The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1907-11-30

leTS OF the farmers or New York Is 10
helped by the state payment Of ex
penses for lectures this fall. The new
organization will be called Woman
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 a large number attended 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
a 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. Dumh-waiter
construction was explained. and
cheap method of installing the lifts
was given. Sanitary Improvements In
the house and simplified arrangements
for the daily routine Of work were
feature of the first of the courses.
Home decoration, amusements 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 good
idea to encourage the women of a
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 Univ rsity 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 n
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 tha1
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 series OF
trial institutes. Mrs. Helen Wells Vi
Syracuse was asked to assist in the
new enterprise as she had been an &C
tive director of womans institutes III
Canada, where the plan has developed
with amazing rapidity. Thirty thou'
sand women belong to the Ontario
branch alont, while many more thou-
sands are enrolled in the other cana
dian provinces. New York Will DE
the first state to inaugurate the plan
but already the National Association OF
Farmers Institute workers mas ap-
pointed a special committee 10 intio-
duce the plan in other states
All the trial Institutes in TINS stat
have been conducted by women iee-
turers. and before any OF the mee'iiiss
were held, the Agricultural Depail :
ment said they would consider the eA-
pertinent worth continuing II the a.
tendance averaged forty women a.
each institute. AS it turned ou1' 'ne
average was one hundred and MY anu