WOMEN S RURAL ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR ACTIVITIES. 13 
and sixty school children collected 60 such heaps, which were removed 
by the town authorities. Fences and trees are whitewashed, and fly 
and moth campaigns are successfully carried on by women's clubs. 
Arbor Day is celebrated in many localities by planting shade trees 
in the school yards and on country roads. A county in California 
planted a large number of shade trees on country roads, every woman's 
club in the county being responsible for certain portions of the road. 
The courtyard in Ashland City, Tenn., was turned into a park by the 
woman's club there. 
Women's clubhouses are frequently used as community centers. A 
recreation hall was built by the Ladies' Literary Society, a rural club 
near Exeter, Me., as early as 1865. It is still in existence and has 
been managed by the same organization of women since its construc- 
tion. There is a stage for speaking and dramatic entertainments, 
the Grange meets here, the young people may secure the hall for 
social gatherings, and equipment for cooking and serving is provided. 
On a reclamation project in Arizona a splendid type of rural club 
undertook the building of a clubhouse immediately upon being organ- 
ized, as there was at that time no available meeting place large enough 
for public gatherings. It is said that at the time of the organization 
of this club in 1907, when the meetings were held in the members' 
homes, the members were very widely scattered and drove on trails and 
through sagebrush to the meetings, some driving as far as 17 miles. 
Funds were raised by subscription for the clubhouse, the business 
men contributing a substantial sum. The families of the members 
helped, and when the time came for construction much of the hauling 
and actual work of building was done by them. The clubhouse was 
used at once for a union Sunday school and has always been available 
without charge for any community enterprise. Its maintenance is 
provided for largely through rentals to the young people for their 
social gatherhigs. The Heaton Point Household Science Club, in 
Illinois, unable to build a clubhouse, bought 100 trays, spoons, and 
folding chairs to be used by any person in the community for special 
entertainments or for any large gathering. 
Women's rural clubs have done much to further the employment 
of trained workers for the county, such as women county agents, 
county nurses, and county social service workers. The woman State 
agent for Mississippi has said that the women's clubs in that State 
have been constant and earnest supporters of woman county agent 
work in home economics. They have given financial aid, used their I 
influence to secure appropriations, bought canning club products, 
and given the work a prominent place on their programs. In St. 
Joseph County, Mich., money was raised through the sale of Red 
Cross stamps and in other ways to pay part of the salary of a county 
nurse. In some rural communities the women's organizations have 
