ANNUAL REPORT, 1929 357 



study of the nitrogen availability of processed low grade organic sub- 

 stances high in nitrogen which are used in mixed commercial fertilizers. 

 Also, pots were included to note the effect of the use of varying amounts 

 of manganese sulfate. Results of both experiments are reported in Con- 

 trol Bulletin 51. 



DEPARTMENT OF HOME ECONOMICS RESEARCH 

 Esther Davies in Charge 



Present Practices of Massachusetts Elementary Schools with Regard 

 to School Feeding and Transportation and Their Effects upon Health of 

 Pupils. (E. Davies and C. B. Church.). The field work for this project 

 has been completed, most of the data tabulated, and a report of the find^- 

 ings with regard to food service has been prepared. The 222 towns of 

 less than 5,(i00 population included in the study have a total elementary 

 school enrollment of 57,600 pupils, 15,000 of whom must be furnished 

 transportation to and from school. These towns have 800 school build- 

 ings: 370 one-room, 208 with two or three rooms, and 222 with four or 

 more rooms. In 71 per cent of the buildings there is no food service of 

 any sort at any time in the entire school year, and only one-fourth of 

 the others have anything more than a haphazard service during the winter 

 months. In general, the decision with regard to food service rests en- 

 tirely with the individual teacher, and there is neither encouragement nor 

 appreciation of her efforts on the part of the school administration. 



Detailed records as to the cause and the duration of absences from 

 school were kept by the teachers of 16 schools scattered throughout the 

 State. The average number of days attended is greater for the children 

 who walk to school than for those transported. The incidence of ab- 

 sence due to illness is the same for the two groups, but the illness ab- 

 sences of the transported group are of longer duration. The greatest 

 difference between the two groups is in the amount of time absent from 

 school in order to work at home. The transported group, either because 

 of distance from the truant officer or because there are more tasks which 

 can be delegated to the farm child, has three times as high a percentage 

 of absence due to labor at home as has the group who walk to school. 



The report gives an analysis of the situation now existing with regard 

 to school feeding and transportation, and recommendations of improve- 

 m.ents which might be ma^^e without appreciable added financial burden 

 on the rural towns. 



The Comparative Values of Milk and Tomato as Supplementary Feeding 

 in a Rural Elementary School. (E. Davies and C. B. Church). This 

 project was undertaken to determine to what extent the nutritional status 

 of the elementary school child can be improved by school feeding, and 

 whether — given the usual home diet of rural Massachusetts — milk or a 

 vitamin C rich food is the better for the purpose. Work was begun in 

 September, 1929, in the schools of a typical rural town, and the experi- 

 mental feeding is to be continued for two school years. No conclusions 

 can be reached before the end of the experimental period. 



