War has come upon us so unexpectedly that our people not only did not understand the true position but on the whole knew very little about the causes which had led to the outbreak. The public press, bookstalls, and the public libraries were considerably augmented by books and pamphlets on the subject, and it was a natural prompting that gave rise to the issue to the schools of a considerable number of documents, memoranda, and pamphlets. These circulars and pamphlets were mostly all issued within the first year of the war. The first phase of the pamphlets is historical, while the second became economical. The economical phase in its first stages was concentrated on war savings for the purpose of war loans and in anticipation, by the provision of "nest eggs," of the dislocation that might occur at the end of the war. In its later stages—within the last six months—the economical phase has been directed chiefly to economy in food, owing to the menace of the submarine campaign.
A further use of the school population in hours outside the daily session is that of giving help in taking a census. In England school teachers and pupils did most of the work of compiling the National Register, a card census of inhabitants. To some extent similar work has been done in the United States, such as the taking of the agricultural census in fifty-six counties (no census was taken for the counties of Hamilton, Kings, Queens, Richmond, and New York) in the state of New York in April, 1917. Under the joint auspices of the State Food Supply Commission and the State Education Department a survey was ordered of the agricultural resources of the state and of the requirements for increased production, the details of which were worked out at Ithaca at the State College of Agriculture. Through the appointed county enumerators, instructions were transmitted to the various school districts.
The actual work of this census was begun in most counties on April 23, the records being practically all obtained by April 25, the teachers and pupils in each district, assisted when necessary by other persons, procuring the original facts from farmers and making the summaries for their school districts. From these records the state was within ten days furnished with the complete amount of seed and live stock wanted by farmers and for sale by farmers; with the statements of the transportation difficulties; with the itemized needs of labor, fertilizer, and spray materials; and with the complete enumeration of the state,—people, land, and live stock.
Such work by pupils might well become an established yearly activity. The practice of gathering and tabulating information has an obvious arithmetical value; and the interest developed in investigating the resources of the community has an educational significance which should keep us from limiting it to emergency periods.
The comparative table on page 26 (one of thirteen developed out of the census) not only illustrates facts which the children obtained, but also shows the magnitude of the work they undertook.
One of the best community uses of the school is as a center for instruction in conserving food products. With the absolute shortage of the world's food supply, Americans must anticipate this shortage in coming seasons and revert to the preserving methods of their grandparents,—measures fallen into disuse in crowded cities because of lack of storage room and the ease with which the fresh products have been obtained, whatever the season.
ACRES OF CROPS IN 56 COUNTIES IN NEW YORK WITH COMPARISONS FOR THE SAME COUNTIES IN 1909
| Crop | Acres (U.S. Census, 1909) | Acres grown in 1916 | Acres expected to be grown in 1917 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corn for grain | 511,339 | 336,543 | 495,469 |
| Corn for silo | 259,082 | 362,413 | 422,867 |
| Oats | 1,302,041 | 1,102,004 | 1,250,346 |
| Barley | 79,955 | 92,422 | 111,634 |
| Buckwheat | 286,128 | 257,911 | 300,090 |
| Winter wheat | 289,126 | 344,278 | 387,813 |
| Spring wheat | 289,126 | 12,373 | 32,425 |
| Rye | 130,449 | 114,691 | 120,239 |
| Field beans | 115,695 | 194,053 | 275,790 |
| Alfalfa | 35,343 | 160,985 | 181,912 |
| Other hay | 4,737,326 | 4,073,333 | 3,963,678 |
| Cabbage | 33,770 | 38,898 | 68,890 |
| Potatoes | 390,552 | 305,649 | 382,840 |
| Canning-factory crops } | 44,098 | 60,155 | |
| Other vegetables and } | 131,686 | ||
| garden } | 58,340 | 71,833 | |
| Miscellaneous crops | 21,843 | 35,056 | 40,895 |
| Apples | 281,061 | 346,633 | |
| Cherries | 4,211 | 12,414 | |
| Peaches | 15,340 | 50,149 | |
| Pears | 13,378 | 36,802 | |
| Plums | 5,742 | 8,569 | |
| Vineyards | 52,999 | 52,350 | |
| Small fruit | 22,388 | 28,171 | |
| Total | 8,719,454 | 8,701,964 |
Even villages which have no gas supply may follow the example of cities and towns in using the school kitchen, already installed as part of a domestic-science equipment or newly supplied by popular subscription, as a community canning center. Certainly schools are as well adapted for the purpose as department stores and Young Women's Christian Associations, which have been leaders in the movement.
The teaching of methods of preserving is primarily the function of a school, and every suitable school building should be employed for it. The old-fashioned preserving meant time, drudgery, expense, quantities of sugar, and doubtful results. A demonstration of the newer methods and the opportunity for community canning should be given by the school to the neighborhood. Community canning induces a far more effective conservation of food than is possible for the individual kitchen. Few households can afford to buy and store the vast kettles, the perfected drying and dehydrating ovens, which can be included in the equipment of a school teaching the scientific preserving of food and vegetables. As this is done almost wholly in the summer, it would not interfere with the term's work of the pupils and, in fact, offers the high-school girls an excellent opportunity to assist in civic service of a most practical nature. In the summer of 1917 Seattle maintained 20 centers for home-economics teaching for adult women, the government bulletin "How to Select Food" being used as a textbook.