No. 4.] HEALTH ON THE FARM. 79 



1912 was 14.8, while in the country it was 15.4. In New York 

 the death rate for the cities for 1912 was 14.9, and for the rural 

 districts 15.3. Unfortunately the census reports do not give a 

 relative comparison of the death rates. Taking the whole 

 country together the death rates for the cities in registration 

 States for 1909 to 1912, respectively, were 15.6, 16.3, 15.4 

 and 14.9, and for the rural districts in the same States for the 

 same years, respectively, were 13.9, 14.7, 14.3 and 13.9. For 

 1911 the death rate in the cities of New York was 15.46 and 

 in the country 15.79, and for Massachusetts the city death 

 rate was 15.28 and in the country districts 15,55. In these 

 cases the country rate is still a little higher than it is in the 

 city. 



It would not be possible for me to undertake to explain 

 why it is that in New York and Massachusetts, particularly, 

 the city is a healthier place to live in than the country. One 

 thought suggests itself to me with considerable emphasis, 

 namely, that the cities of New York and Massachusetts are 

 taking better care of their citizens than the country is. I 

 do not know any reason of climate or food supply or local 

 infection which would tend to diminish the length of life in 

 the rural districts of Massachusetts and New York. It is 

 for the sanitarians and public health officials of these States 

 to inquire into this matter. There is no harm, however, in 

 expressing the thought which is uppermost in my mind at the 

 present time in regard to this point, namely, that the sanitary 

 conditions of living in the farmers' homes of Massachusetts 

 and New York are not what they should be. I am inclined 

 to believe that it is due more to lack of sanitary conveniences 

 and appliances than it is to the effect of the climate or of a 

 deficient diet, and yet I have no data on which to base this 

 opinion. Why inhabitants of rural districts should live longer 

 in practically all the States of the Union than they do in the 

 cities, and just the contrary condition should exist in the 

 two leading States of the country, leading in education and in 

 wealth in one State and in wealth and population in the other, 

 is beyond my power to explain. 



The record held by Minnesota and Washington and Utah 

 in regard to the prolongation of the lives of their citizens is 



