Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 87, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 January 1918 — PLANNING FOR SURVEY WEEK [ARTICLE]

PLANNING FOR SURVEY WEEK

Seed Stocks and Labor Needs of Farmers to Be Ascertained. County Agent Stewart Learning is one of the busiest men in Jasper county making plans for this county’s part in the state-wide “Seed Stocks and Labor Survey Week,” February 4 to 9. In addition to having this county to look after, because of the valuable work he has done in this county, he was chosen leader for the district, composed of Jasper, White and Newton counties. Meetings will be held in every county in the state before the date of starting the survey, when plans will be made for this work. Jasper was one of the first counties to hold such a meeting and to make plans Ifor the survey. At these gatherings township leaders are named and they, in turn, select community leaders for every two square miles in the townships wherein they reside. These community leaders make the actual survey, visiting every farmer in their respective sections and obtaining answers to given questions. When the resired information has been, obtained, the cards are returned to the county headquarters where they are kept as a sort of information bureau. The figures then will be tabulated for the county and for the entire state. Thus, a farmer who is short of seed corn for the 1918 planting season may find out who has a surplus. If no one in the county possesses it, he will be able to find out who in the nearest county does and at what price it may be purchased. Similar methods will be employed for seed for all the important crops and with the labor supply, the boys’ working reserve being used as widely as possible. This survey will be the most comprehensive ever undertaken by any state and is the first big step in Indiana’s 1918 food production program. It will ascertain the exact needs of Hoosier soil tillers and provide a system by which these needs will be filled. Through this plan, it is hoped, the state will be able to solve its own Agricultural problems. The work is being done through the Purdue agricultural extension department and the United States department |of agriculture.