disaster. Such a debacle is quite needless,
provided some fundamental principles and practices are understood and
followed.

Unquestionably, the open country is now making the greatest appeal as a
place of residence that it has made at any time in the history of the
nation. To list the conveniences which now exist in the country is to
duplicate those which many people have considered as available only in
cities. In most areas of the country, for example, there are daily mail
delivery, telephone service, some measure of fire protection, and
transportation by automobile, bus or train. It is quite possible, for
example, to step into a bus at one's dooryard and be carried to any part
of the United States by the same method of transportation.

The development of the radio has brought to the country home all the
surging activities of national life and varied educational and
entertainment programs. The spread of electric light and power lines
through the country constitutes a boon that makes possible the use of all
kinds of electrical appliances known in the city, including refrigerators,
cooking ranges, washing machines, water pumps, water heaters and hundreds
of other machines and appliances, some of which are in their infancy. No
great difficulty is experienced in locating in the open country where such
electrical facilities are available.

[Illustration: (_Courtesy U. S. Department of Agriculture_)

An attractive farmstead offering requisites of a home in the open
country.]

[Illustration: (_Courtesy U. S. Department of Agriculture_)

Floor plan of house shown on opposite page.]

On the main highways in the northern sections of the country a heavy fall
of snow used to mean isolation for weeks. Today the snow is removed as
rapidly as it falls, and these highways are kept open. The problems and
perils of isolation are thus removed.

Tradesmen of all kinds are directing their sales toward country homes, and
supplies of ice and all kinds of food can be obtained almost daily at the
farm doorstep. There is also a tendency to develop factories in the
country away from the high-rent areas of cities and to utilize the
services of persons living in the vicinity of the factory for full or
partial time in the plants. The cost of living can be reduced by living in
the country, and opportunities for purchasing foods and other products at
wholesale prices and storing them against the time of need make further
economies po