THE COUNTRY HOME 149 



an attractive place to live, these are the things that are more and 

 more going to be demanded of the farm home. And no matter what 

 other advantages farm life may afford, we cannot hope to see our 

 best young men and women stay on the farm if they are denied these 

 comforts. Just recently, I heard an old farmer who has spent all his 

 life in hard work and who has never had the advantage of higher 

 education or modern culture, say that he thought often when a farmer 

 comes in hot and dusty from a hard day's work a good shower bath 

 would do him more good than his supper. "And yet," he said, "the 

 farmer is in the most part denied this comfort which is commonly 

 available to the factory workers in our cities." Now we agree, and 

 others are coming to realize, that farming is the biggest business in the 

 nation today. Such a business demands that a great many of our 

 best young men and women stay on the farm. Let me repeat that not 

 many of them are going to be willing to stay there if they must deny 

 themselves the common comforts and conveniences of daily life that 

 are enjoyed by the average resident of our cities. Surely we must 

 have in the country more real homes, homes that are not merely 

 dwelling houses but homes that provide the advantages that will make 

 country life attractive and will give to our future citizenship the 

 greatest possible development. 



THE LORD HELPS THEM THAT HELP THEMSELVES 



How is this to be brought about? I should say by the farmers 

 themselves. The main thing needed is to make farm business more 

 profitable, to make farm returns somewhat comparable to the returns 

 of other industries that require a similar investment and corresponding 

 ability. Before we can build many permanent country homes, our 

 farm business must be made to pay a fair rate of interest on the 

 necessary money and time and ability invested. This cannot be 

 brought about by any special governmental concession or guarantee, 

 but a great deal can be accomplished by the farmers themselves. 



Much can be done in this direction by the use of better systems 

 of farming, systems that will enable the farmer to produce more 

 efficiently and at lower cost. This is a matter of education and I 

 believe our research and extension activities should continue and be 

 further developed along this line. 



But better farming cannot do it all. We must realize more 

 and more that our business does not stop with production. We must 

 pay more and more attention to the economical marketing of our 

 products till they reach the consumer's hands, in order that we, as 



