36 The Rural Home and Character Development 



common situations and the common people of the 

 world. 



It is, therefore, recommended that farm parents 

 provide for a part of the sterner duties of the boys 

 and girls such tasks as will allow for comparative 

 rest of the body while the mind may tarry undis- 

 turbed with the reflections of the inner life. 



MOVING TO TOWN FOR THE CHILDREN 



The practice of the well-to-do farmer who moves 

 to town to "educate his children" is an old story and 

 is fraught with many a hidden tragedy, to say noth- 

 ing of the impoverishment of the land and of the 

 social order left behind. Why cannot the intelli- 

 gent farmer remain on the home place and join a 

 movement having for its purpose that of making 

 the neighborhood a more desirable place of human 

 habitation ? 



One of the dullest places in the world is the coun- 

 try town which has been filled up with retired farmers. 

 These are usually men who came into the place 

 for the purpose of getting all the possible advantages 

 at the lowest possible cost. In the typical case the 

 new city dweller of this class secures a very good 

 residence, and that often, if possible, just outside the 

 city limits, in order to avoid local taxes. He takes 

 little or no interest in the town's municipal affairs 

 and votes against nearly all proposed improvements. 

 He keeps his own cow, horse, chickens, and garden, 



