HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



FARM BUREIAU MONTHLV 



Published by the Hampshire County Farm Bureau 



PRICES 50 CENTS PER YEAR ; $1.00 PER YEAR INCLUDING MEMBERSHIP IN FARM BUREAU 



Vol. 1 



Northampton, Mass., December, 1916 



No. 16 



HOME ECONOMICS COUNTY 

 AGENT 



In some sections of the County, 

 considerable interest has been shown 

 regarding a woman county agent, 

 whose worlc would be to the home 

 what the work of the county agri- 

 cultural agent is to the farm. Sev- 

 eral of the farm bureaus in the 

 state have organized a women's aux- 

 iliary to carry on work of this kind. 

 The following article is written by 

 Miss Laura Comstock and will ex- 

 plain the scope of the work: 



In Report No. 106 of the U. S. 

 D. A. this statement is made: "In 

 taking the 1910 census the Census 

 Bureau failed to find a name that 

 would include cook, waitress, dish- 

 washer, dairymaid, seamstress, laun- 

 dress, and baby tender, and so they 

 assigned 'no occupation' to the farm- 

 er's wife." One therefore draws the 

 conclusion that the business of 

 housekeeping is not a narrow, con- 

 fined, humdrum affair, but from 

 its very nature offers most interest- 

 ing situations. With the rapid ad- 

 vance in science along these lines, it 

 makes it difficult for the busy mother 

 and housekeeper to keep in as close 

 touch with results as she desires. 

 Current magazines contain helpful 

 articles, but there has arisen a de- 

 sire on the part of the thinking 

 homemaker to have facts presented 

 first-hand. This desire was com- 

 municated to the federal govern- 

 ment, and the appeal was answered 

 by the passage of the Smith Lever 

 bill of 1914. The federal govern- 

 ment works through the state agri- 

 cultural colleges. Massachusetts 

 has thereby been able to strength- 

 en the work and enlarge her corps of 

 workers. 



The office of county agent in home 

 economics was created during 1915. 

 The woman who accepts such a po- 

 sition stands in the same relation to 

 the housekeepers as does the agricul- 

 tural county agent to the farmer. 

 She is there to assist the women of 

 the county, to strengthen, the work 

 they have already started, to or- 

 ganize groups wherever that is re- 



quested, and to confer with the in- 

 dividual housekeeper. 



To outline the exact work of such 

 an agent is impossible, because con- 

 ditions vary in different counties and 

 in the individual towns of the coun- 

 ty: but it is possible to suggest va- 

 rious lines of activity which are her 

 legitimate province. These always 

 have a home connection. 



First, perhaps, in line of interest, 

 because of the time required daily 

 to meet the situation adequately, is 

 that of foods. The county agent 

 stands ready to instruct, by demon- 

 strations or otherwise, with regard 

 to well-selected diets for babies, 

 children, and adults. 



She confers with housewives on 

 matters pertaining to house con- 

 struction and house furnishings — 

 kitchen plans and equipment, star- 

 age facilities, curtains, papers, and 

 floor coverings — and such questions 

 of household management as labor- 

 saving conveniences, laundering, 

 plans of work, budgets, and keeping 

 of records. 



Health and sanitation are occupy- 

 ing the minds of thinking people 

 everywhere, and the country has its 

 special problem. Personal hygiene, 

 control of communicable diseases, 

 improvement of sanitary conditions, 

 are all questions upon which the 

 county agent may give assistance. 



She may organize the boys and 

 girls of the community in home 

 economics, canning, poultry, and 

 gardening clubs, and foster an in- 

 terest in home industries, 



Important as all of these are, the 

 county agent falls short of the 

 highest ideal of the work unless she 

 can bring the women to a realiz- 

 ing sense of their responsibilities to 

 the community as well as to the 

 home. Chief among these responsi- 

 bilities may be cited the local schools 

 and the leadership in the recreation 

 and general welfare of the young 

 people of the community. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR ORGANIZA- 

 TION 



In undertaking this work individ- 

 ually leaders as well as various 



women's organizations have proved 

 efficient factors. The greater the 

 number of individual women and or- 

 ganizations interested In the move- 

 ment, the stronger the growth of 

 the work. A complete unification 

 of the county should not be expect- 

 ed, as the smaller town group, with 

 its local appointed leader, has been 

 found to be more efficient. A con- 

 sulting committee composed of these 

 local leaders will be found to the 

 greatest assistance to the county 

 agent. 



In some counties an advisory 

 board composed usually of seven 

 members has been appointed to 

 handle such matters or "nance ana 

 organization as are not properly 

 within the province of the county 

 agent. 



The necessary funds may be pro- 

 vided by the fees of membership in 

 the county organization, by private 

 contribution, and by public money 

 granted under certain conditions. 



FEEDING DAIRY COWS 



The abnormally high prices of all 

 dairy feeds this winter furnish ad- 

 ditional proof in favor of certain 

 practices that all dairymen should 

 consider. These are the use of le- 

 gume hays, the use of corn silage, 

 the early buying of feeds in large 

 quantities and the feeding of grain 

 on a bisis of production only, to 

 cows that are known to be profit- 

 able producers. The first two are 

 of value from a saving in the amount 

 of grain that need be fed. There is 

 no suestion of the added value of 

 clover or alfalfa hay for milk pro- 

 duction as compared with timothy 

 or the other grass hays. Any dairy- 

 man who has fed silage to his herd 

 for several seasons knows that feed- 

 ing silage greatly decreases his feed 

 bill or increases the amount of milk 

 he can get from a given quantity of 

 grain feed. 



This season has so far been an un- 

 usually favorable season for the dia- 

 ryman who practices the early buy- 

 ing of his winter's grain supply. In 

 Continued on Page Three. 



