Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1920-06-28
ERN|z|NG OF
RURAL HOMES IS
TAGGING BEHIND
Waste Of Women Power Is
a Menace to Farm Life;
Modern Equipment Would
Prevent Waste of Energy

Especial Correspondence to The journal,
, Washington, June 27.-The
; waste of woman power is one of
, the greatest menaces to the rural
life of the nation, according to de-
auctions that specialists of the
United States department of agri-
culture draw from a farm home
i. survey c0rdEs+ed in the thirty
three northern and western states.
The survey was made under the
direction of Miss Florence L. Ward
in charge of extension work with
women, office of extension work,
north and west, states relations
service. The records cover 10,O15
farm homes, averaged by taking
Typical communities of the coun-
ties in which the survey was made.
Much of the information was gath
cred personally by home demon
stration agents, who are the field
representatives of the United States
department of agriculture and the
i state agricultural colleges.
Could Prevent Wastagc.
Miss Ward points out. from the
facts shown by the survey, that a
reasonable amount of planning and |
well-directed investment in mod !
ern equipment for farm homes !
would prevent a large part of this |
wastage of the energy of the ma
tons rural home makers. This is
serious matter" she continues, |
because we have a live national |
problem now in working out the /
economics of country living in such |
way as to make them satisfied to
stay on the land and help build it
Iup. Perhaps the greatest factor in
bringing this about will be the
healthy, alert and expert home
maker who will see to it that part
of the increaJed income from the
farm goes into improvement of the
home. At time like this, when
the dearth of farm labor IS limit
ing factor in production, it is very
doubtful business policy for farm
ers to use increased income to buy
more land instead of using a part
of it in raising standards of living
so that women and young people
will not want to go to the cities in
search of attractive living condi-
tons and amusement"
Picture of Farm Woman's Work
Day.
The survey discloses a number
of the reasons why many women
do not find farm life attractive.
The working day of the average
farm woman, as shown by the sur
vey, is 113 hours, the year round.
In summer. it is 1912 hours. And
81 out of each 100 women have no
regular vacation during the year. !
On the average, the farm woman
can find only 1.6 hours of leisure
during the summer and only "a
hours in winter. Half of the farm
women are up and at work at
o'clock in the morning. II
Thirty-nine per cent have water {
in the kitchen, but the other per S
cent must go to the spring or the !,
pump to bring the water for cooking
breakfast. Thirty-six per cent help :
with the milking. On the average, :
the farm woman has a seven-room I
house to keep in order. Seventy a
nine per cent have kerosene lamps f
to trim and fill. Ninetysix per /
cent do the family washing, about '
half of them having washing ma g
chimes and the other half doing tho p
work with tub, wash board, and n
boiler Twenty-sX per cent have v
gas or electric irons to make more n
comfortable the task of irooing. II
per cent do some or all q
IF the family sewing. Garden work q
Is done by Sc per cent, 81 per cent |,
make all or part of the family a
bread and GO per cent have churn- $
ing to do. Eighty-one per cent OF n
Ill poultry flocks are cared for by
women. One-fourth of the farm y
women help to feed the live stock, II
md "a per cent of them spend over Il
six weeks in the year assisting with a
If this is in addition to cooking the
amily meals and caring for the g
n
This, of course, is the dark side n
If the shield. 1t does not take into f,
the many compensa- "
ions that come with the woman's n
laiIy round of work for the COM q,
ort of her family, and anyone who g,
,as experienced the satisfaction Of ),
wing in the open country knows 10
hat the average farm woman is b.
more fortunately placed than her ir
verage city sister. But the task II
S sufficiently grinding, as Miss
Ward says, to send the farm woman "
o bed breathing a prayer that her =.
trength may be equal to tomor- |
ow's duties"
IA bor- saving Equipment Important
What is to be done about it? The j.
department. suggests some very A
lefinite things. "The interest of the
of agriculture in the .;
eturns from these studies as to .,
dbol, WI hlHS tiulPliiSilS' oiN "a,
ompensations of the farm woman =,
ire as practical" says Miss Ward. =,
as its interest in farm studies re- -
labor, machinery and crop ~,
eturns. and for the same general =,
eason." The farm woman's work ~,
ng hours might be shortened, she -
continues. If the principles of mod 'e
IN business We're applied to the w
arm home. Running water for the III
1 per cent who now must carry e.
water. and bath rooms for the 81 ~
,er cent who now have none are
Il her thinpS that would Tighten e