1902.] FARM SANITATION. 59 



farmers' wives of Connecticut are everywhere distinguished 

 as cooks. 



Another topic not often mentioned is the dangerous pres- 

 ence of the common house fly. The ordinary and necessary 

 appurtenances of the farmhouse — the stable, the swill barrel, 

 etc. — are prolific breeding places of files, and the fly is rec- 

 ognized of late as a ready and frequent carrier of disease in- 

 fection. Hence the great importance of preventing its access 

 to the food supplies. 



I will mention only one other subject that deserves a 

 more extended notice. It is not peculiar to the farmer's 

 family, but is a widely-extended evil. I mean the practice 

 of dosing with patent medicines. The consumption of quack 

 medicines is enormous. Never in the history of civilization 

 was there a time when quack nostrums were so widely used 

 as now. Like Milton's fallen angels, they are " Thick as 

 autumnal leaves that strew the brooks of Vallombrosa." A 

 large majority of these drugs contain opium or alcohol, or 

 are inert. The drink habit and the opium habit in thousands 

 of instances have been acquired by this irrational and dan- 

 gerous practice. 



The condition of the homes of a communitv is an index 

 of its rank in civilization. It is within the opportunity of the 

 farmer, far beyond the ability of the city resident, to make his 

 home a model one in a sanitary sense, and a realization of 

 what was in the poet's mind when he wrote " Home, Sweet 

 Home." 



The strongest attachments to home are found among 

 those whose boyhood and youth have been spent upon the 

 farm. To such the word " home " always calls up memories 

 of the old kitchen and its great fireplace, the old keeping 

 room, its old-fashioned furniture, and the good old folks. 



There is an influence exerted by the home upon the char- 

 acter of the boy and the youth that is permanent, and a 

 guiding factor in all his after life. This I think is specially 

 true of the home on the farm. It will be realized if we look 

 about upon the leading men who are most prominent as mer- 

 chants, manufacturers, professional men, scientists, states- 

 men, and soldiers, and observe how large a proportion of 

 them have graduated from the farmer's home. 



