The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

The Tweedsmuir Essay Competition The Rural Home Editor’s Note: The Ontario winners in the Tweedsmuir Essay Competition on “The Rural Home” have already been announced by Mrs. R. G. Purcell, President of the Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario. They are: first, Mrs. Thomas D. Cowan, R. R. 3, Galt, Ontario; second, Mrs. Marshall Bethune, R. R. 4, Hamilton, Ontario; third, Mrs. Albert B. Cutler, R. R. 1, Chalk River, Ontario. The judges have asked me to ex- plain that some very excellent essays could not be placed among the winners because they failed to follow the requirement that the writer give certain information about her own home. The judges also wish to eat- press their appreciation of the fine sentiment in the essays submitted, and to commend one writer in particular whose story showed that she is making a brave effort to create a good home under great material difficulties. Mrs. Cowan’s essay won a place in the na- tional competition and was sent on to ACWW for the final judging. The essays by Mrs. Bethune and Mrs. Cutler were also consid- ered worthy to be entered in the final com- petition so all three essays are now the property of ACWW and cannot be published until the final judging has been done. In the meantime we give, here, a few excerpts from other fine essays that did not win prizes. A Gooflly Heritage HEN THE first settlers disembarked on the shores of America, they looked out upon a land of virgin forests, blue skies, and sparkling waters; :1 land of ice and snow and freezing winters; a land of hostile natives, and sometimes almOSt insurmountable obstacles. Then, as now, it was the farm woman whose task it was to make the four walls which sheltered her and her family, a home. In those days she had only her cheery hearth fire, a line of copper pots, and some colored pottery brought across half a world. But with a smile on her lips, and courage in her heart, she swept away the Cobwebs of doubt and fear, the dust of despair, and the dregs of discontent. Into each wall she built her tears and her toil, her love and her bound- less courage. Yes, the structure of our rural homes have changed down through the decades, but the llVES lived in them have remained the same for thmgs of the spirit do not pass away: 4 Many of our Canadian farm homes haw; been built up from the humble little cabm first settled by our great grandparents, On big white brick farm house has been in the runny for only two generations, bu-t into it, very mortar and cement are poured the pets nah. ties and temperaments, the laughter and wear, of those who came before. Set back fro' the highway in its lawns and shrubbery, it lave; fails to give me a. feeling of security and strength as it Watches so solidly from b mind the pines, oblivious to wind and weathy 4| II! i would you like to come inside this ho o in which I live? Then let us start at its we centre, my big, bright, sunny kitchen, Iver the sink is a long, low window framed : red and white gingham curtains, and flank- ! by builtâ€"in cupboards. Here I am aided 1- my work each day by electricity for we .‘ng, ironing, cooking and refrigeration. The 1.; hot and cold running water, a food mixe {fill a pressure cooker. Aluminum pots lint my cupboard shelves, and bright flowered ca llS- ters march in single file along the back m rng. kitchen counter. Have you ever noticed on tiny red roses circling a dinner plate lke meals more attractive? In my kitchen, t 1: a little wood stove which takes the plan ol the furnace on cool days. How tangy its wd smoke is on a crisp fall morning as it mi- fies with the aroma of the breakfast coffee! * is 3% Yet with all these conveniences and la "ir- saving devices, the women of today . -\-'6 changed little from our pioneer grandmor -"r:’- in their log homes. Now, as then, Moth' :5 ‘ always there, for a farm wife seems to " We little time for the business world. Mother 1 .95 the arm of a broken dolly, oils the Wheels f3 triCYCIE, Washes the cuts and scratches, {'1 PS the tears, and listens to the problems 11d disappointments. She helps with the i-‘Jl business and planning, and attends to “6 thousand little details that keep the h “5 running smoothly. Perhaps the rural home plays such an ‘7‘ portant role in the modern world because . 15 a training camp and a proving ground fol L‘ Youth. Together the farm family of to; 13‘ makes its decisions. The kitchen table Set 115 to be the headquarters for the farm busier. bi and there the budget is planned, Work l'rld out and distributed, earnings divided, anti 3 course plotted for the future. Everyone ha: 1‘ v01ce in the enterprise, so each child leal‘lli early the value of money and the need 331’ work and planning. HOME AND COUNTRY av... gm m.ngâ€"a.a.r_...v..â€"jl.-d*;. .l