FORTY-FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Missouri State Board of Agriculture A Record of the Work for the Year 1912 ALSO REPORT OF MISSOURI FARMERS' WEEK. 1913, ASSOCIATION MEETINGS. FARM STATISTICS AND OTHER INFORMATION AND PAPERS RELATING TO AGRICULTURE AND ITS ALLIED INDUSTRIES PUBLISHED 1913 THE HUGH STEPHENS PRINTING COMPANY JEFFERSON CITY, MO. [ . /7a ELLIOTT W. MAJOR, GOVERNOR OF MISSOURI, Ex Officio Member Missouri State Board of Agriculture. OFFICERS OF THE STATE BOARD OF AGRI- CULTURE. President — P. P. Lewis, Crescent. Vice-President — W. R. Wilkinson, St. Louis. Secretary — T. C. Wilson, Columbia. Assistant Secretary — W. L. Nelson, Columbia. Treasurer — W. A. Bright, Columbia. Institute Lecturer — J. Kelly Wright, Columbia. State Veterinarian — S. Sheldon, Columbia. State Highway Engineer — Curtis Hill, Columbia. Deputy State Highway Engineer — W. C. Davidson, Columbia. Apiary Inspector — M. E. Darby, Springfield. Dairy Commissioner — Dr. W. P. Cutler, Columbia. EX OFFICIO MEMBERS. Governor Elliott W. Major. Superintendent of Schools W. P. Evans. Dean Agricultural College F. B. Mumford. Cong Dist. 6. 9. 10. 11. 12. CORPORATE MEMBERS. (Term expires July 20, 1913.) Name. Residence. County. .Fred T. Munson Osceola St. Clair. .Charles Householder Thompson Audrain. . P. P. Lewis Crescent St. Louis. .Henry Steinmesch St. Louis City. .W. R. Wilkinson St. Louis City. 2. . 3.. 5.. 13.. 14.. 16.. (Term expires July 20, 1914.) .John H. Brayton Paris Monroe. . H. C. Duncan Osborn DeKalb. .T. J. Hedrick Buckner Jackson. . E. E. Swink Farmington St. Francois, .C. M. Barnes Marston New Madrid. .A. T. Nelson Lebanon Laclede. 1 4 7 8 15 (Term expires July 20, 1915.) E. L. Newlon Lewistown Lewis. Chas. D. Bellows Maryville Nodaway. N. H. Gentry Sedalia Pettis. W. A. Dallmeyer Jefferson City Cole. John Parker Carthage Jasper. (3) Missouri Agricultural Report. OFFICERS OF STATE FAIR DIRECTORY. President — \V. A. Dallmeyer, Jefferson City. Vice-President — E. E. Swink, Farmington. Secretary — John T. Stinson, Scdalia. Treasurer — H. W. Mcuschkc, Scdalia. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE STATE FAIR DIRECTORY. Is composed of sixteen corporate members of the State Board of Agriculture. STATE VETERINARIAN AND DEPUTIES. Name. Address. S. Sheldon, State Veterinarian Columbia, Boone county. Berry, W. F Joplin, Jasper county. Bradley, Horace Windsor, Henry county. Brainerd, E Memphis, Scotland county. Brown, L. D Hamilton, Caldwell county. Cahill, F. M., 224 South Seventh Street St. Joseph, Buchanan county. Chenoweth, John W Albany, Gentry county. Cissell, F. L Perry ville. Perry county. Clark, L. G Nevada, Vernon county. Crites, D. E Jackson, Cape Girardeau county. Davis, B. C CarroUton, Carroll county. Donohew, A. C Boonville, Cooper county. Emonts, Joseph O'Fallon, St. Charles county. Gant, G. P Lathrop, Clinton county. Glover, A. D Newark, Knox county. George, J. W Harrisonville, Cass county. Grigsby, Paul S Louisiana, Pike county. James, A. W Cameron, Clinton county. Johnston, E.J Excelsior Springs, Clay county. 1 lendy, E. M Jefferson City, Cole county. Houser, W. J Carthage, Jasper county. Humphreys, John C Chillicothe, Livingston county. Kinsley, A. T., 1330-6 East P'iftcenth Kansas City, Jackson county. Lash, O. U Moberly, Randolph county. Leach, G. H Maryville, Nodaway county. Leber, G. W Pacific, Franklin county. Lopp, W. J Sedalia, Pettis county. Love, R. B Springfield, Greene county. Luckey, D. F Bloomficld, Stoddard county. McConncll, H. M Independence, Jackson county. McElroy, J. H Grant City, Worth county. McLevey, J. II Warrensburg, Johnson county. Mclntyre, George W Mexico, Audrain county. Maitland, E. P LaPlata, Macon county. Martin, W. E Perry, Ralls county. Miller, Boyd M California, Moniteau county. Morgan, D. B Neosho, Newton county. Munn, A. J Fayette, Howard county. Murphy, Olin T Kahoka, Clark county. O'Brien, F. W Hannibal, Marion county. List of Officers. 5 Parker, W. A Eureka, St. Louis county. Parmenter, Glee Harris, Sullivan county. Peacock, E. E Fairfax, Atchison county. Pittman, August Troy, Lincoln county. Poage, R. P Shelbina, Shelby county. Riley, J. W Wright City, Warren county. Russell, Walter N West Plains, Howell county. Rutherford, F. W Maysville, DeKalb county, Scott, C.N Mound City, Holt county. Sebaugh, H. J Farmington, St. Francois county. Seiple, J. R Poplar Bluff, Butler county. Shikles, A. E Dearborn, Platte county. Shikles, W. C Plattsburg, Clinton county. Slater, J. H Richmond, Ray county. Smiley, T. M Liberty, Clay county. Smith, G. D Lockwood, Dade county. Smith, L. C Hamilton, Caldwell county. Smith, Stanley Columbia, Boone county. Sorber, W. C, 2223 Salisbury St. Louis city. Stuart, Oscar Paris, Monroe county. Starr, F. M Odessa, Lafayette county. Treadway, C. A Canton, Lewis county. Tuck, H. C Morrisville, Polk county. Utley, Harry C Trenton, Grundy county. Van Antwerp, A. E Brookfield, Linn county. Ward, E. B Fulton, Callaway county. Ward, H. C Perry, Ralls county. Welch, W. B Marshall, Saline county. White, T. E Sedalia, Pettis county. Wilson, R.J Bolivar, Polk county. Wolfe, F. A Linneus, Linn county. Woods, J. K Huntsville, Randolph county. Wiedmer, F. R Savannah, Andrew county. ASSOCIATE ORGANIZATIONS MISSOURI CORN GROWERS' ASSOCIATION. President — George H. Sly, Rockport. Secretary-Treasurer — T. R. Douglass, Columbia. District Vice-President — Thomas Slawson, Rea. District Vice-President — Alonzo White, Palmyra. District Vice-President — E. L. Hughes, Glasgow. District Vice-President — M. McCauley, Doniphan. District Vice-President — Simon Baumgartner, Pierce City. MISSOURI FARM MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION. President — J. Ed Hall, Lamonte. Vice-President — I. N. Gartin, Darlington. Secretary-Treasurer — R. S. Besse, Columbia. Advisory Board — D. H. Doane, Columbia; F. B. Mumford, Columbia; W. P. Dysart, Columbia. MISSOURI CATTLE, SWINE AND SHEEP FEEDERS' ASSOCIATION. President — S. P. Houston, Malta Bend. Vice-President — C. \V. McAninch, Hughesville. Vice-President — John A. Rankin, Tarkio. Secretary-Treasurer— H. O. Allison, Columbia. MISSOURI WOMEN FARMERS' CLUB. President — Miss Pearle Mitchell, Rocheport. Vice-President — Mrs. Rosa R. Ingels, Columbia. Secretary — Miss Maude M. Griffith, Clinton. Treasurer — Mrs. R. B. D. Simonson, Jefferson City. MISSOURI HOME MAKERS' CONFERENCE. President — Miss Alice Kinney, New Franklin. First Vice-President — Mrs. J. Ed Hall, Lamonte. Second Vice-President — Miss Louise Stanley, Columtiia. Secretary (corresponding)— Miss Nell Ncsbitt, Columbia. Secretary (recording) — Miss Pearle Mitchell, Rocheport. Treasurer — Mrs. Cora Chapin, Appleton City. (6) Associate Organizations. MISSOURI ASSOCIATION OF COUNTY AND DISTRICT FAIR MANAGERS. President — J. Allen Prewitt, Independence. Vice-President — -Jack Harrison, Auxvasse. Treasurer — B. E. Hatton, Columbia. Secretary — E. A. Trowbridge, Columbia. MISSOURI STATE DAIRY ASSOCIATION. President — Marshall Gordon, Columbia. First Vice-President — ^C. W. Kent, Kansas City. Second Vice-President — L. E. Cline, Columbia. Secretary— P. M. Brandt, Columbia. Treasurer — Rudolph Miller, Macon. MISSOURI DRAFT HORSE BREEDERS' ASSOCIATION. President — J. F. Roelofson, Maryville. Vice-President — Dr. S. D. Henry, Excelsior Springs. Secretary-Treasurer — E. A. Trowbridge, Columbia. MISSOURI SADDLE HORSE BREEDERS' ASSOCIATION. President — James A. Houchin, Jefferson City. Vice-President — Paul Brown, St. Louis. Secretary — Rufus Jackson, Mexico. Treasurer — Wallace Estill, Estill. MISSOURI COUNTRY LIFE CONFERENCE. President — W. L. Nelson, Columbia. Vice-President — Paul Culver, Cower. Secretary — R. H. Emberson, Columbia. Treasurer — M. F. Miller, Columbia. MISSOURI SHEEP BREEDERS' AND FEEDERS' ASSOCIATION. President — E. B. Wilson, Stanberry. Vice-President — J. A. Foote, Oasis, southwest district. Vice-President — Lyle Atkins, Denton, northeast district. Vice-President — T. E. Atkins,^^Columbia. Secretary-Treasurer — Howard Hackedorn, Columbia. LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. state Board of Agriculture, Office of the Secretary^ Columbia, Mo., April 1, 1913. / To Honorable Elliott W. Major, Governor of Missouri: Sir — I have the honor to transmit to you a report of the State Board of Agriculture for the year 1912, including the work of the State Veterinarian, State Highway Engineer, State Dairy Com- missioner and State Apiary Inspector. Very truly yours, T. C. Wilson, Secretary. (8) TABLE OF CONTENTS. Miscellaneous — Pages Board of Agriculture 11-14 Annual meeting — Minutes iS-25 Report of Secretary 25-28 Secretary's Financial Statement 28-44 Treasurer's Report 44-47 Report of State Highway Engineer 47-60 Report of State Veterinarian 60-73 Report of Dairy Commissioner 73-8o Report of Apiary Inspector 80-81 Farmers' Week — History, Papers and Addresses 82-601 Miscellaneous — Missouri Apples at Forty Cents Each 601-603 Live Stock Markets of Year 1912 604-608 Model Dairy Farm in the Ozarks 609-614 Missouri Crop Review for 1912 615-634 Missouri Live Stock 635-642 Veterinarian's Tabulated Report 643-658 Index 659 (9) The Missouri State Board of Agriculture. LAWS GOVERNING. The following from the Revised Statutes of Missouri, 1909, article I, chapter 4, are in part the laws governing the Missouri State Board of Agriculture : S'ec. 596. Board of agriculture established. — A board of agri- culture is hereby instituted and created a body corporate by the name and style of "The Missouri State Board of Agriculture," and by that name shall have perpetual succession, power to sue and be sued, complain and defend in all courts to make and use a common seal and alter the same at pleasure. Sec. 597. Members of board — appointment — qualifications — compensation. — The governor, dean of the agricultural college and state superintendent of public schools shall be ex officio members of the state board of agriculture. The governor shall, within thirty days after the passage of this article, and thereafter as vacancies shall occur, appoint as members of said board one member from each congressional district, but said board shall be so constituted that not more than a majority shall belong to any one political party; and in making his appointments, the governor shall select, as far as practicable, members representing the different agricul- tural interests of the state. The members of the board shall serve without pay, excepting that necessary expenses incurred in attend- ing meetings of the board be allowed. Sec. 598. Members divided into classes — terms of service. — At the first meeting of the board appointed under this article, the corporate members shall be divided by lot into three groups ; those falling in the first group shall hold office for one year from the date of said meeting; those in the second group shall hold office for two years from date of said meeting; those in the third group shall hold office for three years from date of said meeting and all vacancies thus created shall be filled for the term of three years. (11) 12 Missouri Agricultural Report. Sec. 599. Officers of hoard — compensation. — The officers of the board shall be president, vice-president, secretary, assistant secretary and treasurer, who shall be elected by the corporate and ex officio members of the board at each annual meeting for the term of one year. The secretary shall be a practical farmer and well versed in agricultural science. The secretary and treasurer shall not be appointed members of the board. The secretary shall receive a salary of not more than twenty-five hundred dollars per annum. The treasurer shall receive a salary of not more than one hundred dollars per annum, and shall file with the secretary of state a bond equal to the amount of the biennial appropriation to the board of agriculture. Sec. 601. Duties of hoard. — The state board of agriculture shall be and is hereby constituted the body which shall have super- vision of all the legalized departments and institutions of the state which are for the advancement of agriculture. It shall as a body, or by a committee selected by the board be a board of examiners of the state agricultural and mechanical college and experiment sta- tion. While in no way limiting the power of the board of curators of the state university, the board of examiners shall, at least once in each year, carefully examine into the affairs of the college and experiment station, including the treasurer's account, in reference to the amount and sources of the income of the college and experi- ment station, and how expended, the qualifications of those engaged in teaching and those engaged in experimental work, and the char- acter of the work done. The secretary of the board of agriculture shall be furnished with the information thus elicited, together with such recommendations as may be deemed necessary, for publica- tion in the annual report of the board. The board of agriculture shall have charge of the veterinary service of the state, the appoint- ment of the state veterinarian, and, with the advice of the veteri- narian, of deputies, inspectors and other assistants. It shall be the duty of the board through its secretary, to gather crop and stock statistics, meteorological data and information as to the best and most profitable means of farming, stock-raising, fruit-growing, etc., and publish the same in bulletins as frequently as may be deemed expedient ; to hold farmer's institutes in different parts of the state for the purpose of giving instruction in agriculture; to make an annual report to the general assembly of the state, embracing the proceedings of the board for the past year, and an abstract of the reports and proceedings of the several agricultural societies of the New Members Board of Agriculture. 13 state, accompanied by such recommendations, including especially such a system of public instruction on these subjects, as may be deemed useful. Sec, 604. Printing and distribution of annual report. — The public printer shall annually, under the direction of the secretary of the state board of agriculture, print as many copies of the annual report as may, in the judgment of the board, be required for dis- tribution to the public libraries in the state, to the members of the general assembly, to local agricultural societies and farmers' insti- tutes and elsewhere, and as may be authorized by the appropria- tion of the general assembly made therefor. NEW MEMBERS BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. In the forty-fourth annual report of this Board, brief sketches of the corporate and ex officio members and of the officers and em- ployes of the Board were given. Since the publication of that report Missouri has elected a new Governor, who becomes an ex officio member of the State Board of Agriculture. Two changes have also been made in the corporate members of the Board. The following sketches, together with those published last year, give the Missouri farmers an opportunity to know something of the men who serve them. Elliott W. Major (Democrat), Governor of Missouri. — Born in Lincoln county, Missouri, October 20, 1864. Educated in the pubhc schools and at Watson Seminary. Was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Meyers in 1887. Has three children. Mr. Major studied law in the office of Hon. Champ Clark, and upon entering the practice of his profession soon became one of the best-known lawyers in his section of the State. He served as Senator from the Eleventh district, being elected in 1896. He was chosen a member of the commission revising the statutes in 1899. He was nominated for Attorney-General of Missouri on the Democratic ticket at the State primary, August 4, 1908, without opposition, and was elected at the following general election. As Attorney-General, he success- fully prosecuted some of the most important cases in which the State has ever been interested. In 1912 he was named as a Democratic candidate for governor of Missouri and in November was elected by an overwhelming majority, his vote being especially 14 Missouri Agricultural Report. C. D. Bellows. heavy in the country districts. Gov- ernor Major is closely in touch with the farming interests of the State and owns two farms in Pike county. Charles D. Bellows, Fourth dis- trict (Progressive Republican), Mary- ville, Nodaway county. — Born at Urbana, 111., October 10, 1864, but has resided in Missouri since March, 1865. Educated in the schools of Nodaway county. On October 9, 1899, was united in marriage with Miss Emma Douglas. They have four children. Mr. Bellows was appointed a member of the Board of Agriculture in 1912. He has for many years been a breeder of Shorthorn cattle, his herd being one of the best known in the State. John Parker, Fifteenth district (Re- publican), Carthage, R. F. D. No. 3. — Born in Knox county, Indiana, March 17, 1861. Came to Missouri in 1869 and was educated in the Missouri schools. Was married in 1906, his wife being Miss Lena May Sutton. They have three children. Mr. Parker served for two years as deputy sheriff of his county, and was for six years superintend- ent of the county farm, and for five years superintendent of the Jasper County Agri- cultural Experiment Station farm. With the exception of eight years his entire life has been spent in agricultural pursuits. He is at present engaged in general farming and also makes a specialty of Duroc-Jersey hogs. As superintendent of the Jasper County Ex- periment Station, Mr. Parker did much valuable work and carried on experiments which are of great value to the State. John Parker. Annual Meeting. MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS. state Board of Agriculture, OlHce of the Secretary, Columbia, Mo., December 19, 1912. The Board met in the office of the Secretary at 10 o'clock a. m., and was called to order by President P. P. Lewis. The roll call showed members present as follows : Messrs. Evans, Mumford, Newlon, Brayton, Duncan, Bellows, Hedrick, Munson, Gentry, Dall- meyer, Householder, Lewis, S'teinmesch, Wilkerson, Swink, Barnes and Nelson. Absent, Messrs. Smith and Hadley. The minutes of all previous meetings for the year 1912 were read and on motion duly made and carried were approved. President Lewis then explained at some length the reason for calling the meeting at this time because of the near approach of the convening of the Legislature and the importance of shaping up some very much needed legislation. The President then announced the following committees : Auditing Committee — Messrs, Newlon, Hedrick, and Wilkin- son. Agricultural College Committee — Messrs. Bellows, Munson and Swink. Legislative Committee — Messrs. Wilkinson, Dallmeyer, Smith and Lewis. The Board then took up the question of needed appropriations for the coming period and recommended the following: Distribution of annual reports Monthly crop report and monthly bulletins .... OflBce expense Expense of members Farmers Institutes State Veterinary Highway Engineer Apiary inspection Secretary's salary Assistant secretary's salary Clerk hire Total (15) $24 , 000 . 00 6 , 000 . 00 1 , 000 . 00 5 , 000 . 00 22,500,00 50,000.00 25 , 000 . 00 2 , 000 . 00 6 , 000 . 00 5 , 000 . 00 3 , 000 . 00 $149,500.00 16 Missouri Agricultural Report. The Secretary then called attention of the board to the fact that Miss Alice Kinney of Franklin, Mo., President of the Missouri Home Makers' Conference Association, and Mrs. C. W. Greene, State chairman of Home Economics of Missouri, were in waiting in another room and asked that the Board give them a few mo- ments to present a proposition to encourage girls on the farm. The request was granted and Miss Kinney presented the case in a very forceful and appealing way. The Board unanimously approved her proposition and on motion of Messrs. Bellows and Mumford, $25.00 was appropriated from the farmers' institute fund to be applied on a scholarship for the young woman who was awarded the prize in the tomato growing contest, which $25, together with a similar amount appropriated by the Missouri Home Makers' Conference Association, shall pay for the attendance of the successful contest- ant in the short course in the school of home economics of the Uni- versity of Missouri. Dr. Cutler, State Food and Dairy Commissioner, presented his report and made explanation of several features, after which, on motion of Mr. Steinmesch, the report was received and ordered printed in the annual report. Mr. Curtis Hill presented his report showing the work accom- plished by the Highway Engineer's Department, and on motion duly made and carried the report was received and ordered printed in the annual report. Mr. M. E. Darby, Apiary Inspector, mailed his report to the Secretary, which was presented to the Board, received and ordered printed in the annual report. Dr. Sheldon stated that his annual report was not quite ready to come before the Board and asked leave to present his report in January, which request was granted. He then recommended that the Board ask the enactment of a law regulating the importation into Missouri of cattle, horses, sheep and swine, requiring such certificate of good health as may be deemed proper and necessary for the protection of the Missouri farmers against diseased animals. On motion Dr. Sheldon was authorized to prepare a bill covering his recommendation to be presented to the Board at its January meeting. Judge W. R. Wilkinson being the ranking member of the Board in point of service, having been longer on the Board than any other man now a member, asked permission to present the following resolution : Annual Meeting. 17 Whereas, H. J. Waters, former president of the Missouri State Board of Agriculture, former dean of the Missouri College of Agriculture and director of the Missouri Experiment Station, and now president of the Kansas Agricultural College, is being mentioned as a successor to Honorable James Wilson, National Secretary of Agriculture, and Whereas, The Secretary of Agriculture should, we believe, be a man thoroughly familiar with general farming, especially as conducted in the great Mississippi Valley states which constitute the real agricultural field of the nation, and should further be a recognized au- thority on questions relating to live stock breeding and feeding — Americans being meat eaters, and the meat supply problem one of nation-wide interest; therefore, be it Resolved, That we, the members of the Missouri State Board of Agriculture, in annual meeting assembled, recognizing the marked ability of President Waters, his peculiar fitness and eminent qualifications, the result of actual farm experience and years of study, his honesty and integrity, his sympathy with the cause of agriculture in all its phases, his unusual capacity for leadership, his breadth of vision and his unselfishness in the cause he so splendidly serves, do urge his appointment as Secretary of Agriculture in the cabinet of President Woodrow Wilson. Dean Mumford immediately moved the adoption of the resolu- tion. This motion was seconded by every member of the Board and was passed unanimously. Messrs. Gentry and Swink then moved that the Legislature be asked to appropriate liberally for the purpose of representing the State of Missouri at the Panama Exposition to be held in San Francisco in 1915. ELECTION OF OFFICERS'. The board then took up the election of officers and on motion of Judge Wilkinson the rules were suspended and Mr. P. P. Lewis was unanimously elected President for the ensuing year. On motion of Mr. Swink and Mr. Nelson, the rules were sus- pended and Mr. W. R. Wilkinson was unanimously elected as Vice- President for the ensuing year. On motion the rules were suspended and Mr. T. C. Wilson was elected Secretary for the ensuing year. On motion of Judge Wilkinson the rules were suspended and Mr. W. L. Nelson was elected Assistant Secretary for the ensuing year. On motion of Judge Swink the rules were suspended and Mr. W. A. Bright was elected Treasurer for the ensuing year. Mr. Bright then presented his report showing the financial transactions of the year, which report was received and referred to the Auditing Committee. The Secretary then presented his financial report, which was received and referred to the Auditing Committea. The Board then took up and discussed the various laws of particular interest to the farmers of the State, and on motion of Dean Mumford, a committee was appointed to prepare a resolution A— 2 18 Missouri Agricultural Report. asking the Legislature to enact a commercial feed law, a pure seed law, and a stallion law. Messrs. Steinmesch, Swink and Bel- lows were appointed on this committee. The resignation of Dr. Arthur J. Hammerstein as Deputy- State Veterinarian was then presented to the Board and was accepted. The Secretary then read a letter* received from Dr. T. A. Shipley of St. Joseph, which letter had been written by Mr. L. E. Cooper, asking permission to remove hogs from the St. Joseph stockyards under certain conditions. This question was very thoroughly discussed and Dr. Sheldon was authorized to visit vari- ous places and diligently inquire into the success of the treatment of hogs in the stockyards to render them immune from hog cholera so that they may be shipped to feeding lots and fed for slaughter. The Secretary then read a letter from Mr. J. B. Dillingham of Platte City, Mo., offering to supply sufficient bond to indemnify neighbors from loss and asking that a permit be given to take hogs from the stockyards to his pasture for feeding. On motion of Messrs. Duncan and Wilkinson, this request was laid on the table pending the report of Dr. Sheldon on the above investigation. The Board then adjourned to meet in Jefferson City, January 13, 1913, at 10 a. m. T. C. Wilson, Secretary. MINUTES OF ADJOURNED MEETING. Secretary's Office, Columbia, Mo., January 14, 1913, 2 o'clock p. m. Meeting called to order by President Lewis. On call of roll those present were Messrs, Lewis, Wilkinson, Dallmeyer, Nelson, Barnes, Steinmesch, Gentry, Parker, Evans, Munson, Bellows, Mumford, Newlon, Brayton and Hedrick. Absent, Governor Major and Messrs. Duncan, Householder and Swink. The committee to examine the financial reports of the Secre- tary and Treasurer submitted the following report : REPORT OF THE AUDITING COMMITTEE. The Auditing Committee reported as follows: To the Board of Agriculture : We, the undersigned members of the committee appointed by the President to examine the financial statement of the Secretary and Treasurer, and to inspect the warrants drawn by the Executive Committee, have examined the same and find that the books of the Secretary agree with tlie financial statement submitted, and the same agrees with the report of the Treasurer of the Board. Minutes of Adjourned Meeting. 19 The following warrants, which had been issued at the last annual statement, but had not been presented for payment, we find have since been paid: MONTHLY CROP REPORT. No. 624 No. 625 No. 626 No. 628 FARMERS' INSTITUTE. No. 1388 No. 1391 No. 1395 No. 1399 No. 1400 STATE VETERINARY FUND. No. 2773 ". . No. 2775 No. 2776 APIARY INSPECTION. No. 37 STATE HIGHWAY ENGINEER FUND No. 416 $25.04 10.50 1.65 43.75 $25.00 200.00 22.25 13.87 150.47 $2.64 62.71 194.91 $7.90 $5.25 The following warrants, for which corresponding vouchers are on file with the Secretary, have not been presented to the Treasurer for payment: No. 1546. No. 1551. No. 1555. No. 2938. No. 2940. No. 2941. No. 2943. No. 2944. No. 2945. No. 2947. No. 2948. No. 2949. No. 2950. No. 2951. No. 2952. No. 2953. No. 2954. No. 345. . No. 491. . No. 498.. No. 499, . No. 500. . FARMERS' INSTITUTE. $14.75 185.94 29.35 STATE VETERINARY FUND. $45.17 107.19 231.34 234.95 176.77 50.00 221.75 258.91 89.40 27.50 10.00 250.31 13.50 33.57 STATE HIGHWAY ENGINEER FUND. $12.08 251.30 287.17 25.00 210.79 20 Missouri Agricultural Report. STATE HIGHWAY ENGINEER FUND— Continued. No. 501 $263.44 No. 502 25.00 No. 503 173.44 No. 507 -. 20.00 No. 508 279 41 No. 509 171.26 No. 510 25.00 No. 511 169.46 No. 512 307.46 78.00 No. 514 25.00 When these warrants have been presented to and paid l).v the Treasurer there will be an exact agreement in balances. Respectfully .suljinitted, E. L. NEWLON, T. J. HEDRICK, W. R. WILKINSON, Committee. On motion duly made and carried the report was approved. The committee on the Agricultural College then made the fol- lowing report, which, on motion of Mr. Munson, supported by Mr. Barnes, was approved and ordered printed in the annual report. REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE. Your committee appointed to examine into the work of the State College of Agriculture and Experiment Station, report that we have made such examination and find these insti- tutions well managed and working efficiently for the best interests of Missouri agriculture. Your committee is particularly gratified to find a continued increase in the number of stu- dents enrolled in the College of Agriculture. The enrollment has increased 350 per cent in six years. This very great increase in the enrollment has taxed the instructional facilities and crowded the class rooms and laboratories to a point where additional buildings and equipment must be provided, if the quality of the instruction is to be maintained. The new departments recently organized gave shown great progress. We find the department of poultry husbandry well equipped to give first-class instruction in this branch. The forestry department has been well organized and twenty-five students are now enrolled in this course. We particularly commend the new course in agriculture' and home economic for women. In our judgment, the sann; opportunity for instruction should he i)r()vided for women as for men. This is the first course of the kind in the United States and has attracted wide attention. The new building for agricultural chemistry will soon be completed. The veteriiuiry building and new dairy barn have been fully eciuipped and occupied during the year. ■^'oiir committee! desires to place upon record some of the achievements of the College of Agriculture during the past year, and have therefore i)repared the following report, which considers somewhat in detail some of the important activities of the College of Agri- culture. Missouri has the smallest investment in animals for instructional purposes and the smallest investment in buildings for live stock judging of any agricultural college in the middle west. The following figures show the amounts of money invested in these items in nearby states. Investment in animals for instruction of students — Iowa, .S59,000; Kansas, .S29,625; Wisconsin, $28,158; New York, $26,192; Ohio, $18,250; Illinois, (dairy cattle not included), $14,070; Mis.souri, (dairy cattle not included), $7,109. Value of buildings for live stock judging — Illinois. SSO.OOO; Wisconsin. $73,000; Indiana, $30,000; Iowa, $25,000; Ohio, $20,000; New York, $1.-), ()()(); Kansas, $9,000; Missouri, $4,000. INSTRUCTION GIVEN BY COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE. The College of Agriculture gave systematic instruction to 2.808 different men and women during the past year. These men represent every county in Missouri, more than half of the states and many foreign countries. The plan of instruction is indicated below: Minutes of Adjourned Meetmg. 21 Four-year college course for men — Number of students in 1903-04, 75; nximber of students in 1911-12, 417; number of graduates in 1905, 2: number of graduates in 1912, 67. Four-year course in agriculture and home economics for women — Organized in 1911-12; enrollment, 25. Forestry course — Organized in 1911-12; number of students, 25. Students in graduate department — Open only to college graduates. Number of students in 1911-12, 32. Two-year winter course (short course) — For men over 16 years of age. Number of students in 1903, 48; number of students in 1912, 292. Winter dairy short course — A special course for dairy and creamery operators begins first week in January. Short winter course for women — For women over 16 years of age. The course begins January 6. Number of .students in 1912, 14. Farmers' short course — Five special short courses for farmers. Subjects, soils and farm crops, animal husbandry, dairy husbandry, horticultiu-e and poultry husbandry. Number of students enrolled in 1912, 1,300. Short course in agriculture for boys — For boys under 16 years of age. Given during farmers' short course. Number enrolled in 1912, 15. Agriculture in the summer school — Courses in agriculture for teachers and students. Number of students in 1911, 69. Branch short courses — Given in nine localities. Number of students enrolled in 1911-12. 645. WORK AND RESULTS OF AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. The Agricultiu-al E.xperiment Station is organized to investigate agricultural problems and publish results in the form of bulletins which are sent free to farmers. Investigations are continually in progress on soils and farm crops, feeding and breeding live stock, dairy husbandry, horticulture, farm management, poultry husbandry, agricultural chemistry, veterinary science, and botany and zoology. Results of Experiment Station Investigations. — The Agricultural Experiment Station in 1911 added .S500,000 directly to the wealth of Missouri through its distribution of hog cholera serum. The application of .S4.20 worth of fertilizer has brought an average return of .S14.54 on Northeast Missouri rolling prairie lands. Clover forage fed hogs has yielded an average of $34.11 per acre with pork at six cents a pound. Spraying has increased the income from apple orchards ,$125 per acre. The results of all these investigations are published in bulletin form. The bulletins are free to Missouri farmers. Publications. — The Agricultural E.xperiment Station is required by federal law to pub- lish bulletins giving the results of experiments conducted and supplying agricultural infor- mation to the farmers of the State. The Missouri Experiment Station has published 165 bulletins and circulars of information on agricultural subjects. During the year ending June 30, 1912, twenty-flve bulletins and circulars were issued. The bulletins contained 2,888,500 pages. These publications were sent to farmers and citizens in every section of Missouri. All publications are sent free upon request as long as the supply is available. The following publications have been issued during the year: Bulletin No. 97 — Co-operation Among Fruit Growers. Btilletin No. 98 — The San Jose Scale in Missouri. Bulletin No. 99 — Inspection of Commercial Fertilizer. Bulletin No. 100 — Influence of Fatness of Cow at Parturition upon per cent of Fat in Milk. Bulletin No. 101 — Report of the Director for the Year Ending June 30, 1912. Bulletin No. 102 — Combating Orchard and Garden Enemies. Bulletin No. 103 — The Silo for Missouri Farmers. Bulletin No. 104 — The Evergreen Bagworm. Circular No. 48 — The Gurlcr or Plastered Silo. Circular No. 49 — The Reinforced Concrete Silo. Circular No. 50 — Selection of Corn for Seed and Show. Circular No. 51 — How to Prolong the Life of Fence Posts. Circiilar No. 52 — Growing a Woodlot from Seed. Circular No. 53 — The Seeding of Cowpeas. Circular No. 54 — Co-operative Experiments of the Department of Agronomy. Circular No. 55 — Forage Crops for Swine. Miscellaneous- — Index to Bulletins Nos. 83-96. Soil Survey of Cedar County. Soil Survey of Atchison County. Research Bulletins — No. 4 — Digestion Trial with Two Jersey Cows on Full Ration and on Maintenance. No. 5 — Maintenance Trials with Five Jersey Cows. 22 Missouri Agricultural Report. Reprints of Circulars — No. 40 — The Seeding of Alfalfa. No. 42 — The .Seeding of Clover and Grasses. No. 47 — Rai.sing Calves on Skim Milk. No. 48 — The Pla.stered or Gurler Silo. Saving ATissouri Hugs. — The College of Agriculture inoculaled 70,000 hogs during the past year. Eighty-flvo per cent of these hogs were saved. At a conservative estimate, the work of the college has added .SI, 000, 000 in cash to the resources of Missouri in this item alone in one year. Protecting Farmers in the Use of Fertilizers. — The Agricultural Kxi)eriment Station main- tains a thorough inspection service of commercial fertilizers in order to protect the farmers of Missouri in the use of these materials. All fertilizers must be registered with the E.xpcriment Station, giving a complete and careful guarantee of the amount of plant food present in the fertilizer. The Experiment Station through its inspectors collects these brands of fertilizers from dealers, from the farmers' wagons or in the manufacturers' warehouses. These sam- ples are analyzed and the results published. In this work the Experiment Station has collected 900 samples in 130 localities, and has made 1,600 analyses. Seed Testing Laboratory. — The College of Agriculture in co-operation with the United States Department of Agriculture maintains a free seed testing laboratory. Any farmer or seedsman in the State of ISIissouri may send samples of seed to the College and have them tested free of charge. Many farm seeds are adulterated with noxious weed seeds. In some cases 30 per cent of the samples tested have been found to be weed seeds. A prompt report to the farmer or seedsman on these samples prevents the dissemination of serious weed pests. There is no Missouri law now covering the examination of seeds and providing for the enforcement of regulations which will prevent the dissemination of noxious weed seeds. We therefore recommend that a law be enacted giving the Experiment Station the necessary authority to enforce such regulations as will prevent the wholesale distribution of dangerous weed seeds in Missouri. Judging Live Stock at County Fairs. — The Agricultural College supplied 42 county fairs with expert judges of live stock in 1911. These expert judges were trained for this work by the animal husbandry department. It required 183 days and the services of 14 men to stipply this demand for judges. The total number of animals examined and placed for the award of prizes was 6,000. There were 605,000 people attending these fairs. Judging Corn at 61 Missouri Fairs. — Men from the department of agronomy in 1910-11 attended 61 agricultural fairs and corn shows for the purpose of giving instruction in breed- ing, selecting and liarvesting seed corn, and acting as expert judges at these shows. The accomplishment of this task required the services of Ave men from the College of Agriculture for a total of 68 days. Branch Short Courses in Agriculture. — A new project recently inaugurated by the Col- lege of Agriculture is the establishment of five-day short courses, located in various sections of the State. These branch short courses are planned to give the largest amount of practical instruction in live stock farming, soils, farm crops, dairy farming, fruit growing and poultry farming during a period of one week. This instruction is given under the direction of two competent teachers from the College of Agriculture who devote their entire time to lectures and demonstrations. In 1912, 100 applications were received for the location of branch short courses. Only nine could be organized. There were 648 regularly enrolled students who took the five days work in these courses. Instruction for Farmers. — The College of Agriculture does not confine the benefits of its instruction to tliose sttuients only who are permitted to enroll in the regular courses at Columbia. In many ways the college is carrying the results of its practical experiments directly to the people of the State. The Farmers' Short Course. — The College of Agriculture offers five distinct short courses in soils and farm crops, horticulture, live stock farming, poultry husbandry, aiul dairy hus- bandry during Farmer's Week at Columbia. In 1913, 1,300 farmers enrolled for systematic instruction in these courses. Nine states were represented in this enrollement. In the winter of 1913, the short courses will begin January 13, and continue for five days, closing with the farmers' banquet on Friday night, January 17, 1913. Teaching Agriculture to Teachers. — Each summer, from June to August, in the summer session, instructors in the College of .\griculture give special courses to teachers with a view to preparing them to teach agriculture in the rural and high schools of Missouri. More than 1.50 teachers were enrolled in the agricultural courses in 1912. Farmers' Institute. — In co-operation with the State Board of Agriculture, men from the College of Agriculture have delivered 396 addresses at farmers' institutes and other public meetings. Farm Advisers for Missouri Counties. — One of the most important projects inaugurated by the College of Agriculture is the appointment of farm advisers for Missouri counties. The College of Agriculture in co-operation witii the United States Department of Agriculture has provided for the appointment of a farm adviser in each county who shall act as the representative of the College of Agriculture. The duties of the farm adviser will be to bring Minutes of Adjourned Meeting. 23 to the farmer on his own farm the benefits of the investigations conducted at the Experiment Station. The Agricultural College Committee gives its unciualifled approval to this plan, and urges every member of the Board of Agriculture to co-operate with the college in the further extension of this important project. Co-operative Experiments with Farmers. — In 1910 tliere were 366 men in 105 counties co-operating with the central Experiment Station at Columbia in experiments to determine the best metliods of farming. In carrying forward this work, 3,000 different packages of seeds were used and more than 20,000 pounds of fertilizer. These experiments have already demonstrated that alfalfa can be successfully grown in every county of the State and that the best varieties of corn for Missouri are Boone County White, Reid's Yellow Dent, Johnson County White and St. Charles White. Outlying Experiment Fields. — The Agricultural Experiment Station is carrying on in- vestigations in 21 localities, representing the different soil types of Missouri. This work is a part of the great agricultural soil survey of tlie State. These investigations are demon- strating profitable methods of agriculture for each locality. In Christian county corn yields have been increased 16J-^ bushels per acre, and clover one and three-fourths tons by the application of results discovered on the Billings experiment field. On the Lamar experiment field in Southwest Missouri it has been shown that corn may be increased from twenty to forty-five bushels per acre. On the same field wheat was increased twelve bushels per acre. Soil experiments on the experiment field in Northeast Missouri have increased the yield of wheat by fifteen bushels per acre, with a corresponding increase in the net profit. Soil Survey. — The Agricultural Experiment Station, in co-operation with the United States Department of Agriculture, has organized and is now conducting a thorough and complete agricultural survey of Missouri. The Experiment Station has completed the survey of Atchison, Bates, Carroll, Cape Girardeau, Cass, Cedar, Cooper, Crawford, Franklin, Howell, Jackson, Laclede, Lincoln, Macon, Marion, Miller, Pemiscot, Pike, Platte, Putnam, Saline, Scotland, Shelby, Stoddard, St. Charles, St. Louis and Webster counties. Boys' Corn Growing Contest. — In 1912 there were 2, .500 Missouri boys and yoimg men enrolled in a corn growing contest under the direction of the College of Agriculture in co- operation with the Missouri Corn Growers' Association. Full directions for selecting seed, for testing the vitality of the seed corn, for preparing the ground, planting, cultivating and harvesting the corn are furnished these boys by the College of Agriculture. A record book is also furnished each contestant in which he can keep an accurate record of liis work, and can determine the cost and net profit made in growing liis corn. When the crop is harvested the corn is exhibited at county corn shows and judged by men from the College of Agricul- ture. At these meetings the boys are given valuable instruction in corn growing. Correspondence. — In one year's time men in the College of Agriculture have received and answered 52,407 letters and post cards. In most cases personal replies have been made to definite questions relating to agricultural practice. The correspondence of men in the College of Agriculture has increased 30 per cent during the past twelve months. The Traveling Dairy Instructor. — The College of Agriculture is helping in the development of the dairy industry of the State. It maintains a traveling dairy instructor whose whole time is devoted to organizing and instructing dairy associations and individual dairy farmers in Missouri. The Organization of New Departments. — The College of Agriculture now offers instruc- tion in every important phase of agricultural activity in Missouri. Three new departments have been recently added: Farm management, forestry and poultry husbandry. THE NEEDS OF THE COLLEGE. The demand upon the College of Agriculture for instructional work at Columbia, for investigational worli in the Experiment Station, and for various kinds of services to the farmers of Missouri, require additional equipment, more teachers and a general increase in material equipment of the College of Agriculture. Tlie most pressing and important needs of the institution in the judgment of your committee are the following: A Live Stock Judging Pavilion. — More than six hundred students are now enrolled in live stock judging. No adequate room is available for this work. The small pavilion now used for this purpose is wholly inadequate. The live stock equipment available for in- struction in animal husbandry is very meager. We urge the Legislature to appropriate more money for the purcliase of purebred live stock. The brancii short courses in agriculture, inaugurated last year for the first time, have been remarkably successful. The college has no specific appropriation for this purpose. We ask the Legislature to make a special appropriation for brancli short courses in agriculture. We commend the new project for tlie appointment of farm advisers for Missouri counties. In our judgment this will make it possible for the college to bring to the farmer on his own farm the benefits of the investigations conducted at the Agricultural Experiment Station. In our judgment the counties should pay at least half of the cost of the farm advisers, but the Legislature should appropriate sufficient money so that the college can pay a part of the cost of administration and salaries of the farm advisers. 24 Missouri Agricultural Report. After careful consirleration of the needs of the colleKe, and invest ip;at inn the projects already established, we recommend that the Legislature provide the following sums for the purpose of carrying forward the work of the College of Agriculture for the next biennial period : Soil survey, $15. ()()(): outlying experiment fields, $20,000; branch short courses in agri- culture, $15,000; farm advisers for Missouri counties. $25,000; orcliard demonstrations, $5,000; Experiment Station, $.30,000; equipment of agrieidtural laboratories. $10,000; books for agricultural library, .S4,000; department of animal husbandry, $15,000; department of dairy husbandry, $5,000; department of farm engineering, $5,000; purchase of pure bred live stock, $12,000; graduate scliool of agriculture, $2,000; live stock judging pavilion, $25,000; greenhouse for agronomy and horticulture. $3, .500; remodeling horse and .sheep barns, $4,000; Experiment Station feeding barn. $5,000; expen.ses of lectures to corn shows and agricultural meetings, $10,000. In addition to the above, the College of Agriculture needs foiir hundred acres of land, an increase in the number of instructors in agricultural subjects and a new cattle barn. We again express gratification at the friendly spirit of co-operation existing between the State Board of Agriculture and the College of Agriculture. This co-operation by these two important agencies has resulted in greater etBciency and economy in the development of the work of agricultural betterment in this State. In conclusion we commend the College of Agriculture for economy of administration, the efficiency of its instruction and particularly upon the conscientious effort to bring to Missouri farmers the benefits of its investigations. Respectfully submitted, CHAS. D. BELLOWS, FRED T. MUNSON. On motion, permission was given to the College of Agriculture to print the report in full for circulation. The Secretary then read his report for the year of 1912, and, on motion of Mr. Dallmeyer, supported by Mr. Barnes, the report was received and ordered printed in the annual report. Dr. Sheldon, State Veterinarian, presented his report for 1912, and, on motion of Mr. Mumford and Mr. Brayton, the report was received and filed. Dr. Sheldon then presented his list of deputy veterinarians to serve for one year, and, on motion of Messrs. Barnes and Hedrick, the list was approved. After some discussion on the hog cholera disease. Dean Mum- ford moved that Dr. Sheldon and Dr. Connaway be instructed to prepare and submit some plan of co-operation between the College of Agriculture and the State Board of Agriculture in the control of the hog cholera situation, and a committee be appointed to hear the recommendations and to act for the Board. The motion was supported by Mr. Lewis and carried. Messrs. Dallmeyer, Bellows, Gentry, Hedrick, Mumford and Lewis were appointed as the com- mittee. The Board adjourned to meet at the Elks' club rooms at 8 o'clock p. m. Meeting at Elks' club rooms called to order by President Lewis. After discussing the proposition to raise the salary of Mr. J. Kelly Wright as institute lecturer, and a thorough inquiry into the work Re^port of Secretary. 25 being done by Mr. Wright, Judge Wilkinson moved to employ Mr. Wright for the year 1913 at a salary of $2,200.00. The motion was seconded by Mr. Brayton and carried. On motion of Mr. Dallmeyer, supported by Mr. Munson, Dr. W. P. Cutler was elected Dairy Commissioner at such salary as the Legislature may provide. The Board adjourned. T. C. Wilson, Secretary. REPORT OF SECRETARY. Gentlemen of the Board of Agriculture : On this occasion, your an- nual meeting, it has been the custom for your Secretary to make report showing in brief what the Board has accom- plish during the year, and to suggest in what way the great agricultural interests may be benefited. Our Legislature — the great assembly of lawmakers — is just beginning the biennial session, and you now have your only op- portunity to secure the enact- ment of desired legislation dur- ing the next two years. At your last annual meeting your Secretary suggested sev- eral laws for your considera- tion, and it may be well to refer to them again. They are: county fairs, Hahatonka purchase, pure seed law, and statistical law. The proposition for the State to purchase the Hahatonka tract in Camden county for a State park has already received your en- dorsement and need not be further considered at this time. T. C. Wilson. 26 Missouri Agricultural Report. The question of State aid to county fairs will no doubt be presented to the Legislature during this session, and the great im- portance of improving the character of the exhibits and stimulating the educational feature of the county fair would call for careful consideration of this proposed enactment. A pure seed law was also suggested for your action and the need of such a law is growing more imperative. This office, acting under authority of your legislative committee, collected a large amount of data from other states and was ready to draft a bill for consideration by the Board when we learned that such a bill has been prepared by the College of Agriculture. I hope that a bill regulating the sale and distribution of seeds may be placed upon our statutes at this session. Statistical Law. — Two years ago we presented to the Legisla- ture, then in session, a bill providing for collecting, compiling and publishing farm statistics. This bill might have become a law at that time but for the fire which destroyed the capitol building. We are called upon almost daily to answer questions from out of the State by persons thinking of coming to Missouri and wanting in- formation we cannot give. We should be able to tell definitely the acres in cultivation in each crop, the yield per acre, the number and value of all animals in each county and a great many other facts the inquirer may want to know. Premiums. — One of the first acts of the Board of Agriculture was the appropriation of money for premiums, and this was nearly fifty years ago. The Board arranged for competitive exhibitions of various farm implements where their efficiency was demon- strated and prizes awarded. This Board greatly encouraged the adoption of new and improved machinery by such means. The cash premiums you have given in our corn shows have made the corn growers' organization a success. The $200 you set aside for the corn trophy that is so much admired and so earnestly sought for will likely form the chief object in that corn contest for several years. Last March you appropriated $100 to encourage the home- curing of meat and we will soon have our first contest for the prizes thus provided. Many samples of ham and bacon will be on exhibition in the Agricultural building during Farmers' Week. I hope you will make this contest an annual feature for Farmers' Week. You have more recently appropriated $25 to aid the Home Makers' Conference in giving a short course scholarship in the Report of Secretary. 