102 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol.41 



for a virile rural population. He included both research and exten- 

 sion work in his program, with attention to improvement of the rural 

 schools along with countr}- life advancement, for he maintained that 

 better farming is dependent on better country schools. The develop- 

 ment of departments of education in the colleges, with special pro- 

 vision for teacher training in agriculture and home economics, has 

 prepared the way for the exercise of this external interest and in- 

 fluence that should reach out through the country districts, studying 

 the situation and extending cooperation and council. 



Others emphasized the field of the social sciences and such subjects 

 of vital interest to the industry as marketing, and urged that the 

 colleges must take the lead in developing the basis for these lines of 

 effort. The range of their purview has extended beyond production, 

 to distribution and marketing ; and on the other hand, the conditions 

 under which production is necessarily carried on make the living 

 conditions of the country, the environment of the farmer and his 

 family, a matter of special concern. The enlargement of the oppor- 

 tunities of country life call for a study of conditions as a basis for 

 devising ways and means, and for the development of local leader- 

 ship, since improvement is recognized as ultimately dependent on 

 the country people themselves. 



Similarly, the Secretary of Agriculture in his address to the asso- 

 ciation laid much emphasis on the human factors in agriculture, the 

 provision of aid in relation to markets, organization for cooperation, 

 the development of leaders, and the breaking down of the barrier of 

 misunderstanding which surrounds the industry. He referred to the 

 fact that many people ignorant of rural problems speak and write as 

 if farming were not a business, and as if production did not involve 

 the expenditure of capital and labor ; and he declared that " the 

 farmer as well as the industrial worker is entitled to a living wage 

 and to a reasonable profit on his investment. He is entitled also to 

 satisfactory educational opportunities for his children, and to the 

 benefits of modern medical science and sanitation." He maintained 

 that when these requirements are met there will be no difficulty in 

 retaining in the rural districts a sufficient number of contented and 

 efficient people ; and he declared that " what we need is not back to 

 the land propaganda but an acceleration of the work for the improve- 

 ment of the countryside which will render the abandonment of farms 

 unnecessary and the expansion of farming inevitable." Advocating 

 a broad survey of rural life, its special problems and relationships, 

 the Secretary did not restrict the need of this to the formulation of 

 a comprehensive flexible program, but pointed also to its importance 

 in the education of the American public, " particularly the urban 

 part of it." 



