Putnam patriot., 1917-04-20
DISCUSS ARMY OF
 BOYS FOR FARMS
Governors Committee on Food Supply Confer With County
 Agents.
URGE FERTILIZER ECONOMY
Two important Suggestions to the People of Connecticut for Assist Ing in the Work of Increasing
 Food Production

Hartford.-The Connecticut Commit tee of Food Supply, appointed by Gov ernor Marcus H. Holeomb. made two important suggestions to the people of Connecticut for assisting in the work of increasing the food produe- tion in the state this year.
 Tn view of the situation which con fronts Connecticut. as well as every state in the country. there must be no waste of fertilizer this year, said a statement issued by the committee.
 The people of the state, if they want to help In the matter of increas. ing our food production so that we may be as nearly self-sustaining as possible, must forego beautiful lawns this year to certain extent Ferti- lizer Is too valuable commodity in the situation which we now face to be used on lawns. Such use in these days is nothing but waste The far mers are finding some difficulty in se- curing adequate supplies of fertilizer Every pound of the commodity thrown on the lawns reduces just so much the supply available for ground which will produce food products. The people of Connecticut should see it as their pa triotic duty this year to forego their beautiful lawns and permit the ferti- lizer thus saved to do it's part toward the production of food stuffs.
 The second suggestion made by the committee is that owners of landed astatao postunpa thic var al imnravp ments which can be put off and which would take labor that otherwise would be available for work on the farms. The statement of the committee says:
 One of the greatest problems which we face in this state in the matter oi food production. is the question of labor We must have men to work Labor hired for improvements on estates Is, for the most part. labor taken away from the farmers. We be lieve that Connecticut's citizens will realize just what this means and will put off the matter of improvements OH their estates and thus not compete with the farmers for the labor which the farmers need.
 The proposition of enlisting boys less than the military age in a junior agricultural army is being considered by the committee of food supply This was disclosed at conference of the committee with the county agents from all parts of the state, held at the committees headquarters in Hartford
 The county agents and some of the officials of the county leagues, aboul twenty-five in all, met at the invita- tion of the committee for the discus sion of plans by which all agencies interested in the agricultural welfare of the state may cooperate to in crease the food crops raised in Con necticut this summer There was { general discussion and the committed members were much interested te learn the ideas and ideals of the coun ty agents and to find out from then what work has already been under taken in the state along increased food production lines
 When the proposition of enlistng boys less than military age in a junior agricultural army was advanced. the committee members were able to tel the county agents that arrangements had already been made for a meet ing of high school principals. the heads of the larger grammar schools and the Headmasters' Association of the state to take up this very question.
 There was also discussion of the proposition of making use, in counties where 1t is not done. of penal labor Plans of this kind have worked out satisfactorily in Litchfield and Wind ham counties. Other questions taker up included some new system of farm loans and possibilities of fixing prices No final action was taken on any oi the propositions discussed, the meet ing having been called merely for the exchange of ideas.
 C. P. Stearns. of Andover, owner of Pine Grove Farm, has offered the use of fifty acres of tillable land tc the state through the Connecticut committee of food supply
 Robert Scoville of the Connecticut committee of food supply represented Governor Marcus H. Holcomb's newest war emergency committee at a confer ence of representative of the mayors of 100 New York and New England cities, held at Waldorf-Astoria, N Y More Farming in New Haven County
 Comprehensive plans for developing the agricultural resources of the county. now being worked out by the New Haven County Farm Bureau, are outlined in q statement issaed by the bureau. These plans include the es. tablishment of an employment agency for farmers help, a canvass of the far mers of the county for the purpose of procuring information as to last years crops and the plans for this season with a view to increasing production. and scheme of garden plots in the cities and towns. in the cultivation Of which the services of school children are to be used wherever possible nn-