HOME and COUNTRY Published by The Ontario Women’s Institutes at Toronto 2, Ontario FALL. 1944 That our Garden Brigade members are anxious to serve to increase production and to make the best possible use of our food supplies is I'len'lpliï¬ed by the above pictures. 0n the left Marjorie Bailey, Dorothy Fawcett (leader) and Norma. I-‘awcett of Newport pose with some of the products of their brigade. .vx hibited at Braanord. ‘ GARDEN BRIGADES PRODUCE FOR VICTORY Number 3 In the centre, Florence Smith, Fonthill, R.R.1, is seen with her own vegetable and flower exhibit at the Welland County Achievement llay. Her story is below. On the right, Marjorie Johnson, Balaclava llal‘VesL FOR VICTORY from Florence Record Book) -L\‘cryone will agree with me when l .ly this has been a wonderful year 1' growing vegetable gardens. For M ~ reason I think that we ï¬rst year i vdcners chose an excellent summer 1 hog-in our Agricultural careers. ' I planted my seeds and in due time - r long strips of green vegetation 2 their place. Then I noticed that » in: seedlings grew faster than '. They were my enemiesâ€" How I host] and weeded, and n they were no more. The weeds ~v-c my ‘Hitlersâ€â€"they were overâ€" ne with persistent attacks. Ah, ! I had, and have. some "Tojos". cabbage butterflies, the little ’ beetles and corn borersâ€"they ‘ my Tojos. \ly garden was planted for horse u duration but I decided I had enough I ‘VL‘ to bee by hand so I sowed seeds l-iween each row ’thus increasing 'l ‘ garden to twice its original size. lust as I was growing tired of 4 i‘tllg for my victory plot, the : hshes and young beets were ready Im the table. No one, except maybe kw other girls of the diï¬erent hi iii-odes, could have been more proud ( , ' . Iracta Smith’s ..l her achievements than I was. My Lyn-den has never failed me. When tail never-answeredafor-lon ques- mii arises "What shall we ave for upper?†I could always go to the rrlen and ï¬nd enough food for 8 ppcr lit for a king. My flowers are at their best new {the end of August). The zinnias rue beautiful as are the other flowers. I canned my tomatoes by the cold pack method. Other vegetables I plan tn store for winter are carrots and “set? In the sand, squash and pump- kin in a bin and onions in onion bags “005913 woven) after they have dried a few days in the sun. B _I loved my work in the Garden l‘lgsde. I,have only one regret, I “'|Sll I had been a ’rciember last year $0.1 would have been a Second Year Brigader this year! READINESS FOR WORKâ€"Spirit of Conventions Conventions are occupying the thoughts of Institute \vnnmn again "Post-War Adjustment", “As the Home Is So is the Nationâ€, “Charâ€" acter Building" were common themes and topics for discussion. A spirit of readiness for new plans of work permeated all meetings. The attendance has been very good, showing an encouraging interest in Institute work and n .' ccre belief in its Value to rural ll ng. At Iron Bridge a bus load of .73 women. dele~ gates from the Sault and along the line were welcomed. The bus had been chartered with the permission of the Wartime Prices and Trade Board and the women turned out with en- thusiasm. At Fort Frances a very cordial welcome awaited all members. Every train, day or night, was met and delegates and visitors taken to their destination. Reports have been presented in better form and were more complete than in 1943, thh more time permitted for discussion. At least four conventions used the discussion method for presentation of important topics. At Hamilton “Character Building" was dealt with by a panel of three, the Rev. Mr. Morgan, representing the church, Mr. G. Price the school and Mrs. J. D. Taylor the home. Two thoughts stood outhhat the youth of today are ï¬ne young people; and that, not one agency alone, but all three have a share in character building. _At Belleville the chairman and VICE- chairman led discussion on the con- vention theme “As the home 15, so is the nation". They were well sup- ported by the members who took part in the discussion from the floor,_â€"an excellent way to secure .audience participation. At South River Mrs. ‘0. Holmes, President, F.W.I.O. and the federated representatives pre- sented a round table conference on Local