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Housewives of Progressive Farm ers Asked.for Views, Many Seek Means of Increasing Per sonal Income and Better Means of Marketing Produce - Other Farm Topics of Interest. <Prepared by the United States De partment of Agriculture.) To ascertain the fields in which farm women desire specific assistance, a letter of inquiry has been addressed to the housewives of 55,000 progres sive farmers in all the counties of the United States. This letter asked no questions and left every woman free to discuss any need which oc curred to her. She was invited to t?Jie the matter up with her neighbors ?nd make a reply which represented not merely her personal need but the recognized need of the women of her community. Replies to this letter #.ave been receivad in great numbers. There has not been time for a com pete analysis of these letters,-but from those which have been read it ii evident that women want help in practically every phase of home man agement, from the rearing and care of children to methods of getting the heavy work, such as washing, done by co-operative agencies. Many women seek means of increas ing the precious personal income which they receive from poultry, but ter making, or the garden in their care. Many asked the department to suggest new handicrafts or gainful horne occupations, and others seek better means of marketing the pre serves, cakes, or fancywork that they now produce. The overwork of farm women and their fear of the effect of overwork on their children is the text of many of these letters. The difficulty of secur ing domestic help, due seemingly to the fact that daughters of farmers no longer take positions as hom6 makers, has added to tbe farm house keeper's burden. Many ask the department to prove to the men that their work is worth j something in dollars and cents. Still ? others express a realization that their own lot is hopeless and self-sacrific- I ingly ask that better things lu the way of education, cheaper school books, improved schools, lectures, li braries, and museums be provided for their children. Many request that the department establish a woman's bu reau, issue weekly or other publica-1 tions designed for women and dealing with matters of cooking, clothing, home furnishing, education of chil dren and care of the sick. Co-operation in Soil-Survey Work. "With the view of making soil sur veys more valuable to the farmer, a new basis of co-operation has been es tablished by the department of agri culture with the states through their experiment stations, agricultural col- ? leges, and agricultural bureaus. Un der this plan the department will give precedence in conducting detailed soil surveys to those states which co-opcr- j ate with the department in the matter j and which request that such surveys j bi made. , During the past year 19 states have : appropriated money for soil surveys in co-operation with the department. If the request for soil surveys on the 1 part ol' co-operating states absorbs all the department's funds for such work, j no projects will be undertaken in non co-operating states. It is believed that where the soil surveys are made at the special request of the state ag- ' ricultural agency and in districts where the state is actively engaged in extension work, the state authorities will be willing and able to help tho farmer to gain The greatest possible benefit from the department's reports and soil-survey maps. Farm Demonstration Work. Tn the boys' demonstration work in the south. 4S? members of the boys' corn clubs in the various southern ? states produced yields of over 100 bushels of corn to the acre. The work of the canning and poultry clubs, ; through which the girls of the farm are encouraged to preserve in a form : suitable for home use or sale such ' products as tomatoes and other veget-1 ables and fruits as can be profitably j produced for local consumption, ou j many farms has yielded satisfactory Tesults. In the northern states a good be ginning has been made in farm dem onstration work during the year. This work is prosecuted for the most part 5n co-operation with the agricultural colleges through county agents, who devote their entire time to the study of local agricultural conditions and , needs and act as counselors and ad vlsers to farmers, encouraging the | adoption of improved methods and i where advisable the Introduction of new crops. While the organization and estab lishment of this work In the north and west is too recent to indicate in any very definite way what may be ?expected to result from it, a summary of the work of the agents in the 30 counties longest establ'shed discloses that more than (1,500 farms have been visited and more than 1.800 farmers' meetings addressed, with an a [tend ance exceeding 13(1.000. Co-operative work has been carried on directly wi I h nearly 2,400 farmer?, many of whom are being encouraged to select and test carefully their seed corn. Legal Standards for Food. The establishment of ?