are stimulants and flavoring agents but have only a slight food value and and are more expensive than homemade home made soups tho the bulletin recommends a wholesale meat and vegetable coup which will furnish enough for a family ot of five at a cost of approximately 16 cents this may be made according to the foll following dwing recipe ingredients and approximate cost prices actually paid by department chemist one soup bono bone weighing about Z ai ounces one third meat ten cents after being washed it should be placed in a largo large kettle with three pints of cold water find and stated tor for three hours when the bone and meal should be removed one quarter ot of a small head bage baad oni one onton one carrot one largo potato two small tomatoes a little flour seasoning sea seasoning sonin six cents chop these vegetables and add tc ditc the soup boll the mixture tor for one hour thicken slightly with a little 1 flour and season with salland salt sal tand and pepper |