The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette. (Starkville, Miss.) 1910-1920, 1910-05-28
WHAT SAW IN THE MIDDLE WEST-U
CT AREN CE POE.

panted but all the barns are painted too.-and
paint on the house is almost as cheerful as a smile
on the face. With increasing prosperity in the
South it's shame that haven't more painted
houses-and barns. too.-in the country 1t
pays, and II makes you prouder Of your farm
and prouder of your neighborhood. should
hate for n Western traveller to come down and
see our backwardness In this respect
Most of the farm dwellings in this Wisconsin
Illinois territory are. OF course. much pretter
than our average farm homes in the South we'll
designed two-story buildings. tastefully painted;
but the dominant feature OF the farm landscape
are the big red barns. usually about twice or
three times big the dwelling itself. And 1t
is unfortunately true that the barns are In some
cases better equipped than the homes. One farm
er out here has electric lights in his barn. and
burns kerosene in his house,
In other words. the farm woman is the most
neglected factor in the whole rural problem out
here. she is In too many other sections. The
institutes for farmers wives. which DR.. Butler
started In North Carolina. have proved one OF the
most effective means OF popularizing improved
methods In the home we'll as on the farm and
/ shall not let up in my efforts until every other
Southern State does we'll. or better. by the
farm women than North Carolina has been doing
Then there ought to be free bulletins OF all kinds
for the farmers wife we'll for the farmer
and certainly any farmer ought to be ostracized
who does not get improved. labor saving conven-
fences for his wife as fast as he gets them for
his own work. For example. have been dis
tressed to hear out here in the West that ad-
vertisement of a washing machine to tighten the
house work viii not make half so many sales
an ad. of some labor-saving farm tool for the man
himself. Those things ought not to be.
Where the farm woman's work is lightened by
iabor-saying convenienoes and where she is study
ing her work and is trying to learn about foods
and food values. sanitation. and also about how to
make the most splendid examples OF physical and
moral manhood and womanhood out OF her child
ren--well. she has chance to find ten times as
much Joy and sweetness In life as the wealthy
society woman In town who fritters her time away
on matters OF no more Importance than how to
play bridge or how to deck her body a little diff
ferently to-day from what she did yesterday. 1t
seems TO me that should as lief not live at all
ne To reproach my Creator with a life wasted in
such aimlessness.
At the bottom OF most of our rural problems
Is the fundamental trouble OF rural isolation. II
bring farmers nearer together We shall do
more than we can do In any other way to stop
the drift to where living is twice as hard as
Ii is In the country. Only yesterday professor In
Chicago University. whose special study Is I'M
proving the conditions of poverty-stricken people,
declared that poverty is solely city problem
Compared with the vast number OF city destitute
and halfs,arvi,g tho number OF hopelessly poor