14 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



fort, economy, and efficiency. The number of community clubs or- 

 ganized among rural women in the South increased from 250 to 1,042, 

 and 1,635,000 women and girls actually participated in some form 

 of emergency work. 



The enrollment in the regular boys' clubs in the South was largely 

 increased, and the total membership is now approximately 100,000. 

 In addition, 20,000 boys were enrolled to assist in war emergency 

 activities. These clubs have been a very important factor in the 

 campaigns for improved farming and increased food production. 

 The boys' and girls' clubs in the Northern and Western States, 

 through their regular membership of 406,000 and an additional emer- 

 gency enrollment of 400,000, drawn largely from cities and towns, 

 have been an active and efficient agency in the campaigns for pro- 

 moting food production and conservation, not only through such 

 regular work as canning, drying, pickling, preserving, and the like, 

 but also through various emergency projects, such as gardening, 

 poultry raising, bread making, and other activities. 



HOME GARDENIIVG STI3IULATED. 



Special attention was directed to the importance of home gardens 

 in all parts of the Nation. A series of 27 brief popular articles con- 

 taining instructions for the preparation of soil, for garden plant- 

 ing, and for the care of vegetables was prepared and distributed. 

 A special Farmers' Bulletin, The Small Vegetable Garden, was 

 quickly printed, and more than a million copies were promptly dis- 

 tributed. Throughout the growing season the Department continued 

 to supply the press regularly with practical timely information 

 designed to encourage a second and even a third crop of vegetables. 

 This campaign, supported by the efforts of county agents, other 

 field workers of the Department, the staffs of the agricultural col- 

 leges, and private workers, stimulated, it is estimated, the planting of 

 from two hundred to three hundred per cent more gardens than had 

 ever before produced food in the United States in one season. This 

 was particularly true in the South, where the work was a logical 

 development of the " Safe Farming " program which has been ad- 

 vocated for several j^ears. 



SAVING FARM PRODUCTS AND FOODS. 



The home-demonstration activities were immediately intensified. 

 Early in the summer all home-economics extension workers turned 



