PLAN No. 719. WOMEN MAKE GOOD COW-TESTERS
The twenty-seven women now employed as cow-testers by some of the 353 cow-testing associations in this country have not only done satisfactory work, but have achieved results above the average, according to dairy specialists of the United States Department of Agriculture.
The main reason why women have begun to do this work is the scarcity of cow-testers. Most of the testers at work when the war began were young men, and many of them are now in military service. Because of the shortage of workers the past year has seen the number of cow-testing associations (organizations of farmers who want to keep records of their herds) decrease for 472 to 353, although there has been an increased demand for such associations, and it is believed the number could easily be doubled if enough testers were available. The work does not require great physical strength. It does demand some training, but this is easily acquired by women.
The first woman cow-tester in the United States, Miss Bessie Lipsitz, began work less than three years ago, with a cow-testing association in Grant County, Wisconsin. Wisconsin now has eighteen women cow-testers, Iowa six and three other states have one each.
Considering that the testers get free board and lodging, the pay is thought to be satisfactory. The women cow-testers are paid the same as men and receive from $50 to $75 a month, besides board and lodging. Conveyance to the next farm is furnished in some associations, while in others the tester provides her own conveyance and the farmers furnish free stable room and feed for her horse.
The employment of women as cow-testers came as a war measure. To keep the work on a satisfactory basis, women must continue to receive the same pay as the men for the same work. Occasionally there may be an association in which it would not be advisable for a woman to work, but if such is the case, the fault is with the association and not with the woman cow-tester.
How to obtain more testers is a serious problem. Partially disabled soldiers, in some cases, may be induced to take the necessary training and enlist for the work. In some sections young men below the draft age have been employed, and the results have been satisfactory. The most radical step, however, and the one that promises the most far-reaching and immediate results, is the employment of women as cow-testers.
PLAN No. 720. SUPPORTS FAMILY BY HOME CANNING
The sale of her canned fruits and vegetables has enabled a woman in Albemarle County, Virginia, to feed and clothe her eight children the last two years. When war was declared her eldest son enlisted in the navy. In a few months the second son went into the army, and the mother was left to wrestle with the problem of providing three meals a day for the eight younger brothers and sisters. About this time the home-demonstration agent of the United States Agricultural College was teaching the women in that locality how to can. With a garden that could raise plenty of fruit and vegetables, and with wild fruit to be had for the picking, the mother of ten decided that therein lay the solution of her problem. Results have proved that her judgment was right. Thousands of cans of fruit and vegetables have been put up and sold from this country home. One lot, which the home demonstration agent helped her sell, brought $125. This plan made a living for a mother and eight children.