CHAPTER III 



THE RURAL HOME AND CHARACTER 

 DEVELOPMENT 



THAT the farm home is an ideal place in which to 

 build up the lives of growing boys and girls has be- 

 come almost a trite saying. But that rural parents 

 are yet failing to realize the child-nurturing possi- 

 bilities of such a place may be exemplified in thou- 

 sands of instances. When we point to the farm 

 home as being the best possible place for rearing chil- 

 dren, we mean that it contains all the crude materials 

 for such work, and that there must be in charge of 

 that work some one who is conscious of the many 

 aspects of the problem. So we hope to show the 

 fathers and mothers of the farm community, riot 

 what they might do if they were differently situated, 

 but as specifically as possible what there is in the 

 present rural home situation that can be made 

 directly available in the construction of the lives 

 of their children. 



WHAT AGENCIES BUILD UP CHARACTER? 



First of all, we must ask, What are the ordinary 

 forces which need to be brought into service in the 



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