106 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



And one of the best kinds of education for the children is to give 

 them each a small plot of land and encourage them to raise vege- 

 tables for the house table. Sometimes it is wise to let the children 

 thus earn money for some of their clothes and learn in this way 

 something of the value of money. But even if the garden is a 

 nuisance, even if it does take time from other things, remember 

 that no amount of money you can make will compensate for the 

 lack of these fresh vegetables for your growing children. It is not 

 simply comfort and convenience that is needed in the home, health 

 is of prime importance. 



According to the statistics of the United States Census Bureau 

 for 1900, only 2.8 per cent, of the annual deaths in Missouri are 

 due to old age. Just think, only 2.8 per cent of the people live to 

 die of old age. Something is the matter. The larger part of our 

 time is spent in the house. Is the home responsible? You may be 

 perfectly well satisfied with the kind of homes your parents had, 

 or the kind of homes you have. If none of your family have ever 

 died of anything but old age, if none of them have ever been sick, 

 I am not talking to you just now, but to your neighbor. Most dis- 

 eases can be prevented in one of two ways — either (1) by keeping 

 the body in first class condition, by following all hygeinic laws in 

 regard to eating, sleeping, drinking, breathing, working and resting 

 that disease germs cannot find entrance to the body. Or (2) by 

 keeping the body from contact with disease germs. 



Pneumonia and consumption cause more deaths in Missouri 

 than any four other diseases. The present crusade against spitting 

 is an attempt to prevent the spread of the bacteria causing pneu- 

 monia and consumption. But until the crusade has gained much 

 more strength than at present, the home will need to be very care- 

 ful of all hygienic and sanitary measures necessary to keep the 

 body in good resisting condition. 



Many a death, but much more sickness, is due to malaria. I 

 wonder if you have ever calculated the amount of money that is 

 wasted by the semi-sickness that allows one to drag around and do 

 only half a man's work. We know that mosquitoes carry the dis- 

 ease germs of malaria. Sometimes it is possible to drain the land, 

 and greatly reduce the number of mosquitoes. Certainly we can 

 put screens in the houses. But above all, we should look after the 

 general hygienic conditions of the body, that it may be able to 

 resist the entrance of disease germs. 



Typhoid fever is another too common disease. Its prevention 

 in the country rests chiefly with the household. Care must be taken 



