The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-05-15

l Farm life problems were discussed at a meeting held at the Department or l Agriculture last week in Washington, at which representatives were present rom agricultural colleges and other educa- tional institutions, the Council or 1 Churches. the Y. M C. A., the Y. W. c. A., the National Grange, the Country Li1e association, the national board of farm organizations, the Farmers Nationhi council and other national and state agencies.
 The conference discussed the whole field | of rural life activities, with view to | outline plans for further study of this I subject David F. Houston, Secretary of I Agriculture, said to the representatives l of the organizations present that rural | life cannot be discussed satisfactorily Tn separate compartments, but must be con sidered as whole. The office of farm management he regarded as perhaps the one office in the Department of Agricul- ture at present, which, with the assist ance of such people as constituted the gathering and the leaders of state institu- tions and other organizations, can and should take this broader view, and deal | with country life accordingly. One Of the f0ifficulties all of us encounter he said. when we try to think about these prob | lens is that we have not facts enough available especially recent facts Sug- gestions of a plan for getting, at more | frequent intervals. the essential facts | bearing on rural life and activities, was
 one of the primary purposes of the con l ference.
 New conditions that have developed in the past few years, and others that are certain to develop in the immediate fu- | ture were taken into consideration in re- lation to the part that the Department of l Agriculture and other agencies, national, state and local, can play in bringing | fvyin ua farm life.
 l Secretary Houston, in an address on the opening day of the conference, said it iS not sufficient merely that farming shall pay, The benefits of modern science ans modern civilization, he said. seem to ac- crue too largely solely to those who live lin urban communities. He referred to the
 meager salaries paid rural teachers and | to the fact that the country boy Sre- qIently does not receive the kind of in- l struction that will train him for life on | the farm. As rapidly as possible. he said;T l increased facilities should be placed with i in reach of every community in the way | of medical and dental service, clinical fa- l cilities hospitals and nurses, and theTs ] should be as full protection against pre- l ventable diseases as modern cities have | learned to provide. Those of us who are familiar with conditions know" he con cluded, that the defects exist and that I q tention in the rural districts of the neces-
 sary number of prosperous and contented people"
 The conference, on the last day of it's meeting, recommended to the secretary the study of rural home life as the most important matter for the reorganized bu- Ireau of farm management and rural econ omy, in it's work for the improvement
 of country conditions. The conference in
 cludes under rural home life studies. the
 attitude of the farmers wife and chsi- dren toward farm life, their part in the work of the farm. their relation to the rm income, facilities for safeguarding their health and caring for them in sic.s- ress, their opportunities for contact with
 the world outside the home. the structure of the farmhouse, its equipment for the
 promotion of family comfort and social life, and it's surroundings in the way of
 beautifcations
 Among the other studies recommended
 by the conference are The relation of
 schools, churches and other religious in-
 stitutions to farm life problems the so- cial aspects of the various types of farm
 labor; the social aspects of tenancy and Ilandlordism. including the causes of ten ancy, the shifting of the tenant popula- Ition. the effect upon rural life and tnsti'