356 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the function of the agricultural college is to help solve all phases of 

 the problem ? We all recognize the place of the college in assisting our 

 farmers to greater technical skill. By what pleas shall we gainsay the 

 mission of the college in ministering to rural betterment at all points, 

 whether the conditions demand technical skill, business acumen, indus- 

 trial prosperity, political power or general social elevation ? Why shall 

 not the agricultural college be all things to all farmers ? 



Assuming that this statement of the permanent mission of the agri- 

 cultural college is an acceptable one, the practical inquiry arises, does 

 the college as now organized adequately fulfil its function, and, if not, 

 by what means can the defect be remedied? The colleges are doubt- 

 less serving the industrial and social need to some degree. But I be- 

 lieve that it is not unjust to assert that the existing courses of study 

 in agriculture, the organization of the college and the methods of work 

 are not adequate if the college is to secure and maintain this supreme 

 leadership all along the line of rural endeavor. This is not criticism 

 of existing methods. The colleges are doing good work. But the 

 present effort is partial, because the emphasis is placed upon the tech- 

 nical and especially upon the individual phases of the problem. The 

 industrial, the political and the social factors are not given due con- 

 sideration. Our present-day agricultural course, on the vocational side, 

 is chiefly concerned with teaching the future individual farmer how to 

 apply the principles of science to the art of farming, and in training 

 specialists who shall make further discoveries either in the realm of 

 science or in the application of the scientific principle to the art. The 

 technical element absolutely dominates the vocational portion of the 

 agricultural course. Very slight attention is given to the discussion 

 of other phases of the farm problem. To meet the needs of the future 

 the whole spirit and method of the agricultural college must be ' social- 

 ized ' — to use an overworked phrase for want of a better one. We must 

 get away from the idea that the individual and the technical aspects 

 of agricultural research and teaching are the sufficient solution of the 

 farm problem. 



When we ask, what are the means for ' socializing ' the agricultural 

 college, the expected answer may be, the study of rural social science 

 or ' rural economy.' But I am pleading not merely for the addition of 

 a few subjects to the course of study, but for an educational policy. 

 The answer, therefore, will not be quite so simple. What then are the 

 methods by which the college may more fully assume its function of 

 helping to solve all phases of the farm problem ? 



1. The indispensable requirement is that the college shall con- 

 sciously purpose to stand as sponsor for the whole rural problem. It is 

 to assume a place of leadership in the campaign for rural betterment. 

 Whether or not it is to be the commander-in-chief of the armies of 



