uch of what we call the best society in our cities is often in an
advanced process of decay. The muscles may be a little more delicate
but they are softer; the skin may be a little fairer, but it is not so
healthy; the thought a little more supple, but less vigorous. The
whole tendency of life in big cities is toward deterioration. City
people rarely live really normal lives. It is not natural for human
beings to live far from the soil. It is Mother Earth and country life
that give vitality, stamina, courage and all the qualities which make
for manhood and womanhood. What we get from the country is solid,
substantial, enduring, reliable. What comes from the artificial
conditions of the city is weakening, enervating, softening.

The country youth, on the other hand, is in the midst of a perpetual
miracle. He can not open his eyes without seeing a more magnificent
painting than a Raphael or a Michael Angelo could have created in a
lifetime. And this magnificent panorama is changing every instant.

There is a miracle going on in every growing blade of grass and flower.
Is it not wonderful to watch the chemical processes in nature's
laboratory, mixing and flinging out to the world the gorgeous colorings
and marvelous perfumes of the rose and wild flower! No city youth was
ever in such a marvelous kindergarten, where perpetual creation is
going on in such a vast multitude of forms.

The city youth has too many things to divert his attention. Such a
multiplicity of objects appeals to him that he is often superficial; he
lacks depth; his mind is perpetually drawn away from his subject, and
he lacks continuity of thought and application. His reading is
comparatively superficial. He glances through many papers; magazines
and periodicals and gives no real thought to any. His evenings are
much more broken up than those of the country boy, who, having very
little diversion after supper, can read continuously for an entire
evening on one subject. The country boy does not read as many books as
the city boy, but, as a rule, he reads them with much better results.

The dearth of great libraries, books and periodicals is one reason why
the country boy makes the most of good books and articles, often
reading them over and over again, while the city youth, in the midst of
newspapers and libraries, sees so many books that in most instances he
cares very little for them, and will often read the best literature
without abso