8oo Reading Course for Farmers' Wives. 



ing wheat and corn, of reapers and binders, than the woman on the farm 

 has of the baby whose hfe is so dear to both mother and father and of 

 such prospective value to the community. In city, town or village, 

 the man has a more intimate and accurate understanding of the delicate 

 machinery he handles, of the industry he fosters, of the business of the 

 firm he serves, than the woman possesses of that most intricate and frail 

 organism, the human infant. The baby needs more intelligent handling 

 and more careful cherishing than the young of other animals, than infant 

 industries or intricate machines, if it is to develop into healthful, efficient 

 manhood or womanhood. 



Responsibility in caring for and rearing children is of as great import- 

 ance to the race as responsibility in any conceivable line of industry, yet 

 parents have less training for it. Mothers and fathers rarely possess any 

 definite scientific knowledge of the real conditions governing childhood 

 and youth. If prosperity is to increase, if the efficiency of men and 

 women is to be made greater, it must be through a better understanding 

 of the needs of childhood. 



The three factors of greatest importance in determining the welfare 

 of the child are inheritance, environment and food. It is vital to the 

 progress of the race that children should be well born, that the parents 

 should be strong and untainted, that they should pass on good habits 

 of mind and body to the next generation. It is not, however, within the 

 scope of this bulletin to attempt any discussion of this abstract subject. 

 Only the more immediately present conditions will be considered here. 



care of the mother 



Thoughtful care of the child should not be deferred to the time of its 

 birth. It should at least begin with the care of the mother from the time 

 she knows that she may expect the little one. Much misery and ill health 

 on the part of both child and mother may often be prevented by an under- 

 standing of the conditions which prevail at this time and by giving better 

 attention to a hygienic regimen for the mother. 



The period of the greatest growth during the lifetime of the human 

 being is during the nine months previous to birth. When the child is 

 born, it is about five million times as large as the germ from which it has 

 sprung. During the first year of its life growth is only about threefold, 

 and after this it progresses much more slowly until maturity is reached. 

 While right conditions are extremely important during the first years of 

 life they are supremely important during the prenatal period. During 

 these months, muscles, bones and nerves, the foundation for all organs 

 and tissues are formed. This is the time when the human being is created 



