The Wilmington morning star., 1941-02-10
Canning PROGRAM.
IS SUCCESS IN N. C..
Farming Agents Report Live
At.Home Program Is Pay
ing Big Dividends

r,rm families of North Carolina
eating fruits, vegetables, meats
isms and %jellies this winter from
and three-quarter million
s.n+ainers of foodstuffs they can
,,d last summer and fall.
Farm and home agents reported
.,at 288. 24O farm families in the
s,ato had some sort of garden in
,oao if nothing except a row OF
.vrnoios. and $1,000 families had
'aar-round gardens. Latest figures
.vai,able from the U. S. Depart
roent Of Agriculture show that the
.ol,e of home gardens in North
caroljna $50, 631, O0O) was higher
than in any other State in the Ma
Dean I. O, schaub of N. c.
state college cites those facts as
~oartial proof that the 'live-at-
Eomen program advocated by the
| n c. Agricultural Extension Serv-
] ice during the more than 26 years
# ifs existence has been progress
sine of course" Dean Schaub
declared. we don't claim every
farm family is producing the food
Il needs at home; nor will this high
coal ever be reached. But we feel
that some improvement has been
made. and that the groundwork has
been laid for more progress in the
future
Data assembled by Mrs. Cor
nelia C. Morris, Extension econo-
mist in food conservation and mar
keting, shows that only $4,000
cans of food Was put up by farm
families in 1882. In 1914 home
agents began work in several
counties, and by 1916 home can
ring totaled 900, 900 containers for
the year. The World War No. l
simulated food conservation to
the point that eight and three-quar-
ter million cans were put up in the
peak year.
Pinch Is Again Felt
Then when the war ended, as the
fear of want subsidized and crop
prices. rose, farm people canned
less food and from 1921 to 1923 the
number of cans filled annually
averaged less than n million.
Again the pinch of hard times was
felt. and in 1888 a total of eleven
and one-half million containers OF
food were canned. the highest fig
ures ever recorded in the State.
But instead Of falling back to a
million cans a year, as was the
case after the first World War.
home food conservation has held
up remarkably we'll.
Farm and home agents reported
that in 1910 a total of 1858 Home
Demonstration club leaders were
assisted in cannir 6 or otherwise
preserving fruits, vegetables and
meats. The total number of con-
tainers put up by adults and 4-H
club members was 1921, 102 and
tie value of this food was $l,l41,'
5l3.4 This is an increase from
5.455. O68 containers, valued at
1913. O66. 80, in 1899.
The 288, 24O family gardens. and
$1,000 year-round gardens, report
ed in 1910 compares with 1854
family gardens, of which 4S,96o
were y~ear-round gardens, in 1899.
The fact that the Triple-A made a
small payment for planting a home
garden undoubtedly stimulated this
enterprise last year. Such a pay
ment is again available in l94l.
Cows And Chickens Increase
As other examples Of 'live-at-
home progress, Dean Schaub
pointed to figures which show tina,
North Carolina had $4,000 milk
COWS in 1910 as compared with
38l.0 600 in 1899: that the NUMBER
OF head of all cattle in the State
rose from 664, 600 in 1889 to 604, OOt
jill 1910; that there were 10,Ol4,UO
chickens the previous year; and
that the number of turkeys IN
creased from &c. 900 in 1899 to 30
600 in 1916.
Food and feed crops also in
creased last year over the pre-
vious year. Wheat production rose
from 300, 900 bushels in 1899 te
6.132.0 900 bushels in 1890; oats in
creased from 1892, 900 bushels te
$4,000 bushels; barley from 22o,'
600 to $4,000 bushels; and rye from
$4,000 bushels to $40, 900 bushels
j. Total production of all small grains
increased from II, 526, 900 bushels
IN 1899 to 1888, 900 bushels in 1910
AS the State turns from a cot
'%on-tobacco type of agriculture tc
a more diversified system, which
includes livestock and poultry, we
are certain to find farm people
ouylng less and less foodstuffs tina
can be raised on the farm" Dear
ochaub declared. "It is regret
'dole that our export markets fol
COTTON and tobacco have been lost
out perhaps it will prove a bless
ing IN the long run because farm
people will find satisfaction ane
economy in growing things to ca
es Well as things to SELL"