57 



piace of empirifism. The despotism of the firaiKlfather is passing. Applied 

 science and liusiness practice have been hitclied to tlie i)lo\v. Yet the most 

 obvious need of American a.tiriculture is better farmiiiij. Improved farm huid 

 in the United States gives but .$'.> of gross return per acre. The average yield 

 l>er acre of corn is 23.5 bushels, whereas a very modest ideal would be double 

 this amount. The wheat yield is 13.."> bushels per acre; in Germany nearly 

 .twice as nuich. These are crude, itut legitimate, illustrations of our inferior 

 farming. We must have greater yields of better products, secured at less cost 

 per unit. The farm problem is therefore first of all a problem of increasing 

 the technical skill of our farmers. Science unlocks the cabinet of Nature's 

 treasures, liut oidy the artist fanner can appreciate and use the storehouse 

 thus o|)ened tn him. 



(2) But pr:'(luce growi'.ig is not the only asi)ect of the farm iiroblem. Each 

 effective pair of shears needs two blades; in this case produce selling is the 

 other blade. Mere productiveness does not solve the farm question. The 

 farmer cares less for the second spear of grass than he does for a proper return 

 from the first si)ear. Business skill must he added to better farming methods. 

 The farm lU'oMcm is also a business question. 



(3) The moment, however, we iiegin to discuss price we enter a realm where 

 economic factors dominate. We coniuionly say demand and supply determine 

 price; but effective demand and effective supply are the resultants of many 

 forces. The sui)ply of a given pnxluct is influenced by the cost of growing in 

 various locations, "by cost of transiiortation. by competition of other countries. 

 The demand is influenced by the state of wages, by standards of living, by effect- 

 iveness of distribution. The farmer may not always control these conditions, 

 but he must reckon with them. He must know the laws of economics as well 

 as the laws of soil fertility. The farm problem becomes then an industrial 

 question, for the farmer's prosperity is iniiuenced most jtrofoundly by the 

 economic life of the nation and of the world. And in a still wider sense is the 

 rural question one of economies. The industry as a whole nuist pros])er. It is 

 of no great moment that here and there a farmer succeeds. The farming class 

 must prosper. Of course individual success in the case of a suiRcient nuniber 

 of farmers implies the success of the in<1ustry. liut it is quite i)OSsible to have 

 a stagnant industry alongside numerous individual successes. The farmers as a 

 whole ntust be continually and speedily advancing to better econ(miic conditions. 



(4) Nor may we ignore the political factor in the rural problem. Doubtless 

 the American farmer, like most Americans, places undue reliance upon legisla- 

 tion. But we can not disregard the profound industrial and social effects of 

 either wise or foolish laws. The political efficiency of the farmer will have 

 much to do in determining class progress. Furthermore, the political duties of 

 farmers nmst be enforced, their influence must continue to be exerted in behalf 

 of the general policies of government. It is of vital consequence to our demo- 

 cratic government that the American farmer shall in nowise lose his political 

 instinct and effectiveness. 



(.5) The consideration of the political phase of the question leads vis to the 

 heart of the farm problem. For it is conceivable that the farmers of this 

 country may as a class be skilled growers of produce, successful sellers of 

 what they grow, and indeed that the industry as a whole may be prosperous, 

 and yet the farming class in its general social and intellectual power fail to 

 keeppace with other classes. It is not inii)osslhle that a landlord-and-tenant 

 system, or even a peasant system, should yield fairly satisfactory industrial 

 conditions. But who for a moment would expect either system to develop 

 the political and general social efficiency that American democratic Ideals 

 demand? Even if there is no inniiediate danger of either of these s.ystems 

 liecoming established in America, we still desire that our farmers as a class 

 shall secure for themselves the highest possible position not only in industry 

 but in the political and social organization of American society. Indeed this 

 is the ultimate American rural problem, to maintain the best possible status 

 of the farming class. No other statement of the problem is satisfactory in 

 theory. No other is explanatory of the struggles and ambitions of farmers 

 themselves. The American farmer will be satisfied with nothing less than 

 securing for his class the highest possible class efficiency and largest class 

 influence, industrially, politically, socially. It is true that industrial success 

 is necessary to political and social jiower. but it is also true that social 

 agencies are needed in order to develop in our American farmers the requisite 

 technical skill, business method, and industrial etficiency. The influence of 

 such social forces as education, developed means of communication, the orgaui- 



