506 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



tion for farm people, especially those in less prosperous regions, 

 in the full meaning of personal hygiene, the very best care of 

 the body, the very best dietaries, and in public health, in order 

 to stamp out epidemics, secure care of sewage, restrict the spread 

 of contagious diseases. In many ways these things are much 

 more difficult to handle in the country than in the city. 



Recreation. This is one of the great lacks of country life. 

 We need a more adequate play life for the young and a thor- 

 oughly satisfying social life for the adults. We must bring 

 into the country some of those legitimate opportunities for plea- 

 sure that people of the city have. Better than this, we would 

 encourage the country people themselves in the making of their 

 own recreation. 



Country Planning. The roads, the buildings, the village parks, 

 all of the material arrangements of the country, should be care- 

 fully planned. 



Social Welfare. There is need in the country as well as in 

 the city for helpfulness to those not well circumstanced; the 

 insane, the feeble-minded, the poor, the sick, the unfortunate. 

 We can organize better than we have thus far the spirit of help- 

 fulness. It is not enough that we have the neighborly interest ; 

 we must also have the skilled aid. 



Morals and Religion. How can we maintain the highest and 

 finest ideals of personal character and of community life? How 

 can we make religion real in the work of the farm and in the 

 living together of the people? How can we assist the country 

 church, the Y. M. C. A., the Sunday School, to be of the largest 

 possible service in the country? 



x 



SOME ECONOMIC ADJUSTMENTS 



We have outlined the problem of rural improvement in a most 

 sketchy way but we have not yet quite told the whole story. 

 All that has gone before calls for a certain balancing of inter- 

 ests. There are adjustments to be made from time to time. 

 There are diverse interests that have to be reconciled. We 

 never can "solve" the farm problems as problems of arithmetic 

 can be solved. In our search for constant improvement, we find 

 the constant need of establishing new relationships by the people, 

 of developing new methods of doing business. What is right 