27 domestic science department here, this scholarship to go to the winner in a tomato-growing contest. It will be greatly appreciated by members of the Home Makers' Conference if this appropriation can be continued so long as the ladies appropriate a like amount. Country Life Conference. — Suggestion was made in my last report that a country life conference be held here during our Farm- ers' Week, and as the suggestion met with your approval, we have arranged for such a meeting, A special program has been printed for these meetings and we have secured speakers of renown in their special lines. We hope to effect a State organization to be known as the Missouri Rural Life Conference Association to hold its meet- ings each year on Farmers' Week, Farmers' Institutes. — The farmers' institute meetings have been held this year under the new order adopted by the Board at your last meeting. As was to be expected the new method has brought some disappointments and failure to meet the require- ments. Yet it is gratifying to note the people generally are willing to adapt themselves to the new arrangement and little or no friction is anticipated next year. During 1912 we held 246 meetings with 463 sessions, occupying 308 days and occurring in 76 counties. This does not include the special train service on the various railroads. There is great need of a special organizer who can assist in the institute meetings and at the same time direct the attention of farmers to the importance of organization. We want a man who can impress his hearers and convince them of the necessity for organization and who can effect such organization before leaving the community. Such a man at this time would be a valuable asset of the Board. Last October I was authorized by the members of this Board to secure the services of Miss Nelle Nesbitt at a stated salary to carry on the institute work for women, and to prepare circulars and bulletins relating to the woman's work. Miss Nesbitt has been with the Board only a few weeks, but her work has already begun to show good results and I believe the Board and the people will be well pleased at the end of the year. Publications. — During the year 1912, we have printed 12,500 copies of the forty-fourth annual report, a book of about 500 pages, and have been unable to supply half the demand. Many county school superintendents ask for 100 or more copies as they wish to place one copy in each school, but we have never been able to send more than forty copies to any one for distribution because of 28 Missouri Agricultural Report. our limited appropriations. We also issued the usual complement of the monthly bulletins as follows : Vol. 10, No. 2, January — Growing Cowpea.s in Mi.ssouri, 8,000. Vol. 10, No. 2. February — The Hydraulic Ram, 8,000. Vol. 10, No. 3, March — Construction of County Road.s, 10,000. Vol. 10, No. 4, April — Mi.ssouri Home Makers' Conference Association, 1912, 3,000. Vol. 10, No. .5, May — Effect of Country Roads, 10,000. Vol. 10, No. 6, Jime — Missouri County Fairs, 10,000. Vol. 10, No. 7, July — Smuts of Cereals and the More Important Insect Pests of (irain Crops, 3,000. Vol. 10, No. 8, Selection and Care of Seed Corn, 3,000. Vol. 10, No. 9, Potato Growing in Jvlissouri (Orrick District) 10,000. Vol. 10, No. 10, Diver.sifled Crops in Missouri, 12,000. Vol. 10, No. 11, Bovine Tuberculosis, 12,000. Vol 10, No. 12, Crop Review for 1912, 10,000. These bulletins are sent free to those whose names are on our mailing list, to the libraries and to those who make special request for them. In collecting data for these bulletins we endeavor to select subjects of general interest to all farmers and then treat each subject from the farmers' viewpoint rather than that of the scientist. The tremendous loss occasioned by the hog cholera disease is concentrating public attention on the disease, its cause and preven- tion. The prevailing high prices at the markets and the rapid and deadly work of the disease have produced a panicky feeling among hog raisers and they are ready and willing to take up any remedy that carries ever so small a promise for relief. The faker can sell his quack nostrums almost as readily as can the trained veterinarian his most approved serums. This condition has become so alarming that there is urgent need for legislative action. There should be more rigid enforcement of our quarantine and sanitary laws, and I believe these laws should be strengthened and made more effective. All dead cholera hogs should be burned, not buried, as the law now permits. Then we should have the power to com- pel owners of diseased herds to practice strict sanitation and quar- antine. I believe we also need a law regulating the manufacture and sale of hog cholera serum by the license system or some more effective way in order that the owner or hog raiser may be sure of what he is getting when he buys the preventive. T. C. Wilson, Secretary. SECRETARY'S FINANCIAL STATEMENT. To the Board of Agriculture: I beg to submit the following exhibit of the financial transac- tions of the Board for the year beginning January 8, 1912, and Report of Secretary. 29 ending January 11, 1913, which shows the balances on hand at. the beginning of the year, the requisitions drawn on State Auditor, warrants drawn on W. A. Bright, Treasurer of the Board, balances in the treasury of the Board, and the balances in the different funds remaining in the State Treasury: DISTRIBUTION OP ANNUAL REPORTS. Date. 1912. Jan. 8 " 8 u 8 " 8 ar . 2 ■( 2 pr. 29 uly 31 vug 10 ;:ept 2 i' 2 K 2 It 11 » 11 " 20 U 30 U 30 u 30 u 30 « 30 (( 30 Oct. 22 il 22 u 25 " 30 u 30 11 30 a 30 Dec 20 Jan. 11 Name. To balance on hand By American Express J. W. Peach E. A. Remley Teachenor-Bartberger Eng. Co. Wells Fargo & Co., express. . . . W. C. Hutchison To requisition By The Statesman Publishing Co. . American Express Co M., K. & T. Railway Co Kintaro Horii 23 Transfer Co ' Wells Fargo & Co., express. . . . Libby & Williams Paper Co . . . M., K. & T. Railway Co Wells Fargo & Co., express. . . . E. A. Remley J. N. Mitchell American Express Co 23 Transfer Co Hugh Stephens Printing Co. . . . Barnes-Crosby Co Barnes-Crosby Co University Co-operative Store. . E. A. Remley Libby & Williams Paper Co. . . J. N. Mitchell To requisition By balance War. No, 216 217 218 219 220 221 Totals . 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 Dr. $611.83 500 . 00 241.95 $1,353.78 Cr. $1.51 1.50 50.00 20.75 5.66 1.50 8.75 167.55 42.04 6.60 13.00 49.19 11.60 42.35 121.70 150.00 74.40 7.18 9.50 16.00 1.25 30.00 2.25 150.00 3.80 28.30 337.40 51,353.78 MONTHLY CROP REPORT. Date. Name. War. No. Dr. Cr. 191 2. Jan. 8 " 8 (( 8 (( 26 Feb. 1 " 1 " 20 " 20 (( 20 To balance on hand By The Statesman Publishing Co . . E. A. Remley. . Teachenor-Bartberger Eng. Co. E. A. Remley W. A. Bright E. A. Remley M., K. & T. Railway Co Teachenor-Bartberger Eng. Co. $531.86 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 $4.50 10.10 18.25 2.75 20.00 50.00 1.22 10.40 30 Missouri Agricultural Report. MONTHLY CROP REPORT (Continued.) Date. I Name. War. No Dr. Cr. Mar. 2 " s " ly u 19 u 26 April 1 u 1 u 1 " 1 " 1 " 29 " 29 u 29 li 29 May 1 " 1 " 31 " 31 u 31 u 31 June 6 " 6 " 6 u 29 it 29 u 29 July 1 " 20 u 20 u 31 u 31 u 31 Aug. 31 " 31 Sept. 2 11 2 u 11 u 11 u 20 It 26 " 30 Nov. 25 Dec. 7 " 20 u 19 " 19 Jan. 11 By E. A. Remley E. A. Remley E. W. Stephens Publishing Co. . To requisition By M., K. & T. Railway Co J. W. Butler Paper Co Robert W. Otto J. W. Peach E. A. Remley Columbia Missouri Herald Barnes-Crosby Co Columbia Missouri Herald 23 Transfer Company J. W. Butler Paper Co M., K. & T. Railway Co Barnes-Crosby Co Wabash Railway Co American Express Co M., K. & T. Railway Co Barnes-Crosby Co 23 Transfer Co E. A. Remley Columbia Missouri Herald To requisition By Barnes-Crosby Co J. N. Mitchell M., K. & T. Railway Co Columbia Herald Newspaper Co. 23 Transfer Co M., K. & T. Railway Co J. N. Mitchell 23 Transfer Co To requisition By J. N. Mitchell E. A. Remley Wells Fargo & Co., express Barnes-Crosby Eng. Co Columbia Herald Newspaper Co . Knight & Rosse W. M. Conley Columbia Herald Newspaper Co. Barnes-Crosby Co Columbia Herald Newspaper Co. To reciuisition By Paul Parsons Eloise Knelsley Balance Totals . 638 639 640 $500 . 00 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 661 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 200.00 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 200.00 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 133.88 678 679 S50 . 00 324 . 80 1.80 4.38 225.00 5.25 1.75 7.20 4.50 126.87 4.50 4.25 7.51 14.95 23.20 1.44 1.54 25.34 24.73 5.00 24.15 4.50 4.13 78.90 10.47 4.50 1.25 9.32 51.70 1.50 47.10 6.60 4.01 3.39 26.05 1.15 00 50 31 12.50 1.50 27.50 251.48 $1,565.74 51,565.74 EXPENSE OF MEMBERS. Date. Name. War. No. Dr. Cr. 1912. Jan. 8 To balance on hand .$344 . 74 " 10 By Sanford Mc. Smith H. C. Duncan 859 860 861 $20.05 " 10 27.56 " 10 T. J. Hedrick 23.00 Report of Secretary. 31 EXPENSE OP MEMBERS (Continued.) Date. Name. War. No. Dr. Cr. Jan. 10 " 10 a 10 u 10 (t 10 H 10 a 11 u 15 u 15 u 26 tt 26 ti 26 Feb. 23 Mar. 20 II 20 u 20 u 20 u 20 u 20 u 20 u 20 u 20 u 20 u 20 u 20 u 20 u 20 u 25 u 26 April 1 11 29 11 29 May 31 June 1 " 29 July 20 u 20 it 31 ti 31 U 31 it 31 u 31 u 31 it 31 ti 31 Aug. 31 li 31 Sept. 26 u 26 a 26 ti 26 « 26 " 26 " 30 w 30 (1 30 Oct. 2 ti 2 ti 2 *' 25 Nov. 15 u 29 By W. R. Wilkinson P. P. Lewis C. M. Barnes Henry Steinmesch : . A. T. Nelson George H. Sly W. A. Dallmeyer Fred T. Munson E. L. Newlon Charles Householder N. H. Gentry To requisition To requisition By P. P. Lewis A. T. Nelson Henry Steinmesch E. E. Swink Wm. P. Evans W. R. Wilkinson H. C. Duncan J. H. Brayton George H. Sly E. L. Newlon F. B. Mumford C. M. Barnes T. J. Hedrick N. H. Gentry T. C. Wilson Fred T. Munson W. A. Dallmeyer To requisition By Sanford Mc. Smith T. C. Wilson J. H. Brayton T. C. Wilson N. H. Gentry T. C. Wilson To requisition By W. A. Dallmeyer E. L. Newlon William P. Evans Fred T. Munson C. M. Barnes W. R. Wilkinson H. C. Duncan Henry Steinmesch T. C. Wilson Henry Steinmesch Fred T. Munson J. H. Brayton C. D. Bellows P. P. Lewis T. J. Hedrick Western Union Telegraph Co . George H. Sly T. J. Hedrick R. A. Young R. A. Young .' C. M. Barnes To requisition By A. T. Nelson S. Mc. Smith 862 863 864 865 866 867 868 869 870 871 872 $100.00 200.00 873 874 875 876 877 878 879 880 881 882 883 884 885 886 887 888 889 890 891 892 893 894 895 896 897 898 899 900 901 902 903 904 905 906 907 908 909 910 911 912 913 914 915 916 917 918 300.00 200.00 200 . 00 $26.30 18.35 36.65 11.80 48.30 50.02 13.30 21.50 25.95 6.40 13.75 17.80 29.40 15.30 41.00 7.78 19.80 18. .75 25.36 20.43 29.40 8.82 29.24 13.00 3.25 6.62 13.50 7.98 16.36 5.80 13.44 5.80 12.55 18.56 6.88 21.06 13.63 17.80 36.10 31.75 14.26 23.30 21.02 19.70 13.00 14.85 15.14 20.25 10.00 15.91 19.90 12.50 22.80 23.50 33.65 32.05 19.15 32 Missouri Agricultural Report. EXPENSE OP MEMBERS (Continued.) Date. Nov. Dec. Jan. 29 29 29 7 20 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 20 11 Name. By To By W. R. Wilkinson. . T. C. Wil.son P. P. Lowis E. L. Newlon requisition E. E. Swink W. R. Wilkinson. . A. T. Nelson P. P. Lewis P. P. Lewis H. C. Duncan J. H. Brayton C M. Barnes W. A. Dallmeyer. . C. D. Bellows Wm. P. Evans. . . . Henry Steinmesch. T. C. Wilson P. P. Lewis P. T. Munson Balance Totals . War. No. 919 920 921 922 923 924 925 926 927 928 929 930 931 932 933 934 935 936 937 Dr. $300 . 00 M, 644. 74 Cr. $15.90 7.05 8.50 15.85 37.00 19.30 28.75 11.25 12.80 17.20 9.21 28.50 8.60 17.55 7.30 11.70 11.55 13.55 14.05 168.06 $1,644.74 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. Date. Name. War. No Dr. Cr. 1912. Jan. 8 To balance on hand 8 By Eva Welch " 8 The Statesman Publishing Co. " 8 Columbia Telephone Co. . . '. .'. 8 H. L. Kempster 10 23 Transfer Company 10 A. T. Nelson 10 Carl L. White 15 R. Warren Roberts 15 W. C. Swarner " 15 John Shapley 15 George T.Tippln 15 A. N. Abbott 15 Joseph E. Wing 26 B. P. Smoot " 26 W. C. Swarner 26 George W. Williams 26 Henry Kirkland 26 The Statesman Publishing Co. 26 A. W. Orr " 26 Sallie Kneisley " 26 George T. Tippin " 26 R. C. Lawry 26 H. L. Kempster 26 J. A. Wisdom 26 Ernest Ru.ssell 26 H. L. Russell 26 Kenyon L. Butterfleld " 26 H. C. Pierce " 26 To requisition 1401 1402 1403 1404 1405 1406 1407 1408 1409 1410 1411 1412 1413 1414 1415 1416 1417 1418 1419 1420 1421 1422 1423 14;24 1425 1426 1427 1428 $1 , 140.29 $31.95 192.00 10.85 14,04 1.00 26.10 82.83 16.50 11.50 1.00 25.17 31.65 92.95 83 . 93 1.00 129.11 3.90 43.75 16.05 6.60 36.52 57.05 26.03 16.50 25.00 66.10 110.64 41.90 1 , 000 . 00 Report of Secretary. 33 FARMERS' INSTITUTES (Continued.) Date. Name. War. No. Dr. Cr. Jan. 26 » 26 <( 26 u 26 Feb. 1 " 1 u 1 It 1 it 20 " 20 It 20 " 20 tt 20 It 20 " 20 " 20 Mar. 2 " 19 (1 19 II 19 II 19 " 25 " 25 " 25 II 25 " 25 April 1 " 1 " 17 " 29 " 29 " 29 " 29 " 29 " 29 " 29 II 29 May 1 31 " 31 11 31 II 31 II 31 " 31 " 31 June 29 " 29 " 29 II 29 " 29 July 1 II 20 II 20 11 20 " 20 11 31 II 31 " 31 Aug. 10 " 10 11 10 " 10 A By A. J. Glover Herbert J. Krum W. H. Howell Lena Dunlap Wells Fargo & Co., express American Express Co W. A. Bright Columbia Telephone Co Athens Hotel Ernest Russell '. . . Nelle Carter Ilena Bailey E. A. Trowbridge T. C. Wilson Roscoe Smith Chandler & Chandler O. J. Eidmann E. W. Stephens Publishing Co J. B. Rector Tlie Statesman Publishing Co C. B. Hutchison George T. Tippin W. R. Wilkinson E. A. Trowbridge T. C. Wilson George W. Williams Verdie Read American Express Co T. C. Wilson P. M. Brandt S. M. Jordan E. A. Trowbridge B. P. Smoot Eva Welch Wells Fargo & Co., e-xpress T. C. Wilson J. Kelly Wright E. L. Newlon Mrs. Nellie Kedzie Jones Louise Stanley Eva Welch To requisition By Mrs. Flora Hartley Greene Louise Stanley J. Kelly Wright To requisition By Verdie Read The Statesman Publishing Co The Missouri Valley Guide Co American Express Co J. Kelly Wright American Association Farmers Institute Workers The Statesman Publishing Co W. L. Nelson Eva Welch J. Kelly Wright E. A. Remley Wells Fargo & Co., express T. C. Wilson T. C. Wilson E. A. Remley University Co-operative Store 1429 1430 1431 1432 1433 1434 1435 1436 1437 1438 1439 1440 1441 1442 1443 1444 1445 1446 1447 1448 1449 1450 1451 1452 1453 1454 1455 1456 1457 1458 1459 1460 1461 1462 1463 1464 1465 1466 1467 1468 1469 1470 1471 1472 1473 1474 1475 1476 1477 1478 1479 1480 1481 1482 1483 1484 1485 1486 1487 1488 $500 . 00 500 . 00 44 70 10 05 4 20 26 37 90 20 00 10 65 2 50 25 00 28 55 26 30 4 77 27 56 1 25 2 00 3 90 7 00 46 30 32 00 6 31 6 35 15 50 7 30 8 98 5 50 28 00 5 75 3.05 4.90 135.58 30 70 5 0'> 10.00 7.68 6.77 164.69 18.96 50.00 42.32 14.25 22.22 42.04 145.09 50.00 30.00 2.00 3.85 150.00 5. 12. 5. 31 182.95 200.00 7. 7. .00 .50 .00 .95 .90 .60 16.70 10.15 2.50 —3 34 Missouri Agricultural Report. FARMERS' INSTITUTE (Continued) Date. Name. War. No. Dr. Cr. Aug. 10 " 10 " 10 " 31 " 31 " 31 " 31 Sept. 2 2 2 " 11 " 11 11 " 20 " 26 2« " 30 " 30 Oct. 5 " 22 " 22 " 22 " 22 " 22 " 25 " 25 " 28 " 28 " 28 " 28 " 28 " 30 " 30 " 30 Nov. 15 15 " 25 " 25 " 25 " 25 " 20 " 29 " 29 " 29 " 29 " 29 " 29 " 30 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 12 12 12 20 19 Dec. By J. W. Butler Paper Co E. A. Remley E. A. Remley To requisition By C. B. Hutcliison T. C. Wilson Eva Welcli American Express Co Columbia Teleplione Co J. Kelly Wright ; E. W. Stephens Publishing Co T. C. Wilson E. A. Remley T. C. Wilson F. B. Mumford J. Kelly Wright Columbia Telephone Co W. L. Howard B. P. Smoot A. W. Orr P. M. Brandt E. A. Trowbridge H. L. Kempster T. C. Wilson To requisition By Henry Kirklin J. C. Hackleman F. B. Mumford B. P. Smoot J. Kelly Wright T. C. Wilson Western Union Telegraph Co American Express Co George F. Jordan T. C. Wilson A. W. Orr A. W. Orr J. C. Whitten C. A. Helm R. R. Huddleson To requisition By J. C. Hackleman 1 J. Kelly Wright B. P. Smoot H. L. Kempster S. M. Jordan Howard Hackedorn R. R. Huddleson L. C. Smith & Bros. Typewriter Co. . . University Co-operative Store Mrs. C. W. Greene Cancelled Cancelled B. J. Lay American Express Co George W. Williams The Statesman Publishing Co A. W. Orr A. W. Orr H. L. Kempster C. H. Eckles To requisition By A. W. Orr 1489 1490 1491 1492 1493 1494 1495 1496 1497 1498 1499 1500 1501 1502 1503 1504 1505 1506 1507 1508 1509 1510 1511 1512 1513 1514 1515 1516 1517 1518 1519 1520 1521 1522 1523 1524 1525 1526 1527 1528 1529 1530 1531 1532 1533 1534 1535 1536 1537 1538 1539 1540 1541 1542 1543 1544 1545 1546 1547 $2 , 000 . 00 500 . 00 500.00 3 , 500 . 00 $7.50 300 . 00 300.00 36.09 45.04 23.35 2.05 12.65 .21 00 207 1 6.05 300 . 00 11.35 11.06 179.50 11. 7. 10 .53 31.55 28.59 9.95 18.97 15.79 30.36 30.08 15.87 18.40 164.17 275.35 10.80 1.95 8.88 29.77 85.22 10.00 23.56 14.15 44.67 7.04 10.85 248.17 231.49 11.74 22.95 20.65 9.40 6.10 19.70 14.86 5.97 1.95 15.35 46.25 28.80 43.37 16.65 14.75 50.00 Report of Secretary. 35 FARMERS' INSTITUTE— Continued. Date. Name. War. No. Dr. Cr. Dec. Jan. 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 11 By Co. J. Kelly Wright . . W. L. Nelson. . . . E. A. Trowbridge. B. P. Smoot E. W. Stephens Pub. W. W. Phillips J. W. Butler Paper Co . . Louise Stanley Highway Engineer Fund , Balance Totals . 1548 1549 1550 1551 1552 1553 1554 1555 1556 , 640 . 29 $250 94 30 50 4 58 185 94 16 50 2 00 37 45 29 35 55 00 ,806 73 ,640.29 OFFICE EXPENSE. Date. Name. War. No, Dr. Cr. 1912. Jan. 8 « 8 ti 8 u 15 tl 26 u 26 Feb. 21 " 21 u 21 Mar. 2 " 19 " 19 it 19 u 19 tl 25 " 25 April 1 " 1 " 1 " 29 May 31 '' 31 " 31 " 31 June 6 " 29 July 20 " 20 " 31 u 31 it 31 Aug. 10 Jan. 11 To balance on hand By University Co-operative Store. . . George P. Comer University Co-operative Store. . . Newman Hardware Company. . . Wabash Railway Co Newman Hardware Co E. W. Stephens Publishing Co. . University Co-operative Store. . . Remington Typewriter Co University Co-operative Store. . . J. B. Butler Paper Co Graham Paper Co Newman Hardware Co St. Louis Paper Box Co The Hugh Stephens Printing Co. University Co-operative Store . . . J. W. Butler Paper Co E. W. Stephens Pubhshing Co. . To requisition By Sengbusch Self-Closing Inkstand . To requisition By Wabash Railway Co University Co-operative Store . . . Libby & Williams Paper Co .... University Co-operative Store . . . E. W Stephens Publishing Co. . St. Louis Paper Box Co C. G. Morgan Cancelled University Co-operative Store . . . Adams Stamp & Seal Co Balance »13.95 866 867 868 869 870 871 872 873 874 875 876 877 878 879 880 881 882 883 884 885 886 887 888 889 890 891 892 893 894 Totals . 50.00 50.00 $213.95 $12.30 2.50 6.70 8.00 .85 2.75 12.50 6.73 50 91 60 95 50 50 39.30 4.35 31.83 4.50 12.00 1.26 11.00 9.00 6.95 2.40 4.50 3.50 4.00 3.05 .02 $213.95 36 Missouri Agricultural Report. EXTENSION COURSE IN AGRICULTURE. Date. 1!)12. Jan. 8 " 26 Feb. 1 u 1 " 23 Mar. 2 " 2 " 25 K 26 train three days, came liome Saturday. The trip ended Saturday night at St. Joseph, where the party broke up. Dr. Cutler and the journalists, with R. C. Lawry of Pacific, Mo., were taken in a special car to St. Louis, the near point to Columbia on the Burlington's lines. Thirty-one towns in northern Missouri were addressed by the lecturers on board the special train. It is estimated that not less than 20,000 persons heard the lectures. At nearly every stop the two lecture cars on the train were filled, talks were made at the high schools and in several towns overflow meetings were held on the station platform. The trip is said to have been one of the most successful ever made by a railroad in this State. Dr. W. P. Cutler managed the trip, and a large measure of its success is due to him. The six students in journalism, working under the direction of Professor Martin, furnished news stories to about seventy-five newspapers. At Canton, Mo., the last lecture stop during the first afternoon out, the merchants closed their stores to hear the lectures. Passing through Hannibal, the train proceeded to Palmyra for the first night stop. A big meeting was held in the Marion county courthouse. At New Cambria, on the second day's run, a brass band and an immense crowd met the train. The night stop was at Brookfield. Dean Walter Williams joined tlie party here and made an address in the circuit court room at Brookfield. The third night's stop was at Cameron, Mo., and after the lectures the train left for St. Joseph, where tlie party spent the night Friday. The train went north over the Creston branch of the Burlington, a busy day ending with a night meeting at Maryville. The night was spent at St. Joseph, and Saturday tlie train traveled over the Chariton branch as far as Ridgeway. At this point, nine miles from tlie Iowa line, the highest attendance record was reached, close to 1,000 persons hearing the lecture. The lecturers on the special train were: Dr. W. P. Cutler, State Pure Food and Dairy Commissioner; E. A. Ikenberry, State Dairy Inspector, Columbia; T. E. Quisenberry, Director of the State Poultry Experiment Station, Moimfain Grove; R. C. Lawry, Pacific, Mo., and Curtis Hill, State Highway Engineer, Cohimbia. Besides Dean Williams, who was witli the party almost three days, tlie following were from the school of journalism: Profes.sor Martin, E. R. A. Felgate, Shanghai. China; F. M. Harrison, Gallatin, Mo.; B. O. Brown, Fort Worth, Tex.; Seigel Mayer, King City, Mo.; E. M. Todd, Columbia; Walter Stemmons, Joplin, Mo. The following men were on the trip: J. D. Baker, division passenger agent, St. Joseph: A. L. West, assistant general fi-(Mght agent, St. Joseph; F. E. Hollingshead, general agent, Hanniljal; C. P. Lewis, superintendent dining <-ar service, Chicago; Sidney Roy, secretary of the Hannibal Commercial Club, and .1. A. Corby of St. Joseph, were on the train during parts of the trip. On the first of June Inspector E. A. Ikenberry tendered his resignation in order to accept a position with the Federal Govern- ment, since which time no especial inspection of the milk stations in Missouri has been accomplished other than that incident to food inspection. During the month of February, by invitation of Mr. Eugene Bennett and Mr. Tom Hall, the Commissioner, together with In- Report of Dairy Commissioner. 75 spector Ikenbery, visited Carthage and vicinity, and each made ten speeches in the schoolhouses of Jasper county, advocating the milking of cows by the farmer as being especially profitable. The weather was very cold, but through the courtesy of Messrs. Bennett and Hall, the speakers were provided with an automobile, and on several occasions as many as twenty-five miles were traveled to reach speaking points. The result of this campaign was the establishment of a splendid modern creamery at Carthags, which is now prospering. The capital stock of this creamery has recently been increased, and the people of Carthage and vicinity are taking great interest in the enterprise. The creamery company has purchased a large automo- bile truck which gathers up the cream through the county and de- livers it to the creamery each day. Colonel W. H. Phelps, notably, has built a model dairy barn on a farm a mile from Carthage, and has placed therein forty Jerseys, most of them registered. I consider this extremely fortunate for the dairy interests of that region, for the reason that this up-to-date, well-equipped plant will always be a demonstration to the farmers of the possibilities of dairying, and it will be a center to which the farmers of Jasper county can come to learn the best methods. It would be very much to the advantage of the State if other public-spirited citizens would take the initiative in this particular. Not only has the dairy plant just mentioned above been estab- lished near Carthage, but many of the farmers in Jasper county are going into the dairy business, and many have added cows to their herds. During the month of January, Inspector Ikenberry scored 78 dairies in St. Louis, totaling 2,070 cows; total number of cows milking, 2,000, producing 4,665 gallons daily; each dairy averaging 26.54 cows; average number milking, 25.64, producing 59.81 gal- lons daily, with an average score of 55.21. The lowest score found was 43; the highest 69. During February, March, April and May, the dairies furnish- ing milk to St. Joseph were scored, showing 43 dairies inspected, with a total of 954 cows, 814 cows milking, furnishing 1,707 gal- lons daily, with an average number of cows, 22.19; number milk- ing, average 18.93; average number of gallons, daily, 39.69, with an average score of 47.72. Much good has been accomplished with the dairies around S't. Joseph through co-operation with Dr. S. Sheldon, the State Veteri- 76 Missouri Agricultural Report. narian. The latter inspected a large number of herds and in each instance where tuberculous cows were found, report was made to the Dairy Commisioner and parties were notified by him that they would be prosecuted if they sold milk from these condemned ani- mals, the result being that very few cows at the present time furnishing milk to St. Joseph are tuberculous. Several other towns in the State were visited and the dairies scored — notably Sedalia, with the following results: Eighteen dairies, totaling 321 cows; number milking, 288, producing 838V2 gallons. Average number of cows to each dairy 17.83; average number milking, 16; average number of gallons daily, 29.67, with an average score of 40.83. In this connection a report was made to the mayor and city council of Sedalia by Inspector Ikenberry, which illustrates largely conditions in most of the larger towns of the State, This report, addressed to the mayor and city council of Sedalia, was as follows : REPORT OF INSPECTOR IKENBERRY AT SEDALIA. I have the honor to report that the courtesy shown the State Dairy Commissioner's Department by the city officials in furnishinf; transportation has enabled the inspection in detail of seventeen dairies which furnish milk to Sedalia. There are many persons lieeping one or more cows that I have not visited because of the time allotted me in your city. The conditions of the dairies here are no worse than elsewhere where no inspection is carried on, but the conditions are of no credit to either the dairymen or the city of Sedalia if handled as they have been in the past. The construction and equipment, such as the barns and milk houses, on the whole are fair, but in some instances they are very poor. The inexcusably bad feature of the condi- tions found is the insanitary methods of handling the milk on the part of most dairymen. This is due to carelessness and can be greatly improved without much expense. It is these conditions that have caused the scores to range from 20 to 64 out of a possible 100 points. For instance, their barns were not clean and a number of their lots were filthy. There is only one man who I believe practices the washing or wiping of the udders with a wet cloth, and then keeping his hands washed and clean between milking each cow. This practice is very essential both summer and wint(>r. In many instances the milk is strained and kejit in the barn for some time instead of removing it immediately to a milk house. Some milk goes directly from the barn to the consumer, and the dreadful fact is that this milk is not cooled. Milk should be cooled to at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit immediately after milking each cow. Much milk is not bottled as it should be, but poured from vessel to vessel on the dusty streets. Some dairymen have resorted to two deliveries a day in order to kee|) tlieir milk from souring. Insanitary conditions and improper cooling has driven them to this practice. I do not wish to be understood as saying that the delivery of milk twice a day is not a good practice, but I do believe that the milk should be taken care of so as to make such a practice unnecessary. In this particular connection allow me to state that much milk is not properly handled in the consumer's hands and too often the dairymen are unjustly blamed. Because of the time allotted me here I have taken no samples and cannot say as to its purity. Another man will follow me in this work. However, I have reason for suggesting that this phase of inspection be investigated from time to time. The man who uses a pre- servative for. keeping his milk is a criminal and should be treated as such. Many of the milk houses are not kept clean, and some are not screened against the flies. The vessels are not inverted in pure air and cared for as they shoidd be by some men. Tliere was one dairyman who for one and one-half months ran his retail route during which time he had four children with scarlet fever in his house. This family was attended by a Sedalia doctor who knowingly permitted this dreadful and unlawful act. It is over now, and to mention this in a newspaper would put the poor dairyman out of business Report of Dairy Commissioner. 77 while had it been handled properly, the cows could have been moved from the premises, and dairying could be continued by another party for a few months. In my visit I have talked over the various conditions above mentioned with many other problems in a heart to heart manner with each man, with a view to educating him, at the same time pointing out improvements which can be made with little expense and giving good results, not only to the dairymen, but to the consuming public. Each dairyman has taken to my suggestions and treated me with hospitality. Many of them will follow up my suggestions, while there are probably others who will continue in their usual way. Tliese may be the ones that are now in the worst condition. For the protection of the man who is doing the right thing and for the good of the dairy industry, I recommend to the city council that they pass a rigid ordinance covering all phases of the dairy work. This will protect the man who is trying to do the right thing and it will line up the crook or close him out with continued and increasing fines. The good dairymen of Sedalia will back the city in this movement. After the ordinance is passed, a qualified inspector should be employed, one with modern ideas, to help the dairyman who wants help, and at the same time with backbone enough to line up the crook, the man who poisons your babies or sells you water for milk, or handles his product in an insanitary manner. Milk, if embalmed, watered or handled in an insanitary manner, can be sold cheaper than good milk, and it is this fact that is causing many prominent families of Sedalia to compel their milkmen to do things which are unlawful or lose their trade, because some other crook has offered them a few more tickets for a dollar. I consider seven cents a quart for summer milk and eight cents a quart for winter milk a fair price to the dairymen for retailing bottled milk which has been produced from cows free from tuberculosis, kept in clean barns and handled properly. Late in the summer, owing to the prevalence of typhoid fever in Springfield, the president of the State Board of Health requested the Dairy Commissioner to make an inspection of the dairies around that city, including the water supply, with a view of elimi- nating possible danger from that source. The Commissioner and two inspectors went to Springfield in response to this invitation and spent several days there. With only one exception, the water supply of each dairy was contaminated, and each dairy so affected was required to make a different arrange- ment, in many instances new deep wells being dug. These dairies scored as follows : Number of dairies inspected, 31; total number of cows, 708; number milking, 615, producing 973 gallons daily; each dairy averaging 22.84 cows; average number milking, 19.84, producing 31.39 gallons daily, with an average score of 49.21. Some time since, this department appealed to the Federal Government to secure help in the matter of inspecting the milk shipped into St. Louis from southern Illinois. An astonishing re- sult was found in the matter of cleanliness in this milk. For example, according to the report of the United States Department of Agriculture, as high as 200,000,000 bacteria to the cubic centi- meter — relatively a quarter of a teaspoonful — were found. As high as 1,000,000 of the Coli group, which is the bowel germ and is an indication of the presence of typhoid, were found. Also, as high as 1,000,000 of the streptococci or pus germ, were found. 78 Missouri Agricultural Report. This latter indicates the presence of pus in the milk and undoubt- edly comes from tuberculous infected udders. I have mentioned in a former report that about 160,000 gal- lons of milk are consumed each day in St. Louis, of which 90 per cent came from southern Illinois. On account of conditions found, an order was issued requiring all the large distributors of Illinois milk to pasteurize the same before selling to the consumer, the effect of the pasteurization being to kill the germs making the milk safe to use, although not having the best flavor. It is evident that the Missouri farmers are overlooking a fine and profitable opportunity having such a splendid market within the State. It shows also that the dairies producing this milk are not as clean as they should be. This examination was apparently made for cleanliness alone, as we found out of five hundred samples taken during the fall that much of this milk from Southern Illinois contained both formaldehyde and added water. The Commissioner made a trip to Chicago to enlist the assistance of the Illinois Com- missioner with a view to eliminating this adulterated and danger- ous milk. Through the courtesy of the Illinois Commissioner, four inspectors were furnished, and these, together with two of the inspectors of the Food Inspection Department of Missouri, have been making for the last five weeks a careful inspection of all milk shipped into St. Louis at the point of shipment. It is believed that the milk situation in St. Louis in the last two years has improved at least 50 per cent. In the last four years, during the incumbency of the present Commissioner, ten additional creameries have been built in Mis- souri, averaging at least 300 pounds of butter per day each, mak- ing 3,000 pounds per day manufactured in Missouri and worth not less than an average of thirty cents a pound. In other words, there has been added to the income of the Missouri farmers in the last four years about $750 a day each of the 365 days ; or in round terms, not less than $273,750 has been added to the wealth of the farmers in Missouri in the last year, more than they received four years ago. I believe this is the result of constant dairy agitation, through dairy trains and lectures. At Mountain Grove, for example, the manager of that creamery told me that in the month of August he paid as high as $1,100 a day for butter fat in his creamery, and he asked that I run another dairy train this winter, as he believed that was the cause of the increase in dairying. This he told me when I spoke on dairying at the Mountain Grove Agricultural Fair. Report of Dairy Commissioner. ' 79 As an interesting example of what can be done in the dairy business on indifferent land, I have the information from the man himself, Mr. Turner ProfRtt, who lives twelve miles from West Plains, his nearest railroad town, that he received in one year from butter fat $1,177, $833 for hogs and $500 for hay, making a total income of $2,510 from 240 acres of land, which he originally would have been glad to have received $25 an acre for, and for which he now says he would not accept $65 an acre. He sells the butter fat, feeds all the skim to the hogs, grows only enough grain for his silo and grain-feeding, the balance of the land being in grass, cowpeas and cane. He also sells some hay. He considers that the cow has made him the difference between $25 and $65 an acre in the length of time he has been in business. Another instance is that of W. M. Breedlove, seven miles from West Plains, who has 129 acres of the same kind of land and milks sixteen cows. His income from these cows and land in one year was $480 for butter fat, $300 for hogs and $120 for hay, making a total of $900 from sixteen cows and 129 acres. He says since building his silo that he is enabled to grow all the feed necessary for a balanced ration for his cows and expects to increase his profits. He is building a fine barn besides a silo, and claims to be making as much money again as ever before, and will increase his herd to thirty cows. The Commissioner has been having considerable difficulty late in the fall with some parties in the State manufacturing so-called "moonshine" butter. This is made up of renovated butter stock to which has been added gum tragacanth, which has the faculty of absorbing a great deal of water, the chemist in Springfield where this butter was sold finding as high as 50 per cent moisture in the sample. This is a dishonest practice, as it is unfair to legitimate butter makers, who are not permitted under the law to have more than 16 per cent moisture in their butter. The cases were prose- cuted. More prosecutions are pending, and the Internal Revenue Department of the government has been notified. About 2,300 pounds of this stuff was held up by the department. In the way of recommendations, an antidiscrimination law should be passed by the Legislature requiring creameries to pay the same price for butter fat wherever they buy in the State, the object of this being that it will make it impossible for a big insti- tution to go into a new field and crowd out a small creamery by pay- ing more for butter fat, and reduce the price at another point where they have no competition. 80 Missouri Agricultural Report. Our neighboring states have a license law which is a source of income to the department, requiring each man before buying cream to take out a license and pass an examination as to his fitness. This enables the Dairy Commissioner to keep in touch with dis- honest buyers, and put them out of business whenever they break the law. The law requires them to have a license, and yet gives the department the right to revoke a license for inefficiency or dis- honesty. I believe these two laws would be a source of great help in building up the dairy interests of the State. Respectfully, W. P. Cutler, State Dairy Commissioner. REPORT OF APIARY INSPECTOR M. E. Darby. Gentlemen of the State Board of Agriculture : In presenting this sixth annual report as ' Inspector of Apiaries I will very briefly state apicultural conditions of the State, give number of colonies inspected and make some recom- mendations for the betterment of this work. The seasons of 1911 and 1912 were very favorable for the development and spread of foul brood, the greatest enemy to bee culture in this country, and the losses caused by it in some localities have been very discouraging, yet the work of eradicating disease has been very satis- factory in localities where it has been properly looked after. It has been impossible for me to carefully go over all the territory that has been visited by this destructive disease. Of the 3,800 colonies inspected during the season of 1912, about ten per cent were found to be affected. Foul brood has been discovered in thirty-one counties and is believed to exist in several others. Fifty counties adjoining these are likely to become affected at any time, nor is the trouble likely to stop with territory in closest proximity. It can be carried in many ways and for long distances, and start up its destructive work in unexpected places. In some of the places reported, the diseased territory is yet small, and with proper management could be prevented from spreading further, but unless more help can be had in the work Report of Apiary Inspector. 81 of fighting disease, it will be a question of but a few years until our bee industry is practically wiped out. One man alone cannot do this field work, and at the same time keep up the work of educa- tion that is necessary to make the work of inspection the success it should be. There is a growing demand for instruction in the care and management of bees, and some provision should be made to supply this demand. To meet the conditions as they exist and render the service needed, a larger appropriation should be secured for this work. Some provision should be made for deputies who could be called into service when needed. The Inspector should be employed on a yearly salary instead of by the day, and his duties should cover the apicultural field. This would give time for preparing bulletins, attending beekeepers' meetings and looking after various phases of educational work during the winter months when other work stops. A vigorous and determined effort to control foul brood should be made during the next two years, and for this purpose an appropriation three times as great as the one we have been receiving will be needed. After the two years' work is ended the situation should be so improved that a smaller amount would be sufficient to carry on the work. The apicultural interests of the State are in such a condition that this additional help is needed for its protection. I earnestly ask your honorable body to take this matter up and make recommendations for a sum sufficient to protect this impor- tant branch of agriculture from the ravages and ruin of disease. Respectfully submitted, M. E. Darby, Apiary Inspector. A-6 Report of Missouri Farmers' Week, January 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17, 1913. Third Annual Meeting Missouri Saddle Horse Breeders' Associa- tion, Third Annual Meeting Missouri Cattle Feeders' Associa- tion, Third Annual Meeting Missouri Association of County and District Fairs, Fourth Annual Meeting Missouri Farm Management Association, Fourth Annual Meeting Missouri Draft Horse Breeders' Association, Third Annual Meeting Missouri Women Farmers' Club, Sixth Annual Meeting Mis- souri Home Makers' Conference Association, Twenty-Third Annual Meeting State Dairy Association, Tenth Annual Meet- ing Missouri Corn Growers' Association, Organization Meet- ing Missouri Country Life Conference. {Conducted under the auspices of the State Board of Agriculture.) iiiil^?iill HELD UNDER AUSPICE .■ STATE BOAB: AGRICOLTURr. AfiRiCULTURAL GQLLE6E COLUMBIA JAN. 13-17. i9l3 The most successful Farmers' Week meeting in the history of Missouri was held in Columbia January 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17, 1913. The enrollment, exclusive of citizens of Columbia, reached 1,583, or more than 200 over that of 1912, when local people in attendance at the meeting were also regis- tered. It is safe to say that with citizens of Columbia and students of the College of Ag- riculture, not less than 2,500 persons at- tended the meeting. The four days' short course put on by the College of Agriculture, which institu- tion joins heartily with the Board of Agri- culture in making the week a profitable one for all visitors, was the strongest and most practical yet offered. As is generally understood, Missouri Farmers' Week is really an association of associations. Each year one or more new organizations are added, so that the week becomes one of constantly increasing im- portance and interest. The old associations (82) Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 83 participating in. the 1913 meeting were: Missouri Saddle Horse Breeders' Association, Missouri Cattle Feeders' Association, Mis- souri Association of County and District Fairs, Missouri Farm Management Association, Missouri Draft Horse Breeders' Associ- ation, Missouri Women Farmers' Club, Missouri Home Makers' Conference Association, State Dairy AssociatioA and Missouri Corn Growers' Association. In addition to these, there were organized the Missouri Country Life Conference and the Missouri Cattle, Swine and Sheep Feeders' Association,. The Missouri branch of the National Poultry Association also held a meeting in Columbia during Farmers' Week, and the Boone County Poultry Association, following an established custom, held its annual show at the same time. A horticultural meeting, with a midwinter apple show, was another attraction of the week. An entirely new feature of Farmers' Week was the Missouri farmers' ham and bacon show. The State Board of Agriculture had appropriated $100 in premiums, and the result was a most creditable exhibit of the kind of meat for which Missouri farms are famous. The official Farmers' Week badge, one of each being pre- sented to each visitor who registered, was designed with the idea to give further publicity to this meat show. Suspended from a metal medallion, on which was shown the State seal, ears of corn and appropriate lettering, was a miniature ham. The State corn show was probably the best in the history of Missouri. There were many entries and the quality of the corn was excellent. Premiums were also awarded on wheat and oats. The exercises were concluded Friday night, when some five hundred farmers enjoyed the annual banquet prepared under the direction of the Agricultural College. Most of the bill of fare was made up of meat, vegetables, ice cream and other good things from the State farm. An effort has been made to secure a full report of the proceed- ings of the week. With many meetings in progress at the same time, this is practically impossible. However, the report as printed on the following pages is more complete than that of any previous year. For this we are greatly indebted to the secretaries pt the various associations and to the faculty of the Agricultural College. 84 Missouri Agricultural Report. ADDRESS OF WELCOME FOR THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE. (Dean F. B. Mum ford.) The Mayor of Columbia has extended to you a welcome on behalf of the city, welcoming you to the homes of our people; the president of the Commercial Club of Columbia has extended to you a welcome on behalf of that organization, recog- nizing your importance as an aid to commerce, but it is my peculiar pleasure to welcome you to the College of Agriculture, and on behalf of my col- Dean Mumford. leagues in that institution, to extend to you a cor- dial invitation to examine the work that we have been doing, and to aid us by the inspiration of your presence in carrying forward the numerous projects in, which we are engaged. I judge that those of you who are present here do not belong to that class of farmers who shy at "book-farming." I remember at one time a neighbor of mine owned a horse that was in the habit of shying at some visible objects and some unseen, and the veterinarian told the owner of this horse that it was not a nervous disposition as he had supposed, but there was some defect in the vision — there were spots in the eyes which caused this horse to shy. ,Now, I hope that you do not belong to that class of farmers who shy at book-farm- ing, and I am led to believe that a great many here tonight do not belong to that class. One of the most gratifying things to those who have charge of the arrangements pertaining to Farmers' Week is that we see the same faces year after year coming back to the short course in agriculture. It is not my intention to go into the details as to the work we are doing. I hope that the material evidence that you will see here during your stay and the work we are doing will commend itself. The College of Agriculture, among educational institutions, is peculiar in this: There are more farmers in Missouri than any other single class of people, and perhaps more than any other half a dozen classes combined, and yet there is but one institution or- ganized to solve the problems that confront the farmer. There is but one institution, the College of Agriculture, that is organized Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 85 for the purpose of training men for agriculture as a vocation. The responsibility that you have imposed upon us is therefore great. I want to say just a few words about the plan, of our work during the week, which you will find outlined to some extent in the program. Study these carefully, decide what you want to hear most, be there promptly, and get all you possibly can out of the lectures and demonstrations. If we can be of assistance to you in any way, do not hesitate to call on us. That is what we are here for. The purpose of the short course offered during Farmers' Week is to bring to your attention some new discoveries and modern ideas in agriculture. We are trying to give as much practical in- struction as it is possible for us to crowd into the four days, and you will have an opportunity while you are here to become person- ally acquainted with the many teachers in agriculture. The short course has another purpose, and that purpose is to demonstrate to you, as far as we are able, the work that we are doing. We have thrown open for this week all of the laboratories, the classrooms, the lecture rooms, the libraries, for your use, and we have invited you to ocupy the seats that are occupied by the eight hundred agricultural students who are now enrolled in our institution, and to secure as much information as possible, and at the same time to get into the spirit of the new agriculture. We also have another purpose in. mind in this farmers* short course, and that is to bring to your attention by personal lectures and conferences the results of the investigations carried on at the Agricultural Experiment Station. It is possible to conduct investi- gations of great value and fundamental significance, to publish them in our bulletins and send them out to the farmers of Mis- souri, but we are beginning to find out that the publication of an important fact is not alone sufficient. We have come to believe that demonstration and the carrying on of the results of our in- vestigation by word of mouth and by personal demonstration to be the most important method of bringing about a change in agri- cultural practice. In closing, I want to express to you our very great pleasure in your presence here, your interest in our work, and back of it all and more important than all, the deep-seated purpose evident in all who come to Farmers' Week to bring about a better agriculture for Missouri. 