The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

HOME and COUNTRY Published by The Ontario Women’s Institutes at Toronto, Ontario Volume 7 GUNS OR BUITER If the average Britisher were asked at the moment whether war material or food supplie_s were more important for the immediate prosecution of the war, he would without hesitation say: "Give us guns, give us planes, give us munitions, ships and all those instru- ments of war with which we can pro~ tect ourselves and with which we can strike telling blows on the enemy." Taking its cue from Great Britain, the Government of Canada has devoted its epergy toward mobil- izing and training a large army; toward developing a great programme for the training of Empire airmen; and toward production of tanks, guns, planes, ships and all the other bugs equipment required by a modern army, navy and air force. With the demand for guns rather than butter and with a huge surplus of wheat, Agriculture has been largely left to mark time. In the meantime, the cost of manufactured articles and services used on the farm have risen in value faster than the value of the pro- ducts from the form so that the farmer’s position, which for the past ten years has been diifficult, has actually become acute. to the extent that the flow of future food products from Canadian farms to Britain and [or domestic consumption has become undangered. The drain of farm labour into industry, to say nothing of enlist- ments from the farm, places a severe handicap on any production pro- grammes which may be devised. Food is Needed There is little in this war to which the experiences and practices of previ- nus wars can be applied. Neverthe less. the old axiom, "The army fights on its stomach" holds true even to a greater extent in this war than in all previous ones, because the civilian population is in the front line just as much as the army, navy or air force. In fact, they are subjected to just as much danger and suffering and are not bolstered by the traditions of the uniform nor are they relieved of the worry of business and family re- sponsibilities. It is just as important in this war to maintain the morale of the civilian population in allied countries subjected to the horrors of war as it is to maintain the morale of .the fighting forces. Hungry soldiers do not fight with vigour. Hungry civilians lack in courage and fortitude. What turn will the war take next? Where and in what form will the attack come? Should the war theatre in the Pacific develop with the pos- sible participation of the Japanese navy and German troops and aircraft and should trade routes between Australia and New Zealand with Great Britain be temporarily dis- rupted, then the responsibility of maintaining fuel supplies to Britain would fall largely on the North American continent. Even though shipping to Britain may not become more difl‘icult, large stores of food which can be released at _once to relieve the suffering of nations immediately they overthrow their dictator conquerors can become a most effective tool in bringing about an earlier and more successful con- clusion to the war. Then, too, Canada must build for the future and she can do much toward maintaining old markets and Creating new ones by providing Great Britain now with food products in volume and of a quality that she ESITES. SPRING, 1941 Number I JUNIORS ARE MAKING GARMENTS FOR BRITISH CHILDREN Juniorsâ€"members of one-month clothing classes, homemaking clubs and junior institutesâ€"are making garments for British children. Bolts of rose, green and brown spun-rayon material have been cut into skirts and bloomers [or six, eight and ten-year old girls by clothing classes and senior home- niaking clubs. County junior organizations and boys and girls attending the February one<month schools, have already purchased some material. Re- sourceful homemaking clubs are raising money to purchase sets for their clubs, and members’ nimble fingers are glad of an opportunity to apply their sewing skill in making these attractive garments. In spite of busy days in the farm home, and with local organizations giving Red Cross services, cloth- ing homemaking clubs are responding enthusiastically to this special Junior undertaking. A Junior Institute sweater fund is now established for contributions for the purchase of wool for sweaters. could not think of all these club skirts without sweaters, The Brooklin Juniors in Ontario County so started this fund and oll’ered to knit some sw'eaters,‘ With other junior institutes making similar ufiei‘s, it is evident that there will be Junior Institute sweaters for the Homemaking Club skirts. Applications to date indicate that over 100 bloomers, skirts and sweaters will be completed during April through the co-operative efforts of these willing juniors. I shipment to Britain. The garments will be handed over to the Red Cross for __â€"â€"__â€"_â€".