FIFTY MILLION STRONG 



If over and over God deigns to work, 



Why should we faint one duty shirk? 



So over and over our tasks we do, 



Sure of reward if our work be true. 

 This is the message which clear I heard 

 From the heart of the mother, the bee, and the bird. 



Both for perfect rest from the labors of the day and for 

 the purpose of building oneself up, the country is ideal. The 

 nights are so quiet that anyone accustomed to the constant 

 hum of city life finds the change delightful. A sojourn in 

 the country acts as a sedative and prepares the nervous 

 system for the demands of the city. And as the years go by, 

 Rural America is contributing more and more to the recupera- 

 tion of the whole people. The Federal Government has taken 

 great pride in setting aside thousands and millions of acres 

 in the most attractive parts of the nation for the pleasure of 

 all. These great reserves have been called playgrounds, and 

 their purpose is to bring the people closer to Nature's heart 

 and to fit them for the larger life of the future. Urbs is 

 coming to know more and more intimately Rus and the bene- 

 fits are beyond computation. The boundless acres of Rus, 

 her thousands of beauty spots, her innumerable retreats, are 

 transforming both Urban and Rural America and giving the 

 nation a brighter outlook on life. 



What is it in Rural America that is contributing so much 

 to this brighter outlook on life? Is it not her possession of 

 those things in prodigal abundance that are the heritage of all 

 persons? Lucy Larcom expresses this thought felicitously. 



COMMON THINGS OF EARTH 



I said it on the meadow path, 



I say it on the mountain stairs, 



The best things any mortal hath 



Are those that every mortal shares. 



The grass is softer to our tread, 



For rest it yields unnumbered feet; 



Sweeter to us the wild rose red 



Because she makes the whole world sweet. 



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