86 Missouri Agricultural Report. ADDRESS OF WELCOME ON BEHALF OF THE CITIZENS OF COLUMBIA. (Mayor W. S. St. Clair.) Mr. Gentry spoke with a great deal of pride of being a farmer, but he knew you would not accept it on his word, so he called on Dean Mumford for proof that his claim was founded on fact. President Gentry is a city farmer. I claim to be a real farmer. I farmed in the days when farming meant something, when you could take a dollar and buy something, when you could get out and buy thirty pounds of hog for a dollar and when the great majority of people could have butter on the table and could have eggs now and then, but I am reminded to- night that I have had it in mind for a long time to call just such a gathering as this in Columbia. I have been wanting to have a conference with the farmers of Missouri on this very matter. I am glad that you are here, gentlemen, and that your wives are here, for I have an idea that they take a very important part in the farm life on the farms that you operate, and I want to ask you in behalf of some of our people in Columbia to take some of these matters of high prices under advisement, and see if you cannot do something to help us. When I was in the country I wanted things high, but now that I am in town I want things low. If you can just get butter down and eggs down and meat down where we can have some of these things once or twice a week, we will feel that your visit in Columbia has been to some purpose. I am told, ladies and gentle- men, that outside of the honored president of the University and the heads of the respective departments here, there are thousands of these professors who don't know what it is to have butter and eggs on the table. I want something done for them and for the rest of our people. We are certainly glad to see you here. It is a great pleasure to have you in Columbia. You have been told so many times that the farmers are the best people in the world that you have come to believe it, and we have let it go at that. You are a splendid body of people, and we would rather have you with us than many other conventions we might mention. Many of the organizations that meet here are made up of city people, who know so much that Report of Missouri Farmers* Week. 87 they ought not to know that they make trouble, but we know that you are here for business, and that you are going to have a good time and a profitable time, and go home and make better farmers. Columbia is the greatest town in Missouri; in fact, we have long since given it up that it is the best town in the world. It has everything worth having — and lots of things not worth having; we have everything here. We have everything that you want and lots that you ought not to have, and we want you to take what is best and enjoy yourselves while in our city. Columbia, with its big poultry show, with its beautiful homes, with its well-improved streets; Columbia with its slippery streets and slippery people; Columbia, with its magnificient railroad terminals, bids you a hearty welcome. AN ADDRESS OF WELCOME ON BEHALF OF THE COLUM- BIA COMMERCIAL CLUB. (Hon. N. T. Gentry.) It is true, as stated by our presiding officer, that I graduated from the College of Agriculture of the Missouri University in 1884, but I did not practice farm- ing. However, I married a Missouri farmer, and have ever since had great admiration and sympathy for farmers. It is a pleasure for the Columbia Com- "W^T^L mercial Club to say "Welcome, farmers of Mis- jW J^^^ souri." The organization to which I belong and ^^tBtK/li^k which I now represent is composed mostly of educators, manufacturers, business and pro- fessional men; but we also have some members who are farmers. I am glad to say that the citizens of this little city and many of the farmers of this county are realizing that they are friends and dependent on one another, and the success of one will result in benefit to the other. We welcome you because you are from Missouri. Some of you are Missourians by choice and others by birth. And I am sure that the adopted citizens of Missouri ought to be as proud of their adoption as we native Missourians are proud of our nativity. N. T. Gentry. 88 Missouri Agricultural Report. If there is one word of criticism that I might with propriety indulge in, it is that many Missourians are not as loyal as they should be to this State. I admire the people of New York, the people of Virginia, the people of Kentucky and the people of Cali- fornia for the loyalty displayed by them at all times to their respective states. And I am one of those Missourians who believes that there is nothing too good for Missouri. Missouri should have the best of churches and the best furnished churches, the best schools and the best equipped schools, and the best homes and the most conveniently arranged homes. And Missouri farmers ought to be the best and most scientific farmers, because Missouri farms have the best and greatest variety of soils of any state in the Union; and the success of Missouri is dependent upon the success of the Missouri farmers. Unfortu- nately, too many of our farmers have neglected the matter of agri- cultural education, and have neglected to improve their opportuni- ties. But when I see this magnificent gathering of Missouri farm- ers, and when I remember that I saw similar gatherings that were held in Columbia last year and the year before, I can truthfully say and I am glad to say it, that the days of incompetent farming in Missouri are passing rapidly away. I welcome you because you are progressive farmers. Your presence at this meeting is proof of the fact that you are not satified with what you and your fathers and grandfathers have done, but that you want to go forward. Whenever a number of men get dis- satisfied with the quality of work they are doing, and show that they are interested in improving that work, there is a bright future for them. I am glad that our Missouri farmers are making im- provement in the matter of live stock, the operation of dairies, the care of soil and the preservation of forests, as well as trying to improve the annual volume of their farm and garden products. It was my good fortune, in the summer of 1911, to go, in company with the members of the State Board of Agriculture and some guests from St. Louis and Kansas City, on an automobile trip across the State in the interest of good roads. Our friends from those cities were surprised at the large number of valuable farms that they saw along the way, surprised to see so many of those farms well supplied with modern improvements, and so many of them in the highest state of cultivation. These people from the cities knew that other states had fine farms and progressive farm- ers, but they were quite agreeably surprised to know that Missouri Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 89 had so many progressive farmers, that they were interested in the good-road movement, and that they were keeping step in every particular with the farmers of every other state. I welcome you, finally, because your mission here is to a large extent an unselfish and patriotic one. You are here to get informa- tion that will aid you and which you will take home to your neigh- bors. I know what it means for farmers to leave home in the midst of such stormy weather in January, and travel the distance that many of you have traveled in coming to Columbia. It means sacrifice, inconvenience and present loss. Missouri can congratu- late herself that she has so many farmers of the progressive type who are willing to brave the snow and zero weather in order to avail themselves of this meeting. But I am sure that the interest- ing and instructive addresses to be here delivered by some of the leading educators and agricultural scientists of our State and of our nation will fully repay you for making this sacrifice. We sincerely trust that your meeting here will not only be a pleasant and instructive one, but that you will thoroughly acquaint yourselves with our State University, and especially with the agricultural department. And, while we are making the schools all over the S'tate of proper size and furnishing them as they should be furnished, let us, indeed, make the Missouri University and the Agricultural College what we so often call them, "the cap- stone of our educational system." I hope and I believe that the day is not far distant when the Senators and Representatives in our General Assembly will not only make liberal appropriations for our eleemosynary institutions, but that the value of education, and especially of agricultural education, will be so highly appreciated that everything will be procured that money can get to give the Missouri farmers the best of education and give it to them on Mis- souri soil. I believe the farmers who attend these annual mid- winter meetings have it in their power to exert sufficient influence over the lawmaking body that will result in giving Missouri farm- ers what they should have, the best that the land affords. I am sure that the lady farmers will work for higher agricultural education ; and if the men will work in season and out of season for the betterment of farmers and of farm life, as do the women, the "poor farmer" will be supplanted by the up-to-date farmer. I recently heard a story told by President H. J. Waters of the Kansas Agricultural College, whom all Missourians hope will be Secretary of Agriculture under President Wilson. The story is on a Mississippi farmer. This farmer was awakened each mora' 90 Missouri Agricultural Report. ing by the ringing of the bell of an alarm clock that was made in Connecticut; he dressed himself in clothes that were made in New York ; he sat down to a table that was made in New Jersey ; he used table linen manufactured in Massachusetts, and he ate breakfast food that came from Michigan. After breakfast he hitched up a pair of Missouri mules to a wagon made in Indiana, and he cultivated his fields with a plow that came from Illinois. During the day he smoked Kentucky tobacco out of a pipe made in Virginia. At night he retired to a bed that was made in Pennsylvania, and he covered himself with blankets that were made in Ohio. After such a day's experience he could not sleep, but laid awake and listened to the barking of a dog, the only home-grown product of his Mis- sissippi farm. I sincerely hope that nothing of that kind occurs in Missouri, but that Missouri farmers patronize Missouri business institutions, and that the business and professional men of our commonwealth patronize the products of Missouri farms. The Columbia Commercial Club has for its motto the name of one of the prize steers that we purchased from the Agricultural College and butchered for our annual dinner two years ago; that animal's name was ''Ever Onward." And so I hope that the Mis- souri farmers, the members of the various industrial and com- mercial organizations, the business men and the professional men of Missouri will, in all things that tend to help and uplift our com- monwealth, move ever onward. Ladies and gentlemen, I join with Mayor St. Clair, with Presi- dent Hill, with Dean Mumford and with all of the members of the Commercial Club, and with all of the citizens of Columbia and Boone county in extending to you a cordial welcome and in wishing for you a happy new year— yes, happiness and prosperity greater than you have ever before enjoyed. Report of Missouri Farmer's' Week. 91 RESPONSE TO ADDRESSES OF WELCOME ON BEHALF OF STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. (P. p. Lewis, President, Crescent, Mo.) It is a great pleasure to me to answer to the words of welcome to the farmers of this old State this evening, and I come here filled with a great deal of pride. I remember as a boy, yea, as a young man, when walking down the streets of the city in which I lived, if recognized at all it was by the street |K^^ gangs as you call them, in their remarks that -^^B you have probably heard, with a finger of scorn pointing to me and saying, 'There goes a hayseed. p. p. Lewis. Lqqj^ at him. He hasn't got the mud off his shoes." I have watched the development of the fine farms all over this State of which I am so proud ; I have seen the steady growth of the homes on the farm and the uplift of the farmers ; I have wit- nessed these things which have made a greater State, and my heart has been filled with pride. I have been made glad that I am a farmer, but when I heard the humble plea of the mayor to furnish him with eggs at something like a reasonable cost and meat that was fit to eat, my heart melted. Fellow farmers, I want to say to you tonight that the welcom- ing addresses that you have just heard are but the echoes of the great harmony of voices all over this and other nations that are calling to you. We amount to something in this grand march of progress in the world. A few years ago, like the boy I mentioned, we were not noticed, weren't appreciated, and we hardly knew our- selves. We didn't appreciate ourselves and in being asked why the boy left the farm, I have thought over the question carefully and I thought the whole thing was this : He left because the farmer had no respect for his occupation or calling, but since he has heard the holy call he has lifted his head and looked the world in the face, and his boy has been made glad by looking upon a new farmer. I remember the farm of years ago when the mother carried water from the spring a hundred yards or more, and where she milked an old poor cow, perhaps in a cold shed in the winter time, or more often with the beast backed up in the corner of a rail fence. Is there any wonder that the boy left that condition ? But a change has come over the spirit of that kind of thing until the mother, as she rightly deserves, is a very queen among women. Oh, that my mother could have lived to see the day ! 92 Missouri Agricultural Report. Now, fellow farmers, to you not alone is due this great uplift. We owe it to the men in our educational institutions, in our col- leges of agriculture, all over this broad land, that they have seen fit to put out their hands to us by experimental work, by persuasion and kindly reasoning to look up to better things, and they have helped to develop the country as it has never before been developed. They have helped to make the home brighter. I am proud to do them honor. Don't you see how humble I am? If I were called upon to name some of the heroes who ought to be and will be enrolled on history's page, I would call the names of those who have been working for years and years, and I would go back to Mendel, Burbank and others. The town would not amount to anything if it were not for the farmers. No wonder they are bowing to us in humility tonight. Prof. Eckles told me a short time ago of a work that he has done here at this College of Agriculture, developing the power of pre- potency and the value of an animal at the head of a dairy herd. Others in other departments are doing work of similar importance. And do you know, my friends, that when Dr. Hill paid the farmers his tribute and said what the farmers would do, I was glad that I have been a farmer, trying to do things, for several years. Once or twice I have felt I was losing a little prestige by it. A short time ago I was making a speech in a southern county, and during a short interruption in my talk a grizzled farmer walked up to the platform, stuck out his hand, which I gladly accepted, and as we shook hands he said, "Doctor, how are you?" I was hardly able to talk to them any more, fearing they would lose confidence in me. I plead with you tonight to carry the message to your neigh- bors and friends ; impress them with the truths that are being de- veloped for their cause and ours. Let us with one accord stretch out our hands to our friends everywhere and point them to the fact that they can have information at no cost to themselves, no dishonor to themselves, no disgrace to themselves, just upon appli- cation. If they will but apply to the University they can have truths that will cost them nothing and cause them to look higher on their own occupation. We have been too prone to believe our- selves mere "clodhoppers," but in this era of instruction or educa- tion, in this uplift of the farmers, let us look at ourselves as practi- cal scientists upon whose shoulders the feeding of the multitude rests. Let us assume this great responsibility and carry it with our heads uplifted. Let us apply in our own homes the results of the Report of Missouri Farmers* Week. 93 investigations of our servants here at the College of Agriculture and elsewhere, and make for ourselves a better place in which to live. I heard, when I was a boy at my father's fireside, that the best place to raise a boy honestly was on the farm, and I know it to be a truth. Today, as never before, the best place to raise a boy or girl is in the country, on the farm, in the farmer's home. I ask no better thing for my children than that they shall have a home on the farm, under the conditions that are made possible by the work that has been going on for these several years in the interest of agriculture. I am sure that they will be happy, that their lives will result in good to those who come to their homes and with whom they are associated; and finally, when they have the call, as their fathers have had, they shall not have lived in vain, for God never put a man into this world to live like a vulture, just to live and to die, but he put us all here with a great privilege, and that privilege is to develop and leave the world better for us having lived. Money, except where used for the development of the best things in the world, never made the world much happier. Men can- not eat it. If they could, many would have died of indigestion. Again, I want to thank the gentlemen who have welcomed us tonight, and I assure them in your behalf and mine, that we ap- preciate their kind words. We shall go away glad that we have been among you, and we hope to come again. ADDRESS. (Hon. B. L. Newlon, Lewistown, Member Board of Agriculture.) It is very gratifying, indeed, to see this splendid audience of Missouri farmers. Not only are we glad to have so many farmers with us each time, but we are glad to have with us from year to year a number of business men. The business men by their at- tendance at these farmers' meetings are indicat- ing that they are taking an interest in the welfare of the farmer. The great commercial and agri- cultural and industrial associations are realizing E. L. Newlon. the fact that their interests and the farmers' interests are so closely allied that they are working hand in hand for the common good. Working along with these and taking the 94 Missouri Agricultural Report. lead is the State Board of Agriculture. Through its different de- partments it has been a pioneer in the building of good roads, the making of better farmers and the training of better men and women. The first farmers' meeting, annual Farmers' Week, you have been told, was held in 1906. At that meeting there were three State organizations represented. At this meeting today, only seven years later, you will find something like a dozen State-wide organi- zations represented. The growth of these organizations, the growth of Farmers' Week and the interest that is being taken all over the State in the building of good roads, the making of better farming, all seem to indicate that the spirit of progress which has seemingly lain dormant so long in Missouri is at last springing forth into new and renewed life. I venture the assertion that never again shall it be truthfully said during a census period of ten years that the rural population of Missouri had actually de- creased. I hope it will not much longer be said that the average production of corn in Missouri is ever less than 30 bushels per acre. I believe that the Missouri farmer is wide-awake and alert, and that the time is not far distant when the production of corn in Missouri shall be nearer 50 bushels than 30 bushels per acre. I think that one of the institutions that is going to help as much as any other in this better farming is the employment of agricul- tural advisers in each county in the State. This, however, is a movement that is new and will have to be tried out with caution, but I think the time is not far distant when nearly every county in the State will have in its employment such a man. We are living in the dawn of a new era. It is an age of better farming — scientific farming, if you wish to call it that — an age of modern farm homes that will help to keep the boy and girl upon the farm — an age of better roads, even permanent highways cross- ing this State in every direction. All of these things will mean better educated, better trained and more contented citizens. Again, we are glad that you are here. We want you to stay with us the entire week, attend every meeting, get all the good you can out of the talks, tell the rest of us all of the good things that you know, and stay for the banquet. After going home, put into practice the ideas you have gleaned here and which will be profit- able and of practicable benefit to you. Tell your neighbors of the good things of Farmers' Week, and don't forget to "boost" all the time. Boost for better farming, better roads and a better Missouri. Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 95 ADDRESS. (Hon. Fred T. Munson, Osceola, Member Board of Agriculture.) I have long been dissatisfied with the usual formal manner in which one is supposed to address an audience. "Fel- low citizens" has a sonorous sound and is a fine, mouth-filling phrase, but there may be men in the audience who are from New Jersey — or some other foreign country — and hence it would be inappropriate. "Ladies and gentlemen" sounds all right, but suppose there are men in the audience who are F. T. Munson. not gentlemen — they might be offended. Now, there are certain salutations which are appropriate for given occasions. For instance, if a minister wishes to address his flock, it would be all right for him to say, "Brethren and sisters," but would it not be better for him to say "Fellow sinners?" Suppose a Republican wished to talk to an audience of Re- publicans — it would be perfectly proper, under ordinary circum- stances, for him to say "Fellow Republicans," but they are so scarce this year that the phrase would be meaningless; why, I am told that in California and the Dakotas they are trapping them and putting them in museums as curiosities — and I am a Republican. "Fellow Democrats" sounds well, but did you ever notice that the orator always hangs his head, as if he was just a little ashamed of himself when he says it, and then he does not know this year whether he is talking to Reactionary Democrats, Progressive Demo- crats, or just common Democrats who have inherited their politics. A Socialist should always address his audience as "Fellow sufferers," for that will be their condition by the time he gets through with them. If a suffragette is to address a bevy of "suffragettes" it will not be necessary for her to make a formal introductory address. She will have plenty to say without that — being a woman. But when I am talking to a cosmopolitan audience like this, made up of all grades of society — bankers, capitalists, investors and money grubbers ; then, on a plane a little higher than they, the men who mold public opinion, the newspaper men and correspond- ents, and others in like position; then, still above them in the scale of usefulness, the ministers of the gospel, and in the same rank these devoted men, presidents, deans, professors and lecturers, who 96 Missouri Agricultural Report. are devoting their lives and talents to the upbuilding and uplifting of their fellow men; but above all, standing on the very pinnacle, representing the highest type of American and thus necessarily of world's citizenship — the honest, hard-working. God-fearing Mis- souri farmers. So in addressing an audience like this, I feel like dropping all formality and simply saying, "Hello, boys! Howdy, girls!" It seems to bring us closer together, as it were, raises me up to the level of the audience and enables us to talk face to face; for I want to assure you, my friends, that I am going to talk and am not going to make a speech. I shall not do so for fear that I might be caught in the predicament of a friend of mine who was a member of his local school board and was in the habit of occasionally making the children a talk. Being fearful of fire, he usually talked on the sub- ject of fire drills, and always asked this question, "Now, children, what would you do if I were to tell you that the house was on fire?" The children were taught to give a stock answer in concert. On one occasion, however, my friend wished to talk to them on another matter, and thus addressed them : "Now, children, what would you do if I were to tell you that I am going to make a speech?" The children answered in unison, "We would quietly rise, form in line and leave the house as quickly as possible." We are engaged in a great work in this State, and though the struggle has been long and at times discouraging, the march of progress has begun at last and we are beginning to get results. One of the indications of the changed sentiment in regard to the importance of the farmers to the community was clearly illustrated today. Across the street, as we came up from the depot of the "Katy" railroad, we saw suspended over Broadway a banner on which we read the words, "Welcome, Mr. Farmer," and on all sides we were met with smiles and greetings until we really began to feel that we were of some importance in the world. Most of you can remember when only a few years ago if a crowd of farmers were seen straggling along through a town, on all sides we would hear the cry, "See the hayseeds," or "Hello, clodhopper ; got your chores done yet ?" and other such alleged witty remarks. But I want to say right here that I am afraid that certain men whom I will not name are masquerading as farmers, when in fact they are not farmers but agriculturists. Now, the trite definition of farmer and agriculturist is as good now as it was fifty years ago. "A farmer," it is said, "is a man who works his farm, while an agriculturist is a man who works the farmer." So Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 97 I would suggest that we examine carefully the history of those who seek to gain entrance to our ranks, and if thought necessary, that we inspect their hands to see if they bear the signs of honest labor, if they have callouses on their hands. A great work awaits the investigator, the man who delves down into the hidden secrets of the soil and by patient investiga- tion and careful analysis is able to tell the world by what methods the best results may be attained, what seeds to plant on certain soils and what are the best plans to pursue in the cultivation of crops and for the saving and utilizing of the same after they have been produced. Interest such as has never been exhibited before is being taken in the work of the College of Agriculture and the activities of the Board of Agriculture and the splendid attendance here at our annual Farmers' Week should be and is an inspiration to those of us who love our State and sincerely wish for her ad- vancement until she occupies her rightful place in the van of all of the argicultural states in the Union. Let us remember that scientific, progressive farming is in its infancy ; that as yet we have only mastered the rudiments, and that there is a vast, yes, I might say, an illimitable field of endeavor awaiting the researches of the earnest student. So we must not cavil at the apparent slowness of the movement. All great achieve- ments are the result of years and sometimes of centuries of diligent labor, and are often successful only at the cost of blood and treas- ure. Remember that the inspired poet said : "Heaven is not gained by a single bound; But we climb the ladder round by round." Today there is an awakening along the lines of morality, honesty, sanitation and a general improvement such as the world has never before seen. From every city, hamlet, village and farm comes the cry, "Help us to improve our condition, send out from your schools and colleges men who are trained in the right methods to teach us." Everywhere we find this sentiment. It may be down in the land of the green glade and the leafy bower where the humming bird hovers and the cricket chirps ; down, low down in the valley, where the red bird flits and the child loves to play ; high up on the glisten- ing crags of the Ozarks with their barren crests towering among the clouds, where the storm king finds his home and the forest A-7 98 Missouri Agricultural Report. bows its head to his fierce onrush; far out on the broad beautiful savannas of the Northland where the rustling blades of growing corn and the swaying heads of ripening golden wheat form the music and the summer wind singing among the trees swells the chorus; in the mighty stretches of low-lying land in the Southeast where for untold ages the forces of nature have been steadily at work preparing a soil inexhaustible in its richness and only need- ing the hand of competent, educated men to transform it into a veritable Cave of Aladdin. All these elements are being gathered together, and the result is told in one grand triumphant anthem of progress, prosperity and achievement. We all love our State. We recognize that each part of it has claims that deserve recognition and that no one portion has the right to assume superiority over another, but I have sometimes thought that residents of portions of the State rather "put on airs" and assumed that theirs was the only really important section. I have decided (since I have the solemn pledge of the presiding officer that I will be protected from personal violence, or, in other words, that I will not "get the hook") to repeat a little poem. The words to which I invite you to listen show that we of Southwest Missouri, have not only a splendid fertile country, diversified, prosperous and happy, but we have in addition something that leads away from the sordid affairs of life, enables us to relax a little and allow our minds to assimilate some of the beauties of nature. It lets the imagination have play so that the normal balance may be main- tained, out of which conditions alone, a mingling of the practical and the ideal, can be evolved the highest type of manhood and womanhood. Oh, the mystical river, its surface aquiver, With lights and dark shadows which gladden the eye ; And the soft summer breeze, moaning down through the trees, Seems to rhyme with the notes of the whippoorwill's cry. And the damp, heavy air has a fragrance as rare, As if bathed in th§ odors of tropical wine ; While the soft ebb and flow of the waters below Fills the broad fertile valley with music Divine. So I lie there and dream, on the banks of the stream. As the waters go murmuring, whispering by ; And the sycamore tree casts a spell over me, With its gray mottled trunk and its crest in the sky. And each rocky shelf seems the home of an elf. That watches the river with vigilant care ; And the old blasted pine, with its garland of vine, Seems a sentinel placed by Omnipotence there. Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 99 And the dark shady nooks, the clear running brooks, The smell of the walnut, the hum of the bee, And the low-hanging clouds, with their feathery shrouds, Seem to shut out the world from the river and me. Oh, I love it the best when its bosom's at rest. Its surface unruffled by ripple or wave ; As it goes slowly down, past the forest and town, It is then that I love in its waters to lave. But I love it the more when its wild torrents roar, When it rages and snarls like a lion at bay ; When it sweeps o'er the brake, leaving death in its wake, It is then that I yield to its masterful sway. * * * « * 'Tis a type of our life, with its peace and its strife. With its seasons of rest and its struggles of rage; When my summons shall come, may I find my last home 'Neath the cool, quiet depths of the Bonnie Osage. THE RURAL CHURCH PROBLEM IN AMERICA. (Rev. Clair S. Adams, Decatur, Illinois, Field Assistant, Department of Church and Country Life of the Board of Horns Missions of Presbyterian Church.) I am glad to be with you tonight, and I think it is in perfect keeping with the intention of the organiz- ers of this Farmers' Week that they begin the first night by calling your thought and attention to the things that are not ma- terial but to the things which are spiritual and which must elevate the hearts of the men who till the soil. So I esteem it a privilege in that I may hold up to your vision what I believe the country church may do for you who live in the open coun- try. I admit the fact that the church has seemingly failed, but her seeming failure has only been a momentary halt, until she finds herself, and then we will march forward with your help to take the world for our Christ. It might be of interest to you if I would show you a few charts to illustrate some of the things that are problems before the rural church today. We would be glad to have any of you come up and look them over. The charts explain themselves, and I will take just a few minutes, before I really come to the topic, to give you a little appetizer of what shall follow, by showing you some of the Rev. Adams. 100 Missouri Agricultural Report. conditions that we have found in taking these surveys. Our church has possibly led out in this department, and for four or five years we have had specialists visiting certain parts of the United States, and getting rural statistics along general lines, such as the economic and sociological which goes to make up the township, the men and women, the education and so on, general statistics of various com- munities. It will be a pleasure to me, and I trust it will be of profit to you, if I may show a few of these charts. This (showing chart) is a chart prepared by the men and religious movement in that great movement of the laymen of the Protestant church of America that made such a tremendous impression upon the reli- gious life of all of our churches the past year. This shows in colors the general condition of the United States last year when this sur- vey was taken. The black is heathenism in America, the white Protestantism and the red the Roman Catholicism. These figures are drawn and measured on a proportionate scale. And I think we have a right to ask the question, ''From this chart can we say America is really Christian?" That is the problem that con- fronts us in the church, to change the black into the white, and try to drive out the darkness before the light. I think you farmers sometimes get intoxicated with the idea that the cities are growing with such rapidity that you would be led to think there were no people living on the farm. Here (pointing to figures) I have some figures representing the rural and urban population of three decades. Five million people are represented by one inch in these pictures. Coming to 1910, we see that magnificent figure thirteen inches tall representing the 65,000,000 people in America who still live on the farm. See how that compares with the urban figure. You see the rural church has to deal with the larger proportion of the people of America. America may be great as a manufacturing nation, she may be great as a commercial people, but she will always be glad God made these prairies, these marvelous plains, this wonderful fertility of soil; God made it and when he looked upon it he pronounced it good. He meant that this land should become a great agricultural nation, to feed the world as well as shelter whosoever wanted to come. This particular survey that I was interested in two years ago, and which started my interest in this great work, was taken in that part of Illinois represented by the shady portion of this map in the very richest country of the United States. I have a little clipping in my pocket which tells me of the refusal of a farmer who lived Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 101 about ten miles from me on an eighty-acre farm who refused $425 an acre for his farm, and some neighbors went on to say how foohsh he was. But those people could not see that there are still men in the world that have something above the dollar mark, that still have that old idea of home, the sacred memories and all the blessed relationships that center around that home that cannot be touched by the glitter and glint of gold, and that that one man is only a representative of many other men who prize their home above money, and that when the farm was sold the home would be gone, his dearest place on earth. We honor such a man as that. But in Illinois we are facing a condition that you will come to in Missouri later. Notice (referring to chart) how our population has changed in the last forty years. This little figure represents the tenantry in 1880. But notice how it has increased for the four decades until this last season 52 per cent of the farms of this rich corn belt were in the hands of tenants. Notice how this has changed the country church. There is coming in every rural community a class which is moving, which has no constant home, which is always looking for a farm, and getting out of the farm all that they can ; so that between the owner of the land and the tenant who rents only one year and of necessity must raise one-year crops in order that he may get out of the soil what he has put in it, in the form of work, between the upper and nether millstone of these (which T say is the tenantry problem that we have here in America), the soil has suffered by the depleting of fertility. In this chart the large circle represents the entire population of the communities I visited. Notice that the black comprises a large part of that circle. That represents the proportion of the people who are not members of churches in that country so rich and where there are churches in such abundance. This chart represents the four classes of churches and the present condition of the churches, 225 churches in number, which I visited in person. I found out the facts about all denominations. Of the churches in that splendid part of our country I found that 34 per cent have grown in the past ten years ; 10 per cent are standing still ; 25 per cent of the churches are dying, and 21 per cent of the churches are dead. When I say dead I do not mean those churches that have given up so completely so that the building has been moved away or transformed into a tool house. I heard about an old abandoned church near Decatur which had been sold and made into a hog pen, and the farmer who bought it was the son of the old man who back yonder in the pioneer 102 Missouri Agricultural Report. days, through sacrifice and hardship, built that house and dedicated it to God and that was the church where that man as a boy first learned of the things of God in the realm of the spiritual and eternal. This was not in Japan or in the islands of the sea, but it was here in Christian America. If the same ratio holds through- out the state with the exception of Chicago, as in the places I visited, there would be 1,600 vacant and abandoned churches in Illinois. We have found the same in Missouri. Here is the way the people go to church in the forty-four communities. We will just imagine those old churches are all living again and they are all equal in power to the entire 225 churches. If that were true each church would have 511 people to reach; this would be an average parish. This (pointing to chart), that is in blue represents the church membership. The unshaded portion represents the people who are not going to the house of God, who are not in harmony with the spirit of the church. This diagonal crossed section here represents those who attend. Notice that there is a loss here ; quite a good many people who belong to church do not attend church with any regularity. Here is a chart (refers to another chart) that will reach you Missouri people. Here we have an interesting chart prepared by our investigator as to the costs and incomes in your own State. Here are three hundred and seventy families that were canvassed with the idea of showing the expenditures of the family. This long black strip that goes across the chart represents $771 a year that each one of these families spends upon themselves for the house, clothes, shelter, food, entertainment and other needs of life. This little patch here — can you see it? — represents in the same pro- portion the amount of money that those same people pay on their school, $14 per family. This small line here represents the amount of money that they expend in the improvement of their roads; it amounts to $6. Can you see that little bit of a line? I doubt if some of you can see it from where you are. This is the place where you have to exercise faith, and faith "is the evidence of things not seen." You cannot see it there, a little line that just represents what these people that spend so much on themselves spend on the church; it represents $3. I had to cut off about six inches of this big strip in order that you could see this last one at all. Here is a map of a section over in the eastern part of the State, and each one of these dots represents a church, here in Mis- Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 103 souri, all churches in Pike county, the country churches and the little town churches. I want to show you right now the opposite of this picture. This one is about preachers and where they live. I want to tell you that absentee pastors of the churches are a detriment. We are trying to get the country pastor on the farm and active in his own community. I was told that in one town there were thirty-three ministers, but that only twenty-three of them were preaching. That must not go on. I was told that the preachers live in one place and preach in another. One lived at a place, I think, that was thirty-two miles away from one of the churches he preached in; I do not remember the other distances, but he lives in one place and preaches in four others. I want to tell you that thing has got to go. Farmers, do you know that you are paying high for the preaching you receive in the church. I want to tell you that in proportion you are paying bigger salaries to these absentee preach- ers than the city churches pay to their pastors. You pay on an average of $250 a year for a man to come out from some town once a month, in most instances, and preach "at you." Sometimes they live so far away that funerals have to be conducted by the elders of the church. We have got to stop that kind of business if we are going to make Jesus Christ King of our country. Do you see those lines that look like shooting skyrockets? They represent the distances preachers live from where they preach. See this line up here? That fellow lives away down in St. Louis, and he comes up there (in Northeast Missouri) once a month to preach. And there (pointing to chart) is a man in Vandalia, but the man in Vandalia doesn't preach in Vandalia. There is another fellow from another town that comes to Vandalia to preach, and this Vandalia preacher goes out fifteen or twenty miles to preach. It is estimated by Dr. Wilson that one-sixth of all time taken by country ministers is taken up in journeying to and from their churches. We are trying to group these churches, and it is our effort to solve this problem by having the ministers live among the people. We have taken the churches that can be grouped naturally and that can pay the minister, and we are picking out men that will live among people and stay on the job. We have had so many preachers, that is the trouble, but not enough pastors. When I graduated from seminary about twenty years ago and began preach- ing I did hope that I would end up in a city church with stained glass windows and a pipe organ and learn to say "eyther" and 104 Missouri Agricultural Report. "nyther;" that was my hope, and my ear was always open to hear the call that would come from the city, and that is the way with nine-tenths of preachers. We are trying to impress and educate the ministers that the young man coming out of the seminary should go to the country — that his place is in the country. Now, I want to talk to you about this rural church problem. I want to say, first of all, friends, that this is a problem peculiar to America; there is no such problem in the old world. There may have been centuries ago. But there the most beautiful churches you will find are churches out in the country; and the men who have occupied high and prominent positions in their various denomi- nations are the pastors of these country churches. The men who have interpreted the mission of God to man have been men who have been pastors in the country. Think of John Frederick Oberlin, who it is said lost himself yonder in the highlands of France. He led men, nay, whole communities, out of darkness into light. He buried himself for sixty years and transformed the community. And there was Charles Kingsley, that wonderful character, who lived so close to nature. He could not help but live out in God's open country; he was always a country minister. I can hardly repeat here the great names of all men back yonder in the world, but they were not the men who came from the city, but were pastors who lived among the people and built up strong country churches. If I should tell you tonight that the majority of great Americans were men brought up in the country you will realize that this rural church topic is no small problem. One of our pastors recently took a book, published in New York, entitled "Who's Who in America," in which are enrolled the names of living Americans who are doing things, men and women who have already accomplished enough in any line of achievement to be thought worthy of having their names enrolled in that book. This pastor went through that book to find out how many of them were brought up in the country, and he found that 85 per cent of men who now are famous in America — men and women both — were men and women who were reared and brought up on the farm. If the future is to be as the past, I claim tonight that our problem is a problem of leadership. It is no small problem, be- cause it has to do with 85 per cent of the leaders of America, and if we are to keep them Christians, to keep them with high ideals, with noble purposes, it must be as we minister to them out yonder in the open country, before temptations of the city's wealth ares Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 105 upon them and sweep them from their high ideals. We should im- press them for God, back in the open country, in the fertile plains and prairies, out in God's out-of-doors. Take the temperance question. We are beginning. We are gaining strength and forging ahead. In Illinois for the last few years we have been fighting earnestly through the Antisaloon League to try to get a larger unit on which to vote on this ques- tion, on this problem of the saloon. We have the township option ; we want the county option ; but we have been fought at every hand. Why do we have such antagonism on the part of the legislators from Chicago? Because liquor men know the farmers will vote against them ; they know that Bloomington will be free from saloons because the farmers of McLean county are on the temperance side of the question, and it will be the same of Vermillion county, where Danville is situated, and true also of Sangamon county, in which is Springfield, the capital of our state. It will be true of a multi- tude of cities that in themselves have not the moral stamina to settle these things, but let the farmers of the country vote, and they will drive the enemy of the home and of the Christian church out of the country. And so I say that our reform movements have come from the country and they find their most loyal support there. There are two extremes in civilization — one builds up and the other tears down; one emanates from the mob of the city and the other comes from the pure hills and valleys and from the beautiful plains and prairies of these states that we love and this nation we serve. Our ministers come from the country, the greater proportion of them. "Uncle Henry" Wallace, editor of Wallace's Farmer, who has been placed at the head of his church in regard to this problem, spoke at their general assembly and asked this question of those present: "All you ministers who have been brought up in the country stand up;" all stood up except two. This illustrates the fact that it is the country to which we must look for our ministers. I do not believe we have gotten to the real heart of the problem as to why so few men go into the ministry, and I do not be- lieve we will arrive at the real answer until we realize that nine- tenths of our ministers have come from the country and in the last twenty years we have been letting the country church die, so that we have been virtually drying up nine-tenths of the fountain heads from which our leaders in church have come. I will tell you of a discouraged Vermont pastor. His church had not been growing; most of the young men and women had gone 106 Missouri Agricultural Report. to the city, so he got discouraged and thought, what is the use of keeping up the church, why not close the doors. He had heard about the great churches down in the city and what they were doing there, and one year, he said to his wife, "Wife, at vacation time this year, instead of going into the country and up north, let's go to New York City and see some of the work going on there in the big churches." They spent a month in New York. The Sabbath after his return he got up in his pulpit and said to his people, "Beloved, I want to tell you why it is we are working here, why it is God is having us live here. He is doing it in order that there may be elders and deacons furnished for New York City churches." And then he called the roll of men down in New York whom he had met that had come from that little rural church, and who were trained there for God. That is work, and if the highest Christian work is a sacrifice, if the highest service we offer unto God is to minister and not to be ministered unto, the country church .stands at the head of them all. I would call your attention to the change of population. Let me illustrate by something in my own family's history. My grand- father came from Vermont to Northern Ohio, to the old western reserve. In his day that was the west; there was nothing there but Indians. They came in colonies; his brothers came and two sisters and another relative, five families in all. They made that hard and long trip across the mountains and through the woods — it was all mountains and woods at that time — taking weeks and months to make the trip. My grandfather took his bride on such a wedding trip through that district. Well, they were all from the same church, from the same family. What was more natural, then, that in that community — a thousand or two acres that they pur- chased at that time and settled up — what is more natural than that church should be a Presbyterian church. That was the one they belonged to in the old home. Here another colony comes along; another community springs up and so the churches that have given to the country nine-tenths of the ministers, as I said before, started from such little colonies, from people belonging to different churches. This is all changed now, the homes are broken up, and people moving to town do not ask what church it is the tenant belongs to, but, "Is he a good farmer and has he got the money to pay the rent?" This is one reason why the country church has a real serious problem. Then another reason is denominationalism. I want to tell you something tonight; I believe the devil has had Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 107 a whole lot to do with the building of some churches. I believe his Satanic majesty has been back of some of the business. Denomina- tionalism is putting the church before Christ. There are a lot of people in the United States who have churchianity that is not Christianity. This condition is due to the different contention. "I am right and the rest of you folks are wrong." "I am it and the rest of you are nit." "We are right, we have the Bible." We all have the Bible, when it comes to that; we all love the Bible, but oh ! this awful curse of sectarianism. But I am glad we are living when this thing is passing away. I think the day will come soon that we will not have the emphasis on the particular beliefs of any church and denomination preached, but that we will unite upon the great fundamentals of the Christian faith of the past, and in such united service bring the whole world to Him who alone is God ; then we will be one in spirit and purpose and plan. You laymen must get back of this movement, for I want to tell you that there is a lot of prejudice against it, against the churches getting together. These divided forces of the Lord Jesus Christ have hindered His Kingdom's growth, and now the churches must unite to save the whole wide world. I believe we should open our churches more than once a month. I believe the church should stand back of this matter of scientific agriculture. I have been a country preacher for almost twenty years and I want to tell you some of my experience. I wanted to start a revival in one of my missions, but there was not a professed Christian in the community. It was an old abandoned church, a beautiful one. It had been left an endowment so that the church might be kept up and the endowment was care- fully used. The folks thought they would like to have a meeting. I knew they were not greatly interested in a revival, but they were beginning to get interested in dairying. They found that they could sell their cream for a better price in Decatur than they could by making the cream into butter and selling that. And the thought struck me to get a man to come and talk on dairying on the first night of the revival. My mother was a United Presbyterian and my father was a Covenanter Presbyterian — and that is some combination. I was brought up to think it was wrong to whistle on Sunday. We went to and from the church only on the Sabbath, and made the journey every week. One fall I was twenty-two years old and my brother was pretty near thirty; we were living at home; we were men; 108 Missouri Agricultural Report. we had voted only a little while before and we didn't think we had to ask father and mother about everything. My