Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1910-12-28

Farm Sanitation which suggested
many ideas for this pa per, says: "rhe
farm Is the point OF attack--the
farm is the unit both in the spread
and prevention Of infection Each
farm is, to all intents and purposes,
a separate community, with it's own
population, it's own problems of
sanitation, and its own forces for
good and evil The work we would
do for the improvement Of the farm"
This view Of the subject affords us
an excellent ground plan for drgani-
zation. The head of each farm
should be the health officer Of that
particular community" working up-
der the guidance of a rural district
inspector. This would make the
farmer feel a personal responsible
ity and stimulate a pride and rival
ry in maintaining good sanitation.
Literature upon the subject should
be distributed and the people en-
couraged to think and study the sub
ject
The best authority on farm sani-
tation is Dr.. G. w. Stiles, Of Wash
ington, d. c., whose exhaustive stud
les Of soil pollution have revealed to
us conditions almost unbelievable
and yet, we have but to go a few
n,sl ;nf hn f<>
all forcibly verified. The South owes
this man debt OF gratitude it can
never repay. The value Of the con-
servation Of human life and happi-
ness is beyond the appraisement Of
man, but he must feel already more
than compensated in the conscious
ness Of having made intelligent,
healthy and useful citizens out Of
those who were once ignorant, dis
eased and a burden to themselves
and others. thousands OF physi-
clans are following his trea ..nent of
the hookworm, and tens OF thou
sands OF incapacitated individuals
are being made into useful citizens
In addition TO this, DR.. Stiles is the
pioneer in rural sanitation, and
through his scientific papers and let-
lures upon the subject, has forced
us to recognize conditions as they
are and to feel that we are in 4
large measure responsible for Them
We all know that the average
farm has only the most primitlve
sanitary arrangements. The closets
are open affairs, where flies breed
and swarm and from whence they
make excursions to the dinner table
and kitchen with their bodies reek-
ing with filth, to crawl upon food
and utensils. Dogs, pigs and chick
ems scatter the material, and the
thrifty farmer, with ap eye to econ,
omy, but with woeful ignorance,
carts it away to fertilize his vegeta-
bic garden
Water supplies receive little or no
protection from contamination. The
wells are so carelessly constructed
and kept that surface water readily
enters. People drinking at the well
invariably use the bucket as the
drinking vessel, grasping it with
soiled hands, leaving the filth to be
washed off when the bucket is again
lowered
There are a few farms, models Of
sanitary arrangements and equipped
with all Of the conveniences to be
had in the city. These isolated cases
| stand as brilliant illustrations of
what is possible to accomplish in the
country.
The sanitary work in the country
will have most happy effect upon
country life apart from matters of
health. 1t will bring the people to-
gether upon an issue for the gene
raj welfare, and will go forward to-
ward breaking down the individual
lstic ideas and establishing districts
having common rights, interests and
responsibilities.
with rural free delivery, good
roads, telephones and last, but most
important of all, sanitation, the
country will, indeed, be the most de-
sirable place in which to dwell.
Since agriculture has been reduced
to a science, the farms demand the
brains OF our college graduates for
their successful management TO 20
back to the farm will not mean rust
'ud stagnation, but a practical ap-
plicatiOn Of the knOwledee qainod q +