62 
He listened incredulously and when I finally told him how a certain 
mosquito transmitted malaria, he said, “Now do you really believe all 
that?’ His own belief was that it was all nonsense. 
What is the use of attempting to teach the old farmer? I thought. 
Perhaps if the school teacher told these things to the farmer’s boys it 
would have some effect. ‘They might see the need for cleaning up every- 
where. 
It is perhaps unnecessary to refer to the experienced florist or horti- 
culturist whose knowledgé enables him to tell from a plant’s appearance 
that it is sickly and needs certain treatment, otherwise it will perish; or 
to the physician whose knowledge enables him to quickly recognize certain 
conditions in man and the need for a change. 
Now resurveying the field, oue comes to the conclusicn that weeds and 
diseases and ill health exist mainly because we neglect to pay attention to 
cleanliness. When un epidemie threatens a large city then everybody gets 
busy and cleans up. There should be constant not periodical cleaning up. 
We should not allow the existence of waste places where weeds grow 
which will re-seed the whole country about. No matter how free from 
weeds a farmer or gardener may keep his own ground, seed are constantly 
brought in from the surrounding country. It takes a combined effort to 
fight weeds. As matters stand, farming and gardening are largely a war- 
fare against weeds. The same is true in regard to communities and dis- 
eases. No matter how careful one individual may be the seed of disease 
constantly comes to him from those who are sick and diseased. He meets 
people on the street who come from neglected homes, from the slums 
where disease and ill health are endemic and from where diseases are 
carried to all parts of the city. By the way, nearly all the patent medi- 
cine testimonials we see in the newspapers are signed by people living in 
such localities. 
We can look at the subject in another light. Many plants adapt them- 
selves to their environment. Sensitive ones are readily killed off under 
conditions where weeds continue to flourish, just as many human beings 
are killed off or driven out where conditions are unsanitary. But we 
know to what extent some human beings can live under slum conditions; 
some must be regarded as human weeds, such as the Juke and Ishmael 
families. Like common weeds, they are undesirable. Cleaning up drives 