brother had just bought a new buggy, and we had some good horses. The roads were fine. New buggy, fine horses, beautiful sunny Sunday after- noon, good roads — just imagine that — and Walter suggested to me that we have a buggy ride. We didn't say anything to father and mother about it. We did not think it necessary. We had our drive, and when we got back they didn't say a thing to us, but the way they looked ! And I want to tell you, that that night after we had our prayers together we looked into each other's faces and said, "Just as long as we are together here at home we will accept father's religion." That is the way I was brought up. The preacher would announce that he was going to visit in Deacon Adams' neigh- borhood, and about Tuesday morning I would have to have my best clothes on waiting for the preacher to come. He would usually come about dinner time, and always somebody had to wait — it was not the preacher, either. We always had chicken the day the preacher came and I had to stand around hungry — and I was so hungry, and that did not increase my love for the preacher a bit. Then after we had eaten dinner we would go into the parlor. Do you remember that parlor with all the curtains drawn down and with the pictures of dead folks on the walls? Do you remember that parlor when you opened it? Do you remember that air that was canned in there from the last time it was opened? It may have been a month or two before, but it was the same air that was in there then after the curtains were drawn ; it was a religious duty to keep out of there; only when the preacher came did anyone go in the parlor. You remember that parlor? Thank God they are being abandoned. We would go in that parlor and I would stand up and say my catechism and we would have family worship and the old pastor would place his hands on my head and say, "God bless you Bub," I was just "Bub" to him, not old enough to under- stand the mysteries of religion. And then after it was all over the preacher would go to the next place and I would run upstairs and put on my everyday clothes and be a boy again. I think they had that idea in that community about the preacher. The first thing we did then was to start this revival with an agricultural teacher giving us a lecture on dairying; it was a re- vival — shades of John Wesley ! I thought that the old people would topple over. Do you know I had at that meeting so many people that the church would not hold them, and they even looked in the Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 109 windows. I had post cards sent out besides making the announce- ment at church, and we had the farmers from all around there, from everywhere. Someone said, "I thought it was a religious service." It was just as much a religious service, I claim, as preaching a sermon, for it was showing God's will to people and how God works along these lines, and everything like that is religious. We have made a mistake in thinking religion is a preacher getting up behind a desk and all the rest of us sitting by like bumps on a log. Well, we started in the meeting with a song — I don't know what it was we sang, but it was something good. After the song I offered prayer and then the lecturer on dairying made a splendid talk and illustrated the different things connected with that subject. I closed the meeting with prayer, and asked the people to come out at the next meeting as we were going on with the meetings. The next night they were back again, and we had a good meeting, and we have had two or three meetings of that kind that have shocked the life out of that old vision, the old idea about the preacher and about the church of Jesus Christ. And as sure as we have to advocate such things as that we must advocate recreation. Do you know the one thing that drives the boy from the farm? It is the toil of the farm. Do you know that God raised our great inventors to make farming easier? But you are buying improved machinery and working a good deal harder than your fathers did when they worked with the old "arm- strong" implements. You have made yourself work harder so as to buy that eighty acres, and there is no recreation, there is no let up. I will be glad when we can have a half -holiday a week on the farm ; I believe a farmer's boy would work a great deal better five and a half days out of six days that he works if Saturday afternoon he had that part of the day off to do as he wanted to absolutely. He ought to have, on Saturday afternoon and evening, an outlet for that superabundant energy that is in him. Recreation has been demonstrated to be one of the greatest agencies in the development of character. When you play you have to work together. Baseball has a moral tone to it ; you have to lose your personal identity, you have to learn to give and take, and all of these things are the things that help to build up our moral life. I wish I could go on and tell you what the church of Jesus Christ might do. One time we had some new families come into our neighborhood, and I tried to get them to come out to church, and they would not come. There were quite a number of young 110 Missouri Agricultwal Report. people in these families. We needed them at church, we wanted them in the Sunday school, and we thought of a way to get them to come. We had a picnic. And the people of our own community and church were back of it — there is not a good thing anywhere that the church is not back of it — and so I said, "We are going to have a community picnic." Of course, that was a little more at- tractive than a church picnic. Well, we had our picnic. God gave us a beautiful day. I never prayed more in my life that I might enter into the spirit of that day. And we had races and all sorts of fine games, and you ought to have seen those young people enjoy themselves. I would run and jump and umpire a baseball game. They had never seen a preacher like that. Possibly they said what so many folks say, "He lacks spirituality." I don't know of any way in which God's spirit works, that you and I know a thing about save that He works through something human, a man or a woman. Have you any such idea? I will confess I have not. Well, we had a fine time at that picnic, and at the close — we had brought a little folding organ and hymn books, and these young people who hadn't come to Sunday school, well, we brought the church to them. It was nearly sunset, and I proposed that we gather under a big tree near where we had our games and pleasant times and sing a song or two, and after we had sung one or two pieces there was a hush and I said, "Let us thank God for this beautiful day we have had." So we had prayer and we worshiped God, and thus we closed the day, and I believe it was sealed with God's approval. Do you know the next Sunday every one of the families were repre- sented there, and the Sunday after that, and so on. That old stiff- ness was broken down, we were flesh and blood after all, and were Christians. I am glad we are over that old idea ; it used to be that a Christian couldn't do anything. I remember old Deacon Barns, and mother used to say, "Clair, if you could just be as good a man when you grow up as Deacon Barns." I want to tell you about Deacon Barns. He had a face that looked like an ax, and I never saw him smile in his life. I think he had chronic dyspepsia. I think it would have cracked his complexion if he had smiled. He had all the dignity of a corpse and if there is a thing dignified in this world it is something like that. I thank God that we begin to realize that the religion of Jesus Christ is a joy-bringing thing into the world. Isn't that what it means? When the Blessed Master was on the way to the cross he turned to his disciples as he was going to the Garden of Gethsemane Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. Ill and said, "Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world," In the Greek that phrase translated means just about "Hurrah" in our language. "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." But beloved, I wish I might go on and tell you of other ex- periences in making a church minister to a community. In closing, let me tell this story of Henry Grady, that famous editor of the Atlanta Constitution. They tell us that in those days after the civil war when he was making every effort he could to heal the wounds that the war had made that he was very much criticised. Sometimes when he would hear his Southern friends criticise the North very severely for the things they had done he would take their side, and he would be misunderstood by his friends, and when he would hear the Northerners speak disapprovingly of some issues that had been settled by war, settled on the battlefields, he would take the Southern side; and the result was in those awful days of reconstruction he would have to fight many battles alone. His friends deserted him, and the struggle became so hard for him that he locked the door and went back home to Northern Georgia, where his mother was still living in the old mountain cabin, and as he crossed the threshold of the cabin he said, "Mother, your boy has come home to rest awhile ; mother, I want you to treat me just like a boy again, and cook for me the things I like; I want to get back again into the atmosphere of the old home." So the mother humored the boy and at night he would kneel down at her side, as he had long ago, and offer his evening prayer, and then the mother would follow him to his bed, just as she did then, and would tuck down the coverlids around the bed, and then she would kneel down and offer up a mother's prayer for the boy, so that the last sound he heard as he went out into dreamland would be the voice of his mother ; and so he rested. By day he would go out into the hills, see God's face in the glory of the sunrise ; he would see God's beauty in the flowers, in the valleys, in the mountains. And as he rested the vision came back to him, and then he went back in the chaos and in, the turmoil of the great things for which he was standing, and he won out. And so we have so many problems still to solve, so many things for which we are striving, and for which we know not just which way to turn. But let me tell you that the power, the vision, the fountainhead that shall supply the stream of purity, meditation, thoughtfulness, that shall help to solve the problem most, the place where the church and the moral life of America will find the great- 112 Missouri Agricultural Report. est power will be as she goes away from the crowded city, out into the prairies, into the valleys, into the little hamlets, where now and then God's people meet, out yonder in the open where is still the vision of God and His purpose and His power. CO-OPERATION AMONG FARMERS. (H. J. Waters, President Kansas State Agricultural College.) "United to relieve, not combined to injure." (The Motto of the Arlington Co- operative Association.) A man, a few girls and a cash register, serving meals to a thousand people a day, is the city man's idea of eliminating waste. Allowing someone else to take 55 cents out of every dollar that his products bring while he is content to accept 45 cents is the farmer's idea of business efficiency. The cost of getting goods from the factory to the consumer has been greatly reduced in recent years by improved business methods. The cost of getting the products from the farm to the consumer has been increased through lack of modern business methods. High cost of living is not so much due to the high price the farmer receives for his products as it is to the high cost of getting these products from the farm to the consumer. There is no single remedy for the high cost of living any more than there is a sole cause for it. A remedy, however, that will bring large and im- mediate relief, and one that is simple to apply, is for the producer and consumer to establish direct business relations. Farm products in general are not too high at the farmer's railroad siding or in the wholesale market. Some products are not high enough. The present scarcity of meats, for example, is due to the fact that live stock prices have been too low to encourage the farmer to raise meat animals. This at once imposes upon our farmers a type of agriculture that wastes the soil. The value of farm land in the United States has doubled in the last ten years. This is as much increase in land values as had occurred in this country from the time Columbus discovered America until the year nineteen hundred. At the present price of land and labor, it takes more than average business management in farming to pay a reasonable in- Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 113 terest on the investment. If the burdens of which the consumer complains are to be lightened by compelling the farmer to take less than he now receives for what he produces, land values must be reduced or the land-owning farmer will become bankrupt. Indeed, if the farmer is to build up a good system of rural schools, including a rural high school within riding distance of all the country children; if he is to build and maintain good roads; if he is to provide in the country home comforts and conveniences equal to those in the town home; if he is to build in the country wholesome recreation, and if he properly supports his rural church — in short, if he is to develop in the country a type of civilization that will grip and hold on the farm a fair share of the best people born there, he will have to have larger returns than he now receives. A part of this increased return must come through increased efficiency in production. The farmer must not attempt to shift the burdens that are strictly his own to the shoulders of others. He must see that his methods of farming are such as to bring the largest returns at the least cost. In a word, he must do his best to become an hundred per cent farmer. Then he must employ modern business methods in marketing his wares. Already the farmer is more successful as a producer than he is as a buyer or a seller. He has not had and is not now getting a fair share of what the consumer pays for the products of his farm, but for this the farmer chiefly is to blame. According to the investigations of the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture, it costs approximately 55 per cent of what the consumer pays for his food to get it from the farmer's side- track to the consumer's kitchen. Mr. Yoakum of the Frisco railroad has pointed out that the American farmer produced last year, in round numbers, nine bil- lions of wealth. Assuming that the farmer sold two-thirds of what he produced and kept at home for his own consumption one- third, then the material he sold was worth at his door six billions and the consumer paid for it at his door thirteen billions. In other words, it cost more to get this material from the farm to the con- sumer than the farmer received for producing it. Unfortunately, it is true that when the farmer is most pros- perous he is least interested in co-operation, because he gets along very well without it. Practically all successful co-operation has been, born of dire necessity. The California fruit growers were A-8 114 Missouri Agricultural Report. producing their crops at a loss and the destruction of their indus- try was threatened when they found the remedy in selling collec- tively instead of individually. The truck growers of the eastern shore of Virginia were facing bankruptcy and found the way out of their difficulties through co-operative marketing. It is to be hoped that we shall not wait until forced by neces- sity to co-operate in producing and marketing our crops and in utilizing the income in, building a higher life on the farm. THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CO-OPERATION. Most people are of the opinion that co-operation in general and co-operation, among farmers in particular has not been suc- cessful. An idea of the extent to which co-operation has succeeded and the rate at which it is growing may be had by considering the following facts: At least fifty million people in, the world are connected with some form of co-operative business. Co-operation has grown 40 per cent in five years in the United Kingdom of Great Britain ; 50 per cent in the same time in Switzer- land; 50 per cent in four years in, Germany; 50 per cent in three years in Holland. THE PRESENT STATE OF CO-OPERATION. Great Britain leads the world in co-operation in distribution and marketing, and especially in the strength and perfection, of her mercantile organizations. The co-operative stores of that country have no equal. Germany takes the lead in co-operative banking and in the degree to which rural credit is developed. The United States with her building and loan associations stands second in co-operative credit, but it is co-operative credit applied to the town and city, with little application to the country. The United States also leads the world in co-operative insurance, having over thirteen billions of outstanding insurance in purely co-operative societies. In the matter of co-operation in production, distribution and marketing, the United States stands near the foot of the list of the civilized nations of the earth. Denmark leads the world in co-operation in agricultural pro- duction and distribution. It is estimated that four-fifths of the farm produce of that nation is handled co-operatively. Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 115 FIVE PRINCIPAL LINES OF CO-OPERATION. 1. Production. — Seeking the means of cheapening produc- tion through the joint ownership of expensive or little used ma- chinery; in the purchase of valuable sires; uniting in producing enough of some special crop or stock in one neighborhood to at- tract buyers ; through breeding associations or cow-testing associa- tions; through the employment of expert assistants to help in these and kindred operations; through the employment of county advisors. 2. Rural Credit. — To provide capital with which to purchase land; to farm better; to hold crops for more favorable markets; to make public rural improvements. 3. Manufacturing. — Such as co-operative creameries, cheese factories; co-operation in, slaughtering animals, curing meats, in storing perishable products. 4. Insurance. — Co-operation in carrying insurance on farm buildings, live stock, crops, etc. 5. Buying and Selling. — This includes distribution, selling to the best advantage in the markets already established and creat- ing new markets ; buying to the best advantage the things which the farmer needs for the conduct of his business or the support of his family. All of these lines of co-operation are necessary, and in the end perhaps are of equal importance. • If I should be called upon, however, to single out the one of most fundamental importance, I should say it is rural credit. Per- haps the greatest single handicap of the farmer is lack of suf- ficient capital to conduct his business most advantageously. At the same time, I believe these lines of co-operation will be devel- oped in exactly the reverse order in which they have been named. That is to say, there is more prospect of immediate improvement in the methods of marketing than in the other lines named. THE GRANGE AND THE FARMERS' ALLIANCE MOVEMENT. The first large attempt at co-operation in, this country was made in the latter part of the seventies, when the Grange estab- lished stores and undertook co-operative buying and selling. The result is familiar to all. It had both its rise and its downfall in a single decade. 116 Missouri Agricultural Report. The next attempt was in the early nineties, when the returns from the farm again had become unsatisfactory. This attempt originated with the farmers' organization known as the "Wheel," later known as the "Alliance," and still later as the "Farmers' and Laborers' Union," which gave birth to the Populist party. This movement, like the preceding one, was short-lived. Land was still plentiful and cheap, and as soon as consump- tion had caught up with production, prices began to rise. The force that held the farmers together was withdrawn and they soon fell apart. Again they voted and did business as individuals with- out regard to their fellow farmers. The third attempt of importance has not extended its influ- ence much beyond the southern and northwestern states, but in these states it has become a powerful factor. It is known as the "Farmers' Co-operative and Educational Union." Those who best understand the present situation feel that we are at the beginning of another general movement in this direction. All previous attempts at co-operation have grown out of the fact that the selling price of what the farmer produced had fallen below the cost of production, or that the margin of profit was so narrow as to be wholly unsatisfactory. In these periods it was utterly impossible to get the farmer interested in any plan look- ing to increasing his output, for the reason that he felt that he was already producing more than he could sell to advantage, and therefore the greater his production, the greater his misfortune. The story is told of a Colorado farmer who shipped a car of fat lambs to Kansas City to be sold, and in return received a bill for the amount the lambs lacked of paying the freight, yardage and commission charges. The farmer replied expressing regret that he had no money with which to pay the bill, but added that he had several more cars of fat lambs, which he would gladly send in if they would be of any service in liquidating the debt. In the same period horses were not considered by the railway com- panies as sufficient security for freight, and all such shipments had to be prepaid. Then the cost of living was low, lower than it had ever been before. A sufficient increase in the price paid the farmer to make him satisfied did not impose serious hardships upon the consumer. This is what happened in the period from 1897 to 1907, and all went well. It was the period of the greatest expansion that the Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 117 world has known. It will be known when history is written as the period of the great growth of cities throughout the entire civilized world. The conditions under which we are now living, however, are wholly different from those under which any similar uprising among the farmers has occurred. Now we find on the one hand the consumer complaining of the high cost of living and the farmer on the other hand showing a poor balance, due to the new value set upon his land and the increased cost of what he has to buy. The farmer cannot be satisfied in his demand for a better return on his investment by raising the price of food to the consumer, as has been done on all previous occasions. On the other hand, the burdens of the consumer cannot be lightened by requiring the farmer to take less for what he sells. In a word, a demand has arisen for cooperation for the purpose of increasing the return.s from the farm and of lowering the price of food to the consumer, both at the same time. It can best be accomplished by establish- ing direct business relations between the producer and the con- sumer and eliminating all waste in getting the products from the farmer to the consumer. Obviously, both the producer and the consumer should participate in the benefit of this readjustment, and neither should expect a monopoly of the advantages and profits. A beginning can be made at once, but its final consummation will and should require many years, perhaps a generation, and will call for the exercise of the utmost patience, forbearance and charity. The immediate and entire elimination of the middleman would be disastrous. All unnecessary middlemen finally must be turned into the productive industries, but not more rapidly than the industries can employ them to advantage. CO-OPERATORS MUST EMPLOY BUSINESS METHODS. Any form of co-operation to be successful must employ the methods that have been found most successful in other business. The co-operators must be willing to employ as capable men as managers as are employed by those with whom they must compete. Moreover, in competing with corporations it will be necessary to employ the methods of conducting business employed by corpora- tions. For example, if the farmers start a co-operative grain ele- vator at some grain center they are likely soon to find themselves unable to compete with the corporation that owns the elevator there 118 Missouri Agricultural Report. and also owns elevators at other points, because the corporation can outbid the farmers at the one point and make up at the other ten or a dozen points what they may have lost at the competitive point. Of course, it is all very fine to say that the farmers should patronize their own, elevators, even if they can get a cent a bushel more for the grain at the competing elevator, but the average man is so constituted that he will sell wherever he can get the highest price and buy wherever he can get the lowest price, regardless of who is the buyer or seller. To meet this kind of competition, the farmers' elevators should do exactly what the privately owned elevators have done — combine. There are more than 2,000 farmers' co-operative ele- vators in the United States, distributed as follows: CO-OPERATIVE FARMERS' ELEVATORS IN THE UNITED STATES. Iowa, 340; North Dakota, 331; Minnesota, 297; Illinois, 260 South Dakota, 225; Nebraska, 204; Kansas, 137; Wisconsin, 53 Oklahoma, 34; Indiana, 28; Montana, 27; Ohio, 26; Michigan, 23 Washington., 18; Missouri, 8; Texas, 5; Colorado, 5; Idaho, 4 Oregon, 3; Arkansas, 2; Kentucky, 1; total, 2,031. The aggregate capital of these farmers' elevators is probably as much as thirty million dollars and their annual business is ap- proximately six hundred million dollars. It is reported to me on good authority that they do sixty per cent of the business at the point where they are located. Yet, unfederated, a corporation operating three or four small elevators could drive any one of these farmers' elevators out of business. Federated, they would be safe against any competition that could be offered. Better still, if they were united, no attempt would be made to run any one of them out of business. They would be immune against attack. This same principle will apply to many other kinds of co-operation. PRECAUTIONS TO TAKE. Do not form co-operative associations hastily, and especially is it important to avoid hastily engaging in new enterprises involving business details with which the members of the society are not familiar. If a community desires to establish a co-operative store, and perhaps there is less need for co-operative stores than almost any other form of co-operation, it is important, first, to study the history and management of the Rochedale stores of Great Britain ; the Arlington stores of Massachusetts; the Johnson County Co- Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 119 operative Association of Olathe, Kan.; the Lyons stores in Iowa, and the chain of stores operated under the Public Welfare League of Minnesota and Wisconsin, with headquarters at Minneapolis. CO-OPERATIVE SELLING OF PURE-BRED SEED AND STOCK. It would be very beneficial, indeed, if a larger proportion of our farmers produced pure-bred live stock and grain. The great- est single obstacle in, the way of this accomplishment is the un- certainty and difficulty of finding a suitable market for the output at a price that will justify the extra labor and expense incurred. At present only the largest breeders, with much stock to sell, can afford the expense of extensive advertising and of exhibiting at the fairs to attract buyers from a distance. The small breeder has only the immediate neighborhood for a market. The general farmer, when in need of a sire or of seed, does not know where to turn except to the man who advertises or exhibits. This means that the small breeder sells to poor advantage, and the most ex- tensive breeder is required to make a large outlay to get customers for his wares. It would be comparatively easy to bring the buyer and the breeder together, greatly to the benefit of both and to the benefit of the stock and crops of the country. The Agricultural College could keep a list of the available pure-breed cattle, horses, sheep and hogs for sale. A competent officer of the college could inspect the animals offered at a very nominal cost to the breeder and give to a prospective buyer first- hand and expert information regarding the merits of the animals and the quality of their pedigrees. This would enable the buyer in any part of the State to purchase good animals at a reasonable price and yet leave a satisfactory profit for the breeder. All of this now is done by the college for the grower of pedigreed seed wheat, corn, milo, oats, etc. This service should be extended to the stock breeder. It is this sort of service the college could render to all the farmers of the State. Another way in which the breeders might co-operate to great profit would be to lay aside their prejudices and breed one class of stock in a community. That is, instead of one farmer in a com- munity breeding Shorthorns, another breeding Herefords, another Angus and another Galloways, let all concentrate on a single breed of each class. If this were done, there would be enough Short- horn cattle, for example, produced in the community that special- ized in this breed to establish a reputation throughout the State 120 Missouri Agricultural Report. for that community as a Shorthorn center, and buyers would be attracted without a large outlay for advertising or showing. Another source of great loss in animal breeding is the sacri- fice of sires before their value becomes known or before their use- fulness is ended. The owner seldom is able to dispose of a used sire at more than common stock prices even though its value is known to be very great. Every year hundreds of very valuable sires are slaughtered at the packing houses long before their use- fulness is ended and young and untried sires take their places at the heads of our herds. By such a co-operative arrangement as is here suggested a breeder having an impressive sire could notify the college authorities, and a member of the staff could visit the farm, inspect the get of the sire and record him for sale according to his actual merits. The Agricultural College of each state should do all in its power to promote co-operation among its people. Up to present time these colleges have been chiefly concerned in matters of pro- duction. Henceforth they should give as careful instruction and conduct as fundamental researches in matters pertaining to dis- tribution. At Manhattan we are trying to impress upon our students that co-operation is essential to progress in any important line of endeavor, and especially that it will require the closest and most unselfish co-operation of all the farmers to build up a satisfactory system of rural schools, to revitalize the country church, to build roads, to improve the sanitary conditions of the open country, to form community centers and to create community tasks. We are trying to convince them that the moral effect of co-operation is good, that by this means honest dealing is promoted. It is the application of the principles of the golden rule to business. It gives every one something to do for the common good. It pro- motes democracy. In fact, the Agricultural College should go one step farther and establish a co-operative bureau to assist the man, on the farm in marketing his products. This, of course, would include fruits, seed corn, grains, live stock and every class of farm produce. Through the efforts of the college the co-operative organiza- tions now existing in each state should be brought into close con- tact and encouraged to work together. Such a bureau could well act as a clearing house of information for the consumer as well Report of Missouri Fai^mers' Week. 121 as the producer, and to help the retail merchant as much as the farmer. The college also should stand ready to help the citizens of any- community that desire to form a co-operative association to or- ganize it in the right way and to help make it a success. To illustrate the value of such a bureau : Last fall Kansas had a large apple crop, and it was certain that many of our farmers would have had difficulty in selling their apples to advantage if the college had not helped them. A member of the college exten- sion staff is an experienced apple merchant as well as a successful orchardist, and it was made his business to find buyers for Kansas apples. Over 400 carloads were sold through this means. In the main, these sales were for small growers, men who are least ex- perienced in selling this crop. One morning a letter came to the college from a man in Leavenworth county requesting a buyer for a car of Jonathans. The same morning a telegram was received from a merchant in the farmer's town, not three miles away, in- quiring where he could buy a car of Jonathans. The two were brought together, the sale made and the apples and the money both were kept at home. CO-OPERATIVE STORES. A co-operative store is a very complicated business, and many of the attempts along this line have failed. I believe that the establishment of proper relations between the farmers and the townspeople, whereby both work toward the development of the country and the upbuilding of the town, will prove more profitable to the community as a whole than an attempt on the part of the farmers to operate their own stores. Nevertheless, if it is desired to establish such a store, and doubtless there are communities where such an establishment would do great good, the career of the most successful of the co- operative stores is commended. The success of the Farmers' Union stores in Kansas has been very pronounced. The foundation of all successful co-operation in this line is what is known as the Rochedale stores. The first store was organ- ized in 1844 by twenty-eight poor, oppressed, half -starved weavers in the English town of Rochedale. Their original capital was $140. Now their annual business exceeds three hundred and fifty million dollars, and it forms the most powerful system of stores in the world. They do both a retail and a wholesale business. They 122 Missouri Agricultural Report. operate furniture stores, butcher shops, savings banks and sell practically everything that people want to buy, and furnish prac- tically any service they may require. In Edinborough the Roche- dale stores have more than 40,000 members; in Leeds they have nearly 50,000 members. One of the most successful co-operative stores in the United States is at Olathe, Kan., and is conducted by the Johnson County Co-operative Association. It is a grange store, and was founded in 1876 with a capital of $385 and with 77 members. Its present capital is $100,000 and its membership 900. Its first year's busi- ness amounted to $36,840, with a profit of $1,334. Last year the aggregate business was over $250,000 and the profit was in round numbers $14,000. Since the store was founded it has done a busi- ness of more than eight million dollars and its total profits have amounted to more than $500,000. The same society now operates a bank with a capital stock of $50,000 and a surplus of $50,000. It also operates a farmers' insurance company, carrying risks of more than six millions at an average yearly cost of $2.25 per thou- sand. The most extensive co-operative store enterprise in this coun- try has its headquarters in Minneapolis, and operates chiefly in Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa. There are more than one hundred stores in the group with a membership of more than 10,000 and a yearly business above two millions. It is patterned after the Rochedale stores. One unvarying policy, however, is never to establish a new store in a community, but always to buy out a successful store instead, and hire, if possible, the former owner as manager and his clerks as salesmen. They have a whole- sale store to act as purchasing agent for the retail stores. The retail stores act as shipping agents for their members. None of the stores operated by this league have failed and all have been profitable. CO-OPERATION IN SELLING MEAT ANIMALS. Missouri's chief live stock business is producing meat animals. No successful attempt so far as I know has been made to co- operate in this matter. The Meeks county (Minn.) live stock shippers organized a shippers' association and employed the best live stock man in the county as manager. The first year they effected a saving of from $30 to $80 a car. Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 123 CO-OPERATIVE BUTCHERING AND CURING ASSOCIATIONS. Nearly all of our meat comes from the central packing plants at Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City and Omaha. The farmers of Kansas last year bought from five to seven million dollars' worth of meat from the butcher shops while they were shipping millions of dollars worth of live stock out of the state. Co-operation in eliminating this waste has reached its highest development in Denmark. The Danish bacon is celebrated the country over. In that little country, about one-fifth the size of Kansas, there are thirty-five co-operative curing plants with ninety thousand members. They kill annually about a million and a half hogs. These curing plants are owned by the farmers who produce the hogs, and are conducted by the men whom they hire. Thus the farmers own the bacon and hams when they are cured. At that point a co-operative export association takes charge of the product and sends it to markets like Liverpool, London, Paris and Berlin, to be sold direct to the consumer, and after deducting the expenses the balance is remitted to the men who raised the hogs. CO-OPERATION BETWEEN THE FARMER AND CONSUMER. The farmer will not make much progress in shortening the road to the consumer until the consumer himself becomes inter- ested and meets the producer half way. Obviously, the consumer has no particular interest in, where he buys or from whom he buys, unless he can buy at a lower price or can get better goods at the same price. In a word, the advantages of direct selling must be shared by both parties to the transaction. We are now trying to educate the farmer regarding the bene- fits to him of co-operation, in production and marketing. It is just as necessary that the consumer be educated regarding the advan- tages to him of co-operative buying. Our present system of buy- ing is essentially wasteful. When we were producing more food than we could consume, there was no particular reason for econ- omy. Food has since become scarce, yet we continue these waste- ful methods. Formerly the village or town lived largely off the surrounding country. Then the local market was the farmer's chief market. The town and country were interdependent. Now the farmer ships what he has to sell to a central market like Kan- sas City, Chicago or New York. Now the town and country are independent. 124 Missouri Agricultural Report. It is said that Troy, New York, receives its milk supply from New York City. With a favorable season and a bountiful harvest in Kansas, Minnesota cabbage, Washington apples, Texas onions. New Jersey peas and corn, Wisconsin butter and cheese are staple articles of diet in Manhattan. Iowa does not produce as much wheat as her people eat, yet she ships out of the state one-fourth of what she produces and buys back several times this amount. The farmers of the south ship live cattle from 300 to 500 miles to St. Louis, and buy back beef sides shipped in. refrig- erator cars, with icing charges added. The farmer has lost whatever interest he had in the town and the town man has lost his interest in the country. There is nothing truer than that the country and the town are independent while they should be interdependent. The man in the town should be as much interested in the development of the country, and in providing a good market for what is produced locally, as he is in developing the streets, parks and schools of his town, and as he is in establishing new industries in the town. In Kansas City they are conducting a campaign to educate the people of that city and of the regions around about to use Kansas City made products. Do you suppose they have thought the proposition through far enough to include in that campaign a suggestion that their own people give preference to those things that are grown in these regions? In short, are they willing to meet us half way by buying our products if we buy theirs? How much of the yearly business of the local grocer originates in, the locality in which he does business? How much of it comes from a hundred miles away, and how much from five hundred miles away? It would surprise you to know how small a part of what is consumed in your town is produced in your county, and I know you do not realize how much of what is locally grown is shipped out of the community and similar material grown else- where is shipped in. This is not wholly and perhaps not chiefly the fault of the merchant. It is really the fault of the producer and the consumer quite as much as of the merchant. We are all creatures of habit. Convenience weighs heavily with us. The local merchant or the local consumer has no inherent objection to patronizing the local producer. In fact, if his atten- tion were called to it, he really would prefer to do so, all things being equal. But the local producer cannot expect the merchant Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 125 or the consumer to put himself to too great inconvenience merely to discharge what he may clearly recognize in the abstract as his duty to the local producer. The farmer must plan to have his supply come as regularly as possible, and, above all things, to keep it up to the standard in quality and to have it so packed and handled that it is attractive to the eye and easy to sell. In short, the farmer must cater to his market just as the merchant does. Unless he will do this much, he cannot get the business and does not deserve to have it. BURDENS THE CONSUMER LAYS UPON THE MERCHANTS AND FARMER. As stated before, the consumer is as much in need of educa- tion as is the producer. We give little thought to the effect our purchase may have upon the development of local or state indus- tries. We are just as happy with a broom made in Michigan, the brush for which perhaps was grown in, our own State and shipped six hundred miles to have a handle attached, as we would be with one made in our own community. We buy western apples by the peck and let better apples rot in the neighborhood for want of a market. A neighbor kills a beef or a few hogs, and part of the meat wastes because he cannot use it all in his own family. In the meantime we have patronized the butcher shop the meats of which come from the city. The consumer buys in small lots, usually over the telephone, and insists upon immediate delivery. He has gotten out of the habit of buying in quantity. Formerly the winter supply of ap- ples, potatoes, onions, etc., was provided in the fall. Now these things are purchased as needed from day to day, and usually in quantities not to exceed a peck. This practically prevents the farmer from selling direct to the consumer. He has not the time to deliver daily and in such small quantities. The remedy is to be found in the consumer being encouraged to buy in larger quan- tities, or in establishing local co-operative markets, where the farmers' representative may take orders and later deliver the ma- terial for all the members of the association. A merchant in Emporia, Kan., told me that it cost the retail merchants of that city of ten thousand inhabitants thirty thou- sand dollars last year to deliver their goods from the stores to the homes of their customers. 126 Missouri Agricultural Report. WHY SHOULD NOT THE FARMERS CO-OPERATE. The farmer is the only class of large economic importance that is not compactly organized for its own protection and prog- ress. He buys and sells and conducts all his business as an indi- vidual without any regard for the welfare of his fellow farmer. He accepts without successful protest the price fixed by others on what he produces. He pays the price fixed by others on what he buys. He does not fix the price upon either what he buys or sells. Economically the most important member of society, the farmer has nothing to say about the terms under which he will work. Co-operating he might easily remedy this situation and become an efficient business man as well as an efficient producer. CO-OPERATION WILL HELP TO DEVELOP LEADERS. The great need of the rural districts is capable leaders. This is the first real step in rural progress. These leaders must be found among the rural people. There has been a notable lack of leaders in the country, not because men and women capable of leadership have not been produced there, but because they have not been, developed among the farmers, mainly because the farmer has refused to be led. The laborer in recent years has been easy to organize and easy to lead. The farmer has always been difficult to organize and difficult to lead. The laborer has been ready to reward his leaders and has been intensely interested in the cause of labor. The farmer has been prejudiced, suspicious and in no particular degree interested in the cause of agriculture. Political- ly, he has been ineffective. His devotion to party in general has been greater than his devotion to occupation. The Government thus far has failed to formulate an agrarian program because the farmers have been divided politically and content to vote mainly on city problems. A characteristic of the management of our great railway sys- tems and of all successful big business is that of recognizing merit within its own ranks and rewarding this merit with its prizes. By this means the railways and other big corporations have been able to attract and to hold the best talent of the country at compara- tively low wages merely for the chance at the larger opportunity ahead. After all, the largest and most important task before us is to encourage the country people to help themselves. This strength- Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 127 ens; to help them destroy. They must be taught how to render effective community service. Up to this time the farm has been looked upon as merely a place for making a living. It is too much of a factory and not enough of a home. The farmer has regarded the town or the city as the place in which to spend his money and his leisure. Institutions must be established in the country that will sat- isfy the requirements of all the members of the family. There must be community tasks if we are to interest and hold the best people in the country. Unterammergau, without a community task, is a decadent rural village. Oberammergau, with the Passion Play as a community task, has held its best people, and has com- manded the attention of the world. The annual rendering of the "Messiah" at Lindsborg, Kan., has been a community task large enough to hold the best stock of that community for more than a third of a century. WORKERS OF THE SOIL. (Hon. W. L. Houser, Mondovi, Wisconsin. Address delivered during Missouri Farmers' Week.) There can be no argument on the proposition that the world was created for all men — not a select few. It is the economy of creation that no man can acquire perpetual title to the soil, that source of all wealth and necessity. At the most, a man can only occupy a portion of it for a brief space of time. How short is life. Measured by the unnumbered years that have preceded one's ex- istence, and by the limitless eternity that will follow, the space we occupy in the world is, indeed, of extremely narrow proportions. It follows therefore that we must make the most of our time. To waste it is criminal. To use it to oppress or do injustice to others is worse than waste. All mei; of intelligence and self- respect want it said that the world is better because of their pres- ence in it. After all, our selfishness is not so narrow that we would voluntarily court the contempt of our fellows. But be our personal inclination this way or that, the world as a world has a right to insist that we all shall contribute in proportionate meas- ure with our abilities and talents to the needs of society. And society has a right to insist that our conduct shall be so coursed 128 Missouri Agricultural Report. as not to trespass upon the rights or opportunities of our neigh- bors. But does it effectively do this? Are the scales of justice always kept at an even balance? Are those men, and women we designate farmers sharing in proper proportion in the world's pros- perity? I do not mean in the accumulation of riches as such, but rather in things that are essential to the happiness and develop- ment of men — things that contribute to a full life. The soil sup- ports us. It provides all the necessities, the comforts and luxuries we have. It pays for every good thing and every bad thing the world enjoys and endures. It is the source from which the world draws for distribution among the people. All men are hired hands of the soil. Whether we plow, plant or harvest, run the great railroad trains over the country, mine, mold or cast, sell or buy, invent or make the machines of the farm, the mine, the shops or foundries, teach or preach, practice the law, print the newspapers, or heal the sick — do what we may, we are but hired men of the soil. Our compensation is provided out of that which the soil yields. Out of growing it, handling it, transporting it, or in pro- viding the machines that increase the results of the efforts of men who directly till the soil, and that ought to be calculated to add to the opportunities for comfort and happiness by giving to the toilers of the soil more time and opportunity to seek culture, refinement and that ease of confidence that their natural faculties entitle them to, we make our living. And the Creator was not remiss when He planned and made the world. He stored the earth and the air, the very waters, indeed, with the things that men need. And they are abundant. So far as our necessities go, there is always a surplus, and always will be, unless the wanton destruc- tion of men who are blind to the obligations they owe their fellows and posterity, shall go on unchecked. But the point I wish to make is that all men being hired hands of the soil, they are entitled to fair wages — to a fair dis- tribution of the products of the soil. We hear much these days about the profit-sharing plans of some great business concerns. Profit sharing in theory (in fact there is little of it) is based upon the ground that those who create wealth are entitled to share in its division. If this is true, and it is, then the men who directly till the soil should share equally with the man who is a hired man in some other capacity, proportioned, of course, to the degree of skill and ability he contributes to the work he performs. Neither Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 129 is it right nor just that men who invest their surplus in the soil shall be denied that fair return upon the investment that is de- manded by and conceded to other investors — those who buy rail- road, telephone, telegraph or other stocks and bonds. I insist that the man who toils behind the plow, brakes on a railroad train, en- dures the fierce heat of the furnace, works out the inventions that ought to add to the sum total of the world's happiness, or does any necessary world's work, is entitled to fair wages, and the scheme of creation is such that fair wages are provided for all who work. Wages that would dispel want and misery; wages that would pro- vide good books and magazines for all; wages that would assure men that needed time for rest and recreation so that the world would be bright and inviting to them; wages that would enable them to educate their children and thus qualify them to work out the good world's plan; wages that would distribute comforts and luxury so that all might participate in the world's happiness. Men do not materially differ in their natural instincts. We all demand relaxation, recreation — we all are entitled to these as a part of our wage. It was not intended that one man should spend a hundred thousand dollars upon a supper or a ball and that a hundred thou- sand men should toil on year after year and be denied a partner- ship in the world's stock of enjoyment. Now, I know full well that there is no occupation in the world that measures out in kind the freedom, the independence and the contentment that is found on the farm. I concede that the wages of the men who directly till the soil are higher in their product of peace of mind and general contentment