Rl'ral School Leaflet. 1009 



The potatoes may be dug any time after the vines are dead. Dig 

 with a fork, hook plow, or machine. Do not forget to keep your records 

 so that you can write up in an intelligent way how you grew that prize- 

 winning crop of potatoes. A complete record should be kept on the 

 record blank sent out by the College of Agriculture to all the boys 

 entering the Cornell Potato Contest. 



THE TEETH AND HOW TO KEEP THEM 



T. R. Stuart;'d.D.S. - .,^... 



Nature provides us with two sets of teeth, temporary and permanent. 

 The temporary or deciduous teeth are intended to serve the purpose of 

 mastication during childhood. The fact that these teeth iare for tem- 

 porary use and will be replaced in due time is no reason or excuse for 

 their neglect. They should be kept clean and free from cavities of decay 

 so that they will remain comfortable and useful until they loosen and 

 come out naturally. A child's teeth or an adult's either, 'for that matter, 

 should never ache or be uncomfortable to chew with. It is unnecessary 

 and should be avoided. >' -'-«^'-''^<^ •'•■" '■' 



Serious malnutrition may result from the teeth becoming sensitive 

 to the pressure of food during mastication; and many cases of irregu- 

 larities of the permanent teeth are caused by the extraction of one or 

 more of the deciduous teeth too early. Each deciduous tooth should 

 be retained until its successor of the permanent set is ready to replace it. 



The permanent teeth are designed by nature to last throughout our 

 lives and by. careful attention to a few simple rules of dental hygiene, 

 they will do so. Decay is the worst enemy of good teeth, and decay 

 is the direct result of neglect. Particles of food allowed to remain 

 in the mouth will decompose, and saliva that is highly charged with 

 organic matter, if allowed to lie stagnant between the teeth will fer- 

 ment, producing an acid that attacks the enamel of the teeth. This 

 is the beginning of decay. Once the enamel is softened, the bacteria 

 which are always present in the mouth will find lodgement there and 

 make deeper inroads into the tooth. Unless remedial measures are 

 employed a cavity thus begun continues until the whole tooth is des- 

 troyed. Nature never repairs any injury that a tooth may sustain. 

 Cleanliness is the one great preventive. Clean teeth will not decay. 



Perhaps few of us are so situated that it is possible to brush the teeth 

 after each meal. But particles of food can be removed by thoroughly 

 rinsing the mouth with warm water and using the quill tooth pick or 



