Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 165, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 July 1914 — Home Gardening and Canning Club Work. [ARTICLE]

Home Gardening and Canning Club Work.

Through the co-operation of the, superintendent and teachers of the Indianapolis city schoMs with Z. M. Smith, assistant in boys’ and girls’ club work of the Purdue agricultural extension department, an immense work has been launched. This is in the nature qf home gardening and canning club work. Supt. J. G. Collicott, of the Indianapolis public schools, saw the need of more practical work for his pupils and began to look around tor something that would answer the purpose. Z. M. Smith, of the Purdue agricultural extension department, went before the teachers and pupils of Indianapolis and spoke on "Home Gardening.” From his broad experience with conditions over the state of Indiana, he we able to show that there was pot only much* of interest but of profit to the bby and girl who could enter a corn club, a potato club, a poultry club or some agricultural organization, and therein find a new joy in working with growing things that respond to Intelligent handling. Mr. Smith succeeded in reaching directly a greater per cent of the Indianapolis boys and girls in these talks. He was able to show how alittle out of school time spent on a home garden plot could be made a souflee of pleasure and profit, and how some might learn that the soil had a stronger call for them than business or the trades.

The Indianapolis school board took up the matter and helped the good work along. The teachers took up the matter of enrollment and they found out how many pupils had a home garden plot or could make one, and then enrolled them that they might get the seeds and receive instructions on the work during the growing season. As a result of this work,-statistics show that 16,961 boys and girls are enrolled for home garden work during the summer in Indianapolis. Reports from 67 principals of the schools in the state give the areas in square feet of the garden for each school. The smallest area is 363 square feet and Hie largest is 710,400 square feet. These garden areas have all been planned by the pupils thmselves. The seeds* were furnished at wholesale cost to each pupil, who has planted only those flowers and vegetables that have appealed to him The entire area of the home garden plots is 81.74 acres. This is a good sized farm to be farmed intensively by nearly 17,000 “farmers,” which will return a goodly stum in gross receipts. The work has been progressing in such a satisfactory manner that Prof. O. H. Bonson, specialist in charge, Washington, D. C., has been secured to give a home canning demonstration on July 20 and 21, at Winona Technical Institute in Indianapolis. Prof. Bonson thinks that the elimination of wastes is one of the surest remedies for poverty and the high cost of living. With a little knowledge of preparing foods aru canning them, this high cost will be greatly reduced. The Work of the. Indianapolis boys and girls will prove that a great amount of this waste can be ellminated.-