than those received by some other of the hired men of the soil. But this is n.ot all that concerns us. We may know that even though we fare better than some of our fellows, yet we know also that others are surfeited with the means that were provided for all of God's children, that are withheld from the many that were intended to lift burdens that weigh, oh, so heavy, on the shoulders of millions of men as a result of the greed and cruelty of unscrupulous tyrants. There can be no full measure of happiness or satisfaction to any man unless his faculties are fully developed and he becomes conscious of ability to take the part in the world's work that it demands of him. He must have the time, means and opportunity to develop these faculties. No man can truthfully say that he is content unless he has the proper vision, of his obligations to the world while he is in it and after he has ceased his activities in this A -9 130 Missouri Agricultiu^al Report. life. Unless a man lives so that his work goes on and finds frui- tion in the happiness of his children, and their children, indeed he has lived a narrow, almost useless life. And to farmers, especially, is this proposition peculiarly applicable. Your soil, the world's soil, is a trust that you are called upon to administer for a brief space. The soil was not created for you alone. It is only loaned to you for a time, and not to you alone, because while you occupy it others must live upon its products. You are but a tenant who must give up to others a goodly share of the things you produce. But this is not all that is expected of you. As it is expected of the conductor of the passenger train that he shall give the proper orders for the running of his train so that his passengers may be safely transported, so it is expected that you will so manage and conduct your farm that it may pass on to your son, or other suc- cessor, in better condition than that in, which you received it. It is the obligation you owe your children — posterity. I know it is the desire of every man and woman in this audience to leave the world — not too soon, of course — a better place for your children, than it has been for you. This must be so. Otherwise the world would perish and all in it. Now, it is my philosophy that compensation for one's work or efforts is but partly measured in the money wage he receives. In fact, this is a small part of real compensation. The pleasure in, doing is the real reward. To raise more wheat per acre, not because it will add that much more to your bank account alone, or surpass the efforts of your neighbor, but because you have added more to supply the needs of the world as a result of your intelligence and industry, is the true compensation. It is satisfy- ing. You cannot tell me that the full compensation to the man who produced the champion steer at the late International was measured in the premiums and price the beast brought to him, high as they were. The greater compensation was in the con- sciousness on. the part of breeder and feeder of this wonderful animal that he had done something worth while. That will last. It is the compensation of achievement. What an obligation we are under to those who will come after us. You and I are first of all interested in our children. If any one was to insist that our children should be denied opportunity to share in the world's happiness, or to be limited in opportunity for commendable achievement, we would resist to the bitter end. It is no less incumbent upon us that we strive to leave conditions Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 131 in the world when we have finished our course so that posterity may have and enjoy the blessings that naturally belong to men. I do not believe that parents should unduly enslave themselves for their children, or make sacrifices at too long distances; it is not necessary, or would not be if things were at proper balance, but I do contend that satisfaction with our own efforts cannot be attained unless we do something that will not be narrowly selfish. Farmers have something to do if they obtain for themselves and others who do not share fairly in the country's prosperity their just proportion. Under present conditions there is no defense for a twelve-hour day's work either on the farm or in the shops an,d mills. There is no more reason why a farmer should work twelve hours a day than that a railroad president should be bound in service that unreasonable and unnecessary time each day. There is no more reason why the captains of finance should enjoy their annual vacation of a month or more than should the farmer whose natural endowments and natural rights entitle him to these relaxations. The soil provides the means to enable the one to in- dulge his desires and necessities just as it does for the other, and were it not for the fact that one gets more for his labor than, he is entitled to and the other is grossly underpaid both could have that leisure and rest so necessary to the best results from a man's efforts. These are economic or political conditions that the farmer is as much responsible for as any other class of men. Content in his environment, satisfied with his progress along material lines, he has been unmindful of economic developments that have brought forth conditions that are menacing to the people's welfare. During the ascendancy of Oom Paul Kruger, the South Africa Dutch sage, two brothers disputed about the division of their father's estate. The older and stronger brother attempted to gain an advantage over the other. Finally the dispute was submitted to Oom Paul for his decision. After the matter was fully pre- sented to him he disposed of it by saying to the older brother: "You divide the property into two parts and give your brother the choice." There is need of some such system of arbitration in this country. We are frogetting the golden rule. A few, a very few, men have been getting a great deal more than their share — more than they have earned. It is time that all hired men, of the soil should receive their just share. Not only should this be so for the immediate solution of the question of fair division of the profits of the soil, but it is necessary in order 132 Missouri Agricultural Report. that the menace of control of the people's resources shall not con- tinue in a few hands, and that its solution, growing more and more difficult, shall not be passed on to our children. We are cowards if we shirk the responsibility. I have made a careful investigation of the business conditions on, the farms in the community in which I live, and that is a com- munity where thrift and prosperity are at least at the average, and I find that the average incomes on the farms there is less than two per cent, after deducting the cost of operation. In Iowa, con- cededly one of the richest states in the Union in agriculture, the net income of the farms is less than three per cent. In recent years the more progressive states have found it necessary to cre- ate commissions to supervise the business of the railroads and other public service corporations in order that rates might be fixed that would be just and reasonable. It was determined at the out- set that rates must not be reduced below a point where all ex- penses could be met and then have left a sufficient margin to pay a reasonable interest on the investment. Against this doctrine I have no argument. However, in cases where a commission is nec- essary to supervise the business in the interest of and to protect the people from oppression by a monopoly, I have not been able to satisfy myself that it would not be better policy for the people to own and operate such business. I believe the government should own and operate the railroads and all other public service institu- tions. In any event, I do contend that conditions should be en- forced so that the man who invests his surplus capital in a farm should enjoy equal dividends with other investors. Surely one of these interests is not important above the other. You may de- pend upon it that the interests having their capital invested in railroads, or similar property, will be alert all the time to protect their investments. I insist that farmers should be equally alert. Until they are there will continue to be this unequal distribution of the fruits of their soil and labor. I do not plead for greater returns from the soil to the farmer in order that he may have a larger bank account. I want him to have a larger life. I want him to have what justly belongs to him, so that he may see and know more of the world in the short time he is in it. I want the burdens lifted from the shoulders of the good wife who for years has toiled and sacrificed opportunities she should have made use of to make a home and save the means to send the children to school and fit them for a creditable career Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 133 in, the world. I want her taken out of the narrow environment into which she has been forced and brought into a larger, broader life. I want her to dress in the style of the day. I don't care whether her skirts be hobbled or hooped, if she gets pleasure out of having them so. And I want the farmer girl when she marries to feel that it is not necessary to leave the farm in order to have and enjoy the things she most desires. I do not want her to feel that she must wear her wedding dress for nice until it is out of style and in again before she can have another. I want her to mingle with those of her kind and feel herself their equal in ap- pearance, in culture and attainments, and to enjoy associations and participate in activities that will bring her into a broad, full life. What are some of the causes that contribute to these con- ditions in our country today? Why these conditions? What are the forces that have brought about this state of affairs, and how are we to reach and correct them? All the great men in the world of education — all thinking men — are concerned today about the trusts and combinations, organi- zations that rob thousands of the soil workers for the benefit of the few. Do you know, my farmer friends, that you pay a greater tribute to the steel trust every year than you pay to your state government. Possibly you may say that you are not interested in steel, that you do not buy much steel. But I say to you that you are interested. You buy all the steel that is used in this country — that is, the soil pays for it. You pay for all the great steel rail- road bridges, all the steel rails, all the great skyscrapers of the cities, all the steel that goes into the great battle ships. You are interested in the price of steel. If you pay more than it is worth, that much is taken from the share you are justly entitled to that the soil produces, and that you ought to have to provide for your- self, your boys and girls those opportunities and that enjoyment the Creator intended you should have. The steel trust is one of the great causes for this woefully unbalanced condition in this country. One man dominates and controls this great industry, as he dominates and controls many other important industries. And he controls them not as agencies to serve the people, but as instru- ments with which to take from the people tribute to which he and those he does serve are not justly entitled. He rules the business of this country with an iron — I should say — steel hand. And I 134 Missouri Agricultural Report. am not so particular how you spell the word, either. It is wicked that men and women suffer for the necessities of life and are de- prived the opportunities to live broad, enjoyable lives as a result of these unnatural conditions that have been created as the chil- dren of criminal greed and wicked selfishness. Our colleges should teach the truth about these great combina- tions that war with justice and humanity, and help in the crusade against the new slavery of human beings. Now, I submit to you that it is your patriotic duty, more es- pecially as farmers, who are so directly affected, that you concern yourselves about these grave problems, I repeat, we are cowards if we pass them on to our children for their solution. We are re- sponsible for them. We should settle them. There is no difference in their effect, except in degree, in the steel trust, the harvester trust, the glass trust, the meat trust, or any of the great monopo- listic combinations. They fix arbitary prices which you must pay. You are not consulted. You don't even have the Yankee's privi- lege of "dickering." The price of your live stock is made by the same sort of a combination that makes the price of steel. The difference in the price, therefore, of hogs on hoof and on the hook is entirely too great. You are concerned in the question of trans- porting the products of your farms to the market, and in all the intermediate transactions. The whole problem is the one of the distribution of the products of the soil. You have the right and the power to insist that the distribution shall be equitable and that you shall receive your just share. That is the thought I want to leave with you. I didn't come down here to talk about the beauties of the farm. You know all about that. And it is a beautiful life. It is worth while to be in partnership with nature. You are confident of good faith on the part of your horses, your cattle and other live stock. It is only when you meet your fellow human beings that you must be on your guard. It is the selfishness of man that works injustice. Now, my friends, I don't know how it is with you — how you feel about this thing — but I tell you there stands before you a man who will fight till the curtain drops for this equal division of the soil's products, so that all men may have the largest measure of happiness and comfort in this life. "I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 135 THE MISSOURI COTTON CROP. (Address of Hon. C. M. Barnes, Member State Board of Agriculture, Marston, Mo.) As I was going down the street today I noticed two young men coming out of one of the fraternity houses. They were evidently students starting to their classes. I do not know whether they were "hayseeds" or not; there was a time when you could tell the difference, usually by the clothes they wore, but that method of distinguishing stu- dents has disappeared. These young men. had, no c. M. Barnes. doubt, reached the voting age. One at least had, judging from the remarks he was making to his companion. "I'm of age now," he said, "and I feel that I can make my way through the world." Just then his feet slipped on the icy sidewalk and he came down, in the shape of a big "V." I ventured to remark that I thought he couldn't make his way through in that direction unless he came down harder, and then if he did he would probably come out in China, where he would be among strangers and wouldn't know what to do. He invited me to a place where, it is said, ice does not form on the sidewalk, but being rather particular about where I visit, his invitation was respectfully declined. I pre- ferred to be here tonight, where I might spend a few momen,ts talking to a Missouri audience on a subject of more than ordinary interest, at least to me. The subject of "Cotton Growing in Missouri" is one that is calculated to excite more curiosity than personal interest in this part of our State, but I greet you from that section of Missouri where the greatest of world staples is a primary crop, where the failure of cotton for two consecutive years would mean ruin for thousands of Missouri farmers and bankruptcy for hundreds of mer- chants and business men. That makes my subject tonight dear to me, one that I can "wear nearest my heart" — a subject that I can feel, usually, from the soles of my feet to my collar at least; and I am sure most of the men in the audience have a kindred feeling — they all wear cotton, socks. Cotton is generally considered a strictly southern crop. The very mention of it raises in your minds visions of the southern plantation with its expanding acres, dotted here and there with cabins for the "niggers." The cotton field, the negro, the mule, a bunch of "pickaninnies" with "mammy" hoeing or picking cot- 136 Missouri Agricultural Report. ton.; all these are interesting, but who thinks of Missouri as a cotton-growing State? The uses of cotton enter so closely into our daily lives that many of us are apt to underestimate it. The entire civilized world today wears clothing made of cotton, and thrice fortunate is that land which will produce this greatest of commercial crops. Cotton, is the major farm product of no less than eight of the states of this Union, and ranks second in importance in four or five others. In Missouri the cotton crop is of no mean importance. Three counties in 1911 produced nearly eighty thousand bales, while the entire crop of the State that year was in the neighbor- hood of a hundred thousand bales. The total value of the crop to Missouri farmers was about five millions of dollars. Does such a showing indicate that Missouri cannot grow cotton successfully? We are more vitally interested in the growth of the fleecy staple than, we are at first willing to admit. No, the growing of cotton in Missouri is not general; it is more nearly localized than any other of our numerous crops. Corn and wheat, oats and hay — these crops alone out-value cotton as Missouri farm products, and they are grown in, all of the 114 counties, as are also potatoes and the various fruits and berries, but only a few of the southeast counties produce cotton. Away off down yonder in the southeast corner, which some of you good people would apparently like to for- get, is still a part of Missouri. You never forget us about election time. The tax collector never passes us by ; he reaps a rich reward in this most fertile and climatically favored district. I said you would like to forget us, but I do not mean that; it is not just that way. But let me tell you an experience I had during the State Fair last October. State Superintendent Evans was showing me the various exhibits in the educational department. All of them were good, some of them exceptionally so, and our worthy Superin- tendent of Schools was justly proud of the work being done in the schools of the State. We were inspecting one exhibit of high school work in which several maps of Missouri were on display. He called my attention to the excellence of this work. At first glance I recognized only one as a map of Missouri, and told him that I would not consider the others at all. Mr. Evans appeared somewhat surprised and asked why I would not recognize the other maps. In reply, I asked him that if he were drawing the picture of a mule would he cut off the head and place it in the far corner of the sheet of paper on which he was making the drawing. Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 137 He replied that he would not. Now, you are all familiar with those illustrations which purport to be maps of Missouri, with the south- east section, cut off and stuck up in the corner as if it were in the way or paper was too expensive to place it where it belonged. Those are no more maps of Missouri than a map of the United States would be complete with Florida or Texas cut off and stuck up in the corner. This Southeast Missouri is in many respects a wonderful land. Besides a five-million-dollar cotton crop, it produces the luscious watermelon, which has made Scott and Dunklin counties famous. In fact, these Southeast Missouri lands are so fertile and adapt- able to the successful growing of so great a variety of crops that I am tempted to digress from my particular subject. Is Missouri interested in cotton, growing? No, not to the extent that it should be. Listen! "The entire civilized world today wears clothing made of cotton, and nearly, if not quite, every civilized nation of the world has its cotton factory; but there is only one small section of the globe that furnishes this fiber in abundance, and that is the southern states of America. All the world is de- pendent upon the south. For cotton is the king of clothing, hence the king of commerce, and the south is the kingdom of the king who levies tribute of the world, and all the nations of the earth make obeisance to him. Cotton is today the friend of the poor, the luxury of the rich. It is made into cloth so coarse that it sells for a few cents a yard. It is made into fabrics so fine and so beau- tiful that it can hardly be told from silk, and so heavy and so thick that experts can barely distinguish it from wool. It is made into rope and cord so strong that it is almost the equal of flax or hemp, and into thread so fine that one pound will reach more than a hun- dred miles. Every year manufacturers discover new ways of pre- paring it, and every year the demand for it increases, and the world, it seems, cannot have enough of it. In recent years its by- products have become a food for man, beast and plant, the possi- bilities of which are not yet thoroughly understood. From the Arctic to the Torrid zone our clothes are made of it, our books and papers are printed on it, and if, through some calamity, we should lose all goods made entirely or partly of cotton, and if all people should be thrown out of employment whose occupation is, in any way, dependent upon it — whether in the cultivation, the manufac- ture or the commerce — the civilized world would be all but naked, 138 Missouri Agricultural Report. a large per cent would be hungry and their homes would be bare and comfortless."* Let me repeat, "Thrice blessed is that land which produces the cotton; it blesses him who produces, him who manufactures or transports and him who wears." Like many another farm prod- ucts, the producer of cotton has for so long received the "short end of the stick," so to speak, that the growing of cotton, is to a cer- tain extent looked down upon, when in fact it is one of the pret- tiest of farm crops to produce. The cotton is a beautiful plant, easily adaptable to warm, temperate climates. It is grown, as a pot flower in the north and has been grown successfully as a commer- cial crop as far north in Missouri as Boonville, Cooper county. Missouri has grown cotton for more than a hundred years. It was the introduction of slaves for the purpose of cultivating cotton, and tobacco that brought forth the "Missouri Compromise," and in a great measure was responsible for the attitude of the citizenship of this State in, the Civil war. While the cotton- growing territory of Missouri is restricted to the southeast, I claim that it is not because the cotton plant is not adaptable to the soil and climate of practically all that part of the State south of the Missouri river, but that there are other reasons why it has not met with favor farther north. Since the Civil war Missouri has been developed by emigrants from the northern states rather than from Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, whence came our settlers before the war. The later emigrants are not familiar with the growth of cotton, its method of cultivation, etc. The price of cot- ton for two decades was barely above the cost of production, in the south, where negro labor was cheap, and thus it came to be neglected by the more northern communities. But in Southeast Missouri, where the southern element continues to predominate, the successful growing of the cotton plant has never fallen into disrepute, but is more rapidly gaining favor since the price has advanced to such a degree as to make its cultivation attractive. The crop of 1911 aggregated almost a hundred thousand bales, and the total value of the lint and other products approximated five millions of dollars, yet this crop was produced on less than eighty- five thousand acres, giving a yield in excess of a bale to the acre — more than fifty dollars per acre on an average for Missouri's cot- ton in 1911, and this in a haphazard, unscientific manner of culti- vating and handling. What other state approaches Missouri in ♦"The Story of Cotton," by Brooks, Rand McNally & Company. Report of Missouri Farmer's' Week. 139 the yield of lint cotton per acre? I might almost say, none. Mis- souri leads in the yield per acre of cotton, a fact that is not appre- ciated by the average Missourian; and further, Missouri's cotton crop is usually in excess of at least two of the commonly consid- ered cotton states, namely, Virginia and Florida. The latest statis- tics to which I can now refer show Missouri's yield of lint cotton as being one hundred and thirty pounds to the acre in excess of its nearest competitor. North Carolina, and two hundred and forty- eight pounds per acre more than Texas, which produces the larg- est total yield of any state and on account of which she leads all the states in the gross value of her agricultural products. Fur- thermore, a comparison of the statistics for the past ten years dis- closes the fact that the average yield per acre for Missouri is in- creasing while that of most of the other states is decreasing. There must be a reason for this. Missouri is so far north that there is little fear of the boll weevil; Missouri's soil and climate is well adapted to cotton, grov/ing, and especially is this true of Southeast Missouri. A year ago when I became a member of the State Board of Agriculture I appreciated that cotton is a great commercial crop for the Missouri farmer, that its production had received no en- couragement from the State, that the cotton planters of the State were groping in darkness as to the best varieties to cultivate. The problem of increasing the yield by intelligent seed selection has not been much more than suggested. I introduced a resolution looking toward the establishment of experiment stations for the purpose of determining what varieties of cotton are best for the Missouri farmer to grow and to determine how great is Missouri's cotton-producing territory. The demand for cotton is growing at the rate of about one- half million of bales per annum, and it is evident that the day is not far distant when the American crop must be greatly increased, not only by increasing the yield in the territory already cultivated, but also by extension of that territory northward. I am firmly convinced that cotton can be grown commercially in all that ter- ritory in Missouri south of the Missouri river, and instead of one hundred thousand bales I expect to see Missouri's cotton crop ex- ceed a million bales. It can easily do so and not seriously encroach upon the lands now given over to the cultivation of grain crops. If I should say that three millions of bales of cotton are possible for Missouri you would think me beside myself upon, the subject, 140 Missouri Agricultural Report. but it is quite possible. This is not as much as the difference be- tween the total crops of 1910 and 1911. The crop for 1912 bids fair to show an increase of a million bales in excess of 1911, and with such an increase the price of the crop has not declined to any great extent, showing that the world's requirements are grow- ing with each year. Edward Atkinson, the great statistical ex- pert, has stated that it will take 420,000,000 bales of cotton to clothe all the human family up to the present standard of the most civilized nations. Civilization is itself judged by the clothing it wears as well as by what it eats and reads. If the one is coarse the other is apt to be. Fifty years ago wool was the principal material used in the manufacture of the clothing of the world. Today nearly ten, bil- lion pounds of cotton lint are spun, and woven entirely for the needs of the civilized people of the world in making clothing. This is more than double all the other textiles combined. Nine states produce four-fifths of the world's supply of cotton. Yet in 1910 there was exported from the United States more than one-half of the cotton crop, unmanufactured. While we exported only a little over thirty-three millions of dollars' worth of cotton goods and manufactured articles, we imported twice as much manufactured cotton goods from the foreign countries to whom we furnished the raw cotton, or over sixty-six millions of dollars' worth. What do we Missourians do with our cotton? We ship it to St. Louis or Memphis, thence to some Atlantic seaport, thence to Liverpool or Manchester, England, where it is spun and woven. It is then re- turned through the ordinary channels of trade, perhaps to New York or Baltimore, whence it is distributed to the various jobbers of dry goods at St. Louis or Kansas City, and by them scattered out to the country stores and is purchased back by us Missourians, who produced the lint and shipped it more than half way around the globe to get it to ourselves in condition fit to wear, while our own beautiful Ozark mountain streams flow on to the gulf unde- veloped and our coal mines go unworked. We have right here in Missouri the capacity for both growing and manufacturing the cotton. With the development of this cotton industry we can and will revolutionize the Ozark regions, fill the valleys with cotton fields and crown the hills with factories. We can save the freight twice across the ocean, furnish our own citizens with profitable labor, and laugh at the European spinner and weaver. Do you know that during our Civil war the United States was almost in- Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 141 volved in war with England because, on account of the blockade of southern ports, the English spinners could not get American cotton? Do you know that when cotton growing was first intro- duced into the colonies and grown in Georgia at the behest of Parliament, King George wrote a personal letter to the Governor of the Georgia territory notifying him that the citizens of Georgia must not learn to spin and weave the cotton fiber into cloth; they would be permitted to ship their lint to England, where it would be manufactured for them. It was not possible for us to celebrate the Fourth of July until we started something independent. But today we are not yet economically independent of England, as they consume almost sixty per cent of our cotton crop, and we buy back over sixty-six millions of dollars' worth of their manufactured cotton products. I think it can be said without fear of successful contradiction that the cotton production, with the industries which have been developed from it, constitutes the most important line of industrial development which is founded strictly upon a farm crop. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that we investi- gate thoroughly this wonderful agricultural resource and give assistance to its development to the highest degree. Cotton is an intensive crop. It must be hand-hoed and hand- picked. These are two of the processes in its production which we have not gotten away from, but I believe the time will come when machinery will be constructed that will do away with the hand- picking to a great extent, at least. I would like to interest the people of the entire State of Mis- souri in this great subject of cotton growing, to show you what this crop will develop in future years, that this State can and probably will grow three millions of bales of cotton, and manufac- ture even more. I would like to see you as thoroughly interested as we are. There is no product of the farm for which there are so many uses as those derived from the cotton plant. Besides the thousand uses of the lint, the oil from the seed is the foundation of another line of great industries. The cottonseed meal is used by stock men who finish their product for the best markets. The hulls go back to the soil, and even the stalks produce a fiber which only awaits a machine to develop it. There is no agricultural prod- uct grown for which there are so many uses. The following from the Manufacturers' Record (Baltimore) gives a fair idea of the national importance of the cotton crop. In Missouri we have not more than begun, to appreciate the value 142 Missouri Agncultural Report. of the crop. Its adaptability to our soil and climate has been questioned, but the fact that our yield per acre is greater than any other cotton state, that the quality of our lint is finer than any other district, and that we are too far north to be seriously menaced by the cotton-boll weevil, that when seed from duly accli- mated plants are planted we are as sure of a crop as any other sec- tion of cotton-growing territory should be evidence sufficient that we are not giving the attention to cotton production in Missouri that the greatest of staple crops deserves. "Everybody talks about the south's supremacy in the world's cotton production, but few people quite understand what this supremacy really means. It is worth more to the southland, more to this country, than would be the possession in the south of all the gold and silver mines in the world. If nature had put in your section every ounce of gold and silver that exists in all the earth, it would not have done one-half so much for the real wealth of the south, the prosperity of its people and its influence in the world of affairs as it did when it gave to the south the power to monopo- lize the cotton trade. Within the last few years, since you have been getting a fairly decent price for your cotton, it brings to your farmers about $1,000,000,000 a year and three-fourths of this comes to you from the north and from Europe. Your cotton is like a great funnel, through which in effect, all the gold and silver annually mined on earth is poured into the south. Even then Europe has to pick up an additional $100,000,000 or more and send to you to settle your annual bill for cotton. The gold output of the world is less than $475,000,000, while Europe pays you a bill of $550,000,000 to $600,000,000 for your cotton. "Civilization is more nearly staked on cotton than on any other one crop. You could find new foodstuffs if wheat and corn were destroyed, for there are other crops which could take their places ; but man has not yet found any other substitute for cotton. This country would be bankrupt without it. If we did not get back from Europe the $500,000,000 to $600,000,000 which annually comes through the sale of cotton, the balance of trade would be against us; panics would rule the land and industrial depression would be the order of the day. The destruction of any one cotton crop would bring on a panic in this country, as well as in the great textile centers of Europe. "However, cotton, royal crop that it is, whose empire sways the world, is a crop which the south could abandon with less loss Re2:)ort of Missouri Farmers' Week. 143 to itself than to other sections of this country and the world. The south could give up cotton and get rich on diversified agricultural and industrial development. But if the south abandoned cotton, the business of the world would be shaken from center to circum- ference. Cotton is a national asset. It does not belong to the south alone. That section raises it and ought to reap boundless wealth out of it; but cotton is an asset of such priceless value to the nation that it well behooves the nation to safeguard its inter- ests. "In the last 33 years the value of the south's cotton crop, including seed, aggregated $16,452,000,000. In the same period the world has produced $7,634,105,600 of gold and $3,459,909,642 of silver. The total for these 33 crops exceeded by $8,817,894,400 the output of the gold mines of the world, and by $5,357,984,758 the combined values of the output of all gold and silver mines for the same period. During this 33-year period the value of the ex- port of raw cotton was $9,685,282,138, or more than two billion dollars in, excess of the world's output of gold. If it had not been for this enormous shipment of cotton abroad and the billions of dollars which have come back to this country to pay for cotton, our foreign trade would have made an entirely different showing. "The mechanic in the shops, and the day laborer in the streets of the north and west, the manufacturer, it matters not what he may be making, whether it be locomotives or pins, or where he may be located, the grain grower in the northwest, the banker and the investor are equally interested, and very vitally so, in watching the weather which foretells whether or not the south is going to give to the world a cotton crop adequate to its needs. No other crop is so closely watched, nor in all the world is there another crop upon which so much of prosperity or of poverty in nearly all lands depends. Here is an asset that can be cashed at any moment in any financial center of the world at any time, re- gardless of wars or rumors of wars, panics or any other disturb- ance. By better and more intensive cultivation you can easily double your cotton crop with but little increase in acreage." 144 Missouri Agricultural Report. THE STUDY OF AGRICULTURE. R. M. Washburn. (R. M. Washburn, Division of Dairy and Animal Husbandry, University of Minnesota.) The study of agriculture is coming to be very popular as we all know, being taught in the colleges and the universities, in the normal schools, high schools and academies, and even down in the grade and primary schools ; being taught in various institutions and before different sorts of audiences. It is not local. It is not confined to any state or to any section. It is a nation-wide, progressive movement, on the part of the American people, north, south, east and west. So popular has this line of work become that it has attracted the attention of large interests. We find, for instance, the bank- ers in conventions are making questions of agriculture a part of their business. I am inclined to think that if they would let the farmer have money at a little lower rate of in- terest and let him attend to his own details it would work out just as well. We find, too, that the railroad magnates are becoming greatly interested in agriculture. We find that the business men's associations and commercial clubs all over the country are now interesting themselves in the matter of agriculture. It is getting to be a fad, a positive fad. It is always wise whenever there is a great popular movement that we pause in the midst of it and study carefully whether we are on the right track. If we are, let us forge forward yet more rapidly, but if we are not, let us understand it as soon as possible. Some of us are now thinking that agriculture is being taught for the first time. That is not true. Agriculture was taught — whether studied or not may be another question — a great many years ago. We find, however, that the accurate study of agricul- ture is really modern and is confined to a few countries. If we go back into history to find out what people tried to teach or learn, we will find that the first schooling ever given to people was of a very primitive sort, consisting of the father teach- ing the son to make and to use the clubs on game and on the enemy, and the mother drilling the daughter in the simple household arts. It was a very crude and very manual sort of education. When man Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 145 developed to that point that he could think in the abstract, think out in the future and grasp ideas, it seems that the education swung to the opposite extreme, from the intensely manual principle to the ultimate limit of impracticability, best illustrated by the ancient Chinese system. When the Chinese boy reached the age of five years he was set to commit to memory a great mass of the teach- ings of the ancient Confucius and learn it in the ancient Chinese language, which he did not understand. Only about three in a thousand of the boys were mentally and physically strong enough to stand the strain. While they have been building up and the government systematically encouraging that sort of education the people have been left to work out their own system of agriculture and mechanics. Great famines are not infrequent in China. We find, again, that Egypt, one of the first countries to de- velop civilized conditions, has not devoted much time or attention to agriculture. They were philosophers and lawmakers, but while those capable friends of the country were devoting their attention to philosophy and to law the peasant farmers were left to their own devices, and we find that they are still plowing with a crooked stick, harvesting and threshing by hand. If it had not been for the great fertility brought in by the Nile, starvation would have followed. They produced something of value, but did not train their people to produce more stuff per man, with the result that at present more than two-thirds of the total population has to spend its energies in production of food and clothing. The country is now controlled by England. India furnishes another striking example of the same thing. It is one of the earliest countries to have civilization, yet they have not been progressive, they have not gone forward and they hold a very low position among the countries. They are also controlled by the English. We have been told that the Hindoo mind is in- capable of imagination, and lacking imagination they cannot see in their mind anything they have not seen with their eyes. This is not entirely correct. Look at the beautifully carved temples of that country, elaborate in their architecture, and we will have to admit that the mind which could conceive such buildings, and execute them, is a creative mind. While those men who were capable of constructive achievement, were devoting their time to temple build- ing, to the expenditure of wealth, the farmers as a whole were spending their time in plodding in a most miserable way. It may sound unkind, but it can be borne out, that agricultural A— 10 146 Missouri Agricultural Report. progress has not been brought about to any considerable degree by the farmers themselves. Whether in Egypt, China, India or America the same is true The problems of the farm are so deep, so numerous and so intricate, and the time of the farmer so thoroughly occupied by a multiplicity of labors that it is next to impossible for him to learn by trying untried methods. We realize now that the problems of the farmer are as deep and mysterious as the problems of life. The whole system of farming is the handling of life, animal life and plant life and the juggling of one against the other. The poor Hindoo farmer has been left to work out his own problems, with the result that 72 per cent of the people of India are now what may well be termed "peasant farmers," ignorant and poor, every few years dying by the thousands, literally dying like animals by the roadside, in such numbers that the living are not numerous and strong enough to bury them. We are now learning to respect the man who makes two pounds of bread stuffs grow where one grew before, instead of doffing the hat to the millionaire who has suc- ceeded in coaxing two dollars from a neighbor's pocket where only one had been gotten before. We find in Russia at the present time a painfully interesting Condition. The people as a whole are very poor and ignorant beyond belief, and their methods of tilling the soil and harvesting and threshing the crops are so crude, so expensive in labor, that improvement is very slow. Plows made of the crotches of trees and harrows of boughs, lashed together by willows with the stub ends of the lateral branches left long to serve as teeth are used to cover the grain. The nation is in debt, but the farmers can pay but little taxes, because so poor. If the nation would only aid the people, begin- ning with the producers and distributors of human necessities, to become financially able to pay, and in gratitude willing to pay, then not only could they meet the interest on foreign loans, but the principal as well. In all the countries thus far mentioned, liberal, even extrava- gant buildings of various public sort have been constructed. These gorgeous temples and theaters serve to prove that the mind of the Greek, the Russian and the Indian, has inventive, constructive ability, but most of the constructive work has been done in the wrong direction. It spent the energies of the people upon those things that in turn produce nothing. If, instead, those few of every period and country who possessed creative ability had de- Report of Missouri Farmers* Week. 147 voted some of their time to the construction of better plows, har- rows and reaping, threshing and milling machinery the direct pro- ducers could have produced more food stuff per man, if not per acre, and thereby had more food per population. The production of that which will aid in further increase in production is the highest type of economy. Insomuch as all people live almost wholly upon the products of the soil, they are or should be interested in the question of sur- plus food production. Since we give to the man who grows the grain, first right to it, he toi save enough for bread and seed, and to sell only the surplus, all people in cities are vitally affected, not by the total production, but rather by the size of the surplus, for upon that portion the urban population must live. Government and state aid in matters of food production are therefore merely the people as a whole spending a part of their own money in an endeavor to guarantee to themselves an adequate surplus over the producers' requirements. It is clear, therefore, that agriculture is not being studied for the farmer, but through him for humanity. While in matters of improved agricultural methods the farmer gets first benefit, it is also incumbent upon him to first put his own money, brains and energy into the business to get it, and that in the last analysis the city dweller will be more keenly affected than will the farmer. Our government not only has the human right to spend of public funds to improve or increase production, but it is actually the duty of the Government to do so, just so long as the product of such study is of real value to the race. But when on the other hand the article produced or the substance grown is not needed by mankind, then such use of public funds is a misappropriation, an indirect subsidy to those individuals engaged in the industry. The United States Government, and no less than twenty-three states of the Union are at the present time thus feeding a certain useless industry, to wit, the tobacco, under the guise of aid to agriculture. Even if, for the sake of argument, we grant that the use of tobacco is not injurious to the adult, we must all admit its harmful effects when used by young boys, the mere children of our public schools. State aid in the culture of tobacco means just one of two things; it either cheapens the product and thereby encourages its use, or it increases the profits of those who are engaged in the industry. In either case, our money has been used to harm our 148 Missouri Agricidtiiral Report. boys. When China wanted to check opium smoking, she did not commence by subsidizing the production of the poppy. How silly in our people to enact stringent laws to curb the use of tobacco and then to turn right around and appropriate money to encourage its growth. The growth of this plant is very hard on the soil. More public money is now needed to reclaim the fields thus reduced in power to produce. The acres planted to tobacco in the United States in 1912 would have produced about 100,000,000 bushels of corn if they had had the chance. The corn would have left us richer in power to produce, while the "weed" left us poorer in human labor wasted and boys made less fit. If the growers of tobacco wish to form an association and tax themselves for the study of the crops, all well and good, but it certainly is time the people refused longer to furnish money for the personal enrichment of those in the business, or for the weakening of its own sons. The study of the brewing qualities of barley, and the ills of the wine-grape are two other avenues of misappropriation under the guise of aiding agriculture. The wisdom of state aid in the production of the useful is well demonstrated by the prosperous, loyal condition of the Danish people and the wicked folly of state aid in the growth of the use- less or worse is abundantly exemplified by the poverty, squalor and anarchistic tendencies in certain portions of France and Italy to- day. When the fruit of any labor has genuine human value, then the people's money may properly be spent in its study, but when not, appropriation is misappropriation. True agriculture is being studied, not for the farmer, but through him for the people as a whole, but false agriculture is being studied at the expense of the people for the benefit of a few and the injury of many. Missouri Home Makers' Conference. OFFICERS. President — Miss Alice Kinney, New Franklin. First Vice-President — Mrs. J. Ed. Hall, Lamonte, Second Vice-President — Miss Louise Stanley, Columbia. Recording Secretary — Miss Pearle Mitchell, Rocheport. Corresponding Secretary — Miss Nelle Nesbitt, Columbia. Treasurer — Mrs. Cora Chapin, Appleton City. ADVISORY BOARD. Mrs. N. H. Gentry, Sedalia ; Mrs. Marie T. Harvey, Kirksville ; Mrs. F. B. Mumford, Columbia; Mrs. W. C. Hutchison, Jamesport; Mrs. Scott Cunningham, Palmyra. MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS. The Missouri Home Makers' Conference met in the Gordon Hotel building at ten o'clock Tuesday, January 14, 1913. The minutes were read by the secretary and approved. The report of the treasurer showed : Amount received from dues $50 . 95 Paid as State federation dues 3 . 00 To Miss Kinney for canning club 5.00 Balance in treasury $42 . 95 Report of Mrs. Scott Cunningham, treasurer, accepted. The President's address followed, in which she emphasized the need of encouraging the study of household economics and of home- canning of fruits and vegetables. She reported the success of this year's contest in that line, the prize winner being Miss Martha Blume of New Franklin. Reports from country clubs came next. Mrs. Cullen of Ap- pleton City told of her rural club, its interesting studies, the assist- ance given to community amusements and the encouragement to local enterprises by financial aid and personal interest. Mrs. Chapin told of a club in North Missouri composed of ten families, the children included, formed for mutual social and mental diversion. (149) 150 Missouri Agricultural Report. Mrs. G. B. McFarlane, State regent of the D. A. R., spoke of the various evils that were a menace to home happiness. She read from a report of D. A. R. committee on home study, in which the desertion of the home arts and crafts was deplored. Miss Maude Griffith gave a report on the International Con- gress of Farm Women, which met in Lethbridge, Canada. She gave a clear idea of this meeting of representatives from all nations interested in the same subject. One of the features of the congress was "The recognition of farm women in positions of im- portance and trust." The "Organization of home economics clubs, under the auspices of the State Board of Agriculture," was discussed by Miss Nesbitt. She said that the clubs were organized upon request of the com- munity desiring such clubs. The Board would like to establish home makers' clubs in each district articulating with a county organization, this in turn belonging to the Missouri Home Makers' Conference. Mrs. C. W. Greene announced that an exhibit of materials from which toys could be made was displayed in another room of the building. Miss Whittier of the University library staff told how libraries could be used to assist the club woman, recommended traveling libraries and suggested a list of reference books. Mrs. C. W. Greene talked on the "Organization of Home Eco- nomics Clubs." STie recommended the reading of home economics magazines, and advocated organizing clubs. She thought laws should be passed to prevent marriages unless the participants have passed a medical examination. She said assistance would be given in organizing clubs whenever asked. Mrs. John Pickard talked of "Music in the Home." She thought the Victrola a fine medium of giving music to children. This music, she thought, should be nature music. Not many operas could be used because of their dealing with the emotions and pas- sions of life, of which the child is ignorant. She gave "Midsum- mer Night's Dream" as well adapted, combining literature and music. Selections from this opera were given on the Victrola, be- sides selections from the Gadsky records of the "Erl King" and others. The recent theory of teaching children music by associating it with colors was discussed, and Miss Kinney told of successful experiments with this system, the loud notes corresponding to the strong colors, and vice versa. Report of Missouri Farmers* Week. 151 A "Report from Pettis county Home Makers' Conference" was postponed on account of the absence of Mrs. Sneed. Discussion of "Programs by Chairmen of Committees of Vari- ous Clubs" was led by Mrs. A. F. Stephens, representing a local home economics club. She said study began with foodstuff of staple kind; then more complicated articles of diet were tried. Recipes were tested and recommendations made regarding changes to be made in same, these signed by the name of the person sug- gesting these. Other subjects pertaining to household problems and plans followed in turn, passing on to the care of children, books in the home, etc. The discussion of the nutritive values of hard and soft wheat for bread were discussed and preference was given to the first. Second Day — Wednesday, January 15. The conference came to order with a good audience present. Mrs. Alford of Vandalia proved herself worthy of her reputa- tion as a champion poultry raiser. STie argued strongly in favor of a pure-bred strain in the stock birds, and disapproved of a mongrel flock. She stated that $50,818,145 was the total income from Missouri poultry last year, and thought breeding poultry for eggs the most profitable from a business standpoint. She advised poultry raisers to pay more attention to scientific care of poultry. The number of questions from the audience indicated the general interest in this industry. Mrs. Alford thought that wet mash was a better egg producer than other foods, and that it should be given warm in winter; also that this food given to hens brought better returns than if given to hogs. This should be fed at noon, unless this meal could be given early in the morning, in which event it could be made heavy, since the birds would have time to exercise and digest a big meal. She recommended trap-nesting for breed- ing purposes. She thought less than a pint of grain per hen, twice a day, with mash at night, about the proper ration. Mrs. Scott Cunningham's paper on "Indian Runner Ducks" was read by the secretary, and was followed by discussion of the different breeds and their respective quality of eggs. Miss Denny gave her experience as 1,787 eggs from 15 ducks from January to August, but found the market price no higher, locally, than for other eggs. It was her opinion that it was better for Indian Runner Ducks to have no water in the winter time to bathe in, since their feet were tender, and cold feet prevented laying. 