INTRODUCTION 



The day has gone by when we thought of the " women's ses- 

 sion " of an institute as nothing but an exchange of recipes and a 

 discussion of the details of houeskeeping. Today, the home- 

 maker's session inchides men as well as women, for more and more 

 are we coming, as Woods Hutchinson says, " to look upon the 

 human machine, whether our own or that of our follows or our 

 employees, as the modern scientific farmer looks upon his soil — 

 as a field for investment, upon which is to be spent as much 

 capital and labor as will yield a profitable return." Such invest- 

 ment in the case of the human field consists '' not alone of feeding, 

 but of housing, of working, of sleeping, of resting, and of play- 

 ing, as well." 



In proportion as men have realized that it is as poor business 

 to neglect the field of home-making as any other field of the 

 farm, the number of men who attend the home-makers' sessions 

 has increased, and they no longer come to sit indulgently through 

 the " women's discussions," but to take an active part in them. 

 It proves their belief that the field of home-making requires the 

 joint study and efiort of both partners in the business. The re- 

 ports of addresses given at home-makers' meetings, therefore, are 

 no longer to be regarded merely as a " woman's page," but as of 

 equal interest to men and women alike. Year by year the results 

 of such cooperation will becouie more apparent as each individual 

 home yields a higher and higher return of health and efficiency 

 to the makers of that home, the community and the world. 



[1838] 



