The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1918-08-15
LATE OPENING
OF ALLSCH00LS
State Council of Defense Recon-
mends the Late Opening of All
Public Schools-Boys Needed
on the Farm for Flowing.

uACAuS SAV AoSS OFSAAAs6 VA AAs~
Public Schools-Boys Needed
on the Farm for Flowing.
| VOLUNTEERS NECESSARY.
Council Calls ON Farm Labor Re-
serves to- Help in Harvest
Fields-PrOfessional and Busi-
ness Men Shocking Grain.
Bismarck, Aug. 15.-1n order
that the older boys of the town
and country may have the op-
portunity to help increase the
food supply of the nation and at
the same time not be deprived
of any educational advantages,
the North Dakota Council of De-
| Tense by resolution, has endors-
ed the recommendations of the
State Board of Education that,
as far as possible, the public
schools of the state do not open
earlier than September 80, and
close about the last week in
June, and that there be in all,
rural communities only a weeks
vacation at Christmas and two
weeks vacation in the spring
during the seeding season.
The resolution was not passed
| in the form of an order, but in
the form of a recommendation,
and it is made discretionary with
the local school boards as to the
! date for opening and closing the
schools.
"If North Dakota is to main
tain a maximum production of
food grains for the duration Of
the war;" said Secretary Thom-
as Allan Box, in explaining the
reason for the Councils recon-
mendation, 1--WE must utilize and
conserve every ounce of man
power within the state. Exten-
sive preparation for next years
crop can be made during the
month Of September in the ma
ture of fall plowing and seeding
of winter grains, while in June
there is absolutely no work that
the boy can perform on the farm.
''In view of these conditions,
it is not better for the boys to
be out of school when they can
be of service on the farm than
it is to be out of school during
the month of June, when there
is no work for them to perform.
The longer spring vacation dur
ing seeding time will also help
in the conservation of our labor
without any educational losses
to the boy"
Superintendent Of Public In
struction N. G. Macdonald re-
ports on statistics from his Of
fee that 60 per cent of the city
schools, 80 per cent of the grad
ed rural schools, and 80 per cent
of the one-room rural schools
observed the late opening and
closing recommendation of the
State Board of Education last
year.
Unless liberal assistance is
given the farmers of the state
by the peoples of the cities,
towns and villages in the har-
vesting and threshing of the
present crop, there is going to
result a serious loss of grain, ac-
cording to John B. Brown, Fed
eral Farm Help Specialist, who,
as representative of the Feder-
al Department of Agriculture,
has been working on the farm
labor problem for the past two
years. The army of migratory
labor, Mr.. Brown says, which
usually takes care of the har-
vest and threshing in North Da-
kota is insufficient in numbers
to take care of the crop.
"A general shortage of har-
vest and threshing labor was
anticipated by the Department
of Agriculture" Mr.. Brown says
land in order to prepare for the
emergency, the Farm Labor Re-
serves of North Dakota were or
ganized during the early spring
and summer months, under the
auspices of the North Dakota
Council Of Defense. There are
approximately 10000 men Of the
cities, towns and villages Of the
state Of North Dakota who have