The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1907-10-11


organization will be called Woman's
Institutes, modelled after the Farmers
Institutes which have been in sue
cessful existence for a quarter of a
century, fostered by the State Depart
ment OF Agriculture. The plan to
bring the country women together in
club meetings to be held in various
parts OF the state is the outcome of
! experiments made by Miss Martha Van
Rensselaer,, who for five years has
been conducting a reading course for
farmers wives under the auspices of
the College of Agriculture of Cornell
University. After leaving college she
was superintendent Of rural district
schools in western New York, and
there learned what was most needed
| by country women and children to
make farm life more endurable and
! attractive. There are more than TWEEN
| ty thousand women registered this
year as students in the reading circles
and large number attended a spe-
cial course arranged for them by Cor
nell University last spring.
In the reading circles are discussed
subjects dealing with home problems.
The circles are carried on primarily
by pamphlets published by the col
lege and sent out monthly, are sup
| plements by the best books dealing
with the subjects outlined in the pam
phlets One of the earliest and most
successful topics was on Saving
steps" and dealt with simple methods
of making work in The kitchen less of
task. Descriptions and cost Of many
inexpensive labor-saving devices were
given, also detailed plans for piping
water into the house and constructing
drains to carry it away. Dumb-waiter
construction was explained and
cheap method of installing the lifts
was given. Sanitary Improvements in
/ the house and simplifed arrangements
| for the daily routine of work were o
feature of the first Of the courses.
Home decoration, amusement for the
younger members of the family, and
all the problems that beset the house
keeper living an isolated life were
discussed in the spirit Of an interested
friend. Miss Van Rensselaer, asked
for letters of experience and sugges-
ton from the women, and they came
in such numbers that it seemed a good
idea to encourage the women Of
neighborhood to form clubs and dis
cuss the subjects of their studies.
At the Meetings.
Members of a club usually come
from a radius of ten to twenty miles
and their meetings are of so much in
terest that the deepest snow of winter
will not prevent a large attendance.
Lecturers from Cornell University are
frequently sent, either to speak on
subject agreed upon or simply to lead
in discussions and to answer ques-
lions. One of the most encouraging
features Of the clubs was the oppOr
tunity to bring before these women in.
struction in ways of earning money
by means of flower and bulb gardens,
scientific methods Of raising chickens
and marketing them, teaching house
industries of rug weaving and other
handicrafts. The best result of this
sort of work was not alone in the fl
nancial returns but in the value OF
having interests outside the routine
Of daily labor.
The success of reading circles and
the increasing number of clubs that
have been organized led Miss Van
Rensselaer, to propose holding regular
annual Institutes for women, and the
commissioner of the State Department
of Agriculture authorized a series OF
trial institutes. Mrs. Helen Wells of
Syracuse was asked to assist in the
new enterprise as she had been an &C
tive director of woman's Institutes in
Canada. where the plan has developed
with amazing rapidly. Thirty tnou
sand women belong to the Ontario
branch alont. while many more thou
sands are enrolled in the other Cana
dian provinces. New York will be
the first state to inaugurate the plan
but already the National Association of
Farmers Institute workers has ap-
pointed a special committee to intro
duce the plan in other states.
All the trial Institutes in this state
have been conducted by women lee
turers. and before any of the meetings
were held, the Agricultural Depart
ment said they would consider the ex-
peyiment worth continuing if the at
tendance averaged forty women at
each institute. AS it turned out, the
average was one hundred and fifty and
some of the meetings were attended