â€"â€"â€" With armament contracts being let on the cost plus basis and_\vages to labour guaranteed to rise in accord- ance with living costs and Canadian consumers expecting to get their food supplies as cheap or cheaper than Britain pays, the old law of supply and demand functions at a distinct disadvantage to the producer of prim- any food products. Ip the Province of Ontario some cognizance is being taken of these facts and policies are being inaugurated which it is hoped will stimulate agriculture to the ex- tent of increasing production“ par» ticularly in dairy products, sufficiently to take care of domestic consumption as well as our commitments to Britain and will at the same time preserve our breeding stack and supplieslot seed grain so that future production of quality products can be increased Cheese The 1941 British contract calls for 112,000,000 pounds of cheese and as much more as Canada can produce. The minimum contract is 12 to 15 million pounds more than was eyport- ed in 1940. The contract price is 14.4c., compared to lie. in 1940. The Dominion Government has added a bonus of six tenths cents and will continue to pay the premium of 2c. on 94 score cheese and In. on 93 score heese. C Much of the responsibility for in- creased cheese production will have to be assumed by Ontario, sincc_ more than half the Canadian cheese-is pro- duced in Ontario. The Province of Ontario has, therefore, announced an additional bonus of 2c. per pound. With all the premiums and bonuses. Ontario cheese delivered in Montreal will average just under 18c. per pgund, with 94 score cheese bringing 1 c. It is not likely that many more cows will be milked in 1941 than were milked in 1940, so that increase in cheese milk will have to come about by higher production per cow. This can be accomplished by increased feed- ing during the remainder of the winter so that cows will freshen in better condition, by opening cheese factories earlier, by more attention to pasture requirements, particularly during midsummer and late fall and by supplementary feeding during: periods of short pasture. The Ontario Department of Agri- culture, in co-operation with the Cheese Patrons’ Association, is plan- ning a vigorous educational pro- gramme to encourage the make of more cheese by higher production per cow. In January 1940, Ontario made 1,124,056 pounds of cheese. In Jan» uary 1941, production dropped 41 per cent, to 657,982 pounds‘ It is going to take the combined co-operation of all concerned, even with the bonuses and premiums, to produce enough cheese in 1941. Britain has asked for cheese. Canada must fill her contracts. Butter Butter in storage in December 1940 was ten million pounds less than the amount in storage in December 1039. With exports and imports practically negligible we can assume that Can- adians ate ten million pounds more butter in 1940 than they produced. Thus the 1941 production should exâ€" ceed 1940 production by ten million (Continued on page 3, col. 1). INSTITUTES ABROAD The Associated Country \l’cmen of the World is making a gallant efl'ort to carry on, even though for the time being many of the constituent so- cieties can no longer participate. “The Countrywoman” February, 1041, published in England, brings 3 mes- sage of inspiration by drawmg to our attention the fact that, in spite of the disruption in the world, “a tremendous amount of really constructive work is going on”. In England to-day people are planning ahead and preparing tu rebuild. As an example, they cite the changes which are taking place in education where a whole new standard is being evolved in spite of (or because of) the stress and strain of wartime. The Scottish “Home and Country” continues regularly with its usual wealth of information on surh a wide variety of topics. A competition on “Our Institute in Wartime" has been very successful. The prize-Winning article reads. “We adopted as our motto for the duration, old Mrs. Tcrrier’s advice to her pup: “In times of adversity, keep your tail up.” We have subtracted but little from our play and the social side of our activities, and added much solid war work. Our Church Woman‘s Guild took up Red Cross work in the form of making comforts for the hospitals, so our “’31. holds itself responsible for comforts for the troops. The money is raised by various methods and no stone is left unturned which may reveal a Sixpence. . . . Uur president, secretary and vice-president (self) are the three women of the Committee for sending parcels to our prisoners of War in Germany. \Ve own tour, entailing the sum of £8 lacing sent to headquarters monthly, by community collecting. We have a flourishing War Savings Group. Our treasurer takes charge of it, but We have a special Convener for the soldier’s comforts, who gives out the materials and takes in the finished work personally to a city depot, as well as being responsible for the delivery and paying of \\’.R.l, magazines . . . . Our children’s party was held in November as usual, but was aug- merited by a show of vegetables, the prizes being savings stamps. The vegetables were all taken into sold- icrs’ canteens in the city by our president, and she reported that they were specially welcome because most- ly green. This month we are giving 26 pairs of socks direct to our own local heroes, and entertaining 70 soldâ€" iors stationed in the adjoining parish at our W.R.I. meeting on the 22nd. Our membership has fallen only about 10 per cent., due to petrol rc- strictions and the presence of evacuees In the homes since September. 1939. Kinellar is probably the smallest parish in Scotland, claiming only one mile of king’s highway in length, but stretching to three miles at its widest point.” The Agricultural Bureau Record of New South Wales, Australia, brings news of rural women. During the past few months much emphasis is being placed on the need for interest- ing youth in the work of the Agri- cultural Bureau: for women to exert a beneficial influence on farm manage- ment; for conservation in every phase of farm management, of health, of food, of time and of rural bcautifi- cation and of man-power. Rural women are carrying on.