704 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol.41 



confidence in the belief that theory had a place in practice. It is 

 an interesting fact that the coming of this recognition marked a 

 breaking down of the reserve between the college and the farmer in 

 matters that pertained to his methods and practices in production. 

 From it developed in course of time the agricultural extension work, 

 which brought about the more intimate relationships and prepared 

 for an increasing measure of public service. 



But the business side of fanning, the things which pertain to its 

 relationships and to the conditions of living in the country had 

 hardly been touched. These were more personal and secure against 

 intrusion ; and besides, farmers were noted for their shrewd business 

 traits and the country famed for its healthfulness and its superior 

 output of men. There were few who recognized that there was a 

 real country problem susceptible of study and remedy, and fewer 

 still who had the courage to declare publicly that it was a concern 

 of the agricultural college and ought to be brought within its sphere 

 of action. Gradually, however, it came to be urged that mere pro- 

 ductiveness does not solve the fann question; that the farmer cares 

 less for the second blade of grass than he does for the proper return 

 from the first blade, and that farmers must prosper, not individually 

 here and there but as a class. It was said that the farmer " must 

 know the laws of economics as Avell as the laws of soil fertility"; 

 and moreover that it is not enough that the farmers of the country 

 l>e skilled growers of produce, successful sellers of what they grow, 

 but that the farming class must keep pace with other classes in its 

 general, social, and intellectual powers. It was maintained that they 

 must secure for themselves the highest possible position, not only in 

 industrj^ but in the political and social organization of society. 



The doctrine of the broader field of the college was regarded as 

 quite radica,! when a speaker at a convention of the land-grant col- 

 leges over a dozen years ago declared that they " must purpose to 

 stand as sponsor for the whole rural problem," and unfolded a pro- 

 gram for economics Avhich involved much more than adding three 

 or four subjects of study to the agi'icultural course. " It involves," 

 he said, "the very function and policy of the college itself. It alone 

 gives proportion to the problem of agricultural education, because, 

 while distinctly admitting the need of better farming and the con- 

 sequently fundamental necessity of the technical training of farmers, 

 it emphasizes the importance of the economic and political and social 

 aspects of rural development. And it thereby indicates that only 

 by a due recognition of these factors, in purpose, in organiziation, and 

 in course of study, can the American agricultural college fulfill its 

 mission to the American farmer." 



This broad vision, however, and other forceful references to the 

 matter, brought little i-esponse; and when the Connnission on Coun- 



