BUEEAU OF AGKICTJLTURAl. ECONOMICS. 191 



COUNTRY COMMUNITY CENTERS. 



Farmers' Bulletin No. 1325, entitled " Rural Planning, the Social 

 Aspects," was issued in July, 1923, in an edition of 30,000. A manu- 

 script for a second Farmers' Bulletin, entitled "Rural Planning: 

 Recreation Places," has been submitted. A third manuscript, en- 

 titled " Rural Planning : The American Farm Village," is in process. 



The study of rural community buildings has been completed. 

 Three Farmers' Bulletins have been printed and reprinted and have 

 gone through several editions, aggregating over 200,000 copies. 



AWAKENED INTEREST IN RURAL POPULATION PROBLEMS. 



The growing popularity of courses in rural sociology is a good 

 index to the broad national interest in the progress of American 

 rural life as a whole. Six hundred American educational institu- 

 tions — normal schools, colleges, universities, and theological semi- 

 naries — gave severally one or more courses last year on this subject. 

 Forty of the 48 State colleges of agriculture were among the 600. 

 Fifteen of the 40 State colleges employed instructors to teach rural 

 sociology full time. Ten years ago not more than 20 of these 600 

 institutions gave any course touching on the social or human side of 

 farm life. 



This amazingly rapid growth in the demand for instruction in 

 the fundamental aspects of rural society creates a correspondingly 

 argent demand for facts to teach. This division has aimed to fur- 

 nish a body of trustworthy facts of a basic character to these in- 

 stitutions for their instruction in rural life, rural institutions, and 

 rural development. This divison has followed the policy of making 

 its studies known to these instructors and supplying them with in- 

 formation. In the absence of any other national agency for research 

 upon the social facts of farm population and rural life, a heavy 

 responsibility rests upon this division to make its basic researches 

 wide enough to meet the demand. 



DIVISION OF INFORMATION. 



J. Clyde Makquis, Ih Charge. 



Editorial Statistician, S. W, Mendum ; Editorial, Miss C. B. Sherman, Miss 

 K. G. Rice; Periodicals, A. B. Genung, Miss C. M. Viehmann, Miss H. L. 

 Bonebrake ; Press Service, F. George, Jr. ; Radio Market News Service, J. C. 

 Gilbert; Exhibits, B. L. Perkins. 



The assembling of related facts bearing on the farmer's market 

 questions, as provided by the work in the various parts of the bureau 

 into concise practical statements of particular value to farmers, has 

 been the main objective of this division during the past year. It 

 has supplied an increasing demand for information bearing on the 

 changing agricultural conditions to the press, agricultural writers 

 and editors, investigators, legislators, and farmers. The effort has 

 been to get facts from widely separate sources which have a bearing 

 on one question and to make this information effective by putting it 

 into clear and concise form. 



The new, united bureau has proved the means of establishing a 

 center of information on the economics of agriculture such as has 

 not heretofore been available. The bureau is now generally known 



