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Abstract
Excerpts: The Country Life Commission appointed by President Roosevelt found many unfavorable conditions prevalent in the open country, and gave them wide publicity in its report. This report is not an indictment of country life, but a candid statement of some of the handicaps to the development of the innate power of rural social institutions. The Commission felt that the country was not making progress as fast as the cities and towns and made some pointed recommendations looking toward improvement. The every day life of the bulk of the people of this country is not news. So there would be no point to any statement of country life at its best if there had not been previously so generally entertained a conception of country life that is woefully one-sided. With the popular conception in mind and a conviction that it was misrepresentative, the author set out to visit farm women in their homes and to report in their own words their attitude toward farm life. Others were reached by letters, some of which were written in refutation of a misrepresentation of farm life which appeared in the press. Views of hundreds of these farm women on many phases of farm life are here presented. These women are strong, resourceful, capable and leading personalities in their communities. Living full and active lives they see the best side, and choose to consider the handicaps and the undesirable features of temporary and minor importance and to emphasize the possibilities of farm life.