Health news. 1915-16

It has been pointed out as a striking and surprising fact that the death rate in the rural communities of New York State is higher than that of the crowded city of New York. A part of this difference is no doubt due to the fact that there is a higher proportion of old people in the rural communities, and a large proportion of old people means a higher death rate, other things being equal. Whatever the importance of this comparison of city and country statistics may be, there can be no doubt of the fact that, while the New York City death rate has dropped about one-third in the last fifteen years, the rural death rate has remained stationary. It has been about 15 per 1,000, up and down a little, since 1900. We do not want this rural death rate to be stationary any longer. In the country the farmer must be his own sanitary engineer and to a large degree his own board of health. There are many things which the State and local health officials can not do for him, but they can help him to do them for himself. It is in the hope that the health officers and physicians and other readers of HEALTH NEWS may pass the information on to the individual farmers of the State, that this special issue dealing with Farm Sanitation has been prepared.

Proper disposal of wastes, pure water and milk supplies, freedom from insect pests, habits of personal cleanliness and moderation in all things are the principal elements in maintaining good health, and therefore, as Prof. Bailey points out, in securing good farming.

The control of flies was discussed somewhat fully in the HEALTH NEWS for July, and in the present issue Dr. Doty treats of the suppression of mosquitoes while Prof. Ogden and Mr. Horton outline definite and simple and practical procedures for farm water supply and farm waste disposal.

Open air life in the country, among the woods and in the fields, is the sort of life man was made for; but we must add to the blessings of nature the gifts of modern science as well.

GOOD HEALTH AND GOOD FARMING

LIBERTY H. BAILEY

Formerly Director, College of Agriculture, Cornell University

Good soil, good seed, good animals, good tools, good men- these are the foundation of a good agriculture and a good country life.

We have been taught very much in these latter years about the first four of these, the soil, how to know it and how to treat it, with bulletins in much detail; the seed, there are professors of plant breeding and there is no end of good advice from the institutions; the animals, exhibitions have been held, feeding tests have been made, diseases put under control, books and books have been written about them, every farmer thinks he knows a good cow and a good horse; the tools and machines, farming would now be impossible without them and many persons are making careful experiments with machines of various types.

We do not find the same kind of attention given by the institutions to men and women, that they may be well born, well reared, well fed, with sound teeth, stomachs that will carry them through life, lungs that will provide the power; and yet the effectiveness of soil and seed, of animals and machines, all depend on the man to do his part and on the woman to do her part.

Good health is much more than the avoidance of disease or the escape from it. The human body is a wonderful mechanism, more marvelous and more enduring than an automobile or a locomotive or a flying machine. A good man will tire out a team of horses. Nothing is so nearly automatic as the human body. To keep it in perfect order, all the parts working smoothly, is the first responsibility of every human being, whether in city or country. It is the first condition of high enjoyment and satisfaction in life. It is the first essential of a good farmer.

And if good bodies are essential to good farming so are they essential to good rural communities. A man contributes his good health to the progress and prosperity of the community with much more personal effect than he contributes good crops or good animals or money.

We now recognize it to be a part of community action to look after the health of all those who comprise the community. A man cannot have mumps unto himself. Every sick man or woman or child lowers the economic efficiency of a community or neighborhood; many persons feel the effects and the weight of it; it is just as much our obligation to try to overcome this disadvantage as to meet any other disadvantage, and even more so, seeing that all men are kin. The old pride

that some of us used to have in being ill is out of place in this latter day world; now we search for the cause and try to place the responsibility.

Any discovery or appliance or neighborly action that is good enough for those in cities and towns is none too good for those in the open country. One must not rely too much on sentiment about pure water and good air in the farming country. Disease is disease, and it follows its course in city and country alike. Not by any means is farm water always pure nor will the open air and the physical exercise take the place of careful avoidance of sources of infection or of the application of the recognized practices of sanitation.

The careful disposal of wastes of every kind is at the basis of all good sanitation. Follow it through and see what it means; all human wastes; dishwater and washwater to be conducted off to safety and never thrown into the yard to cloy it and to make it unsavory; kitchen wastes; animal wastes; old buckets and boxes that hold handfuls of water in which mosquitoes may breed; the crop wastes in cellars; all refuse that may become a dangerous or unsightly thing.

There is room enough on the farm to dispose of every waste, and to make much of it useful. There is space enough to insure every well and to safeguard every spring and stream. There is distance enough for the conveying away of all impurities. There is land in which the dross may be buried, open places in which it may be burned. One does not need to be forced into a hard and fast system or to have one's affairs regulated by others. The situation is in one's own hands. No one else has such advantages. I am glad to see the country people responding to these advantages; they will not be left behind. We need to extend all these good practices into community activities. Wholesome conditions in the rural districts safeguard the welfare of villages and cities. It is a worthy responsibility and a great privilege to live up to the measure of the advantages that the open country affords.

K. OF C. TUBERCULOSIS HOSPITAL

At the annual convention of the Knights of Columbus held at Poughkeepsie early in June, the following resolution was adopted, an adverse report of the Committee on Resolutions being overruled:

"Resolved, That the delegates from New York State Council to the Supreme Council be and hereby are directed to urge that some action be taken by the Supreme Council for the consideration of ways and means for the establishment of a National Tuberculosis Hospital for the members of the order."

Such an institution would cost in the neighborhood of $250,000, and would be open to sick members from all parts of the United States.

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