Community Civics and Rural Life Part 25

When is the theater amus.e.m.e.nt and when indulgence?

When is rent a necessity and when an extravagance?

[Footnote: From "Suggestion for Home Demonstration Agents regarding Methods of Teaching Thrift," States Relations Service Circular, Dec. 27, 1918.]

THRIFT IN SAVING

(3) The object of thrift in spending is both to get the greatest value for our money now and to insure savings that will provide for the future. Every budget should make as definite provision for savings as for rent or clothing. The purpose of a budget and of accounts is to a.s.sure a surplus rather than a deficit. Successful men and women make it a practice always to spend less than they earn, no matter how little they earn, and they cannot be sure of this without planning ahead and keeping accounts. Saving in this way is largely a matter of habit; but it is astonis.h.i.+ng how many fail to form the habit. Court records show that out of every 100 men who die, 82 leave no income-producing estates, or that about 85 per cent who reach the age of 65 are dependent upon relatives or upon the community. "Out of every 100 widows, only 18 are left in comfortable circ.u.mstances, while 47 are obliged to go to work and 35 are left in absolute want." [Footnote: S.W. Strauss, "The Greater Thrift," National Education a.s.sociation PROCEEDINGS, 1916, p. 278.]

AMERICAN EXTRAVAGANCE

Wise buying means saving money; and so does the wise use of what we buy. It is said that an American s.h.i.+p can be distinguished from the s.h.i.+ps of other nations in harbor by the flocks of gulls that hover around to feast on the food thrown overboard. Whether this is true or not, Americans have a reputation for wastefulness. It has been called our chief national sin. It is said that a family in France can live in comfort on what an American family in the same circ.u.mstances ordinarily throws away. An average load of garbage in New York City has been shown to contain fifty dollars'

worth of good food materials.

WHAT SMALL SAVINGS WILL DO

Investigations by the Food Administration showed that there is enough glycerine in a ton of garbage to make explosives for 14 sh.e.l.ls, enough fat and acid to make 75 bars of soap, and enough fertilizer to grow 8 bushels of wheat. It is said that 24 cities wasted enough garbage to make 4 million pounds of nitroglycerine, 40 million cakes of soap, and fertilizer for 3 million bushels of wheat. On the other hand, 300 cities produced 52 million pounds of pork by feeding their garbage to hogs.

The Department of Agriculture has shown that the waste of a half- cup of milk daily by each of the 20 million families in the United States would equal in a year the total production of 400 thousand cows; that one ounce of meat or fat saved daily would in a year mean 875 thousand steers, or a million hogs; and that if 81 percent of the whole wheat were used in bread instead of 75 percent, the saving in a year would feed 12 million people. During the war our government organized a campaign for the salvage of "junk," and the total amount collected had a value of 1 1/2 billion dollars. The school children of Des Moines, Iowa, are reported to have gathered and sold two thousand dollars' worth of waste paper in one week, and those of many other communities obtained similar results.

VALUE OF BY-PRODUCTS

Every successful business man is constantly vigilant to discover and remedy waste in his business--waste of materials, time, and effort. Many of the most valuable products in certain industries are "by-products,"--that is, products produced as an incident to the main industry and from materials that otherwise would have been wasted. In the manufacture of gas from coal, for example, important by-products are c.o.ke, tar, and ammonia. There has been great waste in the lumber industry, but now practically every sc.r.a.p from the tree may be used. In the Forestry Products Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin, a process has been discovered of producing from 15 to 25 gallons of wood alcohol from a ton of sawdust--and sawdust has many other uses. These are only ill.u.s.trations. Scientists and inventors, many of them employed by the government, are constantly at work finding uses for waste products.

WASTEFULNESS IN FARMING

Wastefulness is found in great variety in farming activities. For example:

Why plant seed only 60 or 70 per cent of which will germinate when, for a few dollars extra and a little work, seed may be procured that will average 90 to 95 per cent in the germination test? Why purchase or cultivate a worthless crab apple tree or a hybrid when Rome Beauty, Northern Spy, or Grimes Golden, and other standard varieties of apples may be secured for a few additional cents? Why feed and care for a "scrub" pig, calf, or colt when it will bring at maturity only half or two thirds the price of a thoroughbred? ... It is not thrift to invest money in second-rate products.

Some farmers are so careless ... that they do not husk their corn in the fall but leave it standing in the field until late winter or early spring. By this time the fodder is somewhat decayed and unfit for feeding purposes. Possibly a third of the corn has been eaten by the birds, a third of it has rotted, and a third of it remains in a damp and moldy condition. ... Many boys could make good wages by going over the corn field at cutting time and collecting the ears lying on the ground. ... Often a farmer will cut down his hay, paying no attention whatever to the reports of the weather bureau ... Apples shaken from the trees by the wind decay on the ground ...

The bearings of mowing machines and reapers often suffer excessive wear because the owner neglects to keep them properly oiled. Often a wheat drill, a mowing machine, a thres.h.i.+ng machine, or an engine is left out of doors for a whole year, or for several months after the farmer has ceased to use it. A good piece of machinery, if judiciously used, properly lubricated, and put away in a dry place, may last from ten to twenty years, while the life of such machinery will only be about half as long without proper care. If a wooden handle rots loose from its fastenings it is an indication that the handle has not been thoroughly dried after it has been used. Tools rust out very readily if they are not kept dry and thoroughly oiled ... So careless are some farmers that hoes, shovels, mattocks, wrenches, saws, and axes are thrown down in the field or woods to lie there until it is again necessary to use them. It often takes hours to find an article thus misplaced or thrown aside. It is economy of time to know just where to find everything on the farm. [Footnote: The Teaching of Thrift, by H.