152 Missouri Agricultural Report. "Squab Industry," by Miss Kinney, brought out the fact that the popularity of this business had waned, because of the exagger- ated statement made about its possibilities in the beginning, which the squab-raiser did not realize. She especially liked them be- cause the male parent took as much family and domestic responsi- bility as the female. They paired for life and her oldest were eight years of age. The young were fed by the parent bird from a deposit known as "squab milk." Four to five or six weeks was required to bring the squabs to marketable age, and they are drawn, leaving the heads, for shipment. The sex of the bird could only be decided by watching their actions at the laying season, when the male bird drives his mate about for exercise before she lays her egg, this being necessary to that result. They require a quantity of water and always drink after each meal, dipping the whole head under water. Prof. H. L. Kempster, in answering the "Question Box,'* thought that the embryo in the eggs of the incubator indicated the amount of moisture required, but at all times the sand tray should be moist. He gave his opinion of a fireless brooder, but did not recommend it. In moderate weather it may be used with reason- able success, but at all times it requires constant care. He thought from 18 to 28 days sufficient time to keep the breeds of chickens from running together. The health of chickens depended largely on the care given them. He said the larger varieties of birds were lazy in their habits, the smaller kinds being more active, therefore better layers. He thought it depended on what other rations were given little chicks whether bran should be kept before them. He also thought that raw corn meal was bad for chicks and would give them diarrhoea; baking the meal improved this. Commercial rolled oats spread on top of straw was recommended, and milk, both sweet and sour, fed not alternately, was fine. Meeting at two o'clock opened with a talk by Mr. 0. R. John- son on the farm management department of the University. Mr. Johnson told of things which would simplify home management and save work and time. To find exactly the expense of the farm, home accounts must be kept too. To simplify this, he thought classifying the labor of the day would help ; also a record of expense of buying articles for the home, using a classified list. Dean Mumford, in his talk on the "Social Institutions of the Country," said that he believed the Home Makers' Conference was the most important which met during Farmers' Week, The chief Rep07't of Missouri Farmers' Week. 153 institutions of the country were the church and school. Country people, he thought, were suffering from the efforts of reformers to better conditions in rural communities, and said that these prob- lems must be solved by the country people themselves. He thought the churches should change their ways, become more progressive and liberal, and felt that fewer churches with larger congregations, where there would be a resident minister, with general co-opera- tion, would bring better results. His childish belief had been that the ministers were the only men sure of heaven, and he yet be- lieved that the pastor should be held in high regard, and in turn should establish a close relation between himself and the com- munity. He also suggested that the church might be used for giv- ing simple entertainments for amusement. In former days, he said, the school-teacher had to have as much qualification for keep- ing the school in order by physical strength as for proficiency in mathematics, but there were no more so many large boys in the country schools to be kept in order, since they had gone to town, as had many farm families. Mr. A. F. Field of the department of physical culture told of "The Need of Physical Training for Country Boys." The boy's heart, he stated, increases in size so rapidly that activity is neces- sary; so it is not natural for him to sit quiet and read. He stated that ninety per cent of the boys in the University have some degree of curvature of the spine. Athletics and play stiffen the muscles and backbone and should be encouraged. When the boy is passing into manhood, exercise is then most important. The boy does not feel natural at church or at table, he is ill at ease ; but in play and games he is at home. Eleven counties in Michigan are giving their attention to the physical and moral training of rural boys. He thought the country could be made attractive to the farm boys, and thought that social intercourse and opportunities for amusement of a physical nature kept many of them in the towns. "The Woman's Side of the Farm Home Management" was given by Mrs. J. Ed. Hall. She thought that a record could be kept in the kitchen, where it would be convenient in passing about the home work to jot down each expenditure. Mrs. Horace Windsor in her paper advised the giving of good reasons to children when they inquire why things are denied them. She thought mothers should read books before their children do, and that children should be given some interest in the home and farm products. 154 Missouri Agricultural Report. The following committees were appointed : Nominating com- mittee: Miss Stanley, Mrs. Wilson and Mrs, Ed. Hall; scoring com- mittee, Mrs. Bettie Gentry, Miss Nelle Nesbitt and Miss Louise Daniels; resolutions committee, Mrs. Cora Chapin, Mrs. Alford and Mrs. Sturgis. Third Day — Thursday, January 16. The conference opened at ten o'clock with an address by Miss Edna D. Day, formerly of the home economics department of Mis- souri University, but now of Kansas University, on "The Problem of the Girl." She brought out the fact that many girls take up work without any preparation, thinking it will be temporary, look- ing toward ultimate marriage. This results frequently in dissatis- fied women who are not equipped for the work undertaken. Modern home making, she said, was more a matter of wise ex- penditure than of production, as in former years. The girl is prepared in this age for home making as well as qualified by edu- cation to take up a vocation if she chooses. Miss Day strongly urged the earning young woman to save a portion of her salary, thereby forming careful habits as well as preparing for the ''rainy day." She said the average girl was not content to stay at home and keep her mother company alone, but naturally wanted to be an earner, and she advised that they be given a share in the home profits. Mr. M. E. Darby, State Apiary Inspector, spoke on "Women as Bee Keepers." He thought as a branch of agriculture it was sadly neglected, and that it could be made remunerative. He recom- mended reading a number of bee journals and the study of a good textbook on bee culture. The hives, he said, should be placed in the back yard, and have shade during the warm weather, but a house to shelter them was not necessary. He believed the Italian bees to be the best variety, and advised the use of the best improved hives. He believed everyone should have a good smoker, since smoke was a necessity toward subduing the bees. He showed the dress used for protection; also models of hives, traps and specimens of comb. The question box on "Care of Flowers" was answered by Mr. Horace Major, the landscape gardener of Missouri University. He said that flowers should be given necessary care, but not handled too much or fussed over; that ferns from the woods could not always be grown in the house in the winter, but if kept for a while Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 155 in the dark after being transplanted, they might thus be tricked into growing after being brought into the sunlight. As to whether fire was any remedy for the aster beetle, he thought tobacco tea made from stems or dust and well diluted, sprayed on the under side of the leaf, might be effective, while the dust sprinkled on the earth would eliminate slugs. Pinching the buds of the aster would insure late blooming, he said, and also advised cutting the plants back. Asked whether the bulblets of the Chinese lily would bloom, he gave a few instances where they had done so, but more had failed, and he advised selecting the sacred lily with strong bulbs on which were few bulblets. As to what could be planted to suc- ceed tulips, he recommended China asters, scarlet sage, sweet alyssum or coleus, but did not think other bulbous plants should fol- low. Asked if shade were necessary to pansies, he answered no, that it was not ; that all plants needed sun, and that this particular flower required loose soil and plenty of moisture to prevent drying out. The Iceland poppy is not a perennial, he said, but the Ori- ental poppy is. As to whether there is any way to prevent blight on the rambler rose, he advised spraying the bush with a quantity of soapsuds into which had been put a tablespoonful of kerosene. He doubted if there was any variety of "everblooming carnations," in spite of advertisements to the contrary. Any of the perennials might be used with any of the hardy plants, but if red should be mixed with white about them, he advised iris and peonies for the flower garden, as being varied in color and profuse bloomers, as was also the pompon, chrysanthemum, the hollyhock and golden glow. "Flowers for Pleasure" was discussed by Mrs. J. G. Babb. To get best results, she thought, care and cultivation should be given. She recommended as ornamental shrubs the burning bush, bridal wreath, with lilacs and snowballs for background. She thought the Siberian iris very fine with many varieties of phlox, but had found tulips an expensive experiment. A great many seed varie- ties were good, but sweet peas and nasturtiums were easiest of culture. In a small space rows of bulbs could be used, the taller in the background and poppies scattered among all, paying attention to harmony in color. This result would be pleasing. The convention then went into executive session. Motion to change the name of the executive board to advisory board was car- ried. The nominating committee then suggested that the name of Mrs. Scott Cunningham be added to advisory board, which was adopted by the convention, The nominating committee reported 156 Missouri Agricultural Report. as delegates to the biennial the names of Mrs. N. H. Gentry and Mrs. W. F. Flournoy, with Mrs. P. P. Lewis as alternate. Report accepted by convention. The committee then reported on nominations for officers to serve for one year : President, Miss Alice Kinney, New Franklin ; first vice-president, Mrs. J. Ed. Hall, Lamonte; second vice-presi- dent, Miss Louise Stanley, Columbia; recording secretary. Miss Pearle Mitchell, Rocheport; corresponding secretary, Miss Nelle Nesbitt, Columbia; treasurer, Mrs. Cora Chapin, Appleton City. Convention moved acceptance and adoption of committee report. At 1 :30 o'clock the conference met and listened to Mrs. Char- ters on "The Moral Training of Children." "Caring for the physical welfare of the child comes first; later follows the duty of mental training. She told of a statement by Dr. Elliot "that for 6,000 years there has been no improvement in ethical training," but she doubted if it were true. She thought the spiritual training of the child was largely turned over to the church, but the moral guidance was the duty and task of the mothers. She thought this a wise provision, since the mothers had most to do with the children, and woman was the more moral, naturally, of the sexes. She believed that the child was born without any moral balance, and this had to be developed. She said that children were more easily tired than grown people and this was often responsible for their misbehavior. In response to suggestions for keeping children quiet, the majority thought story-telling the best method. She urged her women hearers to go home and organize mothers' clubs for the mutual study of child training and care. Mrs. Rich being absent, her paper on "Commercial Gardening" was read by the secretary. Miss Kinney then told of potatoes raised in a pen in layers of straw and manure which yielded well. Mrs. Ravenel's paper on "How May a Home Garden Be Made to Last the Year Round," was read by Mrs. C. W. Greene. It gave a good idea of the proper planting and cultivation of the home garden and recommended cross-walks and the rotation of vegetables. From two quarts of peas planted she had produced four bushels, canning the surplus, as she did, of all vegetables. Discussion of gardening followed, showing many ideas and various methods. Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 157 Fourth Day — Friday, January 17. A talk on house decoration by Miss Dobbs and an exhibit were given at 9 o'clock and were well attended. The conference convened at 10 o'clock, and on account of the absence of Mrs. M. W. Hudson and Mrs. Harris, who were to have talked on "Home Dairy Experiences," this was omitted. Mrs. Marshall Gordon told of "The Best Breed of Cows," and gave the Holstein as her preference. Mrs. C. W. Sappington being absent, the Jersey cow did not find her friends in the audience. "Butter Making in the Home" brought out many ideas on this farm art. It was found out that some farm homes used oleo- margarine for cooking and bought their butter, selling the cream. Argument in favor of placing good country butter on a commercial basis with creamery butter was made, and also a protest against putting it in the same class with poor farm butter. "Will the Parcel Post Solve the Problem of the Farm Products?" by Mrs. Chapin, brought out many plans for sending the products from producer to consumer. Some very amusing experiments in sending eggs by parcel post were given, and there was a general belief that in time the parcel post would assist the farm home. "How to Breed a Pure Herd" was discussed by Prof. C. H. Eckles. Calves thrive better on the milk that contains less cream. He thought Holstein milk better than Jersey milk for household use, but the Jersey cream possesses more butter fat. The cow is the most domestic animal; aside from the food products she furnishes us, the food given to her is returned to us as fertilizers. In case of any inflammation of the udder, the milk should not be given to an infant, and if there is much inflammation the milk had best not be used. Prof. Eckles said that the strainer, next to the milk pan, conveyed more bacteria than any other article used and should be kept very clean. He explained that "certified milk" usually meant keeping to a standard made by a medical examiner. He gave different rations, their comparative butter producing values, and passed on to "butter scoring." The rectangular shape is preferable for cutting, and the butter should not be wrapped in oiled paper, should be uniform in color and not streaked or mottled. He thought that three-fourths of the butter on the market was natural color and was cold storage butter, but that vegetable color matter was safe and was generally used in winter when foodstuffs 158 Missouri Agricultural Report. did not color it sufficiently. Salt should be well dissolved and should not be noticeable to the consumer. In the contest a sample of butter made by Mrs. N. L. Norton, Sedalia, received the highest score, which was as good or better than ordinary creamery butter. The conference met at 2 o'clock and listened to a plea from Mrs. W. McNab Miller on the need of "Legislation for Children in Missouri." She told of the number of children in improper homes; of the number of children born in poorhouses, and of the number of children placed in homes and who were badly treated by those who adopted them. She urged the necessity of having a State in- vestigator to oversee the placing of children in homes. She argued in favor of juvenile courts and spoke of the need of reformatories. She told of the need of a law for the protection of illegitimate chil- dren. Mrs. Quick of Rockport told of "Practice Work in Rural Schools" and the hot lunch, and proved by her results and the exhibit of articles made in that line that hot lunches can be served in the rural schools. "Experience in the Fruitville Rural School," by Miss Helen Swift of Fruitville, was read by Miss Stanley, since Miss Swift could not be present. Miss Swift's paper indicated that her work has been most successful. Scoring of pantry exhibit was reported upon by Miss Daniels and showed a number of entries and fine quality. Report of resolution committee was as follows: "Resolved, That we express our thanks, first, for the many courtesies extended and for the speakers furnished by the State Board. Second, for the scholarship fund donated by the State Board of Agriculture for the members of the Girls' Tomato Canning Club. Third, for the kindness of the people of Columbia in so freely opening their homes for our entertainment. Fourth, for the tea given by Mrs. Hill, who never forgets the home makers. Fifth, for the help given in the "Health Contest for Babies" by Misses Conway and Caverly. Sixth for loan of Victrola by Taylor music store, and for loan of art exhibit from Chicago and for Dr. Pickard's interpretation of the pictures. Respectfully submitted, Mrs. Cora Chapin, Mrs. R. Lee Alford, Mrs. F. J. Sturgis. Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 159 Motion to adopt report of committee. The business of the conference being finished the motion to ad- journ was carried, and the Missouri Home Makers' Conference for 1913 was at an end. F. Pearle Mitchell, Secretary. Miss Kinney. ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT. (Miss Alice Kinney, New Franklin, Mo ) It is my great privilege to say to you that ever since the conference of last year the mem- bers of the executive board have been looking forward to this meeting, when we should again have the pleasure of greeting the old friends and welcoming the new ones. During the interim you have been much in our minds and hearts, for as plans would present themselves to be worked out, we unconsciously turned to you for help — your approval means our success, without which our wheel of progress would not move forward. In formulating the program for this conference there was such an abundance of good things to bring you that it was exceedingly difficult to include only the few; some of these have been selected with the hope of eventually creating departments which will take up special lines of work between the annual meetings, in order to give a broader outlook for the home makers and a more systematic working body between conferences. May you feel well repaid for the sacrifices some of you doubt- less have made in leaving home and its comfortable fireside, and as you turn homeward we trust you will carry our conference in your hearts and plan to come again next year. To Columbia and her citizens we owe much gratitude; every one responded cheerfully to the demands of the program committee and expressed great interest in our success. We trust the past year has been well with you, and though possibly many have had fuller and busier lives than ever before, have you not been happier for the fullness? You will recall the story of Rip Van Winkle, who refused to accept the duties and responsibilities of life, but in the companion- 160 Missouri Agricultural Report. ship of the Spirit of Play and his little dog, Wolf, would stroll away and forget the dull cares of life. Over his wife. Dame Van Winkle, the Spirit of Work held relentless sway— so her days were passed in ceaseless toil and from morn to night she knew no rest of either body or tongue. Can we find somewhere between these two extremes the real spirit of home making, the happy mingling of both work and play? As a profession, home making is at the head of the list, if the woman at the helm can grasp the full situation and is herself a business woman. In formulating her system, the home maker needs first to know her own weak and strong points and see that every effort is first given to having this dynamo, the home, perfectly adjusted in order to keep the machinery running smoothly. There will be a constant demand made upon her for oiling the many com- plicated parts, but proper care and foresight will save friction and many possible breakdowns. Conservation of effort and strength she will hold paramount ; she will need to think well with her head before executing with her hands, and though hard work may meet her at every step, the home maker is fortunate in that she can set her own pace. In her home she is sheltered from the physically depressing competition, which is a part of the outside world, and lives in an atmosphere far more airy, sunny and wholesome than is found either in shop or office; but while in the home she needs to study how to accomplish maximum results with a minimum ex- penditure of time, labor and money. If women are the spenders, and three-fourths of the income goes for feeding and keeping the family, it is a problem that requires judgment and self-restraint in marketing and shopping in order to finance the home making economically. She should seek accurate in- formation as to general market conditions, thus getting a standard of comparison by which to measure up the local market. One clever and economical home maker has successfully put this method into practice. She first studies the needs of her household, looks up the general market, then visits her local grocer, tells him just how much she intends to spend in one wholesale purchase, compares his figures with the city market, and finds that in counting in freight and delivery she gets just as good rates, besides seeing the quality of her goods. This judicious buying means much to her family and very much to her town by keeping that amount at home. This same guiding hand must now add a new phase to her home making, and Miss Tarbell says, in her recent book, "The most essential obligation in a woman's business is establishing her house- Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 161 hold on a solid moral basis," which requires the unremitting mental toil of mothers. Every member must be taught the importance of performing a special part in the duties of home and life; the training and education of the girls, with their quick discernment and natural adaptation, must be linked to its daily demands, for in the efficiency and success of her children the mother finds her own reflected strength. High standards of health and morals must be instilled in girls and boys alike, and the sense of judging things by their real value developed. In this way the citizens of tomor- row, with their great possibilities for healthy national growth, will be developed in the home. Some women, like some men, must have a broader field in which to express their inner life. Thus the social interests, which had their origin in the family circle, are gradually extended outward until they embrace the community, and from this new influence voluntary associations have resulted in the progressive movements of the world. After the well systematized mechanical habits of home making have been established, we suddenly begin to realize that our suc- cess is not yielding the happiness of which we dreamed, that the call of the material world has so absorbed us that we have ceased to listen for an inner voice that was our stimulant in years gone by. It is the deadening of the spirit worn threadbare. No greater joy ever comes to us than the satisfaction after work well done, and the daily routine of home making is not such a burden provided it is performed in the proper spirit, which makes it possible to derive even pleasure from seeming drudgery, besides offering so many opportunities for a broader spirit — if we but seek to find. The buoyancy of youth is possible to be ours at every stage of life, regardless of the duties that may fall to our lot. You may ask how one can infuse any buoyancy of spirits into so commonplace a duty as dishwashing. The answer is, put your head and heart into it. The head will suggest plenty of hot water, which means quicker and better results; or a change of dishes, which will relieve the monotony of shape, size and color. Even these little things will brighten the operation far more than you realize, and though it may mean the using of your best company china, so much the better, for the extra care will bring into play another set of brain cells, thus relieving the old worn ones. Every woman present will bear testimony to the fact that no duty of home making offers such a rich opportunity for inspiration as the mechanical one of dishwash- A-U 162 Missouri Agricultural Report. ing. If she has a club paper or some talk to make at the mis- sionary meeting, this is the time when she will formulate her best ideas. Or if some knotty problem of the home presents itself, here she will devise ways and means of solving it, and the result never reveals its origin by the smell of soapsuds clinging to it. The try- ing out of some new recipe, although it may call forth greater activities, fails to cause weariness of body and mind, because of our interest and success in the work in hand. Mental workers often find more real rest in change of subjects rather than in cessation of brain toil, and in a great measure is this true of physical efforts. Upon every side we hear of the preponderance of farm women in the insane asylum. A New York physician investigated the sub- ject in his own state, and his report shows that only twenty per cent of the women in the New York asylums were from the farm and small towns, the cities producing the remaining part. If this be true of his state, we have reasons to believe that it is true also in Missouri. You who love flowers, and you must grow them to really love them, can appreciate the rest that comes in caring for their wants. Just what name to give this subtle power is a problem, but since color plays so important a part in the beauty and harmony of na- ture's scheme, can it not be that our sleeping souls respond more fully to the brightness and cheer of their color rather than their form or perfume? You recall the woman who preserved the elasticity of body and mind by never walking when, she could ride, never standing when she could sit and never sat up when she could lie down. There is a far deeper meaning in this for women than is apparent at first. We need more systematic planning of both work and play in order to recover and retain the buoyancy of spirit and youth before we can infuse it into our home making. Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 163 Miss Day. THE PROBLEM OF THE DAUGHTER. (Dr. Edna D. Day, Professor of Home Economics, University of Kansas.) I am indeed glad to have the opportun- ity to be back in Missouri, and especially to be with you at this Home Makers' Confer- ence. I have read with interest the reports of your meetings since I have left, and have been very glad to see the attention you are giving to the care of young children. Today I want to talk to you about the problem of the older daughter, and the unnecessary waste of time and energy by the average girl while she waits. Every year, as young women and anxious parents come to me for advice, I am led to a fuller appreciation of the situation. Since many of you, also, have the responsibility of giving advice to young women, perhaps you will be interested in my analysis of the problem and my suggestion of a remedy. May I begin by reading a quotation from OHve Schreiner's "Dreams?" "All day where the sunshine played on the seashore Life sat. "All day the soft wind played with her hair, and the young, young face looked out across the water. She was waiting — ^she was waiting, but she could not tell for what. "All day the waves ran up and up on the sand, and ran back again, and the pink shells rolled ; Life sat waiting. All day with the sunlight in her eyes she sat there, till, grown weary, she laid her head upon her knee and fell asleep, waiting still. "Then a keel grated on the sand, and then a step was on the shore — Life woke and heard it. A hand was laid upon her and a great shudder passed through her. She looked up and saw over her the strange wide eyes of Love — and Life now knew for whom she had sat there waiting." "All day Life sat waiting!" Were it only a day, or a year, or even a few years, it would not make so much difference; but when, as often happens these days, Life must wait five, ten, or even fifteen or twenty years, the problem of what to do while she waits becomes a serious one. Twenty, fifteen, ten, five, or even one of the best years of life, is too much to spend sitting idly on the shore 164 Missouri Agricultural Report. watching the waves and pink shells. Yes, of course, but Life, as she sits there, doesn't know that it will be that long. It may not be for her. That is where the difficulty lies — in the uncertainty. Her partner may come today, he may not come for twenty years, he may not come at all ! Probably the majority of our grandmothers were married at an earlier age than our high school girls graduate today. And our mothers did not have to wait much longer. But it takes so much time these days for a man to get ready to earn a living, and it costs so much money to keep a home, that it is no wonder that the girls are kept waiting long while the men get the necessary education, money and courage. I was much interested at home this summer at the coming to consciousness of this problem by one of our neighbors, a physician. He had always expressed strongly the belief that the home was the woman's sphere, and he had naively taken it for granted that it is always a woman's own fault if she does not enter it at once. Two years ago his only daughter graduated from high school. He had always said that she was not to go to college, but he compromised by sending her away from home for one year to another college pre- paratory school. Then he kept her at home for a year, with a "coming-out party," to indicate that she was waiting. Incidentally, she took private lessons in French and music, and was supposed to learn housekeeping. But the family keep two maids and the mother is in full vigorous health, so Margaret's housekeeping was a farce. There was not enough of an incentive for her to do it seriously. Her brothers, three and six years older, have had four years at college, and two or three years professional education beyond, and are now on the lowest rounds of the professional ladder, the one a physician serving a hard apprenticeship as hospital interne, earn- ing only his board and keep ; the other an engineer in overalls doing a little more than a day laborer's work, but cheerfully, for he knows that it is but for a season. The father, knowing that his boys are not ready to marry, is beginning to realize that it will probably be some years before Margaret's partner is ready for her. But what shall he do with her in the meantime? Among his patients are several young women in bad nervous condition, and only because they have nothing to think of but them selves and their feelings and symptoms. What to do with them he doesn't know. All they need is to be given some object in life, but how? He can't supply the husband (not that he even mentioned that). Their help is not needed at home, and it is contrary to the Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 165 ideas of their family that they should work. He could not allow his own daughter to get in the same condition. I suggested that Margaret be sent to a near-by school of domestic science, and that she take the teacher's course. Then, if need be, she could be self-supporting, and in the meantime she would be getting the training she could not get at home. If the father had not been so outspoken against college education for women, the problem might have been postponed by sending her there for four years. It used to be that only girls with strong scholarly bent went to college. But now the number is rapidly increasing of those sent there by their parents who do not know what else to do with them while their natural mates are preparing to support them. And although many colleges and uni- versities now offer courses in home economics, the parents and home friends of these girls surprisingly often fail to suggest to them any responsibility for making preparation for the life they hope to live, and they fail to elect home economics ; they play with the college curriculum as idly as the girl in the Dream with the sand and shells at her feet, waiting, just waiting — a serious problem to their instructors. If there is less money, the problem of what to do while she waits is generally easily settled. The girl and her family more quickly realize that she must work. However, it is generally tacitly understood that it will not be for long — and it hardly seems worth while to spend much money getting ready to work when — well, "when she may not care to do that kind of work long." She may not care to, but men hesitate these days — and many a girl finds herself in middle life doing work she doesn't like, for which she is poorly prepared, and with the prospect of continuing it the rest of her life. This condition is bad enough, but it is not as bad as that of many another girl whose partner came early, but found her un- prepared for her life work. Housework, as well as any other work for which one is unprepared, is a hard drudgery. But so ac- customed are we to the myth that women instinctively know how to keep house that we often fail even yet to realize that the lack of preparation may be the cause of the trouble when the work seems unduly hard. We forget that through all the ages until very recently every girl prepared for marriage by a thorough apprentice- ship at home. The girls of a few generations ago, having no schools to attend, had time not only to gain housewifely skill, but 166 Missouri Agricultural Report. by the time they were sixteen or seventeen had commonly stored away in their cedar chests a store of house linens that would last more than a lifetime. Since the factories have taken from the homes very much of the old housework, spinning, weaving, soap making, etc., girls have been free to go to school, free to play or to work outside of the home, to the neglect of the old apprenticeship, and we are only slowly coming to realize that it was something more than instinct that made our grandmothers good house- keepers. In the early days women were not alone in preparing for life work by the apprenticeship method. Even doctors and lawyers often got their training by working in an office instead of by going to school, and training schools for business, for engineering, for farming, were unknown. Statistics show that it pays financially for a man to take the money and years for long expensive training to be an engineer. You progressive women of the Missouri Home Makers' Conference recognize that it pays for young women to take pro- fessional training for their work in the profession of home making, but in most places the standard for woman's work in home making has decreased instead of increased. Even the old apprenticeship is discarded as unnecessary. Of course, many girls still get a practical training at home, but it is not often as thorough as that of the olden days — the girls must do too many other things in addition, and conditions are changing so rapidly that the apprenticeship system is not so effective as it used to be. Grandmother's rules, the embodiment of family tradi- tional experiences reaching back through generations, do not always work these days. And rules of today, unless they get back to most fundamental principles, may not work a few years hence. The work of the home maker of today is more that of a money spender than that of a producer, as of old. Of course, it takes no training to empty a pocketbook. But, within normal limits, it makes nearly as much difference how it is emptied as how much is put into it in the first place, and as much training is needed as prepara- tion for wise spending as for successful earning. The products on the market are constantly changing, and it requires a good knowl- edge of general principles to know even enough to read intelligently pure food labels. Certainly a girl ought to spend time in getting ready for home making! But suppose she does, suppose she even takes three or four years in a college course of home economics — what then? She Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 167 cannot hang out a shingle and announce to the world that, having her diploma, she is ready. No, she may have to wait a number of years longer. What shall she do ? For her own health of mind, if nothing else, she would better be working. For seeing this situa- tion, advisers wonder, "STiould she be prepared for home life or to earn a living?" Some say, "Let her prepare for the money-making first, and after engagement, or even after marriage, take a few courses in domestic science." (Is this the way a successful man prepares for his profession?) Since she may never have a home to keep, why prepare to keep it? Moreover, the girl is not sup- posed to know she is waiting. In fact, it is the fashion in some quarters to ignore the possibilities of the partner's coming and to make ambitious plans for a career without him. Not that the makers of these plans are not generally willing to give them up if the right man comes; but they are able to choose more independently, and so run less risk of making a serious mis- take if there is something else to fill their lives if they do not marry. And no woman is free who cannot fall back upon such an alternative. Moreover, earning money before one marries often helps to make a more sympathetic wife and a more intelligent mother. And it not only gives a woman freedom in choosing a husband, but if she can manage to maintain her skill in her profession during marriage, it forms the best kind of an accident insurance policy. According to statistics, in colonial and pioneer days it was quite common for men to have second, third, or even fourth wives ; the strain of hard work killed off the wives more rapidly than the husbands. In these days the strain of increasing standards of living and excessive com- petition in business kills the husbands more rapidly. It is said that at present one out of every five women who have been married is without a husband. A host of widows needing some means of support ! Yes, it is very important that women know how to make money outside of the home. But there is one precaution that should be given to every girl who earns money while she waits. "Be careful not to establish such a high standard of living that you postpone the time when the man dare to come, or, perchance, that you keep him away entirely, because he cannot keep you according to the standard you have established. Don't spend all your money, much as you feel the need of all the things it will buy. Save a large proportion for your contribution to the home making, and thus 168 Missouri Agricultural Report. hasten the time when you may begin. You have not spun and woven household linens that will last a generation, and it is only fair that you should contribute of the fruits of your modern labors." Yes, if she can work and save money she can lessen the time of waiting. The question is, how to be prepared both to earn money and to make a home. To live without a partner or with him, ac- cording to circumstances? I recommend a study of home economics as a preparation for both. At present the demand for well-trained and experienced teach- ers of this subject is greater than the supply, and the demand is increasing so rapidly that it will probably continue ahead of the supply for some time to come. One difficulty we have in seeking to train teachers of this subject is that the girls are not willing to take the time necessary. Four or five years looks like a long time to the girl entering college. She certainly will be married before that time, she thinks, and she wants to do some teaching first. It is a long time, and, of course, many girls cannot afford to spend it. But many more could, if they planned for it and realized its value. Many girls spend more money at college than they need, and many more could work part of their way through college than do. Be- cause some teachers have succeeded with only a two-years' prepara- tion does not mean that the average girl can, especially now that standards are going up with the increase in better-trained candi- dates. A training that is to prepare for home making and the outside earning of money, early or late as there is need, certainly should be made as thoroughly as resources will permit. I dwell upon this point because it is the one I know most about. But teaching is not the only outside use that can be made of home economics training. There is a demand for trained women to be matrons and housekeepers, or housemothers, in colleges, dormi- tories and institutions of all kinds. Hospitals are asking for trained dietitians. There is a call for caterers, artistic dressmakers, milli- ners and house decorators. We need women with brains, conscience and a business ability to run laundries. "But," perhaps you say, "a girl couldn't do these things and live at home on a farm, and some of us live on farms, and we want our daughters at home. We quite agree that she should have this domestic science training, but then let her come home and help her mother for awhile." Certainly, if her mother needs her help. "But," some of you may say, "we don't actually need her help, but we want her company after these years of separation, and you Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 169 would urge her to leave home and earn money when we have enough to keep her?" Is she happy just to stay at home to be company? Would you be happy so? I have heard many girls tell of their difficulties in being content with this kind of life. Every one needs work in life to be happy, young women as well as young men, and no one is good company who is unhappy. However, the leaving home is not always necessary by any means. By just a little work supplementary to her home economics course a girl can learn the principles of scientific poultry raising, scientific butter making, or of home can- ning for the market. There are fancy prices for first-class products of these kinds, enough to tempt any ambitious girl, and if your daughter learns to do some such work as this, in addition to her home economics training, you can keep her happily at home, keep- ing up her practice in home making by giving her mother such help as she needs, and in addition to her own special work and earn- ing her own special income — while she waits for the opportunity to have charge of a home of her own. And if that opportunity keeps her in the country, she will find times when she can continue her supplementary work sufficiently to keep up this practice, so in case of need she may again do it professionally. Of course, I do not mean that women should do no other kinds of work than these I have mentioned. They may legitimately pre- pare to do anything the world needs doing that they can learn to do well. I was only suggesting easy ways of solving the problem. Neither have I meant to say that all education should be voca- tional, though the needs of motherhood are so very broad that it is perhaps impossible to mention any cultural education that can not be counted as a preparation for home making. However, because music, art and literature are helps in home making they should not be regarded as all-sufficient. The home maker must needs be con- cerned for the body as well as for the soul. In fact, if the body is neglected the family often fails to realize that it has any soul. How many a young woman has spent hours and hours on her music, only to find when married that she hardly has time to dust the piano, let alone play it. If a woman loves music let her study it by all means, but at the same time let her study home economics as well, so that if she marries she may be able to do the house- keeping expeditiously and still have left time and strength for her music and the spiritual side of home making. I have frequently noticed that a father's chief desire in the education of his daughter is that she should be trained musicallj^ 170 Missouri Agricultural Report. perhaps because his wife has been too busy with home duties to satis- factorily entertain him of evenings, and he would have his daughter so trained both for himself and her possible husband, forgetting that his wife has had to learn her science of home making in the hard, slow school of experience after marriage, and to spend the time that he wishes were free for music on these homely lessons. He should be made to realize that his daughter will have the same trouble if she doesn't study home economics as well as music. On the other hand, many a mother's idea of the last of her girl's schooling is that it should be such as not to interfere with her hav- ing a good time, "for," as she says, "she will have to settle down all too soon" (i. e., she will if she marries as young as her mother did) "to the hard drudgery of life." Such a mother needs to be told that her daughter need not find housekeeping a drudgery if prepared for it professionally, and that by giving up some good times now she may hope to have time and strength for good times all the rest of her life. Summarizing, then! Due to increasing standards of living and the increased time necessary for a man to become prepared to earn a living, the aver- age age of marriage is getting later and later. While she waits, the girl in society frequently gets sick and tired of life, sometimes becoming a nervous invalid if kept with nothing to do. At the ordinary college the domestically inclined but not scholarly girl often wastes both her own time and that of her instructors because she fails to elect home economics. If the waiting girl goes to work she frequently does it with only a hasty preparation that lowers the standard of woman's work and makes her discontented with her lot, but she generally lives up to her income, acquiring such high standards of living that she is not willing to marry a man who is earning, perhaps, but little more. Parents and advisors are slow to realize the change in condi- tions, and frequently recommend short-sighted remedies. The lengthened time of waiting is very valuable and should be spent in preparing for home making in its broadest sense as seriously as any man prepares for his life work. In addition to this, the young woman should also prepare professionally to earn money, not only that she may be able to live happily and independently if her partner never comes, but that she may be able to choose him freely if he does, and in case of widowhood, she may have resources ready. It is easiest, in many cases, to prepare for all this at the same Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 171 time by studying home economics. But on the farm some closely related work, such as poultry raising, may be profitably under- taken ; and while special talents in some other directions should not be neglected, their cultivation should be accomplished by a study of home economics if one wishes time to continue their cultivation after marriage. In every case, the problem should be considered carefully, the girl aroused, if necessary, to the value of her opportunities and the importance of her responsibilities, and, with her co-operation, plans should be made that seem best to suit her individual circumstances and prepare best for her probable future. THE FEEDING OF CHILDREN. (Amy Louise Daniels, Department of Home Economics, University of Missouri.) "The particular tree of knowledge which should be planted in every home garden has many important branches, but one of the largest is that which deals with the right feeding of the human being. Even so short a time as twenty-five years ago the house- wife and mother could furnish her table according to the dictates of desire and taste. Her only guide was tradition, which suffered one food and forbade another, sometimes wisely, often unreason- ably. Today the burden of knowledge is hers, and the responsi- bilities of the housekeeper of now are not unlike those of the engi- neer who has charge of a trainload of people whom he must carry through the perils of modern traffic. Only an understanding of conditions will enable him rightly to perform this service. In- telhgent feeding is as important to the human being as to the farm crop and animal if man is to have a fair chance in the struggle for existence. With two children of like inheritance, the child protected by a parent's knowledge of nutrition has the better opportunity for developing into sound, sturdy manhood."