1931 - Annual Convention

              A L B E R T A W O M E N ' S I N S T I T U T ES
of the old adages, " If I had but two loaves of bread I w o u l d sell one and buy-sweet
hyacinths to feed my soul." Let us not forget that the home surround­ings
have much to do with the happiness and health of our families. Who
ever saw a happier picture than the mother with her family in the garden,
the delight of each l i t t l e one as he sees a new flower or vegetable peeping
above the ground. This happy home environment is what w i l l give our boys
and girls strength to go on and do their best. Many of our farm families
are finding it very hard to pull through and may be short of seeds f o r flowers,
etc. Let us all do our bit through our Institutes to pass on any extra seed we
may have.
Our thanks are due to M r . Seymour and his department for the - able
assistance given to all a s k i n g for it. T h r o u g h his efforts " Peony Day" was
quite generally observed throughout the province. Many Institutes have
reported buying the plants for some public grounds and others have bought
collectively for d i s t r i b u t i n g among their members.
Last year I made a request to the effect that in a s k i n g for assistance
a l o n g a g r i c u l t u r a l lines, you would state what phase of agriculture you wished
to study or at least give me some idea of what you had taken up before so
as to let me know what might be of interest to you. I would like to draw
your attention to this again, for while I received numerous requests for infor­mation,
only three or four gave me any suggestion as to wha1 ! was wanted.
It is v e r y g r a t i f y i n g , t o hear of the activities of the Institutes through the
reports of Constituency Conveners. There is no doubt that with the women
of the A . W . I , showing such enthusiasm, agriculture in A l b e r t a must succeed.
Men prominent in agriculture have given talks to the Institutes; these usually
resulted in many questions and discussions. In this list of work done by
different Institutes you m a y find a suggestion suitable for your branch. One
wrote a nursery and requested them to send seed catalogues to 50 women in
the district, h o p i n g in this way to stimulate interest; another had members
t ry out new varieties of vegetables; much work was done by co- operating
w i t h school fairs. Along the line of noxious weeds and preservation of w i ld
flowers, one branch sent a resolution to the weed inspector a s k i n g for a more
r i g i d inspection and that the law be enforced; others have offered prizes to
school children for essays on noxious weeds, also for contests in w i l d flower
collections. Other contests for w h i c h prizes were given school c h i l d r e n were
a knot tying contest for boys, a house dress for girls and essays on " The
f a m i l y planted a tree and a home grew up around it." P o u l t r y r a i s i n g and
t u r k e v raising have flourished, some districts having government inspection
for T . B .
Some suggestions for r o l l call that are a little out of the ordinary I w i ll
pass along. " H o w to keep the boys and girls on the farm," " Why I prefer
town or country life," " S t o r i n g winter vegetables," ' W h a t hard times has
taught us," " Something new w o r t h planting." Another suggestion along this.
line is to have the Chairman of Standing Committees answer the r o l l call at
each meeting with something on her subject.
Two community efforts worthy of special mention are the F l o w e r Show
held at Coutts Constituency Conference and the community contest for " Pro­ducts
of the S o i l " held at the Carmangay F a i r . This contest is open to just
three communities, to Carmangay, to Champion, the community to the north,
and Barons, the one to the south. The women of the Institutes do the
c o l l e c t i n g and arrange the display but exhibits may be grown by anyone
l i v i n g in the community. The post office the exhibitor gets his mail from
determines the community which displays his articles.