The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1948-12-16

Lie IN lnula, Dy MISS Ildttle Dloohs,
home demonstration agent from Dor
chester County.
Miss Brooks, having been sent by
the extension service to India for o
period of two years, was well quail
flied to talk about life in India and
also about the problems the people
Of that country have to face
Every country has problems"
began Miss Brooks, land they are
multiplied or varied according to-
the situations that arise in each par
ticular country India is a vast
country of varied conditions.
The country of India is two thou
sand miles wide from east to west,
and two thousand miles long from
north to south, but this does not
mean that it is square. 1t compares
in size with the continent of Europe,
exclusive of Russia, and has a pop
ulation of 500,000,000 people, which
ranks next to China. There is an
increase of about five million people
each year and though there is an
enormous death rate, the birth rate
is still more enormous.
Teaching home economics at the
Agricultural Institute at Allahabad,
Miss Brooks came in contact with
those who had the desire for learn
ing American ways, and in gong
about the country, she also saw the
primitive methods of farming and
learned just exactly how the farm
people live.
She said that the people there are
largely an agricultural people, and
that only a small portion of them live
in the cities. For this reason their
problems are largely agricultural,
and compared to our newer methods,
they are really problems.
The Department of Agriculture
there has established research la
boratories to see what can be done
about improvements in that field,
but at present this work is on a very
small scale in comparison with the
magnitude Of the problems they
have.
One of three acres is the average
size of most farms, and even these
are divided into small plots, one
tenth of an acre being the small size
plot and one-half acre the largest
usually found This is because the
head of the house divides his land
with all of his sons, and each gets
proportionate amount of the soil.
And sometimes their plots are cut
up, with divisions of several miles
separating them, because each son
must have some of the best soil,
some of the medium grade soil, and
also each must take his share of the
poorest soil found on the fathers
land.
It is easy to understand that in
such limited fields, it would be i'm
possible to use the large type farm
equipment. And anyway the equip
ment they have at present is very
primitive. They use a sharpened
stick to scratch the top of the soil
into furrow three inches wide and
two inches deep, and they have to
go over the same spot several times.
They use manufactured fertilizer,
because the dung has to be used for
fuel. They are too poor to buy wood
and coal for cooking.
India has one-third of the cattle
in the world, and they produce one
tenth of the milk that is produced
in the world. Yet goodly number of
the people suffer from malnutrition
and starvation because they do not
have a sufficient amount of proper
foods. Their meals consist principal
ly of rice and curry, the latter be-
ing a highly seasoned stew of veg
etables, some of them like split
peas.
Their cooking utensils are very
limited, and they have no cutlery
excepting the piece they use to stir
the food while cooking. They use
two dishes for each persona plate
for the rice and bowl for the cur
ry-and they mix the two and eat
with their fingers.
They live in small one-room
houses, either made of thatch or
mud, and some of the better ones
have crude tile finish. The houses
have one door and no windows, and
the furniture is almost nil. They
use the floor for sitting and eating,
and they have one piece of furniture
that is very crude, witch they use
for a bed In front of the house is
small courtyard about the same
size as the house, and this is used
for keeping the animals.
Their clothing is not like ours at