* During the Home Makers' Conference there was on exhibition in the home economics building a series of typical meals for chil- dren of various ages. It was our purpose in this exhibit to show, first, the kinds of food best adapted to the needs of children of dif- ferent ages; second, the amount the average child should eat, and third, the way in which a meal, prepared for a family, may be •Cornell Reading Course for Farmers' Wives. Human Nutrition, Part I. 172 Missouri Agricultural Report. modified for the several children ; for the child of two should have neither the amount nor the variety of food that may be served to the child of fourteen. Those who saw the exhibit carried away im- pressions that it will be impossible for us to give by words alone. We can, however, give a few of the more salient features of the exhibit and point out some of the lessons we aimed to teach through these meals. Food for children must fulfill three important functions : First, it must build new tissue, for the child must develop from a small individual into a much larger one ; second, it must repair worn-out tissue, for the living processes of the body bring about a certain amount of wear and tear of the body machinery; and third, it must supply the energy needed by the body in carrying out its vital pro- cesses, and in muscular work. For the building and repairing of body tissue nitrogenous materials, or proteins, represented by eggs, milk and meat, are required; while for the production of energy for muscular work the fats, supplied by butter, cream and the meat fats, and the carbohydrates, represented by starch and sugar, are used to greater advantage. Besides these three classes of materials, namely, protein, fats and carbohydrates, the body needs both water and mineral substances. The former, water, acts as a solvent for the building materials, removes the wastes, especially those that are excreted through the kidneys, and is of importance in regulating the temperature of the body through evaporation ; the latter, the inorganic materials, found most abundantly in vege- tables, fruit and milk, are necessary for bone formation, for regu- lating the osmotic tension of the body fluids and for maintaining the irritability of the living protoplasm. Each meal supplied to the child or adult must contain these five food elements; and it is not enough that these are supplied to each individual, they must be supplied in rather definite quantities; for should an insuflficient amount of any one be taken, or an ex- cessive amount, that is, for any considerable time, the body would either be under-nourished or be made to work unnecessarily in order to eliminate the waste products produced by the excess. Fortunately for us, the body is able to adjust itself, within limits, to the amounts of the various substances supplied. If too much butter or sugar is taken the body can store them, and when an insufficient amount is fed this reserve material may be utilized. If an excess of nitrogenous material is taken that is more than is needed for immediate growth and repair, the larger part of the Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 173 unused portion is excreted ; the body has none or but little capacity for storing this form of food. Under normal conditions the appetite is the guide that helps us decide how much of these various substances should be eaten; but that the appetite is not always a trustworthy guide is mani- fested by the frequent attacks of indigestion, experienced both by adults and children, as well as by the fact that so many adults are suffering from diseases, namely, gout, constipation, anaemia, etc., brought on by certain errors of diet. The stockman and farmer have long since recognized the importance of feeding animals so that they may do their maximum amount of work. No intelligent farmer would think of allowing his horse to wander ad libitum through the grain bins; and yet this is about what we are doing with our children. For the average family the fact that a child wants some edible thing is sufficient reason for giving it to him. The intelligent mother, however, appreciates that the food of the small child should, in some respects at least, be different from that of the older child, both in kind and quantity, and that the appetite should not be the guide. But because of lack of knowledge she often gives the child the wrong food, and sometimes in her en- deavor not to overfeed it she does not give it enough, and then wonders why the child does not develop as it should. She is even led to make comparisons, to the unjust disparagement of science, between her neighbor's child, who apparently is allowed to eat anything and everything, and her own child who is being so care- fully brought up. In order to help mothers in working out the problem of feed- ing children, the various meals were prepared. The menus, to- gether with the amounts and calorific value of each substance, are given in the following tables : I. BREAKFAST. Two-year-old Child. Menu. Grams amount . Grams carbohydrate. Grams fat. Grams protein. Calories. Rolled oats (strained) 5 28 14 28 14 112 3.3 1.41 14.17 20.83 0.36 1.13 0.83 0.94 19.85 Cream 19.6 Sugar 56.7 Toast Butter 2.8 12.04 4.52 2.77 0.14 3.76 119.6 108.9 Milk 5.64 78.4 Totals 45.35 20.85 8.44 403 05 174 Missouri Agricultural Report. LUNCH AT 10:30. Two-year-old Child. Menu. Grams amount . Grams carbohydrate. Grams fat. Grams protein. Calories. Milk 112 7 5.64 5.11 4.52 0.63 3.76 0.68 78 4 Crackers 28 98 Totals. 10.75 5.15 4.44 107 38 DINNER. Two-year-old Child. IMenu. Grams amount. Grams carbohydrate. Grams fat. Grams protein. Calories. Creamed potatoes ... ... 28 28 14 56 28 14 112 5.22 14.49 0.03 0.40 12.04 0.22 0.14 1.98 4.52 0.62 2.72 0.14 0.22 1.98 .93 3.76 23 6 Bread 72.4 Butter 108 9 Apple sauce 35.5 4.79 10.15 5.64 146 9 Peas 28 3 Cookies 62 2 Milk 78.4 Totals 75.79 19.33 10.37 520 7 LUNCH AT 3 P. M. Two-year-old Child. Menu. Grams amount. Grams carbohydrate. Grams fat. Grams protein. Calories. Milk 112 3 5.64 2.13 4.52 0.42 3.76 1.98 78 4 Cookies 13. 1 Totals. 7.77 4.94 5.74 91 5 SUPPER. Two-year-old Child. Menu. Grams amount. Grams carbohydrate. Grams fat. Grams protein. Calories. Milt. 112 14 14 29 5.64 4.52 12.04 3.76 0.14 0.02 2.72 78 04 Buttpr 108 9 Jelly 9.6 14.49 44.0 Bread . 0.40 72.4 Tnf.nia 29.63 16.96 5.64 303 7 Graiifl tnt'i Is for day 150.5 62.0 30.0 1 318 95 Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 175 BREAKFAST. Eight-year-old Child. Menu. Grams amount. Grams carbohydrate. Grams fat. Grams protein. Calories. Orange Shredded wheat . Sugar Cream Soft egg Toast Milk Butter Totals. 116 14 14 28 56 29 112 14 9.64 10.65 14.16 0.85 0.12 0.25 20.83 5.64 11.34 5.96 2.80 4.52 12.04 61.77 37.03 0.68 1.71 0.62 7.4 2.77 3.76 0.14 17.08 42.4 51.8 56.6 107.9 84.0 119.6 78.4 108.9 649.6 DINNER. Eight -year-old Child. Menu. Grams amount. Grams carbohydrate. Grams fat. Grams protein. Calories. Creamed potatoes 87 29 58 58 29 14 112 28 15.66 0.09 7.56 1.86 5.22 1.20 3.96 2.63 0.13 3.76 1.86 70 8 Lamb chops 89.0 Apple sauce 41.56 9.58 14.94 171.0 Peas 0.28 0.34 12.04 4.52 3.96 56 6 Bread 73 6 Butter 108 9 Milk 5.64 20.30 78 4 Cookies 124.4 Totals 107.68 28.79 20.62 772 7 SUPPER. Eight-year-old Child. Menu. Grams amount . Grams carbohydrate. Grams fat. Grams protein. Calories. Potato soup 1129 14 14 14 112 20.88 10.37 7.24 9.0 5.64 0.12 1.29 0.20 0.17 4.52 2.48 1.39 1.36 0.02 3.76 94 4 Crackers 58 6 Bread 36 7 Jelly 44 Milk 78 4 Totals 53.09 6.30 9.01 292 1 Grand totals for day 222.5 72.1 48.7 1,714.4 176 Missouri Agricultural Report. BREAKFAST. Fourteen-year-old Girl. Menu. Grams amount. Grams carbohydrate. Grams fat. Grams protein. Calories. Orange 113 21 20 42 56 29 14 112 9.64 15.97 21.24 1.27 0.12 0.37 0.68 2.26 42.4 Shredded wheat 77.2 Sugar . . 84.9 Cream 17.01 5.96 2.8 12.04 4.52 0.93 7.4 2.77 0.14 3.76 161.8 Soft egg Toast 84.0 20.83 119.6 Butter 108.9 Milk 5.64 78.4 Totals 80.54 38.22 21.78 761.5 DINNER. Fourteen-year-old Girl. Menu. Grams amount . Grams carbohydrate. Grams fat. Grams protein. Calories. Creamed potatoes 87 42 58 58 42 14 112 28 15.66 0.09 11.34 1.86 7.83 0.20 3.96 4.08 0.14 3.76 1.86 70.8 Lamb chops 138.5 41.56 9.58 21.73 171.0 Peas 0.28 0.60 12.04 4.52 3.96 56.6 Bread 108.6 Butter 108.9 Milk 5.64 20.30 78.4 Cookies 124.4 Totals 114.47 32.83 23.69 857.2 SUPPER. Fourteen-year-old Girl. Menu. Grams amount . Grams carbohydrate. Grams fat. Grams protein. Calories. Potato soup 113 28 28 14 28 14 112 27.2 20.74 14.49 0.81 2.58 0.40 12.04 0.34 1.98 4.52 3.97 2.78 2.72 0.14 0.04 0.93 3.76 150.0 Crackers 117.2 Bread 72.4 Butter 108.9 .Jelly Cookies 18.0 20.30 5.64 88.0 62.2 Milk 78.4 Totals 96.22 22.67 14,34 677.1 Grand totals for day 291.2 93.8 59.8 2.295.8 Report of Missouri Farmers* Week. Ill II. BREAKFAST. Two-year- •old child. Eight-year -old child. Fourteen-year-old boy. Orange juice. Orange. Orange. Cream toast. Rolled oats. Cream. Toast. Butter. Milk. Rolled oats. Cream. Toast. Butter. Milk. Jelly. Jelly. LUNCH AT 10:30 A. M. Soft custard. Crackers. DINNER. Rice. Rice. Rice. Celery. Celery. Celery. Milk. Milk. Milk. Bread. Steak. Steak. Butter. Bread. Bread. Bread pudding. Butter. Butter. Bread pudding. ■ Bread pudding. SUPPER. Bread. Bread. Bread. Milk. Butter. Butter. Butter. Apple sauce. Egg. Jelly. Milk. Apple sauce. Sponge cake. Sponge cake. TOTAL FOR DAY. Grams carbohydrate. Grams fat. Grams protein. Calories. Two-year-old child. . . Eight-year-old child. . Fourteen-year-old boy 159.78 206.3 263.9. 48.00 82.34 127.9 42.2 56.96 66.99 1,285.57 1,845.10 2,546.42 A-12 178 Missouri Agriciiltural Report. III. BREAKFAST. Two- -year- okl c'hild. Eight-year- old boy. Fourteen-year-old girl. Oatmeal. Cream. Toast. Milk. Butter. Banana. Oatmeal. Cream. Sugar. Toast. Butter. Banana. Oatmeal. Cream. Sugar. Toast. Butter. Poached egg. LUNCH AT 10:30 A. M. Banana. DINNER. Baked potato. Poached egg. Strained primes. Bread. Butter. Milk. Cookies. Baked potato. Spinach. Beef (broiled). Baked apple. Bread. Butter. Cookies. Milk. Baked potato. Spinach. Beef (broiled). Celery. Bread. Butter. Baked apple. Sugar. Cookies. LUNCH AT 3 P. M. Milk. SUPPER. Toast. Pea pure6. Pea pure6. Butter. Milk. Milk. Jolly. Crackers. Crackers. Milk. Butter. Butter. Buttermilk. Jelly. TOTAL FOR DAY. Grams carbohydrate Grams fat. Grams protein. Calories. Two-year-old child 177.67 224.17 366 . 60 .50 . 02 84.82 87.91 39.52 44.57 66.35 1.317.95 Eight-year-old boy Fourteen-year-old girl 1,838.33 2 , 522 . 99 Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 179 IV. BREAKFAST. Two-year-old child. Eight-year-old boy. Fourteen-year-old girl. Cream of wheat. Cream. Toast. Milk. Orange juice. Cream of wheat. Cream. Toast. Milk. Orange. Cream of wheat. Milk. Toast. Chipped beef. Orange. LUNCH AT 10:30 A. M. Cocoa. Cracker. DINNER. Baked potato. Baked potato. Baked potato. Egg. Creamed carrot. Creamed carrot. Bread. Macaroni. Bread. Butter Cheese. Butter. Cookies. Apple sauce. Macaroni. Junket. Bread. Cheese. Milk. Butter. Apple sauce. Milk. Cookies. LUNCH AT 3 P. :M. Baked apple. SUPPER. Carrot pure6. Cocoa Cocoa. Croutons. Crackers. Butter. Rice. Butter. Crackers. Milk. Rice. Rice. Milk. Prunes. TOTAL FOR DAY. Grams carbohydrate. Two-year-old child. . . Eight-year-old boy. . . Fourteen-year-old girl 163.6 198.2 308.0 Grams fat. 47.90 55.34 76.20 Grams protein. 38.2 49.7 62.0 Calories. 1,266.74 1,530.97 2,208.10 180 Missouri Agricultural Report. BREAKFAST. Two-year ■old c-liild. Eight-year- ■old child. I''()urleen-y ear-old girl. Prune juice. Orange. Orange. Rolled oats Rolled oats. Rolled oats. Sugar. Egg. Toast. Toast. Toast. Egg. Cream. Sugar. Sugar. Milk. / Butter. Milk. Milk. Butter. LUNCH AT 10:30 A. M. Soft custard Crackers. DINNER. Pea pure6. Pea pure4. Pea pure6. Scraped beef. Baked potato. Crackers. Baked potato Creamed turnips Baked potato. Bread. Chicken. Creamed turnip. Butter. Bread. Chicken. INIilk. Butter. Bread. Snow pudding. Butter. Snow pudding. LUNCH AT 3 P. M. Milk. Crackers. SUPPER. Chicken soup. Chicken soup. Chicken soup. Bread. Crackers. Crackers. Butter. Bread. Butter. Milk. Butter. Pine apple juice. Sponge cake. Sponge cake. TOTAL FOR DAY Grams carbohydrate. 'I'wo-year-old child . . . Eight-year-old child. . Fourteen-year-old girl 120.93 166.02 218.87 Grams fat. 68.38 79.11 114.5 Grams protein. 33 . 78 47.45 65 . 30 Calories. 1 ,318.60 1,650.35 2,319.04 Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 181 The usual way of recording the food value of any given dietary is in terms of the calorie, a calorie being the amount of heat re- quired to raise the temperature of one kilogram (a little over a quart) of water one degree centigrade. The amount of heat given off by the various food principles has been determined by the calorimeter, an instrument, as its name implies, used for determin- ing the heat-producing value of various materials. One gram (about 1-29 of an ounce) of sugar or starch yields 4.1 calories; one gram of fat, 9.3 calories, twice as much as that given off by the same amount of sugar, while one gram of protein yields heat equal in amount to that of the carbohydrates (sugar and starch) , namely, 4.1 calories. The amount of heat given off by the body at rest and during certain forms of mechanical work has likewise been determined in terms of calories. Thus by knowing these two factors, the amount of heat given off by the body and the amount of heat produced by the various foods, we can determine, vdthin very narrow limits, the amount of food which the body needs. By scientific investiga- tion it has been found that a child of two requires food which yields about 1,313 calories per day; a child of eight, about 1,525 calories, and a child of fourteen, approximately 2,500 calories per day. As we have already said, the fuel supplied to the body must be given in the form of fat, carbohydrates and protein; the water and mineral matter, although necessary, yield no heat. The amount of fat and carbohydrates may vary within fairly wide limits, for these fulfill no specific function other than supplying energy to the body; but the amount of protein supplied must be rather definite, for this is used to build and repair muscle and nerve tissue, a function which cannot be taken over by either of the other two food materials. It is always better to err on the side of giving too much protein than too little, for if too much is supplied the body can eliminate the unused portion, whereas if too little is given, the body cannot develop normally. Forty grams of protein seems an aver- age amount for the child of two, fifty grams for the child of eight and sixty for the child of fourteen. The menus recorded above have been worked out with these figures as a basis. Thus it will be seen that in menu I, for the two-year-old, the protein, 30 grams, yields 120.72 calories. This leaves 1,193 calories to be supplied by the fats and carbohydrates. In this menu the carbohydrates from the milk, bread, jelly, cookies, oatmeal, sugar, crackers, potatoes, apples and peas furnished 634.16 calories, and the fats from the butter, cream, milk, cookies, etc., furnished 558.7 calories. By 182 Missouri Agricultural Report. knowing the composition of the various food materials, and such information is easily available, we can make substitutions, and work out a great variety of menus which will have equivalent values. It is unfortunate, perhaps, that the quantities are recorded in terms of grams, a method of measuring less familiar to the average housewife than pounds and ounces ; but if we recall that a pound is equivalent to 453.6 grams, or an ounce to 28.3 grams, and that a "pint is a pound the world 'round," which is true only within limits, we shall have no difficulty in interpreting the tables. Because the literature containing the composition and fuel value of foods re- cords these in grams, we have chosen to do so here, in order that the housewife who desires to continue these studies further may be less confused. In these menus no data are given to show the relation of the inorganic or bone-forming constituents to the body requirements. However, it will be observed that each menu contains an abundance of food materials, namely, milk, eggs, fruit and vegetables, which are rich in these necessary elements. If we see that the children are given milk and some form of fruit and vegetable in every meal, we may be sure that they are getting enough to supply the needs in this respect; provided, of course, that this very valuable material is not lost during the process of cooking, as is so frequently the case with vegetables which are cooked in boiling water. Recent investi- gation has shown that the water in which spinach is cooked con- tains 52 per cent, over half of the inorganic materials of the spinach; cabbage loses 42 per cent of its mineral material in the water, and carrots nearly 12 per cent. The difference in the flavor of potatoes cooked "in their jackets" and those which have been pared before being cooked is familiar to all of us. The loss of the inorganic constituents is largely responsible for the changed flavor. It is obvious that if we would get the full value of our vegetables we must devise a method of cooking which will prevent this loss. The form in which the fruits and vegetables are supplied to the younger children is worthy of consideration. In the suggestive menus it should be noted that these are always cooked and fre- quently they are strained. The cooking makes the fruit or vege- tables more easily digested and less likely to cause intestinal dis- turbances, while the straining removes the cellulose or woody fiber which so frequently causes diarrhoeal conditions which have led mothers to believe that children should not be given these foods. The bananas in these meals were thoroughly ripe. This condition is indicated by the brown color of the skin. Too frequently bananas Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 183 are served in an unripe state, when the skins are either green or yellow; and in this form they are unwholesome for adults as well as for children. Mothers who would not think of allowing chil- dren to eat raw potatoes will not hesitate to give them yellow bananas. The substance, raw starch, which makes the uncooked potato undesirable, is equally undesirable in the unripe banana. During the process of ripening this material becomes changed to sugar. Therefore, if yellow skinned bananas must be used, they should be cooked before serving. A noticeable feature of the above menus is the small amount of meat used. This is not meant to indicate that we do not approve of meat for the older child, but that there is danger in the child's taking more than is necessary. It is better that children should get the larger part of their tissue-building material (protein food) from eggs, milk and vegetables rather than from meat. On this subject Dr. Lafayette B. Mendel, an authority on dietetics, recently said before the New Haven Mother's Club : "It has often seemed to me that many parents display an ex- cessive zeal in foisting improper diets upon their children. They fail to realize the comparative limitations of the youthful digestive tract, while the children too soon learn to imitate the customs of their elders. This is true, for example, in the habit of eating meat, a stimulating and concentrated protein food. The colt or calf does not thrive on a diet of rich corn meal, though it may be very proper for the horse or cow. Carnivorous animals, be it noted, do not allow their young to have meat until quite a time after they have their teeth fully developed, though apparently it would be their proper food. Meat given to kittens or puppies invariably produces convulsions." It is said that cats will take away meat from their kittens when it is given to them, even up to the time when they are three months old. The following is a summary of a recent pamphlet on the feed- ing of children issued by Columbia University, and may serve to illustrate some of the points which we aimed to bring out in the conference exhibit: 1. The cultivation of a rational appetite is part of the training of the child. 2. Children should be fed regularly and not too often. The stomach should have a chance to rest. 3. Children from two to five years of age need four meals a day, older ones three, at fixed hour intervals. 4. Milk is the best food for children of all ages, either as such or cooked with cereals, vegetable soups, junket, custards and simple puddings. 5. Well-cooked cereals should be served every day, but without sugar, syrup or butter. Use cereals that are made from whole grains. 184 Missouri Agricultural Report. 6. Use eggs freely, soft cooked and not fried, and in simple cooked dishes. 7. "Children cannot thrive without fruit." Give only ripe fresh fruit in perfect condition, or that which is stewed or baked. 8. Fresh vegetables should be a part of the diet, as these are rich in the needed mineral elements. A great variety of new cooked vegetables may be served. 9. In general, provide a plain fare, of which bread and butter, cereals and milk form a generous part. 10. Do not give meat to children under eight years of age when milk and eggs are available. When meat is allowed, it should be fairly free from fat. 11. For desserts provide simple puddings, such as junket, rice, tapioca or other cereal puddings. Do not allow candy, except a small piece at mealtime. 12. Cultivate the habit in the child of drinking a liberal amount of water, A thirteenth may well be added : Never allow the child to have tea or coffee, or even cocoa or chocolate, except when these are made with a large proportion of milk and a very small amount of cocoa or chocolate. THE CHILD AND THE LAW IN MISSOURL (William T. Cross, Secretary the Missouri State Board of Charities and Corrections.) It has often been observed how little attention is paid to the rearing of children as compared to stock-raising. This is well illustrated by the subjects that appear on the programs of the associations that are meeting in Columbia during this Farmers' Week. In New York City they had a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals long before they thought of organizing a society for the prevention of cruelty to children. The truth is, that we see and begin to study those things that are far from us first, and it is only after we get completely wakened up to our situation that we pay attention to the more fundamental proposition — the way in which people live and in which they pass their ideals and tra- ditions on from generation to generation through their children. But we have had a right lively awakening in Missouri lately as to the necessity of protecting the interests of children and my one reason for consenting to speak on this occasion is that I think every member of the Missouri Home Makers' Conference should take away from here the new idea of safeguarding the interests of the little ones of this generation. Last spring in St. Louis the live stock shows, the poultry show, the automobile show and the other monster exhibitions at the big coliseum gave way for the space of ten days for an entirely new kind of a show — a child wel- fare exhibit. Thousands of dollars were spent, and hundreds of prominent citizens interested in the project of displaying to the Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 185 multitudes that thronged through the place what St. Louis chari- table institutions and societies, and St. Louis homes, and St. Louis industrial establishments, and St, Louis schools were doing to promote the welfare of children. But the story did not stop there, for the exhibit showed also in shameful pictures and drastic lan- guage what St. Louis as a community and the entire Commonwealth of Missouri were failing to do for the children. Six months before that another equally large child welfare exhibit was conducted in convention hall at Kansas City, and in one day thirteen thousand parents and children crowded in to view the exhibit and to partici- pate in the exercises. There are evidences at other points in the State that public interest in the children's welfare is growing, and many of us believe that it is going to culminate shortly in the en- actment of new laws and the establishment of better institutions for the care of the children. Any of you who may have seen the child welfare exhibit, either in St. Louis or Kansas City, I am sure were surprised by the great number of agencies and activities concerned in the proper bringing up of children. Every well-raised boy or girl stands for a good home ; a mother who is free from excessive labor ; a father who has a steady, paying job; city streets that are cleared of temptations and city life without immoral amusements; good libraries and school-teachers of strong character, and a score of other factors equally important. Every child has a right to good health, to sufficient play and freedom from heavy work, and a right to a sound and complete education. Children are naturally dependent, and it is our fault, not theirs, if these rights are taken from them. Nor does the story end there. Society suffers the consequences when the children are denied these natural rights. But what is the best guarantee we can give that children will have these rights secured to them? You all know — a good home. So every law we pass to improve and protect the home is in effect a children's law. The child is the expression of the home. Without children we would have no homes. But it is well known to you that we cannot depend upon all homes being normal. The rack of industrial life, of crime and intemperance, of poverty and degeneracy, play havoc with our homes, until it is commonly observed that a large percentage of them are not ideal places in which to raise children. For this rea- son we have passed laws to restrain the passions and evil tenden- cies of men and women, and we have even had to establish immense institutions to care for the dependent, neglected and delinquent 186 Missouri Agricultural Report. children — the by-products of our broken homes. If I should name the private and public institutions for children in Missouri you would be' astonished at their number. If any of you are inter- ested in this or in any other phase of the subject I am presenting to you and wish fuller information, an inquiry directed to the State Board of Charities and Corrections at Columbia will be cheerfully answered. It is possible to make out a pretty complete list of the various agencies that now exist for the protection of children, but I will mention only a few such agencies, and those especially with regard to which changes in our laws are sought. The State, as represented in her laws, is the natural guardian of all children. Less than a decade ago the people of Missouri awakened to the fact that often young children, of immature mind and morality, were being thrown into the county and city jails, there to absorb from adult prisoners the ideas of worse immorality and crime. The awakening affected first the larger cities, and often the most pathetic scenes were described of the way our laws operated to the injury of children who had committed only petty offenses. As a result of that first agitation, juvenile courts have been established in the six counties of Missouri having the largest population, and they have saved for upright lives hundreds of boys and girls who merely got the wrong start. But we have stopped before the task was finished. In one hundred and eight counties children are still thrown into jail with adult criminals. The less populous counties of the State are still suffering this disgrace, and the board I represent has in its investigations discovered in the jails of the rural counties many cases just as pathetic as those found in the big cities before 1903. I need not take time to ex- plain why children who commit thefts or other offenses should not be given the same treatment as adult criminals and be housed with them. The reason is evident to all. And you can all see also that the less populous counties should also have the benefits of the juvenile court. S'o the State Board of Charities and Corrections and various other organizations and associations in the State are this year asking the Legislature to extend the provisions of the juvenile court law to the rest of the State. If this appeals to you as needed legislation, I suggest that you take the matter up with your Senator and Representative at Jefferson City, and ask them to support the bill that will be introduced on this subject. But we intend to go farther in our legislation for children. Most of you know of the recent establishment of a children's bureau as a part of the government of the United States. Some may know Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 187 also of the fact that a number of states have public institutions or agencies charged with the complete supervision of the welfare of dependent and neglected children. These state bureaus have in a few cases existed for many years, and they publish statistics show- ing a remarkable public benefit from their child-saving work. But in Missouri there is no State system of child-saving. Children who through misfortune are left homeless or whose parents are plainly unfit persons to have charge of them are victims of an un- happy fate, indeed. To be sure, there are private institutions and associations established to care for neglected and dependent chil- dren, and these agencies deserve the highest praise for the unselfish work they are doing. But their number and facilities are not suf- ficient to meet the need; there is no correlation and no compre- hensive plan in their relationships one with another, and it is im- possible to vest in them proper authority to control this field satisfactorily. And there are juvenile courts in six counties, as I have said, which have a substantial supervision over the welfare of children. But in respect to dependent children, these courts are greatly in need of a supplementary State agency for child-plac- ing. So there appears to be a wide breach in our laws, for the chil- dren — the wards of the State — are not being fully protected. But the urgency of reform in this field would not be so great were it not that scores of actual instances of the need of a chil- dren's bureau have been observed. The thoughtless way in which children are thrown into jail with adults has just been pointed out, and you must remember that in the large majority of cases the boy or girl that is thrown into jail is the victim of a defective home. The county courts are continually having brought to their at- tention orphans and others of the type mentioned who need homes but for whom the court is not prepared to find such foster homes. Frequently the best they can do is to have them sent to orphan asylums without further supervision, and often they cannot do even so well as that. An inquiry among organizations and public of- ficials this summer disclosed the fact that there are in Missouri between three hundred and six hundred dependent and neglected children immediately in need of the benefits of a State children's bureau. And the situations in which some of them are to be found are truly deplorable. Some dependent children are treated as though they were delinquents and sent to the State reform schools. There are a few who are really but feeble-minded who have been committed to the hospitals for the insane. And, saddest of all, there are about sixty confined in the county poorhouses, their young 188 Missouri Agricultural Report. lives blighted by the circumstances in which the State allows them to live. The situation is even gloomier than this, for we know of many pauper children for whom the almshouse itself is responsible. A comprehensive plan to prevent the continuance of the evils I have here merely suggested is embodied in a bill which is to be introduced in a few days in our State Legislature. The bill pro- vides for the establishment immediately of a State bureau for children as a part of the organization of the State Board of Chari- ties and Corrections. It prohibits the confinement, save in excep- tional cases, of children in county almshouses, and it requires this bureau to receive and place in proper homes dependent and neg- lected children, and thereafter to supervise them as their legal guardian. This is surely a measure that should appeal not only to the sympathies of all citizens, but also to their reason. The dependent and neglected child, if uncared for by the State, is not only the object of pity to all who know of its plight, but it is usually a burden upon the public financially throughout life. To establish this bureau now is trading pennies in 1913 for dollars in 1923. So I trust that if this suggestion meets with your favor you will not allow it to drop, but will discuss it with your friends, passing resolutions recommending the establishment of the bureau in whatever socie- ties you may belong to, and sending such memorials, as well as personal letters, to your Representatives and Senators at Jefferson City. It is only thus that they can learn of a public demand for such bureau. THE BOY IN THE FAMILY. (Mrs. Anna C. Windsor. Boonville, Mo.) Solomon said, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." Catholics say, "Give me a child until he is seven years of age, and do what you will, he will keep the faith." If this be true, that the first seven years of a child's life is the time for him to develop the habit of right living, right thinking and high ideals, we parents are responsible for the neglect of this important work. For in these few years our influ- ence is supreme. We heal the wounded body and troubled hearts with our kisses, and in our arms is perfect content and happiness. Every child is an idealist, every parent an idol. You have seen the son of four years trying to imitate the father, or the daughter trying to do the work of the mother. So we know from that that Report of Missouri Farmers* Week. 189 the world's conduct is judged by our own. We give of our love and service the best that we have to give, and sometimes fail to teach the children, that they have a duty to perform by helping with the little duties of life, by being happy themselves, charitable and thoughtful of others. By performing these little tasks of home life with beaming countenances we are able to drive away many of the world's worries. We are judged in the world by the big things we accomplish, but after all, it is the little niceties of life which make us really happy and equip us for battle. The child's mind is anxious for knowledge and wants to know why we sometimes say "no." As we should like to know the reasons when we are unduly criticised, so we should be ever ready to give our reasons for saying "no" or "yes." If we do not satisfy a child in, this particular someone else will, possibly to the loss of our influence to some degree. The sooner he knows that "no" is final the sooner the lesson in obedi- ence is learned, and the easier it is for him to accept conditions as they are and make the best of them. Then a battle for home and school is won and a lesson in self-control is learned which will help him to pass over the rough places in life with grace, and be the stronger for it. We punish a child for telling a falsehood when we are often responsible for it ourselves. How? By punishing for accidents and things that he cannot help; by not investigating thoroughly and discovering where to place the blame ; by not being as careful as we should be ourselves of what we say and do. I once heard a woman tell a direct falsehood over the telephone, and within a half hour punish her little son for a similar offense. If we would have our children be absolutely truthful, we must be so before them in act and deed. If we would take our darlings on our laps, and in a real mother's way take time to develop in them a love of truth, and the meaning of truth and honor to the human life and social relations, we would avoid many heartaches and humiliations. When we have made them realize this great truth the little virtues will begin to take their places in their lives, and with our encour- agement and that of our friends they will set their own, standards of right living and right thinking high and try to reach the goal. The country is the ideal place to rear a family, particularly the boys of the family. There we are free from the influence of the outside world, and our influence is supreme. There we have room for all kinds of sports and games, which it is our duty to provide, and give time for this enjoyment. Here is where we often 190 Missouri Agncultural Report. fail in our duty. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," and recreation is needed on the farm as well as elsewhere. We also have room for pets, cats, dogs, lambs, pigs, ponies, etc., and the children will keep busy looking after these, and not debase their minds and hearts with those things which lead downward. We cannot be too careful in placing the right kind of literature before our sons. We should read carefully and give them that which will create an, ambitious, uplifting tendency. They should have interesting, manly stories, with good language and good morals. Boys will, by the time they are able to select their own books, have acquired a taste for good literature and will not enjoy the "Nick Carter" brand. The country boy needs this safeguard thrown around him for the improvement of his leisure moments. For good books are good companions. A boy's room should be attractive. As a rule, the daughter's room is made a very attractive, restful place. Some think sons would not appreciate an attractive room and do not make it so. As a rule, you will find the sons just as eager to make their rooms attractive, from their point of view, as you would make the daughter's room, and they will enjoy showing it to their friends and enjoy the time spent in it. To enjoy, care for and appreciate these possessions a son must have them. He should be allowed and encouraged to decorate his own room. Gradually his taste for the beautiful will develop, and he will be making plans and work- ing to make home more attractive in all its appointments. I have seen sons come home from a trip tired, but not content to rest until they had placed a new picture or pennant in the most effective place on the wall of their room. The boy with musical talent is doubly blessed. It is not only a source of great pleasure to himself, his family and his friends, but it gives him a place in society, lifts him up and sets him apart. With beautiful thoughts and beautiful melodies for companions, he whiles away many evenings which would otherwise be dull and weary. These accomplishments have their uplifting, refining in- fluence, which develop a taste for the higher things in life. I beg you to develop a boy's talent for the beautiful, in whatever line it is, for it means much toward a happy, contented future for him. This part of the country boy's life is sadly neglected. To acquire thrift and alertness pertaining to the financial side of life, they must have something of their own to sell or keep. This should be theirs to use as they choose, so long as they do not injure themselves or friends by so doing. The feeling of inde- Report of Missouri Farmers* Week. 191 pendence that the owning of property gives us is a necessity to every one who is ambitious, and must be developed as all other characteristics must be. Do not deal out pennies to your soa or require him to ask money for his small expenses, but give him something of his own that is not worthless, something that he will be proud of. It may slip from him quickly at first, but he will soon learn to care for his dollars and invest them profitably. Teach the boy always to go to a successful man for advice. A lady of my acquaintan,ce said she had to leave the farm because of the influence of the hired hands on her boys. I say, begin at the cradle to point to the star of success. First, teach a boy that it is hard for him to rise higher than his associates. Second, teach him that a true gentleman must be kind an,d courteous to everyone, and that his best friends and companions must be am- bitious and anxious to build strong, clean, beautiful characters, and be useful, intelligent, honorable citizens. Give them the best advantages that you can, and if they have made the best of their opportunities, success will crown their efforts. Do you think the average farm hand, usually devoid of education or refinement of any sort, could influence a boy who has had a model of this kind held before him all these years ? I have not found it so. Really, the boy on the farm, studying nature, plant life, soil conditions and the different kinds of stock, is more independent than those following other callings in life. Crops and stock increase while you sleep or take your vaca- tion,. The ever-varying labor of the farm is not tiresome, nor is it drudgery, unless we make it so. In this day of progress the suc- cessful farmer must be alert, intelligent, broad-minded, and, above all, a student. Then let us encourage the farmer boys by giving them high school advantages in their own districts, build better roads which will improve social and spiritual advantages, point out the pleasant side of farm work, make them feel that their inter- ests are identical with our own, and they will not be leaving the farm to accept menial positions in the city. ^^' Ilk wBSk'^^^US''' M 192 Missouri Agricultural Report. GAMES AND DANCES FOR CHILDREN. (Miss Rebecca Conway, Department of Physical Education, University of Missouri.) The use of games for both children and adults has a deep significance for the individual and for the community through the conservation of physical, mental and moral vitality. Games have a positive educational influence that cannot be appreciated by one M^ho has not observed their effects. Children who are slow to see, to observe, to think and to do, may be completely transformed in this regard by the playing of games. "The Teddy Bears," Benton school, Columbia, Mo. The sense perceptions are quickened, and the child is aroused to quick and direct recognition of, and response to, things that go on around him. The clumsy, awkward body becomes agile and expert; the child who tumbles down today will not tumble down next week; he runs more fleetly, dodges with more agility, plays more expertly, showing, therefore, development of nerve and muscle. The social development through games is fully as important. Many children, whether because of lonely conditions at home or through some personal peculiarity, do not possess the power to co- operate readily and pleasantly with others. I have known of cases of peculiar, unsocial and even disliked children who have become popular with their playmates through the influence of games. The timid child learns to take his turn with others ; the bold, selfish child learns that he may not monopolize everything; the unappreci- ated child gains self-respect and the respect of others through some particular skill that makes him a desired partner or a respected opponent. But most important of all, however, in the training that comes through games is the development of the will, that power of self-control which is the highest aspect and the latest to develop. Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 193 Now comes the question of dancing in its various forms for children. In games the child learns to control the body as a whole; that is, all the body works toward one purpose, as in a running or a jumping game. But in the folk dancing and aesthetic dancing taught to our children here the feet and hands execute different "Butterfly Dance," Benton school, Columbia, Mo. things at the same time, but all in co-ordination, thereby develop- ing a strong sense of rhythm in the child. Thus we may see that games and dancing are extremely beneficial, for by them one is not only improved physically, but also mentally. Dumb-bell exercise, fourth grade, Benton school, Columbia, Mo. The photographs of the plays and games given in this article illustrate some of the things that may be used under ordinary cir- A— 13 194 Missouri Agriciiltural Report. cumstances. They represent some of the everyday activities of the children in the Benton school in Columbia, Mo., under conditions which are fairly representative of our public schools in the small towns of Missouri. Neither the games nor the dances need be complicated in order to get good results, and especially should those for the smaller children be simple and easy. The Danish folk dance, given below, can be taught to small children, who will always quickly catch and react to the rhythm of the music. The directions for this dance were taken from the "Folk Dance Book," by E. Ward Crampton, which is published by A. S". Barnes & Company of New York. We are very sorry it is not possible here to print the music that was written especially for this dance. DANISH DANCE OF GREETING. Formation — Single circle. Partners face center, hands on hips. Measures 1 and 2 — Clap hands twice, turn to partner and bow. Turn to center. Repeat, bowing to neighbor. Measure 3 — Stamp right, stamp left. Measure 4 — Turn around in place with four running steps. Repeat from beginning. Measures 5 and 6 — Join hands in circle. Run sixteen steps to the right. Turn and run sixteen steps to left. Repeat from beginning. Playing "Ponies," first grade, Benton scliool, Columbia, ISIo. The following references are given for those who are interested and would like a variety of games and dances to choose from: "Games," by Jesse Bancroft, contains directions and rules for games for children of all ages; "Folk Dances and Games," by Caroline Report of Missouri Farmers* Week. 195 Crawford, published by A. S'. Barnes & Company of New York, and the "Folk Dance Book," by E. Ward Crampton, published by the same company, give a great number of simple and more complex dances, with the music for each, which are suitable for children of all ages. THE PROBLEM OF THE BOY IN THE COUNTRY. (O. F. Field, Instructor in Physical Education, University of Missouri.) Certainly this is a subject worthy of our consideration, for if the country boy had the opportunity in body-building exercise that our average city lad has at his very door we would all want to move to the country to raise our children. With the space avail- able for all kinds of games and contests, and with the great amount of fresh air and sunshine, it would mean that our boy raised on the farm would outshadow the city boy many times, looking at it from a physical standpoint. As the problem stands now, the country boy has the right to demand that more opportunity be given him for the all-round de- velopment of his physique. I want to take this subject up from a number of standpoints and will not spend any further time discussing the disadvantages of country life, but rather the possibilities, which are much more numerous and very much more pleasing to talk about. We are all interested in the health of our children, so first let us take up this subject from the health point of view. "Play is necessary to good health." This certainly has proven to be true in the city, and is bound to be recognized before many years in the rural districts. Between the ages of five and twelve the boy's heart increases twelve times in size, while the arteries which carry the blood from this organ to all parts of the body increase only three times in size. This physiological condition causes an enormous pressure, which we often hear spoken of as "boy energy." For example, this might be likened to a small steam engine, but instead of steam it is energy which is being generated. This energy must have an outlet. A little boy who had lived with his sick grandmother for some time said, "Grandma, if you should die I would jump up and bust," meaning by this that he could not longer hold his energy. Often- times we forget that a boy cannot keep still for any length of time ; he simply must play. He must relieve this pressure and play is his method. 196 Missouri Agricultural Report. Not only are the boy's organs growing at an enormous rate, but his bones are growing and his muscles are filling out. We all know that the harder a boy plays the harder his muscles and bones become, and when a boy has hard muscles no mother need be afraid that he is sickly. Sickly boys do not have hard muscles. All this time the boy is growing tall and lanky, and he needs those games and exercises which will stiffen his backbone and make him manly. You have all heard the expression, "that fellow's got a stiff back- bone," and we infer immediately that he has been through several experiences each of which has stiffened it a little more. It is very healthful to have a straight and stiff backbone, for a crooked and weak one means that one has spinal curvature, and a bad curvature always affects the internal organs to some extent. There is one point that I would like to speak of which is very vital to the health of the boy but which a mother cannot fully realize. After the boy reaches the age when he feels himself becoming a man, when his voice changes and his "kid days" are over, the greatest gift of God to a boy is his power to work off in a physical way the energy that is continually being stored up within him. It is a fight, a real battle with the devil and all his forces, for a boy not to fall into secret sin and waste his strength; and for him to run, swim, box, wrestle, ride and play at all the games is one of the salvation processes for which he can thank nature. We should not discourage him, but rather urge him to use up this energy in a way that turns it into health, strength and power. There is another phase of the boy's life which is just as im- portant as health, and that is the moral side, or I would prefer it named the "leadership quality." The boy of courage is the one who is admired by other boys. Any boy can help drag the bob up the hill, but there is only one who is picked to steer all the rest down, and in him all have perfect confidence. This leadership quality is brought out only in some kind of physical activity. In choosing a baseball team there must be a captain, and only one captain, the rest are perfectly willing to work with him and follow his lead. So athletics and bodily exercises play a very important part in the development of this moral courage and leadership, for when a boy is playing with other boys he is liable to be natural and will stand up for those things which he thinks he deserves. You don't always find him this way at the table or at Sunday school and day school. In these places he feels just a little as though he had to assume a more careful and un- natural manner. Rep07^t of Missouri Farmers' Week. 197 This rubbing elbows with other boys and sizing himself up by his friends and putting his strength and skill against his playmates has a great deal to do with his after life, and we would do well to think more about this phase of his character. But the problem of giving the country boy a chance, a good chance in physical training, is a difficult one to solve, because "physical training" itself means that these physical activities of the boy must be properly supervised and directed. Bodily exercise, athletic games or play of any sort without cor- rect supervision is worse than none. In fact, the playground au- thorities say in their magazines, "First get some one who knows what ought to be done, one who knows how to direct the exercises, and this will clear up many problems." Now, it is not easy in the rural districts to get leaders for boys, but nothing can be done without leaders. This is one of the most important times to think of getting young men (who have been away to college and know something about athletics) to take up a group or class of boys and keep them busy. Public interest must be aroused, and this can be done in many ways. Women's societies in some large cities were the first to approach the subject of play- grounds. Newspapers all over the country are recognizing the boy problem. Sunday schools and churches are ready to listen and scheme in order to keep their boys with them. School boards will co-operate in a movement of this kind. The Young Men's Christian Association will put in a county secretary who will make it his busi- ness to work with boys if the county will support him. Our boys and girls of today cannot grow up to be the citizens which we are striving to make them without true leadership which encourages participation in those activities which tend to strengthen the mental, physical and moral side of their development. THE BABIES' HEALTH CONTEST. (Mrs. Flora Hartley Greene, Columbia, Mo., State Chairman of the Health Contest for Babies.) The department of "Care and Culture of Children" made its first appearance this year in our Home Makers' Conference. One large room in the Gordon Hotel building was set aside for this work. In it was arranged a display of: 1, Clothing for children from in- fancy to adolescence; 2, specimen meals giving properly balanced rations with necessary amount to furnish. needed calories for chil- dren aged two, eight and fourteen years; 3, constructive toys and playthings; 4, sixty books that every child could read with profit; 198 Missouri Agricultural Report. 5, a victrola to illustrate the music that our homes should possess ; 6, demonstration on the care of the sick ; 7, a baby health contest. The baby health contest was, as its name indicates, an attempt to select from children between the ages of six months and four years those who were the best physical specimens, not from the standpoint of beauty, but from that of physique and health. The thirty babies entered were divided into three classes and a first prize awarded in each class. The following* score card was used : James Gene Smith, Weston George Ellis, Applcton City. Carl Smarr, Columbia. First in the one-year-old class. 1. o 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 0. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. Official Record. Head and neck. Circumference of head Length width Eyes — -size, shape, setting Ears — size, shape, position. . . . Nose — size and patency Mouth, tongue, palate, tonsils. Teeth Neck and larynx Trunk and Limbs. Measure- ments. Weight Height Chest Waist (at navel) Symmetry of body Forearm and hand Calf and foot Muscular poise in walking, .sitting, and power of handgrip Skin — quality, coloring, etc Skeletal symmetry and proportions ■'Mkntalitv and Alertness. 10. Disposition 20. Expression and attention 21. Nervous balance and co-ordination. . . . Individual score. Standard score. 