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By NELL FLATT GOODMAN 



V \4 «HEN you eat asparagus from 

 \.y 1/ a can next winter, it's quite 

 (f possible that it came from the 

 100 acre "patch" on the Judd farm, six 

 miles west of Aurora in Kane county. 

 Mrs. Ira Judd, for the past two years a 

 member of the board of directors of the 

 Illinois Home Bureau Federation, lives 

 there. She is going to be away, however, 

 in May when she goes to the Triennial 

 meeting of the Associated Country Wom- 

 en of the World in London. The fact 

 that she can be away at that time proves 

 that she is a good organizer. 



Mrs. Judd says that it requires 20 to 

 30 helpers to keep the asparagus cut 

 during the season from around May 10 

 to July 4. Every day it must be cut if 

 the weather is rainy and warm, otherwise 

 every two days. All the crop is contracted 

 to a nearby cannery. 



Three years are required before there 

 are any returns from an asparagus bed. 



MRS. IRA JDDD 

 "On* year she canned nin* hoya." 



The Judd family raised 175,000 plants 

 from seed. The next year these plants 

 were set out in trenches 14 inches deep. 

 Pulled by a tractor, a peg-plow, checking 

 with a wire, dropped the plants at equal 

 distance apart in rows. A little dirt 

 pressed down over each plant. After 

 the plants begin to grow, a little more 

 dirt is thrown in, later a little more, until 

 finally the trench is full. This helps to 

 keep the weeds down, the scourge of all 

 good asparagus farms. 



At the present time a tractor company 

 is experimenting with a new tool to 

 control weeds. If successful it will care 

 for rows ten feet apart. Mrs. Judd ex- 

 plained that when the plants grow they 



THE JUDD HOME 

 'The farm bought from the govenunent 

 100 yean ago." 



fall over and take up considerable space 

 which must be kept clean. 



The plan for caring for the help re- 

 quired for the farm is slightly different 

 from the ordinary arrangement. The 

 Judds furnish the house in which all the 

 help live, also all the food. A house- 

 keeper, serving as cook too, is employed 

 to keep everything in running order, in- 

 cluding the laundry work. She may hire 

 some one to help her but if so, at her 

 own expense. She receives a flat salary 

 for her own work. 



To buy groceries for 20 to 30 men at 

 first thought seems a tremendous task. 

 But Mrs. Judd sees nothing unusual 

 about it. She cans 300 to 400 quarts of 

 meat a year, both pork and beef. One 

 year she canned nine hogs. They have 

 a long row garden to keep the hired help 

 and the family in vegetables. When son 

 Ralph goes to Chicago with a truckload 

 of stock, he brings back two or three 

 hundred pounds of flour. For that is one 

 definite requirement of the woman who 

 keeps house. She must bake her own 

 bread. 



The other 400 acres of the farm are 

 devoted to general farming. The Judds 

 raise 500 hogs a year, feed several car- 

 loads of cattle, have alfalfa lots and 

 rotate pastures. The family have been on 

 the farm which came to Mr. Judd's 

 grandfather from the government for 

 100 years. Electricity, running water, 

 labor-saving devices make the house in 

 which they live modem. 



"Not how much you do, but how well 

 you plan," says the imperturbable Mrs. 

 Judd. 



Poultry disease losses may be reduced by 



keeping the old and young stock separated. 



HOW SAFE IS YOUR HOME 



Last year more than one-third of the 

 fatal accidents in the country happened 

 in homes. To help prevent such acci- 

 dents, ask yourself these questions on 

 common home danger spots: 



Are the stairways and steps well- 

 lighted and in good condition.' Are 

 they free from skates, sleds, toys, shoes, 

 clothes, brooms, pails and other haz- 

 ards.' Falls are responsible for nearly 

 one-half of household accidents. 



Do you have a sturdy stepladdcr, or 

 do you improvise one with chairs, 

 tables, or boxes? 



Do you refuse to use scatter rugs at 

 the top or bottom of stairs? One slip 

 here may mean a bad fall ; but any rug 

 may be anchored with an anti-slip pad. 

 Do you use rubber mats in shower 

 baths and tubs and do you have a firm 

 hand-rail for your bath tub? Do you 

 remove wet leaves promptly from the 

 walks; and scatter ashes, sand, or saw- 

 dust on icy walks to prevent falls? 



To keep small children from scalding 

 and burning themselves, do you turn 

 the handles of saucepans away from the 

 edges of tables and stoves, out of reach ? 

 If there is a creeping child in the house, 

 do you use table cloths that are not long 

 enough for him to pull? Do you place 

 electric coffee pots and toasters where 

 they cannot be reached by young chil- 

 dren, and arrange the cords so that no- 

 body trips over them? 



Since your boy may want a gun when 

 he is twelve, do you train him when 

 young, never to point a wooden gun, 

 toy pistol, cane, or stick of wood, at 

 anyone as he would not do with real 

 firearms? If these suggestions are care- 

 fully followed, the boy will later real- 

 ize the dangers that lie in every weapon. 



Pork may be stored three or four months 



and beef around six months without deter- 

 ioration under conditions existing in the 

 average cold storage locker plant. These 

 meats may be held still longer and be 

 edible if the fat is trimmed off at the din- 

 ner table, says Prof. Sleeter Bull, U. of I. 



The London (England) Cooperative 



Society enrolled 44.820 new members 

 during its 15th annual one-month member- 

 ship campaign, boosting its total mem- 

 bership to 804,851 and giving it a firm hold 

 on the title of the world's largest retail 

 cooperative. 



In 1938 the London Cooperative Society 

 provided its members with goods and ser- 

 vices valued at $77,813,450. It operates 

 998 retail stores in London, is the largest 

 distributor of milk and coal in the city. 

 Last year it distributed to members patron- 

 age dividends totaling $4,600,000. 



Make sure that the "hybrid seed com" you 



buy is adapted as to maturity for your re- 

 gion. 



MAY. 1939 



