to obtain the greatest results from our high-priced land; convenience must be a prime factor when expensive labor is at a premium; and attractiveness must be one of the chief motives not only to make farm property more saleable but to give greater enjoyment to the owner and his family...”  “A farmstead is, but a unit in a farming community, yet travelers form an impression of the entire community by individual farm homes which they see in passing.  Therefore, not only financial consideration but personal pride and a feeling of community spirit and enterprise should urge the farm owner to develop his farmstead according to the best of modern methods.”

What facts can you find in regard to what the government did to provide homes for workers in shipbuilding or munitions plants during the war?

In many of the war industries preference was given to men with families in employing workmen.  Why was this?

In some rural communities in the United States a “teacherage” (home for the teacher) is provided.  Of what advantage to the community is this?

Is there a “housing problem” in your community?

Are there any laws in your state regulating the building of homes?  If so, what are some of them?  Do they apply in your community?  Are they carefully observed and enforced?

Make a study of the arrangement of the buildings on farms with which you are familiar, drawing diagrams, and report whether or not they are well planned with reference to economy of Space occupied, convenience, and attractiveness.  Consider

(a) Are they properly placed with reference to the highway?

(b) Are they conveniently placed in relation to one another?

(c) Are they suitably protected from the prevailing winds?  How?

(d) What makes them attractive or unattractive?

(e) Are the stables properly situated to protect the health of the family?  How?

Must a home be large and costly to be attractive?

What impression would a stranger get in regard to the “community spirit” of your community from the appearance of its homes?  Would he be right?

THE HOME AND COMMUNITY STABILITY

Home ownership is one of the strongest influences that give permanence and stability to the community.  The census taken by the United States government every ten years shows that home ownership has been decreasing throughout the country as a whole.  The decrease has been greatest in cities, but it is true also of farmhome ownership.  In 1880 only 25% of the farms of the United States were occupied by tenants (renters); in 1910, 37% were so occupied.  It is true that in the ten years from 1900 to 1910 there was a slight increase in the proportion of farms owned by their occupants in the New England and Middle Atlantic states, and in a large part of the West; but the increase