Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1913-11-07
TO VISIT CAPITAL.
Prize Winning Girls Of Canning
Clubs Are Favored.
eIFseen Winners Of Semato Raising
and Canning contesta In Southern
States to BE Rewarded by .
TRIO to Washin0ton.


Washingtun.-Fifteen giy1a. one
from each of fifteen southern mates.
are soon to be given a trip to Wash
tngton as q reward for their splendid
work in connection with the girls can.
ming clubs which are conducted I'M
der the auspices Of the United States
department Of agriculture. These If
teen girls are the state winners In
the various contests that have been
carried on and are the pick OF about
$4,000 girls who are enrolled In the
canning clubs.
The canning club work was begun
three or four years ago by the bureau
of plant industry in cooperation with
various private agencies. Prizes nave
been given before, but never have the
winners been sent in body to Wash
ington, although the state winners In
the boys corn clubs have been re-
varded in this manner. The depart
.ment of agriculture considered that
the time is now ripe for the prize
girls to have . similar trip.
The selection Of the winner Is made
differently in different states. In
Georgia, for Instance, the prize will
be awarded by the Atlanta chamber
of commerce at the Atlanta Corn
show. In some cases a women's club
or an individual or a board OF educa-
ton give the prize. A great num-
Der OF public-spirited people are en-
corraging the growth of the canning
club idea as an educational project
and the trips will all be paid for
through the generosity of private
agencies or Individuals.
While the department Of agriculture
does not supply the funds for the trips
which the young women will make,
It has arranged that the women agents
Of the canning clubs shall be sum-
moned to Washington for an official
conference at the same time that the
girls are to visit the capital They
will, therefore, be called upon to chap
eron the girls from their respective
states and will be in charge of them
during their visit. The eleventh OF
December is the date on which this
conference is now expected to be
called and on which the girls will
probably arrive. They will come for
. stay Of four or five days.
In order to determine which girls
are to be chosen, a choice first is made
of the best girl In each county, on the
basis Of notes. reports. and exhibits
of the competitors. A state contest
Is then held in which the winners OF
the various counties compete. This
IL frequently held in connection with
q state fair.
Each girl of the $4,000 girls en-
rolled in the canning clubs is supposed
to have carried out a definite project
in gardening on a tenth-acre plot.
The girls have raised tomatoes princi-
pally. but frequently they plant string
beans, cucumbers. peppers. okra, etc.
In certain regions figs are preserved;
in others grape juice is made. The
raising Of the vegetables or fruits Is
but one feature Of the work. When
the family has been supplied with
fresh products and then the local
market, the girls are expected to can
the surplus. This is for home use and
for the local market Peaches. ber-
1ies and corn are frequently put up
as side lines in the canning.
Miss Bessie Starkey, the Virginia
girl who had the best record last year
Of all the states, az far as yield goes,
obtained 5,928 pounds of tomatoes in
one season from her tenth-acre plot
Many girls have made a profit Of over
500 from their onetenth Of an acre
in one season. Some Of these have
even failed to win first prize as there
might be more than one in q single
state able to attain this result. This
year even better results are expected
- there are many more girls enrolled
and the competition 10, therefore.
keener. 4
The good results from the girls can
ming clubs have not been restricted
to Individual records that have been
made. Apart from this thousands Of
homes have had homegrown canned
vegetables through the winter months
when they would otherwise have been
without them. The profits have like
wise enabled the girls to help get an
education.
A young Mississippi girl has made
enough to start in the state normal
school and has continued working her
way through that institution by grow
ing and canning tomatoes in her vaca-
ton. She Is now beginning her Sec
ond year. She has become a recog-
nized canning expert in that commuA-
fly and has been put in charge Of q
club of girls In the state school who
are going into the work Of canning
tomatoes to help pay their expenses.
This is but onescAse among many OF
those who have been able to use the
income from thei- canning work to
great advantage. t. ~.
The funds which the department Of
agriculture expends on the girls can
ming club work goes strictly for in
struction and organization. Even then
the department does not supply all the
funds, but works In cooperation with
the various agencies that happen to be
interested in the project for their in
dividual districts. Thus the depart.
ment may cooperate with college of
agriculture, with a state department
OF agriculture, with board Of educa-
ton, or with local chamber Of COM
merce. The work was originally first
started in the southern states. but
% great has been Its success that It