=?;::I stand ards for judging foods would render the food and drugs act more effective, 2ess expensive in its administration. and supply needed legal ciiteria. Un der present conditions it is necessary in the individual prosecution to es tablish by evidence a standard for each individual article. This proce dure is very expensive, and sometimes its cost is out of proportion to its value. Moreover, it maylresult in lack of uniformity in different jurisdictions. With legal standards established, the control of foods would be more uni form and measurably less expensive. The lack of such standards is today one of the greatest difficulties in the administration of the food and drugs act. These standards, however, should be in the form of definitions, because numerical standards furnish recipes for sophistication. The standards, moreover, should be sufficiently flexi ble to permit improvements in pro duction. . Organization of the Department of Agriculture. There were 14.478 employes in the department on July 1, 1913. Of these, 2,924 were employed in Washington and 11,554 outside of Washington. Of the entire force, 1,812 were engaged in scientific investigations and re search; 1,323 in demonstration and extension work; 687 In administrative and supervisory work; 6,021 in regu latory and related work and 4,035 were clerks and employes below the grade of clerk. The Production of Eggs. According to statistics of the de partment of agriculture, the products of the American hen aggregates a to tal value of over $600,000,000 annual ly. Poultry and eggs are produced in all sections of the country, but it is a noticeable fact that the bulk ot these important products is produced by the farmers of the Mississippi val ley. In this section there are practic ally no large poultry farms such ad are commonly found in the eastern states and on the Pacific coast. Poul try keeping, therefore, is usually inci dental, the hens being considered and treated generally, as an agent for'con verting material which would other wise go to waste into a salable prod uct. Consequently the poultry and eggs produced constitute merely a By product 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 bre ls such as the Plymouth Rock, Wyandotte, Orpington, or Rhode Is land Red. Provide one clean, dry, vermin-free nest for every four or five hens. Conclude all hatching by May 15 and sell or confine male birds during the remainder of the summer. Gather the eggs once daily during ordinary times and twice daily dur ing hot or rainy weather. In summer, place eggs as soon as gathered in a cool, dry room. Use all small or dirty eggs at home. Market frequently, twice a week if possible during the summer. The department has also issued the following suggestions to the country merchant and cash buyer: Candle all eggs and buy on the loss off basis. Allow the farmer to see you candle the eggs occasionally and return those rejected if he wishes them. Pack care-felly in strong, clean cases or fillers. Do not keep in a musty cellar or near oil barrels or other odoriferous merchandise. Ship daily during warm weather. Bouillon Cubes Not Concentrated Mea.. Essence. The belief of many people that bouillon cubes are concentrated meat essence and of high nutritive value, is shattered by a bulletin of the de-, partment of agriculture. The depart ment authorities say that while they are valuable stimulants or lia vori n g ; agents they have liulc or yo real focd ; value and are relatively expensive in i comparison with home-made broths ! and soups. The bulletin compares the j contents and food value of bouillon j cubes with meat extracts and home made preparations of meat The ordinary commercial bouillon cubes, according to this bulletin, con sist of from one-half to three-quarters table salt. As they range In price from ten to 20 cents an ounce, pur chasers of these cubes are buying salt at a high price. The department's meat chemist has carefully analyzed semi-solid meat ex tracts, fluid meat extracts, and com mercial meat juice, which are offered on the market to the American pub lic, in addition to the bouillon cubes. He has also conducted experiments in making home-made beef broth, and meat and vegetable soup. Both the bouillon cubes and the meat extracts are stimulants and fla-j voring agents, but have only a slight j food value and are more expensive than home-made soups. The bulletin recommends a whole sale meat and vegetable soup which will furnish enough for a family ot five, at a cost of approximately 16 cents. This may be made according to the following recipe: Ingredients and approximate cost I fprices actually paid by department ? chemist) : j One soup bone, weighing about 24 ounces (one-third meat), ten cents, j After being washed it should be placed in a largo kettle with three pints of cold water and heated foi three hours, when the bono and meat should be removed. One-quarter of a small head of cab bage, ono onion, one carrot, ono largo potato, two small tomatoes, a little flour seasoning, six cents. Chop these vegetables and add tc the soup. Boil th?? mixture for one hour, thicken slightly with a little flour and season with sab and pepper. along one. or both bailies oi the stream ways. While it is impossible to give an ac curate statement ot' the acreage suit able for the production of whiter aud spring vegetables in the Atlantic coast region, it may be stated that the areas now utilized for such purposes con stitute only a fraction of one per cent, ol* the total land areas which may ul timately be made available. The first requirement for the de velopment of these lands will be a market demand which shall justify the increased production, through paying a price for the production commen surate with the expenditures and risks undertaken by the producer. This may be attained through the natural increase in the consuming population and, to a more marked degree, through the extension of the markets to hun dreds of thousands of city dwellers who never taste the fresh vegetable products at the period of the year when these crops are placed upon the market. Ehe tensive community and private drainage works must be under taken before some of the best soils for trucking are rendered available in the coastal regions. j Relative Importance of the Potato In German and American Ag * rlculture. Potatoes in Germany