458 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



ment of Agriculture and the woman on the farm. The need 

 of such a link was demonstrated when Miss Marie Willoughby, 

 official from the United States Department of Agriculture, in 

 her address told us of the letter Secretary Houston had sent 

 out to the farm women asking how this department could be 

 more helpful to them. The fact was here revealed that few of 

 our farm women had seen or heard anything of this very im- 

 portant letter. One of our women rather wittingly remarked 

 that a directory of farm women be furnished Secretary Houston, 

 that hereafter when he wanted to communicate with farm 

 women he would know to whom to address his letters. Miss 

 Willoughby urged the women to answer this letter. The 

 International Congress of Farm Women also instructed its pres- 

 ident and secretary to write an official letter to Secretary Hous- 

 ton asking, first, that a bureau be established devoted to the 

 interests of the farm women; second, that a traveling school 

 be provided for the rural communities; third, aid in establishing 

 the Red Cross rural nursing service in the rural districts, that 

 it may be possible for these communities to have skilled nurses 

 to care for their sick and who could teach, not only the chil- 

 dren in the schools, but also the mothers in the home the laws 

 of hygiene, the care of the sick and the proper feeding of chil- 

 dren, etc.; fourth, to ask for such an arrangement and classifi- 

 cation of the information and bulletins already compiled by 

 the department that they will be more accessible to the farm 

 women. 



Much of the investigation the department has made in 

 the interests of better homes and better living, and its many 

 valuable bulletins are practically useless because unavailable 

 to the average housewife, who either does not know of them 

 or how to get them. 



The congress urged the farm women who were desirous of 

 better rural conditions to write Secretary Houston and express 

 their wishes. The letter had to be in by November 15th. 

 And it is hoped many saw the wisdom of asking for the things 

 suggested by the International Congress of Farm Women, as 

 in unity there is strength. We are going to get what we want 

 when we want it bad enough — you know women always do. 

 If, as a recent correspondent wrote Secretary Houston, that 

 "the 'farm woman' has been the most neglected factor in the 

 rural problem and she has been especially neglected by the 

 National Department of Agriculture" is true — and we believe 



