842 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



361 ; shower baths, 57 ; houses screened, 1,270 ; miscellaneous articles 

 made, 4,032; rest rooms established, 101; butter paddles, 635; butter 

 molds, 624; thermometers, 241; shotgun cans, 214; barrel churns, 

 180; butter workers, 79; number pounds butter made under demon- 

 stration methods, 92,649. The number of girls reporting in canning- 

 club work was 21,172. Of these 7,058 made demonstrations in cook- 

 ing-club products, and 11,384 made bread demonstrations. There 

 are reported to date 623 State and county scholarships won as prizes 

 by club girls. These club girls made 23,767 caps and aprons, 3,875 

 uniform dresses, 2,341 towels, 1,776 holders for use in demonstrations, 

 and 400 miscellaneous articles of sewing. The total number of con- 

 tainers of fruits and vegetables packed by the women and girls 

 under demonstration methods was 5,144,747, with a total value of 

 $956,669.67. The total number of winter-garden demonstrations by 

 the girls and women was 7,649. 



The enrollment of demonstrators July 1, 1917, included 51,075 

 girls in canning clubs, 13,466 girls in poultry clubs, and 35,506 

 women. The number of counties had increased to 518, and the total 

 number of agents was 556. In the annual meetings early in 1917 

 these agents were given special training in the phases of food conser- 

 vation demanded by conditions of this season, including drying, 

 brining, and storing of vegetables, and making of bread with partial 

 wheat-flour substitutes. The planting of additional areas of peanuts 

 and soy beans for use in bread making was made a part of the cam- 

 paign for increased food production. Following the instructions 

 given by department and college specialists to county home demon- 

 stration agents in annual meetings, the weekly reports of these agents 

 show that in the month of May, 1917, these special lines of informa- 

 tion were given to 237,307 people in 6,083 meetings, and in addition 

 24,801 personal conferences were held. In the preservation of perish- 

 able foods the most notable development was the widespread use of 

 drying to supplement canning in saving fruits and vegetables 



EXTENSION WORK THROUGH BOYS' AGRICULTURAL CLUBS. 



Boys' agricultural club work, in charge of O. B. Martin and I. W. 

 Hill, was carried on by State, district, and county agents cooperating 

 with school officials and business men. The number of boys enrolled 

 in 1916 was 75,605, classified by clubs as follows : Corn, 37,312 ; pea- 

 nut, 1,938; potato, 1,202; grain sorghum, 2,079; cotton, 3,134; 4-crop, 

 1.457; miscellaneous farm-crop clubs, 2,341; pig, 23,167; calf, 974; 

 poultry, 2,001. 



The enrollment greatly increased in 1917 and now approximates 

 100,000 in the regular clubs. In addition to the regular enrollment 

 iipproximately 20,000 were enrolled to assist in meeting the emer- 

 gencies incident to the war. A large number of members have 

 already been enrolled in wheat clubs for 1918, wheat, rye, and oat 

 clubs being organized wherever the growing of these crops is thought 

 to be practicable. 



The average corn club yields in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, 

 Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and West Virginia were 

 less than the average obtained for the three years preceding due 

 to unfavorable weather conditions. The average yield throughout 

 the territory was 44.4 bushels. There were 146 boys who made over 



