HEALTH CONDITIONS IN THE OPEN COUNTRY 



IN our approach to country-life ques- 

 tions, we have largely overlooked the 

 subject of the physical efficiency of country 

 people; yet here is a problem of funda- 

 mental importance, and attention to it by 

 all public agencies becomes at once a 

 powerful factor in education. The rural 

 districts cannot develop to their greatest 

 possibilities until every precaution is taken 

 to preserve the health of the resident in- 

 habitants. This is nowhere more marked 

 than in the necessity of controlling the 

 farm-labor supply. The excessive death 

 rate among children, which obtains in some 

 parts of the country, may be a direct cause 

 of scarcity of farm labor. We must also 

 develop strong and resistant bodies at 

 maturity in order that the real work of the 

 farm may be well accomplished. Public 

 health is one of our greatest natural re- 

 sources, as important to conserve as iron, 

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