take a more Important place than they do in this j country. Though the country is much , smaller than the United States, the area planted is 8.1C5.000 acres, as com : pared with 3,500,000 acres in here, j Th? average total yield is 1,653,403, 000 bushels, or 202.5 bushels per acre, I as compared with an average annual American yield of 343,587,000 bushels. ! If the states of Maine, New York, j Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota j alone were to plant 12.5 per cent, of j their arable land In potatoes, as Ger I many does, and secure an equivalent i yield, the produce would amount to j 1,558,944,000 bushels, four and one-half I j times our present production from the j entire country. At the present rate of consumption I of potatoes in the United Btates, which is considerably less than three bushels per capita, the needs of the entire country could be supplied from any one of the states of New York, Michigan, Wisconsin or Minnecota and lease a surplus unused, whereas all the states combined have several times failed to produce enough pota toes to supply the domestic consump tion, and in such years large quanti ties of potatoes have been imported from foreign countries. Such an immense production of po tatoes as is found in Germany is man ifestly not required to feed the peo ple. Ts a matter of fact, only 28 per cent, of the crop is used for hu man food, while 40 per cent, ls fed di rect to farm animals and 12 per cent, is set aside for seed purposes. The Germans plant over twice as many seed potatoes per acre as is the custom here, or more than 24 bushels. An ad ditional portion of the surplus, in round numbers, 100,000,000 bushels, a little less than six per cent, of the total crop, is made into alcohol and J;,V.'J for industrial purposes, and to replace petroleum products. Over 50,000.000 bushels, or about four per cent., are made each year into starch, dextrose, and related products. This accounts for about all except tee per cent, of the Cern?an crop, which it is estimated is lost through decay. WINTERING THE LIVE STOCK Cattle Owners Have Faith That Prices Are to Rule High for Some Time-Numbers Decreasing. One of our neighbors put up a silo this fall and filled it with what thc dry weal her left of his corn. He has bargained to feed a bunch of 100 head of cattle for six months, says a writer in the Farmers' Mai! and Breeze. For this he receives $1,500, $2.50 a head a month. This seems a fcood price com pared with what we used io get in for mer years. We wintered cattle, years ago. for $5 a head for the winter, re gardless of whether it was a long or short winter. We have heard of other cattle being taken at $2.25 a head a month for the winter and as high as $2.75 being paid for some. Time will tell whether cattle will pay out when wintered at such prices. It will mean the cattle will have to sell for $15 more a head next spring if they are to cover the cost of wintering alone. In addition there ls the danger of loss and the interest on the value of the cattle, which will be no small amount. But cattle owners have faith that prices are to rule very high for some time to come and probably they are right. Cattle are decreasing in number every year. Missouri, alone, has almost 1.000,000 head less than 20 years ago and in that time its ponula tion has increased 700,000. CORN FODDER IS VALUABLE Greater Feeding . Value Is Obtained Where Fed Early Than When Al lowed to Stand in Shock. (By E. J. MILLER.) The best way to use corn fodder ls to cut and feed it as it ripens, saving the hay and other feeds in storage for later use. Corn fodder fed early has greater feeding value than that which is allowed to stand In the shock for several weeks or months, and more of it will bo consumed by the animals. When you go to the field for a load of corn fodder, haul out a load of ma nure, and scatter on the ground when tho fodder is cut. It is economy ol' farm labor to do this, and by so doins you are returning to the soil an equivalent of what you are taking from it. Late cut fodder is alway? best. in lilli inmirni H hi Gi i 4 ic/ Wc desire to notify our farmer friends that we are ready to supply them with fertilizers in all of the popular brands and formulas. We sell the cele brated Etiwan Brands These goods have been used by farmers of this county for many years and have given satisfaction. We also have contracted .for a large supply of ingredients for mixing rer tilizers at home. Dearin mind, that we can rill your orders for any kind of plant food, the dependable kind. Come in to see us. W. W. Adams, & Company. Screen The House. NOW is the time to protect your ho^re against the pestry disease-breeding fly, by putting in Screen Windows and Doors. We have all sizes of both and can fit any size opening. Windows at 40, 50, 60 and 75 cents, and doors at $1.25, $1.50, $2.00 and $2.50. Remember that one doctor's bill will screen your home. Full stock of Ice Cream Freezers, all sizes- "See~?t"~ our Water Coolers. We have numerous other seasonable articles for the home. Stewart & Kernadian. Our two stores, No, 972 Broad and No. 1,286 Broad Street, stand wide open to our Edgefield friends. In our up-town store in addition to a full stock of furniture we carry a large supply of farmers hardware that^we are selling at close prices. Mr. Wyatt H. Ham mond of Colliers is a member of the salcsforce at our upper store, and will always be pleased to see his Edge field friends? We can supply anything you need in furniture. Call to see us when in need of anything for the house. If we haven't what you want in stock wTe will order it for you. E. M. ANDREWS FURNITURE COMPANY )J2 Broad, Phone 145. 12S9 Broad, Phone 2311