EDITORIAL. 307 



increased if it can be prepared by some agency of recognized ability 

 and authority. 



Such assistance may appropriately be expected of the various agri- 

 cultural colleges and it is of interest to note that several of them are 

 already embracing the opportunity. The rural surveys of the uni- 

 versities of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and other States may be men- 

 tioned as a useful preliminary step in this direction, as is also a 

 recent bulletin issued by the Wisconsin Station on rural social cen- 

 ters, in which the workings of the rural school, the rural club, the 

 rural church, and the rural municipal center along this line are pre- 

 sented and discussed. 



As another instance may be cited the campaign of the New York 

 State College of xVgi^iculture, which, it will be recalled, exhibited at 

 the Fifth National Corn Exposition in 1913 a most suggestive model 

 of a plan for a rural community center. This plan was proposed as 

 a modification of the usual county fair, with a view to eliminating 

 its objectionable features while retaining those which are desirable, 

 and adding new elements which would permit of the plant being uti- 

 lized throughout the year. Its distinctive features included the use 

 of a tract of land from twenty to thirty acres in extent, in part laid 

 out much as the usual fair grounds, but containing in addition a 

 building available for year-round meetings and exhibits, a grove for 

 picnics and similar gatherings, an athletic field, a consolidated school 

 with gardens, and a considerable area for demonstration plats. 



Such a center, it is readily seen, could be made most useful as well 

 as attractive. The entire project need not be carried to completion 

 immediately, but a fundamental requisite to its success is the securing 

 of a suitable tract of land, and usually this may be obtained most 

 easily in the earlier stages of settlement. As a step in this direction 

 may be mentioned the bill passed by the United States Senate in Feb- 

 niary, under which the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to 

 withdraw from entry suitable tracts on the various reclamation 

 projects in ^lontana^ not to exceed twenty acres in any one township, 

 for the use of residents as country parks, public playgrounds, and 

 community centers. 



A number of the agricultural colleges have evinced their interest 

 in rural community improvement through their departments of land- 

 scape gardening, and some of these are offering courses with this end 

 in view. Thus, at the Massachusetts xVgricultural College there is a 

 .course in ci^dc art which includes work in city, village, and rural 

 improvement, i^s a practical exercise along this line the students 

 recently prepared a working plan for a contemplated project of 

 street improvement in a large nearby city, thereby receiving consider- 

 able commendation for themselves and the institution from a com- 

 32052"— No. 4—14 2 



