HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



BOYS' AND GIRLS' WORK 



CHAKI,t:S H. GOLLI), Leader 



A Canning; Club Story 



"I first undertook canning club work 

 more for the fun of it than for any other 

 serious purpose. 



"In the afternoon of our first meeting, 

 it was dreadfully hot, and three members 

 only, attended. 



"On a cooler evening, our second meet- 

 ing was held, and then twenty-three 

 came. We played games and had a real 

 good time while our beans were boiling. 



"My first attempt at canning was an 

 utter failure, and so were my second and 

 third. My carelessness, of course, ac- 

 counted for this for, in spite of my 

 mother's and my teacher's advice, I often 

 put a cold jar in boiling water, which 

 caused it to break and its contents to 

 drop in the boiler. I usually took two 

 rubbers at meetings, and at one time I, 

 (carelessly working as usual) while 

 hurriedly packing Swiss chard in a quart 

 jar accidently put in my extra rubber. 

 I did not notice this at all for I was 

 laughing and chatting with the other 

 girls. My jar was sterilized with the 

 rest, and when it was removed from the 

 boiler, our teacher noticed it, but alas, it 

 was too late! 



"I was more successful in my next at- 

 tempt at home, and under mother's 

 supervision canned, I forgot whether it 

 was twenty or twenty-two quarts of 

 tomatoes, while she canned berries. 



"Miss Harriman on her second visit to 

 Ware roused my interest in the "work" 

 of the Canning Club. I gradually took 

 more and more pleasure in the work, and 

 attended meetings for another motive 

 besides that of having a good time. 



"I canned small beets and carrots, and 

 spurred by the lovely results of my work, 

 I helped mother to can quite often. 



"When exhibition time drew near, I 

 asked mother if I could exhibit my jars; 

 she told me it would be better to do so, 

 and show our kind teachers and the 

 Ware people that we appreciate what 

 they have done for us. 



"At a meeting, which was held two 

 days before the exhibit was to start, I 

 was reminded that I must have six varie- 

 ties, 1. e., three vegetables, two fruits 

 and one green, in order to meet all con- 

 ditions required. I had no greens so de- 

 cided to hurry home, get some at my gar- 

 den, and can them that night. I had no 

 time, however, to can them so I blanched 

 and packed them, and sterilized them 

 next morning after school. I also canned 

 peaches the very morning of the Fair, 

 and carried them to the Fair grounds 

 about ten minutes before the exhibit was 

 to start. 



"I was well rewarded, however, for my 

 extra work for I received, much to my 

 surprise and delight, third prize. 



Concluded on page 5 



The Three B's 



A two-line report of a Kentucky 

 county agent to the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture speaks volumes. 

 This is his succinct account of his work: 



"Had a meeting at the courthouse. I 

 talked on whipping Germany with three 

 B's — bread, bacon, and beans." 



Wintering Ewes 



Sheep can be successfully wintered 

 with a smaller use of grain than is 

 needed for other live stock. If in good 

 condition at the beginning of winter and 

 given the right kind of hay they can be 

 carried through the winter without grain 

 unless the lambs are to be dropped before 

 going to pasture. All depends upon the 

 kind of hay or other roughage used. 



Legume hays stand at the forefront as 

 a roughage for sheep. No other rough- 

 ages approach them in feeding values. 

 The coarse-stemmed hays like timothy, 

 red top and bluegrass have very few 

 leaves and therefore are poor sheep 

 feeds. Hays having a large amount of 

 timothy in them also are undesirable. 

 Not only is timothy unpalatable to the 

 sheep, but it causes serious cases of con- 

 stipation. The dry timothy heads work 

 into the wool, causing irritation to the 

 skin, lessening the value of the clip and 

 making shearing difficult. When tim- 

 othy or other coarse-stemmed hay is fed 

 to sheep in winter quarters it becomes 

 necessary to use some supplementary 

 feed to keep the sheep in condition. 



Can the Cockerels 



Can the cockerels when it no longer 

 pays to feed them, is the advice the 

 United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture is giving to the boys and girls of 

 the poultry clubs in the North and West. 

 Canning saves feed, and puts on the 

 pantry shelves material for a chicken 

 dinner when poultry is highest in price. 

 This is the method taught to the club 

 members : 



Kill fowl, dress at once, cool; wash 

 thoroughly, draw, then cut into conveni- 

 ent sections. Dip into cold water to in- 

 sure cleanliness. Place in wire basket 

 or cheese-cloth and boil until meat can 

 be removed from bones easily. Then re- 

 move from boiling liquid to separate the 

 meat from bones. Take the meat off in 

 as large sections as possible; pack hot 

 meat into hot glass jars or enameled 

 cans; fill jars with pot liquid after it has 

 been concentrated one-half; add level 

 teaspoonful of salt per quart of meat, 

 for seasoning; put rubbers and caps of 

 jars into position, not tight. Sterilize 

 for the length of time given below for the 

 particular type of outfit used. 

 Water bath, homemade or com- 

 mercial (quart jars) 31 hours 

 Water seal, 214 degrees 3 

 5 pounds steam pressure 2 

 10 to 15 pounds steam pressure 1 



Remove jars, tighten covers; invert to 

 cool and test joints. 



Caution: Only the very best types of 

 rubbers should be used. 



More Pork 



To win the war we need more meat. 

 To get an increased meat supply quickly 

 hog breeding must be increased materi- 

 ally throughout the country, and in cer- 

 tain States an increase of from 2-5 to 50 

 per cent in the number of hogs is recom- 

 mended by the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. 



The situation is of great importance. 

 We must have plenty of meat for our 

 armies and the armies of the allies in the 

 field, and suflicient meat for our civilian 

 population and the civilian population of 

 the allies at home. 



To have this meat, breeding animals 

 must reproduce themselves so the off- 

 spring will be available for slaughter in 

 the future. 



Hogs can be increased quicker than any 

 other kind of live stock. 



Therefore a larger number of sows 

 must be bred now than in recent years. 



Home Economics club work for the 

 coming winter has been made more at- 

 tractive by Miss Norris, state leader. 

 The time sheets have been simplified and 

 a larger number of household chores 

 will be given credit. 



Pittsylvania County, Virginia, has the 

 largest boys' corn club in the United 

 States with a membership of 500. 



"Gee, its' good, and it only cost two 

 cents," exclaimed a lad during the noon 

 recess in one of the Belchertown schools 

 the other day. 



"What's good," asked the club leader. 



"That cocoa, the Demonstration Agent 

 showed us how to make; been having it 

 two weeks now. I have two cups every 

 day." 



Boys and girls in North Hadley, Cum- 

 mington, Plainfield, Southampton and 

 Westhampton say the same thing about 

 the warm noon lunches recently or- 

 ganized in the schools by the Home 

 Demonstration Agent. 



A .Junior Extension School for the 

 boys and girls of Prescott is to be held 

 December 11, which will give the chil- 

 dren of that town a demonstration of 

 club work. 



