﻿NATIONAL 
  EFFORTS 
  AT 
  HOME 
  MAKING 
  NEWELL. 
  519 
  

  

  homes 
  was 
  early 
  championed 
  by 
  Theodore 
  Koosevelt. 
  At 
  his 
  earnest 
  

   solicitation 
  these 
  ideals 
  were 
  embodied 
  in 
  a 
  reclamation 
  act, 
  signed 
  

   by 
  him 
  on 
  June 
  17, 
  1902. 
  This 
  was 
  a 
  vital 
  part 
  of 
  his 
  conservation 
  

   policy. 
  It 
  was 
  closely 
  joined 
  to 
  forest 
  protection 
  and 
  use; 
  it 
  linked 
  

   up 
  with 
  his 
  broad 
  conception 
  of 
  conservation 
  in 
  its 
  wider 
  aspects, 
  

   including 
  the 
  health 
  and 
  life 
  of 
  the 
  people. 
  

  

  Twenty 
  years 
  have 
  elapsed 
  since 
  the 
  reclamation 
  act 
  was 
  signed 
  — 
  

   years 
  crowded 
  with 
  events 
  which 
  have 
  modified 
  somewhat 
  the 
  at- 
  

   titude 
  of 
  the 
  thinking 
  men 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  toward 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  

   factors 
  of 
  home 
  making. 
  Population, 
  industiw, 
  and 
  wealth 
  have 
  

   increased 
  in 
  the 
  cities, 
  and 
  in 
  proportion 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  rural 
  homes 
  

   has 
  correspondingly 
  decreased, 
  yet 
  there 
  is 
  still 
  insistent 
  demand 
  

   for 
  opportunities 
  for 
  homes 
  in 
  the 
  country. 
  With 
  the 
  shift 
  of 
  popu- 
  

   lation 
  in 
  the 
  opposite 
  direction, 
  these 
  needs 
  for 
  rural 
  homes 
  have 
  

   become 
  still 
  more 
  important. 
  

  

  The 
  policy 
  of 
  home 
  making, 
  made 
  so 
  prominent 
  by 
  Eoosevelt, 
  

   still 
  maintains 
  its 
  place 
  in 
  popular 
  esteem, 
  despite 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  dur- 
  

   ing 
  1921 
  and 
  1922 
  there 
  prevailed 
  a 
  sentiment 
  that 
  agriculture 
  as 
  

   an 
  industry 
  had 
  been 
  somewhat 
  overdone, 
  that 
  the 
  area 
  of 
  culti- 
  

   vated 
  land 
  should 
  be 
  limited 
  and 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  farmers 
  reduced. 
  

   These 
  two 
  conceptions 
  of 
  too 
  much 
  agriculture 
  as 
  a 
  business 
  and 
  

   too 
  few 
  farm 
  homes 
  are 
  not 
  incompatible. 
  It 
  is 
  quite 
  possible 
  to 
  

   regard 
  agriculture 
  from 
  a 
  purely 
  money-making 
  or 
  industrial 
  stand- 
  

   point, 
  and 
  to 
  decree 
  that 
  the 
  less 
  profitable 
  areas 
  should 
  be 
  aban- 
  

   doned 
  and 
  the 
  less 
  successful 
  farmers 
  go 
  into 
  some 
  other 
  occupation. 
  

   Nevertheless, 
  when 
  farming 
  is 
  considered 
  as 
  a 
  mode 
  of 
  life 
  — 
  one 
  

   which 
  is 
  primarily 
  for 
  the 
  production 
  of 
  man 
  rather 
  than 
  of 
  money 
  — 
  

   there 
  are 
  strong 
  reasons 
  for 
  encouraging 
  it, 
  notably 
  in 
  the 
  remoter 
  

   parts 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  where 
  the 
  population 
  is 
  sparse, 
  and 
  where, 
  

   by 
  the 
  application 
  of 
  scientific 
  research, 
  comfortable 
  and 
  prosperous 
  

   homes 
  may 
  be 
  created 
  in 
  what 
  was 
  once 
  a 
  wilderness 
  — 
  particularly 
  

   if 
  these 
  homes 
  can, 
  be 
  made 
  available 
  to 
  the 
  rehabilitated 
  ex-service 
  

   men, 
  who 
  may 
  find 
  a 
  home, 
  under 
  a 
  new 
  enviroment, 
  similar 
  to 
  that 
  

   shown 
  on 
  plate 
  2, 
  figure 
  1. 
  Here 
  is 
  a 
  beginning 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  

   homes, 
  typical 
  of 
  thousands 
  of 
  others. 
  It 
  requires 
  little 
  argument 
  

   to 
  convince 
  the 
  observer 
  that 
  the 
  young 
  man 
  who 
  has 
  served 
  his 
  

   country, 
  and 
  who, 
  after 
  restoration 
  to 
  health, 
  is 
  able 
  to 
  procure 
  

   and 
  develop 
  a 
  home 
  like 
  this 
  becomes 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  best 
  of 
  stabilizing 
  

   influences 
  in 
  governmental 
  affairs. 
  

  

  The 
  rapid 
  changes 
  which 
  take 
  place 
  in 
  a 
  new 
  farm 
  of 
  this 
  kind 
  

   are 
  shown 
  on 
  plate 
  2, 
  figure 
  2, 
  where 
  there 
  is 
  given 
  a 
  view 
  of 
  a 
  small 
  

   farm 
  home, 
  taken 
  six 
  years 
  after 
  the 
  desert 
  was 
  watered. 
  Here 
  

   the 
  small, 
  but 
  comfortable 
  house 
  is 
  shown, 
  overshadowed 
  by 
  the 
  

   tree 
  growth 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  made 
  possible 
  by 
  the 
  water-supply 
  com- 
  

  

  