R. Bonner, a.s.sistant State Superintendent of Schools, West Virginia, pp. 22, 23.]

The topics on page 180 from publications of the States Relations Service of the Department of Agriculture are suggestive:

Preventing loss of food in the home: Suitable food storage places and equipment.

Essentials of a good refrigerator.

The care of winter vegetables and fruit.

The care of perishable vegetables and fruit.

Prevention of spoilage of milk, meat, and fish.

Preservation of eggs.

Care of bread and other baked products.

What should not go into the garbage pail.

Good cooking and attractive serving.

Failure to use perishable food promptly.

Failure to use left-overs completely.

Failure to use all food materials (fats, meat and fish bones, etc.).

Leaving small portions of food in mixing and cooking dishes.

Lack of accurate measuring and mixing, so that food is not palatable.

Allowing food to be scorched or otherwise spoiled in preparation.

Providing over-generous portions in serving.

Failure to eat all food served.

Preventing loss of food in the market: Sanitary display cases for food.

Prevention of "sampling" and handling of food.

Food protection in food carts and delivery wagons.

Proper care of milk.

Proper care of meat and fish.

Prevention of cereal products from deterioration.

Protection of fruits and vegetables.

The care of bread and bakery products.

Careful selection of food.

Following are special points which might be discussed: The well-planned house.

Saving steps by better arrangement of equipment.

Lessening work by systematizing it.

Menu-planning for lessened work in preparation.

Household lighting.

Labor-saving equipment in the laundry, the kitchen, and the sewing room.

Labor-saving devices for house cleaning.

Leading a simple life.

Apply to your home demonstration agent, or write to States Relations Service, for publications relating to thrift in food, clothing, fuel, etc.

THRIFT IN INVESTMENT

(4) Thrift involves a wise use of savings. They may be invested in a home, a wise use because of the satisfaction that a home produces. If the home is well located, well built, and well kept up, it will probably also increase in money value. Savings may be invested in machinery for farming, manufacturing, or mining; in a stock of goods to be sold at a profit; in houses or office buildings to be rented to others; or they may be lent to others who pay interest for their use. In all these cases money represents CAPITAL--capital being the machinery or tools and other equipment with which wealth is produced.

Capital is brought into existence in only one way--that is, by consuming less than is produced. If one has a dollar one can spend it either for an article of consumption, say confectionery, or for an article of production, say a spade. He who buys a spade becomes a capitalist to the amount of a dollar--that is, he becomes the owner of tools. The process is precisely the same whether the amount in question is a dollar or a million dollars. [Footnote: T.N. Carver, "How to Use Farm Credit," FARMERS' BULLETIN 593, U.S.

Department of Agriculture, p. 2.]

BORROWING

Every business requires capital, some more than others. Farming requires more capital to-day than formerly because of the increased use of machinery. The necessary capital must either be saved by the person who wants to use it, or borrowed from others who have saved it.

The advantage of borrowing is that one does not have to wait so long to get possession of the tools and equipment. One can get them at once and make them produce the means of paying for themselves. Without them the farmer's production might be so low as to make it difficult ever to acc.u.mulate enough with which to buy them. With their help he may be able to pay for them--that is, to pay off the debt--in a shorter time than it would take to acc.u.mulate the purchase price without them. That is the only advantage of credit in any business, but it is a great advantage to those who know how to use it. [Footnote 2: T.N. Carver, "How to Use Farm Credit," FARMERS' BULLETIN, 593, U.S. Department of Agriculture, p. 2.]

CREDIT

Credit is simply a person's ability to borrow and depends upon the confidence that others place in him. This confidence depends on his reputation for honesty and his known ability to repay. A man, as a rule, has to HAVE something--land or property of other kind-- that he can offer as security before he can borrow much. It is for this reason that thrift is essential to a man's credit--thrift and honesty.

There is no magic about credit. It is a powerful agency for good in the hands of those who know how to use it. So is a buzz saw.

They are about equally dangerous in the hands of those who do not understand them. ... Many a farmer would be better off to-day if he had never had a chance to borrow money at all, or go into debt for the things which he bought. However, there is no reason why those farmers who do know how to use credit should not have it.

Shortsighted people, however, who do not realize how inexorably the time of payment arrives, who do not know how rapidly tools wear out and have to be replaced, or do not keep accounts in order that they may tell exactly where they stand financially, will do well to avoid borrowing. Debts have to be paid with deadly certainty, and they who do not have the wherewithal when the day of reckoning arrives become bankrupt with equal certainty.

On the other hand there is nothing disgraceful in borrowing for productive purposes. The feeling that it is not quite respectable to go into debt has grown out of the old habit of borrowing to pay living expenses. That was regarded, perhaps rightly, as a sign of incompetency. ... But to borrow for a genuinely productive purpose, for a purpose that will bring you in more than enough to pay off your debt, princ.i.p.al and interest, is a profitable enterprise. It shows business sagacity and courage, and is not a thing to be ashamed of. But it cannot be too much emphasized that the would-be borrower must calculate very carefully and be sure that it is a productive enterprise before he goes into debt.

[Footnote: T. N. Carver, "How to Use Farm Credit," p. 2.]