i^xpI':rim]<:nt station ri^cord. 



\'(.l.. XX. Mai;( II. 1!H)!). Xo. 



At tlie semicentennial of the Michiiran .Vfrriciiltnral Collefrc Pres- 

 ident Koosevelt indicated a keen interest in the welfare of the people 

 livin<r on farms, especially as to their home snrroundings and their 

 social relations. Tn his address on that occasion he declared that 

 •■ no farmer's life shonld lie merely within the bonndary of his farm,'" 

 and (hat under present conditions the problem of the farm is mnch 

 more than the growing of wheat and corn and cattle. " The problem 

 of i)roduction has not ceased to be fundamental but it is no longer 

 tinal: just as learning to read and write and cipher are fundamental 

 but are no longer the final ends of education. AVe hope ultimately to 

 double the average yield of wheat and corn per acre: it will l)e a 

 gi-eat achievement: but it is even more important to double the desir- 

 ability, comfort, and standing of the farmer's life. . . . We must 

 try to raise the average farm life, and we must also try to develop 

 it so that it shall offer exceptional chances for exceptional men." 



Concerning the relating of education to the people of the country, 

 jie declared that we should ''seek to provide for the people on the 

 farms an equipment so broad and thorough as to fit them for the 

 liighest requirements of our citizenship, so that they can establish 

 and maintain country homes of the best type, and create and sustain 

 a countiT ci\ ilization more than equal to that of the city.*" 



That this thought was not a passing fancy was made evident by 

 frequent reference to these matters by the President since his address. 

 His interest in this subject found expression in his appointment last 

 August of a special commission, known as the Connnission on Coun- 

 try Life, to gather information and ad\ice as a basis for reconuuenda- 

 tions to Congi-ess. In making this appointment he said : *' The farm- 

 iis have hitherto had less than their full share of public attention 

 along the lines ()f Itusiness and social life. There is too nnich belief 

 among all our people that the prizes of life lie away from the farm. 

 1 am therefore anxious to l)ring before (he |)e()ple of the I'nited 

 States the (piestion of secui'ing better business and bettei- living on 

 the farm, whethei'by ccKiiH'ration between farmers for buying, selling, 

 and bonowing. by |)romoting social ad\an(ages and opp()rtuni(ies in 

 (he country, or by any odier l<'gi(ima(e means (lia( will help (o make 



