The Colorado statesman., 1913-11-08
!U vI5lI CAPITAL
Prize Winning Girls of Canning
Clubs Are Favored.
fifteen Winners. of Tomato Raising
and Canning Contests in Southern
States to Be Rewarded by a
Trip to Washington.


from each of fifteen southern states
are soon to be given a trip to Wash
lngton as a reward for their splendid
work in connection with the girls can
ming clubs which are conducted un-
der the auspices of the United States
department of agriculture. These fif-
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 have
been given before, but never have the
winners been sent in a body to Wash
lngton, although the state winners in
the boys corn clubs have been re-
warded in this manner. The depart
ment of agriculture considered that
the time is now ripe for the prize
girls to have a similar trip.
The selection of the winner is made
differently in different states. In
Georgia, for instance the prize will
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-
ber of public-spirited people are en-
couraging 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
a 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
is frequently held in connection with
a state fair.
Each girl of the $4,000 girls en-
rolled in the canning clubs is supposed
to have carried out 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-
ries 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 as far as yield goes,
obtained 5,92S pounds of tomatoes in
one season from her tenth-acre plot
Many girls have made profit of over
800 from their one-tenth of an acre
in one season. Some of these have
even failed to win first prize as there
might be more than one in single
at uh IN of ttain In 10 Il
year even better results are expected
as there are many more girls enrolled
and the competition is, therefore,
keener.
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 commun-
ity and has been put in charge of
club of girls in the state school who
are going into the work of canning
tomatoes to help pay their expenses.
This is but one case among many of
those who have been able to use the
income from their canning work to
great advantage.
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 co.oneratinn with