304 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol. 37 



to be added will depend in large degree upon the number of trained 

 men and women available. The plans formulated contemplate the 

 extension of the male county agent work to all rural counties of the 

 Union in which there is a need for it, and the placing of an additional 

 agent in some of the larger counties already organized. They also 

 contemplate a considerable increase in the number of women agents 

 engaged in extension activities, including the placing of these 

 agents in the larger towns and cities for the first time. The use of 

 urban agents is deemed especially desirable because of the importance 

 attached in the present crisis to the conservation and efficient utiliza- 

 tion of foods. These agents will work mainly in cooperation with 

 existing organizations of women, stimulating the production of 

 garden truck, poultry, and other products by women and children, 

 as well as the promotion of economy in the purchase and use of food 

 and methods of food conservation by canning, drying, etc. 



The States Relations Service will also seek to enlarge materially 

 the enrollment of young people in the boys" and girls' clubs, which 

 are devoted to increasing agricultural production and conserving the 

 food supply. Opportunity for additional assistance is likewise 

 afforded to the Office of Home Economics, which phins to work out 

 problems in the efficient utilization of various foods and prepare 

 popular bulletins on diet and food conservation. 



The funds at the disposal of the Bureau of Markets, which receives 

 $1,718,575 in the current appropriation act, will be more than doubled 

 bv the emergency appropriation, wliich provides $'2,5'22,000 for work 

 along this line. The Secretary of Agricuhure, with the approval of 

 the President, is given very broad authority to ascertain conditions 

 relating to food and agricultural supplies. This contemplates not 

 only data as to the demand, the supply, consumption, costs, and 

 prices of food, but also the basic facts relating to the ownership, 

 production, transportation, manufacture, storage, and distribution 

 of foods. The authority applies likewise to fooil materials, feeds, 

 seeds, fertilizers, agricultural implements and machinery, and in- 

 deed to any article required in connection with the production, dis- 

 tribution, or utilization of food. 



A quick survey carried on chiefly by the Bureaus of Markets, Crop 

 Estimates, and Chemistry, and the States Relations Service as to the 

 existing food situation is projected, and a system of monthly reports 

 and, if needed, additional surveys are also under consideration. The 

 object will be to ascertain as accurately as possible the status of the 

 country's food and feed supply from the farm to the consumer, includ- 

 ing data as to the normal consumption, as a basis for rational 

 production and conservation. Additional legal authority is given 

 for obta.ining the necessary information, and wilful failure to supply 



