EDITORIAL. 603 



tlie State departments of agriculture; the State colleges of agricul- 

 nire and tlic mechanic arts, especially through their extension work; 

 I he State agricultural experiment stations; the Farmer's Union; the 

 (irange: the agi'icultural j^ress; and other similar agencies, have all 

 combined to place within the reach of the American farmer an 

 amount and quality of agricultural information which, if api)lied, 

 wouhl enable him, over large areas, to double the production of the 

 farm." 



A circular containing questions under twelve general heads was 

 distributed widely over the country. About 550,000 copies of this 

 circular were mailed, not only to the farmers themselves, but to men 

 in contact with country life, members of agi'icultural organizations, 

 business and professional men, and others. Copies were sent to the 

 iK'wsjnipers of the country, to railroad officials, a large number of 

 bankers and business men, country ministers and physicians, women's 

 clubs, village improvement societies, and rural delivery carriers. 

 The questions contained in the circular were also extensively printed 

 by agricultural and other papers, with invitation to write to the 

 lommission along the lines of the questions. About 116,000 replies 

 to this circular were received, as well as a large number of inde- 

 pendent communications. 



The commission held public hearings of from one to three days' 

 duration at thirty different places in the United States, which were 

 attended by representatives from forty States and Territories, At 

 the President's suggestion meetings to discuss country life questions 

 were held in district schoolhouses in almost every State, and reports 

 of the meetings were sent to the commission. 



The commission finds that while in a general way the American 

 farmer was never more prosperous or better off than he is to-day, 

 - agriculture is not commercially as profitable as it is entitled to be 

 for the labor and energy that the farmer expends and the risks he 

 assumes," and " the social conditions in the open country are far 

 short of their possibilities." The leading specific reasons for this 

 condition are stated to l)e — 



"A lack of knowledge on the part of farmers of the exact agri- 

 cultural conditions and i>ossibilities of their regions: 



*• Lack of good training for country life in the schools; 



'* The disadvantage or handicap of the farmer as against the estal)- 

 lislu'd business systems and interests, preventing him from securing 

 a(l('(|uate returns for his products, depriving him of the benefits 

 that would result from unmonopolized rivers and the conservation 

 of forests, and dejiriving the connnunity, in many cases, of the good 

 that would come from the use of great tracts of agricultural land 

 that are now held for speculative purposes; 



" Lack of good highway facilities; 