InstitutelPrqgrummes upder the headin ,â€"p anning, prepara ion, presentatiogns and results, at Ottawa Miss M. A. Clarke, Provmcial Super- intendent, conducted a conference on Duties of Conveners of Standing Com- mittees. The discussion technique has proven its value and is spreading into many conventions Not for a moment are our Insti» tutes slackening in war work, as r ports show. Thousands of dol.rs raised, hundreds of articles knit, sewn or quilted and a surprising variety of other uctivities appeared in every convener’s report. The provision of Jam for Britain was always mentr ioned and one of the activities nearest to the heart of practically every Instia tutc was the provision of boxes for local enlisted men and women. Blood donors are increasing everywhere and the Central Fund will receivu enthusi- astic support. All conveners expressed the hope that this work I soon be over, but realize that it will not end even with the cessation of hostilities. As always Agriculture was uppc most in the minds of Institute mem- bers. At Tinimins, and throughout the North there was a plea for the development and use of early-mutul'- ing crops. Everywhere the use of new scientiï¬c methods and the re- lation of agriculture to other in- dustries were stressed. The need for a fair shore of the national income for farmers was emphasized at Ottawa. Frequently conveners asked their com- mittees not to neglect other Canadian iridustl'ics. At Fort Frances :1 ï¬lm strip on u near-by industry, the Steep Rock Iron Mine at Atikokan, was shown. Good Citizenship was uppermost in all minds. Study and practice of Citizenship was the theme of the ad- dress of Mrs. Clarence Holmes this year. She said, “The study of citizen- ship is like a cactus. It has so many points, and the points are sharp. troublesome and often difï¬cult to handle. But, as the cactus blossoms into a rare and beautiful flower, so the intelligent citizen is the flower which results from this study. Citizenship is a personal responsi- bility. It needs clear thinking, hard work, some sacriï¬ce". At Timmins particular interest was shown in naturalization, emphasizing the need for a more impressive cere- mony when the foreign-born become (Continued on page 4, col. 3). (Grey) gathers in her GARRISON LANE SCHOOL Miss Eleanor Hamilton has re nimin m Canada and, at our request, has submitted the following story of her work in England: I have been asked to write an article for the “Home & Country" about my two years’ stay in Eng, land. I was very liuppy to do so and I hope I may give you a small idea of our work there. A littlc over two years aim a group of uSâ€"â€"l\’no\vn as the Canadian Childr ren‘s Service left Canada to go to England to help them in their great time of need. There were three groups of women, ï¬rst, the Nursery School group who went to Birming- ham where. under the direction of Dr. W, E. Blatz, they set up the Garrison Lane Nursery Training: School; secr nndly, the group of tenchch who were stationed in London to replace Eng, lish teachers who had gone into ser» vice; and thirdly. the sncial worker group who went to ev ition centres and helped nrrzingc lllcts, etc†for the (‘llildren from hnmhed areas. We all left Canmlu in August 1942 find after a thrilling: trip and 21 week's leave in London we settled down to our various jobs. Although I cannot speak in detail for the social worker or the teacher, I can say that they all have enjoyed their Work both with the English Children and with the adults. Most of them are still in Englandâ€"some plan to come buck to Canada next year. The teachers of London have all had a thrilling spring and sum» mer due to these new bombs. Nearly all of them were taken on b the large evacuation plan. Their jobs were to take groups of two hundred or more mothers and children to safe areas. and there to see that they were safely delivered to the local authorities. With this completed they boarded the crowded trains again to return to London to take another group out the next day. On several of these trips they were near Birmingham and they managed to get to see us. Thus we heard all their experiences as well as having a little Canadian Children's Service Reunion. (Continued on page 4, col. 2).