6 4 6 4 4 6 5 3 6 6 6 2 2 3 3 6 5 3 2 8 10 Revort of Missouri Farmers' Week. 199 STANDARD MEASUREMENTS FOR BOYS. The facts are from Holt's "The Care and Feeding of Infants." "The weight of girls is on the average about one pound less than boys. They are about the same height." — Holt. At Birth — Weight, 71/2 pounds; height, 201/2 inches ; chest, 131/2 inches; head, 14 inches; teeth, none. At One Year — Weight, 21 pounds; height, 29 inches; chest, 18 inches; head, 18 inches; teeth, six. At Two Years — Weight, 26I/2 pounds ; height, 32 inches ; chest, 19 inches; head, 19 inches; teeth, sixteen. At Three Years — Weight, 31 pounds ; height, 35 inches ; chest, 20 inches ; head, 19^4 inches ; teeth, twenty. Stanley Backus, Columbia. First in the two-year-old class. Will L. Nelson, Jr. Robert Oliver Pearman, Columbia. First in the three-year-old class. 200 Missouri Agricultural Report. In the first class, which included babies from six months to eighteen months of age, Carl Smarr was given first place. In the second class, including those from eighteen months to thirty months of age, Stanley Backus was given first place. In the third class, that for babies of thirty months to forty-eight months of age, Robert Pearman was given first place.* This health contest work has already attracted the attention of county fair associations, and it is hoped that a number of baby health contests may be held this year at county fairs as well as at the State Fair. RULES FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE HEALTH AND LIFE OF THE BABY. 1. Follow a fixed and regular daily schedule for the baby's feeding, exercise and play, rest and sleep, and body functions. 2. The clothing must protect the neck, arms and legs; it should be loose and comfortable; the underclothing of light soft woolens. 3. Mother's milk should be the food of the baby. When bottle-fed, use pure sweet cow's milk modified under the physician's directions. 4. Games, romps and other baby exercise favor growth, and give discipline in self-control. 5. Do not allow flies to touch the baby, his food, or his play- things. They carry the germs of diarrhoea, typhoid fever, tuber- culosis and other death-dealing diseases. 6. Disease germs often enter the baby's mouth on his "paci- fier." 7. Never use "soothing syrups," which generally contain poisonous sedatives and habit-forming drugs. 8. A child trained to regular habits and in good health never cries except when hungry, tired or uncomfortable. *A11 babies whose pictures are used in this article made creditable scores. THE GIRLS' TOMATO CANNING CLUB. (Miss Alice Kinney, Cliairman of Girls' Tomato Canning Club, New Franklin, Mo.) The home makers decided at their 1912 conference to make some effort to interest our Missouri girls in growing and canning tomatoes in order to -get in touch with some of the wide-awake girls over the State, and hoping thus to obtain a proper basis upon which to offer a scholarship for the short course in home economics, now open to girls in the State University. Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 201 Primarily, they wanted to stimulate the girls to furnish the homes with fresh and canned vegetables, thus enabling more fami- lies to live better and at a lower cost. The Agricultural Department at Washington, D. C, gave us much valuable assistance in furnishing all needed literature of in- structions and record sheets, besides seed and counsel. A number of girls over the State responded promptly, but only the bravest remained in the contest to the end. Many reported failures were due to the late spring and loss of plants, the greater number for the lack of home support, and in one instance the space of ground was refused the girl after she had joined the class. A report card was used similar to those formulated by Mr. Bradford Knapp, who has charge of the Girls' Canning and Poultry Clubs, organized under the auspices of the Bureau of Plant In- dustry, United States Department of Agriculture. Each girl re- ported on the cost of production of her tomatoes under the heads of rent of land, preparation of seed bed, the cost of seed or plants, of planting, of manure and fertilizers, of cultivation, of gathering fruit, of cans, labels and supplies, of canning work, and of market- ing canned goods. She also reported her receipts as those from fresh vegetables, from canned vegetables, value of that used at home and receipts from other products. Then the total cost and expense were figured and the net cost per can found. Martha Blume, New Franklin, winner of sliort course scholarship. Mary W. Harris, Fayette. Beryle Hocker, Fayette. In addition, each girl reported on the size of plot, the kind and depth of soil, character of the subsoil, the preparation of the soil and its condition when the plants were put out, the method of culti- 202 Missouri Agricultural Report. vation, the dates of planting, transplanting, staking, first bloom, first fruit and of ripening. The results of some of the tomato canning work was shown at a county fair; the premium was given for the highest scoring both in the whole and stewed tomatoes. Again there was a display at the State Fair, and the same ex- hibit is now here awaiting the final scoring by a committee, who will also take into consideration the record kept by these girls as they tilled the soil and tended the crop all through the long summer of 1912. The executive board of the Home Makers' Conference decided that they could give $25 toward a scholarship this year if it was possible to interest the Missouri State Board of Agriculture in con- tributing $25, which they most graciously did. Hence, our scholar- ship must be known as the Missouri Home Makers' and State Board of Agriculture Scholarship. As this meeting of the Home Makers' Conference would be too late to select the successful girl, it was necessary to make the decision at once, and the executive Board awarded it to Miss Martha Blume of New Franklin. Miss Louise Stanley, director of home economics in the State University, met with the Howard County Girls' Tomato Canning Club at New Franklin during the summer of 1912. As Miss Stanley's time was too limited for a practical demonstration in can- ning, she commented on some of their canned tomatoes and gave them much valuable instruction for their future efforts and formu- lated the following score card, not only to be used by the judges in. their contest-scoring, but also to direct the attention of the girls to the vital points — which are necessary in all high standard products : TOMATOES CANNED WHOLE. TOMATOES CANNED NOT WHOLE. Possible score. Score made. Possible score. Score made. Shape 15 15 15 15 30 10 • Color. . . 25 25 40 10 Firmness Proportion of litiuid to solid . . Color Proportion of liquid to Taste solid General neatness Total Taste General neatness 100 100 1 Total Name and address of contestant. Name and address of cont estant. Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 203 The Missouri Home Makers' Conference is making every effort to extend this work and hopes to get in touch with many girls over the State. Mrs. Quick. HOT LUNCHES IN RURAL SCHOOL. (Mrs. Fannie Quick, Rockport, Mo.) To many teachers it would no doubt seem almost an impossibility to try to have hot lunches in the rural school, but I have demonstrated the fact that it can be done. I admit that it takes energy, and not only energy, but a deep interest in the dear boys and girls who are entrusted to our care for eight or nine months in the year. I feel that when a teacher enters her school in the fall she should enter it with the full determination of making that the very happiest, best and most successful year of her life. I know full well of the many things we meet that seem as barriers to us, but they are not. It is only in the seeming. I know you have told your boys and girls many times that "Where there is a will there is a way." Now take that to yourself. The first question with you will be, "How did you manage the work?" I will answer it. I had been in the same school two years and the third year I introduced cooking. In the first place, about two weeks before the end of my second year of school a member of the board asked me to take the school the next year. I did so. I also asked permission to be present at the meeting when the directors met to contract, etc. I went to the meeting and was given an opportunity to speak. First, I asked permission to take a little time from the regular lessons, to give the girls that education which I feel they are so much in need of, not so much during school days but in after years. The board very kindly permitted me to do this. I then asked if we might give an ice cream social to raise the necessary funds to equip our kitchen, and to this they consented. So it was all settled as far as the board was concerned. We gave the social, and it was a success in every way. We went right to work, curtained off one corner of our room (about eight feet square, I should think) and in this was one window that gave us sufficient 204 Missouri Agricultural Report. light. Then on Saturday we went to town and bought our furnish- ings, which consisted of a two-burner oil stove and oven and a kitchen cabinet. These with a few cooking utensils, a long table which we already had, and a small safe which I had at home, com- pleted our kitchen furnishings. Then each pupil brought a knife and fork, plate, cup and saucer. There were also a few other dishes which we had to spare. Then we laid in a supply of provisions, such Manual Arts in Mrs. Quick's nu-al school. as flour, sugar, coffee, tea, spices, and flavorings, lard, etc. I said to the girls, "There are three things I am going to teach you to make, if nothing more, and those three things are to make good light bread, biscuit and corn bread." I have had said to me, "Oh, I think mother can teach the girls at home!" But hear me, the poor tired mother hasn't time. However, my girls were just as enthusiastic as I, and were delighted to do the work. I had only five girls that were old enough to take up the work to any extent. We did not have hot lunch every day, only about three days in the week. The day before we were to have dinner we would elect two girls to do the cooking and two to wait upon the table, and at this time we would decide what we were going to have. Perhaps each pupil would bring a potato, and what a big pan of potatoes we would have! Some would bring butter. And let n e say right here that this is where I linked the home with the school. The mothers became interested and would phone and ask me if we couldn't use a little milk or some eggs or Report of Missouri Farmers* Week. 205 butter. Of course, we could always use such things. Then the girls would come early, put their meat on, then pare the potatoes, and at recess drop them in with the meat and by twelve everything would be done. Sometimes they would prepare some drop dump- lings, lift the meat and potatoes out, put in the dumplings, and by the time the table was arranged these would be done. Other dishes were also prepared. Then we would eat. When we had finished our meal each pupil would carry his own dishes to the kitchen, so you see that when we had all finished there was but little left to do The sewing class in Mrs. Quick's rural school. in the way of clearing up the table. Usually we did not have time to wash our dishes at this time, but would do that after school closed in the evening. Mothers came to me after we had worked awhile and said, "I am so glad you have taken up this work; my girl can now take so much work off of me." All this can be done, teacher, without a doubt. I had no trouble about tardies, no irregular attendance. I think six tardies would cover all that I had during the three years. It is worth while if it helps us in our attendance. I had no failures at the end of the year. And above everything, it helps the girl when she wants to make a home for herself. Should the duty of homekeeping fall to the girl's lot just as she had finished her education, perhaps from the high school or maybe from the university, would her algebra, Latin, Greek or German, without more practical training, be of 206 Missouri Agricultural Report. any benefit to her at this time? None at all; she would be as help- less as a babe, and it would be very difficult for her to face the responsibilities she was called upon to assume. Mothers and fathers are crying aloud to the public schools to do something that will arouse the boys and girls and make them, feel and realize what life means to them. The call is insistent that some way be provided for directing their energies in the right channels. The child learns to do by doing. We have three educa- tions — the education of the head, hand and heart. I have been speaking of the education of the hand. In the practical work in the school the parents become coworkers with Mrs. Quick and her class in Domestic Science. the teacher. This seems education worth while. True, we have to shake off the moss which has been clinging to our backs for ages in order to catch the spirit of this new common-sense use of the public schools. But when those boys and girls leave school, if they do not possess a love for work and have a practical knowledge of the work going on about them, it will not be the fault of the school using this plan. This plan of education is based on the new conception of the purpose of the public school. The old conception was that the Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 207 schools were intended to train the boys and girls to be ladies and gentlemen, cultured in arts and science. The new conception is that the schools should prepare the boys and girls to be useful, capable citizens, equipped to take a hand in the practical affairs of life. TEACHING COOKING IN THE FRUITVILLE RURAL SCHOOL. (Miss Helen Swift, Fruitville, Mo.) It is no longer necessary to argue about the necessity for teaching cooking in our schools. We have only to consider ways and means. Here is how we have tried to solve the question at Fruitville. Our school is a typical one-room building with four windows on each side, a door in front directly opposite the flue. Teachers who have struggled with the arrangement of such a room will realize the difficulty of adding a kitchen equipment to its fur- nishings, especially since it was deemed advisable to do most of our work with a wood stove. This problem we solved by pitching a 12x14 tent just across the platform in front of the schoolhouse. This tent we have arranged as a real kitchen, with a stove, table and cupboard. With the exception of these three articles our equipment cost less than fifteen dollars. It contains nothing that might not be found in an ordinary farm kitchen. Perhaps it would seem meager to some city teachers, but if they had watched the children's interest in and surprised admiration of such articles as the toaster, egg beaters and vegetable press, they would know that there is a great opportunity with very simple equipment. All our equipment, including the tent, we owe to the generosity of Col. Jay L. Torrey, president of the Missouri State Immigration Society, whose interest in the State of Missouri as a whole, and in the boys and girls in particular, is second to none. Perhaps the hardest problem after that of equipment is that of securing the time. I have solved that in this way: We follow the program in the State course of study, omitting second grade reading and spelling after the morning recess, and combining third and fourth grade arithmetic, thus saving twenty minutes. The fire in the cook stove is laid before school, lighted at recess and fed by one of the younger boys, who finds in this activity a reward for well-studied lessons. At 11:40 the pupils who are re- sponsible for the preparation of that day's menu go to the kitchen. 208 Missouri Agrimdtural Report. The others remain at their desks for study or for discussion of the work of the next day. I endeavor to have as many children as possible share these discussions, and to save time often give recipes for a whole week at one lesson. For instance, one week may be given up to cream soups, another to quick breads, etc. At noon we are dismissed and by twenty minutes past twelve sit down to a lunch made palatable by the hot dish prepared by our cooks. The problem of cleaning up and dishwashing has so far been easy. The younger children are only too eager to show their skill. As to the general outline of our work, in the fall we took up canning with the object of using the fruits and vegetables so pre- served for our own lunches later in the year. We collected the different kinds of nuts with which our woods abound, talked of their dietetic value and used them in simple combinations. Before Christmas we made candies and packed them in boxes of our own manufacture and decoration. Just now everyone is butchering, so we will take the opportunity to study meats. As you see, we are not following any special order of study, but utilizing the material at hand. The correlative value of the study of cookery cannot be over- estimated. Suppose a group composed of a girl from the A class, one from the B class and boys from the C and D classes to be making cheese fondue according to the recipe in Williams & Fish- er's textbook; such questions as the following will touch most of the subjects they are studying: In what part of the digestive tract is cheese digested? What country in Europe is famous for its cheese? What is the principal cheese-making state? If a pint of butter weighs a pound, how much will one-fourth of a cup weigh? In fact, cooking correlates itself with every study from D numbers to A history and physiology. I am sure it is only a question of a few years until cooking will be taught in all rural schools, and I hope that the example of Fruitville school will encourage others to go and do likewise. Report of Missouri Farmers* Week. 209 THE SHORT COURSE FOR WOMEN IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI. (Miss Louise Stanley, Home Economics Department, University of Missouri.) The second year of our short course in home economics com- menced January 6, 1913, and twenty-one young women have been enrolled for this work. We feel that after this year we will have passed the experimental stage with this course and are ready to ^^^^^^^^^^Khh^^ '^HffiB^^^^^^^^^^^^^H ■ ■ P ^ "^^^^^^^^^^^L ^B ^"" ^H f ' Ki( J J J M ■ 8 The flreless cooker saves time, energy and fuel. broaden out and look for much greater increase in numbers. It seems wise, therefore, to let the women of Missouri know what we are doing and what we are aiming to do. This course was first established in January, 1912, with the aim of supplying to the young women of the State a type of train- A— 14 210 Missouri Agricultural Report. ing similar to that furnished the young men by the short course in agriculture. Too long have we considered that the most im- portant of all professions, home making, could be entered into without any previous training. We are now realizing that if our homes are to keep pace with the progress of the times we must train our young women for their duties in them, both that they may perform those duties more efficiently and that they may carry to them that knowledge which bridges the gulf between drudgery and systematic, orderly work. With this end in view, we have selected from our regular course those subjects which bear most directly on home life and have adapted them to the needs of the short course student. These courses have been supplemented by courses in agriculture in which Some dresses mado by (lio short course class. the women might be interested, such as dairying, poultry raising and home gardening. For a more detailed outline of these courses you are referred to the short course bulletin, which will be mailed on request. It is a little difficult to estimate the benefits which can be derived from such a course. If we were discussing any profession, such benefits could be expressed in terms of dollars and cents. It Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 211 is rather hard to do this when we come to home making, because so few homes are run on a business basis that figures are hard to obtain. However, it stands to reason, that there are great possi- bihties to save money in the home by wise and economical man- ^ 'il/mm ■, — \ '* ^ ; ^^Ds^ ' ^^^m^^^^H '^••'Ji 1 ( V ^^Hk .■■■■'"*^y^B 't km V^ HH^Km.' ■^jmi '^ ^fl ' i I ■ *\. " 1 ■s~A.-. ^"-- ^^V 1 V-\ _A 0^'' ^^ ^ - r*^ % m B- ^'*"^ :d ■" it ■ 1' L ^1 f ^1 #" ""^m^* If ^m| f The thermometer saves time and means more accurate work. agement. The greatest gain, however, comes to the well-trained home maker, not in terms of dollars and cents, but in, the form of greater health and happiness of the family, less sickness, longer 212 Missouri Agricultural Report. lives for all, greater opportunity to work and greater opportunity to enjoy. These are things for which we would give any amount of money if we did not have them, and for those of us who have them no amount of money can buy them from us. This year we have among the twenty-one students enrolled five scholarship students: Miss Edda Mae Bixlee of Benjamin, Mo., who has won her scholarship in a grange contest; Misses Maggie Todd, Bess Crouch and Bess Needham of Neosho, Mo., who won the scholarships offered by McGinty Brothers in a voting contest ; and last, our own scholarship girl. Miss Martha Blume of New Frank- lin, Mo., who won first prize in the tomato contest work and re- Short (course class in Home Economics, 1913. ceived as reward a fifty-dollar scholarship, half of which was given by the Missouri Home Makers' Conference and half by the State Board of Agriculture. Next year we hope that other contests may be held in other parts of the State and that as a result this oppor- tunity will be offered to a larger number of young women. Both last year and this we have had the young women with us for the seven weeks immediately after the Christmas holidays. This we have done in order to have them here at the time of our Repo7't of Missouri Farmers' Week. 213 annual conference. We have found this to be objectionable be- cause of the difficulty in getting rooms for students for such a short time, especially when this time cuts into two semesters. It seems advisable on this account to have the course another year for the seven weeks immediately preceding Christmas. Let us anticipate a little and see what we are planning for another year. We hope to be able to add more courses and to broaden out a bit — a course in preventive medicine has already been promised us. To those courses we already have will be added more advanced courses in home economics, but just what form these courses shall take we cannot say at this time. We would like suggestions, for you know better what is needed than we do. Tell us what you want for another year. Also you know the names of many young women who might be interested in this work, young women just through high school, young women in the homes, who will find that the time so spent is much more than justified. Will you not help us by sending the names of these young women? This year many names came to us after the course had started. In a course which lasts only seven weeks it is important that all names should be in early and all students enrolled as soon as pos- sible. Send in the names now and we will get then on our mailing list and will see that each one receives information, regarding the short course work. A LESSON IN DRAFTING PATTERNS. (Miss Nelle Carter, Department of Home Economics, University of Missouri.) Materials needed for drafting are : Several yards of wrapping paper that is a yard wide, a foot ruler, a yardstick, a tape meas- ure, a pencil, a few pins, a yard of cotton tape and a large table. A SHIRT-WAIST DRAFT. All measurements should be carefully taken. Remove belt and collar if possible and pin a tape securely in place to indicate the normal waist line. The following measurements will be needed and should be taken as directed: Bust. — Stand behind the person being measured and pass the tape measure over the fullest part of the bust, one inch below the hollow of the arms. Place a pin at the top of the tape measure at the center back. Add three inches to this measurement. 214 Missouri Agricultural Report. Distance of Bust Line from Base of Neck. — From the large bone at the base of the neck measure to the pin placed in the center of the back. Length of Back. — Measure from the bone at the base of the neck to the waist line. First Width of Back. — Place a pin three inches from the bone at the neck. Measure the width of the back at this point, from arm to arm. Second Width of Back. — Measure from the center of the back, or where the pin was placed in measuring the bust line, to the hollow of the arm or to a point where the underarm seam should come. Underarm Seam. — Measure from the hollow of the arm to the waist line. E Fig. 1. Shoulder. — Measure from a point one inch back from the top of the shoulder to the base of the neck. Neck. — Take an easy measurement around the base of the neck. Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 215 Width of Chest. — Measure across the chest from arm to arm two inches down from the hollow of the neck. Length of Front. — Measure from the hollow of the neck to the waist line. DirectioAS for Drafting the Back of the Waist. — Draw a line one inch from and parallel to the top edge of the paper. Mark this line E. (See Fig. 1.) To form the neck curve, measure on the edge of the paper three-eighths inch from E and mark the point (a), and on line E, at a distance from the edge of the paper equal to one-third of one-half of the neck size, mark a second point (b). Connect these two points with a curved line. Two inches down, from line E draw a line parallel to E, extend- ing entirely across the paper, and mark it D. This line indicates the amount of slope of the shoulder. Measure the distance of the bust line from the point (a) , which represents the bone at the base of the neck, on the edge of the paper, which is the center back of the pattern. Through this point draw a line entirely across the paper parallel to line E. This is the bust line or line F. A third line should be drawn three inches from (a) and parallel to E. This line need extend only one-third the distance across the paper and is marked C. To Form the Shoulder Line. — With (b) as a center, draw a radius equal to the length of the shoulder, intersecting line D. Con,- nect this point of intersection with point (b). To Get the Widths of the Back. — Measure on, line C one-half of the first width of back; measure on line F, the bust line, the second width of back, namely, the distance from the center back to the underarm seam. Raise this point one inch, because this measurement was taken one inch below the hollow of the arm. Mark this point (g) . Form a curve for the arm size by connecting the points which determine the widths of the back with the end of the shoulder line. To Form the Lower Part of the Waist. — From (g) draw a line perpendicular to the bust line and the length of the underarm seam. Place a point (h) one and one-half inches in from this point (depending upon the number of gathers desired in back), and con- nect the new point (h) with point (g). Correct the measurement for the length of the underarm seam. Measure on the edge of the paper from point (a) the length of the back. Connect this point with point (h) by a straight line. This forms the waist line for the back. 216 Missouri Agricultural Report. From point (h) drop a perpendicular line four inches long. Place a point two or three inches out from the bottom of this per- It is easy to fit a form. pendicular line (the exact amount depending upon the size of the hips). Connect this point with point (h) by a slightly curved line. Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 217 Draw a lin,e from the end of this slightly curved line parallel to the waist line to the center back. Modify the sharp angle formed at the waist line by drawing a slightly curved line from a point one- half inch above the waist line to a point one-fourth inch below. Directions for Drafting the Front of the Waist. — Lines E, D and F are extended across the paper from the back. To Form the Neck Curve. — Measure on the edge of the paper from line E one-third of one-half of the neck size plus five-eighths inch. This locates point (a) . Measure on line E from the edge of the paper one-third of one-half of the neck size plus three-eighths inch. This locates point (b). Connect these two points with a curved line. To Form the Shoulder Line. — Follow directions given in draft- ing this line in the back. To Draft the Arm Curve. — Two inches down from point (a) draw a line C parallel to E, extending only a third of the distance across the paper. On this line measure one-half of the chest meas- urement. Subtract the second width of the back from one-half of the bust measurement and measure the remainder on the bust line, marking this point (s). Raise this point one inch, for the same reason that a similar point was raised in drafting the back. Call the new point (t). Drop a perpendicular line from the end of the shoulder line to the bust line and mark the intersection (w). Half way between (s) and (w) erect a perpendicular line one-half inch high. Draw a curved line starting from the end of the shoulder line, touching the point on line C, the top of the half-inch perpendicular line, and the point (t). To Draft the Lower Part of the Front. — Drop a perpendicular line from point (t) and on this measure the length of the underarm seam. Mark this point (v). Measure from point (v) two inches out. This locates point (x). Connect points (x) and (t). Correct the underarm seam, naming this new point (z) . Measure from point (a) the length of the front on the edge of the paper and connect this point with point (z) to form the waist line. Finish the bottom of the front as directed for the back. To Allow for Seams. — One inch over the shoulder, one and one- half inches for the underarm seam and one-fourth inch for the neck and sleeves. For the Sleeve. — Any sleeve pattern that fits the individual may be used. 218 Missouri Agricultural Report. A FIVE-GORED SKIRT DRAFT. The measurements needed are: Waist. — Remove outside belt, pin a cotton tape securely in place. Take this measurement comfortably tight. Hip. — Take this measurement loosely over the largest part of the hips, usually five inches down from the waist line. Lengths. — Measure center front, center side and center back, from the waist line to the floor. Subtract from this length the distance the skirt is desired from the floor. Fig. Construction Lines. — Use the edge of the paper as line A for the front gore, but where flares are to be added place line A three inches in from the edge of the paper. Draw line B three inches from the edge of the paper for the front and side gores, but five inches for the back gore. Measure down on line A from line B the distance of the hip line. This is usually five inches, but may be more, depending on the size of the person. From this point draw line C parallel to line B. Measure down on line A three inches from line C and draw a line parallel to C. Mark this line, which is the flare line, D. (See Fig. 2.) Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 219 DIRECTIONS FOR DRAFTING GORES. Consult the table for proportions for the gores, measuring out on the hip line and the flare line the required amounts. Form line E, the bias side of the gore when cut, by placing the edge of a yardstick on the points indicating the width of the hip and the amount of the flare and extend above line B. The width of the bottom of the gore depends on the desired width of the skirt at the bottom. Raise the top of the gore at the lines A and E, according to the given measures in, the table. Connect these points with a slightly curved line. For the side and the back gores measure in on this curved line from line A one-fourth inch, and two inches down on line A measure in one-eighth of an inch. Connect these two points and extend the line on down to the intersection of lines A and C. Measure the length of the gores on lines A and E accord- ing to the measures taken. Curve the bottom of the gores by connecting these points measured on lines A and E. Use a tape as a guide or draw free-hand. TABLE FOR DRAFTING FIVE-GORED PATTERN. Front gore. Sid3 gore. Bacli gore. Five- W H F W H F W H F gored skirt. 1/10 + 1/10 1/10 + 1/5 1/5 1/5 + 1/5 1/5 1/5 + 1/4" 1/4" 1" U" A E A E A E Raise top. i inch. i inch. 1 i inches. 1 i inches. 2i inches. Explanation of Table. — W, waist; H, hip; F, flare. W Vi(,=rVio of waist measure. H Vjo=:Vio of hip measure. F yjo=Vio of hip measure and the amounts added at the flare line are subject to change with the prevailing styles of skirt. 220 Missouri Agricultural Report. ART AND HANDWORK IN RURAL SCHOOLS. (Miss Ella Victoria Dobbs, Department of Manual Arts, University of Missouri.) The word "Art" to most people stands first of all for pictures, and next, perhaps, for certain fanciful decorations which are not at all neces- sary, but are supposed to make the things deco- rated "pretty." From this standpoint we may or may not use art in our surroundings as inclina- tion prompts us. A great many people never think of art as a universal element which enters into every most commonplace part of our daily lives whether we think about it or not. Art is Miss Dobbs. ,, , • jj i • ^ • ^ ■ ' j_ the element oi beauty which enters mto every thin^ we do, which we either use or abuse at every turn. It has more to do with the form and proportions of things than with the decorations placed on them. It has much to do with the clothes we wear and the houses we live in. It concerns the food we eat and the way it is served. Some one has said, "Art is the best way of doing whatever needs to be done," and if this is true the teach- ing of art in any school is not an extra or special subject, or a sort of luxury, but a very important necessity. In discussing some of the possibilities in the study of art and handwork in, the rural school, the writer assumes that the teacher of the school has had some training in this field, since no teacher can be called well equipped without it. It is also assumed that the teacher's "good taste" is equal to or a little above that of the best families in the district, since no wise and thoughtful school board would select a teacher who was not capable of at least maintaining the standards already reached by the community. The study of art in the school ought to awaken in each pupil a desire for a higher standard of living and give him some practical assistance in realizing his desire. It should, therefore, be very closely con- nected with the everyday affairs which make up life. The work of the classroom should go on under the most beautiful conditions possible and should constantly suggest ways of making life outside the school more attractive. The writer is well aware that in many schoolrooms, and particularly in some country schools, there is so little that is attractive that the word "beauty" seems a foreign Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 221 term in connection with them. The writer is also quite sure that this condition does not need to exist even in, the poorest district, if the community wish it otherwise. Cleanliness is next to godliness and is also a very important element in beautiful living. The first lesson in school art ought to concern neatness in every detail of school life. A clean and tidy schoolroom will help the individual pupils to be thoughtful in the care of their persons and personal belongings as well as in their actual book lessons. Very often an air of untidiness in a schoolroom is due to the lack of places to put things. Inadequate shelf room makes it neces- sary to pile books on the teacher's desk and the front seats. The lack of a safe cupboard in. which to store lunch baskets makes it necessary for each pupil to guard his own by placing it on the floor under his desk beside his muddy overshoes. These things ought to be provided as a part of every school equipment, but if they are not they suggest the beginning place for art and handwork. The available spaces may be studied and suitable and tasteful shelves built in, at very small expense in money and a little effort which will more than pay for itself in comfort. The designing of such shelves to meet the needs of the class and to suit the space into which they fit will furnish art study of more real value than any offered in the ordinary drawing books. The making of the shelves and other needed furniture by the pupils under the guidance of the teacher will provide profitable experience, not only in art and handwork, but in various related fields. Schoolroom walls, particularly in the country, are frequently lacking in every element of beauty. A dingy plaster wall orna- mented by a few cheap prints and advertising calendars plus some cracks and breaks in the plaster is not apt to inspire the class with any greater desire than to get away as soon, as possible. The study of art may be applied to the walls in the selection of paint or paper of a good tone in tan, green or gray ; something soft and restful which will give a plain background for a few good pictures as the class is able to acquire them. If no funds are avail- able for the purchase of necessary materials, enough can generally be raised through entertainments and socials which are pleasur- able as well. Often the actual painting and papering can be done by the older pupils and volunteer help from the patrons. If the teacher and the progressive mothers combine their energies a way will be found, and the work will give opportunity for developing 222 Missouri Agricultural Report. ideas of good taste and raising the common standards to some extent. Curtains, table covers, draperies for book shelves, perhaps a couch and cozy corner for the occasional sick child if space permits, offer further opportunity for the application of art to simple hand- work problems. Such work will be full of suggestions for the homes of the pupils also. In directing work of this sort the teacher who is well qualified for her work has a wonderful opportunity for helping the children and the community to appreciate the restfulness of soft colors; to emphasize the great beauty of plain paper on the walls as com- pared with the unrestfulness of spotted papers in, strong colors; to emphasize the restfulness of plain hangings of denim, crash, or burlap, with or without some simple border decoration, as com- pared with large flowered cretonne and similar materials; and to introduce into the school various sorts of work which will help meet the immediate needs of the community. The application of art and handwork to practical problems will not stop with the inside of the schoolhouse, but will extend to the grounds and outbuildings. If trees, vines and shrubs are planted by the children it will not on]y add to the attractiveness of the place, but give them a personal interest in their care and a greater feeling of ownership in the school. There are great possibilities in this field, once the work is undertaken, and the hardest part is in getting started. The laying of board or concrete walks in' the yard is within the powers of most country school groups, and no one improvement will add more to the comfort of the children, especial- ly if the yard is often muddy. The desire to live in a better way concerns the things we eat as well as the place in which we live. The wide-awake teacher will be interested in the lunches the children bring and the way in which they are eaten. Cold lunches are poor things even at best, and very frequently consist of most indigestible combinations. With a little managing and perhaps a small outlay, in almost any school arrangements can be made for cooking at least one hot dish, such as a soup or cereal, a custard and sometimes a vegetable. If the teacher is qualified, she will be able through this means to em- phasize a few fundamental points in the choice and preparation of foods. It will also be possible to give some attention to the man- ner of serving and eating the things cooked. When it is a common problem she can call attention to certain points in table manners, Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 223 in which some of the children may be lacking, much more freely and with better effect than when lunch is a matter of individual baskets. It will generally be possible to set a table large enough to accommodate a part of the group, and with the right sort of leadership it will be real sport as well as profitable experience to take turns in serving and being served and learning how to do both in the most approved fashion. If the immediate surroundings in the school are n,ot in great need of improvement, the study of art and handwork will find a profitable field in designing costumes and in planning houses and the appropriate furnishings for various rooms, the children apply- ing their efforts to their own homes and their own clothes. Work of this sort presupposes a teacher who is well qualified for her work. She need not be a specialist in either manual arts or home economics, but she should have good taste, reinforced by some knowledge of what is really good from the art standpoint, some knowledge of woodworking tools and materials, and some practical experience in cooking and sewing as well as knowledge of food values. Above all, she must be possessed of a strong de- sire to serve the community. With this last qualification she will be able to overcome many other deficiencies. Another and scarcely less important factor in the success of a study of art and handwork, as outlined above, is the attitude of the mothers of the district. If there is a home makers' club it will, of course, be actively interested in co-operating with the teacher and helping her to direct her energies toward the greatest need with success. If no such club exists, the opportunity is wait- ing for one or two of the most progressive mothers to get together and make a beginning somewhere. The getting together and the starting will be the hardest part. Once begun with a determina- tion to succeed, ways and means will develop as needs are faced. There are few obstacles too great to be overcome by a devoted teacher and a group of progressive mothers, and it is comforting to remember that those who "never make mistakes never make anything else." 224 Missouri Agricultural Report. SCHOOL SANITATION. Miss Stanley. (Louise Stanley, Department of Home Economics, University of Missouri.) Why do we want our schoolrooms clean? Perhaps you think it makes little difference. / ^^■■l^ \ You can study quite as well and learn just ^H^^^^Bl \ as much whether the room is clean or dirty. :|W^^^^^^B \ Suppose you agree to try it the clean way ^^ 'T^Km \ this winter and see whether or not it makes '•' any difference. See if you are not able to do more work, keep in better health, and study and learn more than ever before. How many of you would like to try it? The first thing for you to do then will be to get "cleaned up." Can you not set aside a "clean-up day" or a "good-health day" — they really mean the same — when you can, all come and see to it that everything in and about the schoolroom is thoroughly cleaned? How many of you are willing to help and think you can bring from home the necessary cleaning materials? You must allow sufficient time before this day so you can plan all the work systematically and discuss just what needs to be done. What is meant by cleaning systematically, anyhow? It means considering what there is to be done, listing and planning the order of work so that each duty will fit into the next, and so that the performance of any one duty will not interfere with what has gone before and what is to come after. This is what the housekeeper does when she plans her work for the day or the week. Each duty is done at the most economical time and in the most economical way. Thus she is enabled to accomplish the most in the least time. Now let us stop and think of the different things which must be done in order to put your room in order. The floors, the walls and ceiling, furniture, stoves and windows all need attention. We must decide what is to be the order of this work and how each operation is to be done. Why remove the furniture first? When should the furniture be cleaned if left in the room? Why clean the ceiling before the walls? What should be the last portion of the room to be cleaned before returning the furniture to the room ? Report of Missouri Farmers* Week. 225 In systematic cleaning the first step is the removal of all the furniture. A bright, clear day should be selected so it will be pos- sible to move it onto the porch or out into the yard. This should all be thoroughly cleaned before it is returned to the room, so we might just as well discuss in, the beginning the treatment it should receive. One group of children can then be at work on the furni- ture while another group is cleaning up the interior of the building. Care of Furniture. — In the home we never apply water to fur- niture. When it needs to be dusted it is wiped off with a cloth which is dampened very slightly or to which a trace of kerosene has been added. A little furniture polish may be used and rubbed well into the wood. In any case, no oil or polish should be left on the outside to dry and gum, as it serves as a means of collecting dust. As for school desks, they are probably so soiled and have been, used by so many different children that wiping off with even a damp cloth will not suffice. They should be thoroughly scrubbed. We want them thoroughly clean and sanitary, even if it be at the expense of the varnish. All the cracks should be stopped up as far as possible and the rough places made smooth with sandpaper. This will make it very much easier to keep the desks clean. After the desks have been put in the best possible condition no one will be guilty of defacing them in any way. The carving on a desk does not add in any way to its beauty, but makes a place for the lodg- ment of dirt and germs. Renovation of Furmiture. — If there is time and the money is available, some or all of the furniture may be refinished. In order to do this it is first necessary to remove the old stain. This can be done by a scraper after the furniture has been washed, if very dirty. It can be given a final smooth finish and the varnish re- moved from the corners by the use of sandpaper. The stain can then be applied and, finally, the varnish put on,, which can be rubbed with sandpaper to any degree of dullness desired. Most of ius do not care for shiny furniture, and it is certainly much more difficult to keep in proper condition than, that with a dull finish. Cleaning of the Stove. — The stove should receive attention next. If the weather is sufficiently warm, the stove, if not too heavy, can be removed to the outside, and by cleaning it there much dirt and unnecessary dust be kept out of the room. It should he thoroughly cleaned in every part. Any parts which are broken should receive attention at this time. If the stove is very dirty it A— 15 226 Missouri Agricultural Report. should be washed with soap and water. If any parts are rusted, the rust can be removed by soaking with kerosene, remembering, of course, that kerosene catches fire very easily and should never be used while there is a trace of fire about it. After it is thorough- ly cleaned it should be well blackened and polished with a cloth or brush. Once the stove has been gotten into the proper condition it can be easily kept so. If anything spills on the stove wipe it off with a piece of paper. A cloth should be kept, by means of which the stove can be wiped each day. If this is done it will not be necessary to polish the stove very often. Coming now to the interior, did you decide which portion should receive attention first? A safe rule to follow is to com- mence at the top and work down. In this way water and dust from above will not be spilled over the clean portion below. This means we must commence with the ceiling and work down the walls. Cleaning the Walls and Ceiling. — Wipe down the ceiling and walls carefully with a broom covered with a soft cloth. If the walls are painted they may be wiped off with soap and water. On this account paint is better for walls that are likely to become soiled than calcimine, whitewash or wall paper. On the other hand, calcimine and whitewash are cheaper and can be replaced more frequently than the paint. A very good plan is to paint the lower portion of the wall, which is the portion more likely to be soiled, while the upper portion may be treated in one of the other ways. If the walls are to be refinished in any way you should be very careful as to the selection of your color. By the selection of your colors you may add to the beauty and the apparent warmth and light in the room. Which colors do you like best? Is there any reason for your likes and dislikes in regard to color? Do some colors in a room make it appear warmer than others? Some cooler? Divide colors into the warm and the cool colors. Can you see any reason for some colors being called warm and some cold? Which colors make a room seem lighter? Why are they important in a schoolroom? Is it important to choose carefully the colors of the walls in your rooms at home ? We know that those colors which are connected in our minds with fire make a room seem warm. They are the reds and yellows, while the blues and greens make a room seem cool, probably be- cause of their connection in our minds with water, ice and the cool Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 227 forests. Light colors, especially a cream yellow, reflect the light better and make a room seem lighter, while the dark colors absorb the light rays and make a room appear correspondingly darker. Psychologically, colors affect people differently. As a rule, we may say that it is better to select neutral colors — soft grays, gray greens and soft brown. Washing of the Windows. — The windows should be carefully washed. Dirt and grime on the window glass may cut off a large proportion of the light, and may mean serious trouble for some of the students later in life. For cleaning the windows you will want plenty of clean water, some soft clean cloths and clean newspapers. A little kerosene added to the water makes it easier to clean the windows; a small amount of soap or washing soda may be used, but it is not advisable, as it may streak the windows. Dip in the washing cloth and squeeze almost dry. Rub the window with the damp cloth, rinsing it frequently, until perfectly clean. Rub dry with a clean soft cloth, and polish with a piece of soft newspaper which will leave no lint. This should leave them clean and shiny. At the same time the window frames and the window ledge should receive attention. They should be wiped with a cloth dipped in soapy water or water to which a small amount of kerosene has been added. In case they are very dirty a scrub brush may have to be resorted to. If this is necessary, it should be done before the window glass is washed. Nothing should be tolerated on the outside of the windows which will hinder their being frequently cleaned. If a screen is desired there to protect the window from stray rocks or balls, it should either be put on in such a way as to enable it to be removed easily or should be on a hinged frame. Any of the older boys could construct such a hinged frame. The first step in the cleaning of any floor is to sweep it well. This should always be done in such a way as to raise as little dust as possible into the air, and at the same time collect as much as possible from the floor. The broom should be held firmly, not too tight, and you should sweep with short strokes, keeping the broom close to the floor. Turn it edgewise to clean out the cracks and corners. As a means of preventing the dust from rising into the air, various materials may be sprinkled on the floor before sweeping, which, as they are swept up, tend to accumulate and hold the dust. For a bare floor sawdust to which a small amount of oil has been added is used, while for sweeping a carpet, damp tea leaves or 228 Missouri Agricultural Report. moistened shreds of newspaper. The oil would, of course, ruin a carpet. The trash should never be swept out into the dooryard, but should be carefully collected and burned. After the floor has been swept it should be scrubbed. For scrubbing you will need a scrub brush, a soft cloth, some soap and sand or some sand soap. The spots should be removed first of all, since they will be difficult to locate when the floor is wet. Next proceed working over the floor, a small po