CHAPTER IV 



THE AFFAIES OF THE FARM 



The farm is out of doors. It has relations with everything out of 

 doors, with the wild animals as well as the rest. This general 

 relationship has been little appreciated in a conscious way, and the 

 result is the farming business has not yet been closely adapted to 

 its environment. BAILEY. 



I know of no pursuit in which more real and important service 

 can be rendered to any country than by improving its agriculture 

 and its breed of useful animals. GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



26. A Larger Farm Life. Farming has to do with making 

 a living out of the land; but, still more, it has to do with 

 the farmer's life itself. The smith does not live in his 

 shop, but goes home when the day's work is done. So 

 do the merchant and the miner. But the farmer lives on 

 his land as well as from it. The farm is his place of busi- 

 ness, and also it is his home. Whatever concerns it affects 

 not merely his wealth but also his welfare. Health, school, 

 cooperation, community spirit, and all the agencies that 

 uplift farm life and give it a wider outlook are vital affairs 

 of the farm. 



27. Health. Filth, flies, and fever are a combination of 

 vital concern to the farmer. If the filth, which includes 

 refuse of almost any kind likely to be exposed around 

 dwellings, is destroyed or made inoffensive, the flies and 

 the fever need less attention. Without filth, flies will not 

 breed. With filth, health is always endangered. So long 

 as the house fly was regarded merely as an intruder in the 



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