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Show Play Is Essential to Physical, Mental and Moral Development of the Country By EDWINA MARY LAYMAN. of Colorado Agricultural College, Fort Collins, Col. VNo place needs play more than the rural community. Living becomes a hard,Sron-clad proposition with none sure of anything save the deadly monotony, of the daily grind, unless it be relieved by some form of occasional occa-sional recreation. Play was considered by our forefathers to be a creation of the "evil one," and to really stop work and to play -was a long step on the road to eternal punishment. The trend of ideas is changing, and today we are f tiding in play much that is not only good but absolutely essential to the physical, mental and moral development of the country. To the rural community the economic value of recreation is of great importance. It is not only of value to the farmer to keep his sons and (laughters on the farm, but it is of great value to the country at large. From the rural districts comes the citizenship of our country, and if w-e are to keep the ideals of our nation inviolate, we must keep our country' youth content on the farm. In any place life must be made attractive to make it worth living, and to save young people from gaining the false standards of value and false ambitions which the city offers, life at home, in the country community in which each farmer and his family live must he made attractve and possible through some form of home and community com-munity recreation. |