9 



] 



If 



V ^^^ HE real objective of an organ- 



^''— y^ ization such as the I. A. A. is 



^^ the welfare of the farm family. 



There is no doubt about it. The last 



years have shown us that being able to 



f)roduce has not solved all of our prob- 

 ems by any means. I think we hdve 

 been very much aware of our lack of in- 

 formation on the side of agricultural 

 economics. We know that we need 

 money and that we need things, but we 

 do have other needs. 



Farm families, like every one else, are 

 undoubtedly asking some old, old ques- 

 tions. One of the first is: How important 

 is money? In this age of contradictions, 

 the recent years have pointed out both 

 the tragic importance of money and its 

 relative unimportance. Various points 

 of view have been expressed. Paul 

 Douglas has said: . "People cannot be 

 fully happy or have expansive and 

 rounded personalities until they feel rela- 

 tively secure, until they feel that their 

 family will be protected economically." 



How important is work? Is hard 

 work the virtue that we once thought it 

 to be? I think we have all felt, emerg- 

 ing from the years through which we 

 have been living, a new attitude toward 

 work. Some of the people who had 

 complained about their work would have 

 been very glad to have it. I think it is 

 somewhat like the saying that you never 

 miss the water until the well runs dry. 



How important is recreation? Does it 

 have a place? We are hearing a good 

 many of what we might call theoretical 

 statements being made. I would like to 

 refer to a statement made last year by 

 some one who has written a book in 

 which he praises agriculture very highly. 

 He said, "The way to keep the American 

 farmer on the land is to revive the sys- 

 tem of farming which modern writers 

 call "agrarianism." Agrarianism is the sys- 

 tem in which the farmer first makes him- 

 self, his family and his beasts as self- 

 supporting as possible. He then sells a 

 surplus crop for the money to buy what 

 he does not produce." Who will tend 

 the extra garden, the extra poultry flocks 

 and do the extra canning and preserving ? 



I will say farmers are the source of 

 supply for more than bread and wheat 

 and beef and cotton and corn, and the 



FEBRUARY. 1937 



"Every human being needs adventure or new 

 experience" 



long list of needs familiar to every one. 

 They are the source of supply of people 

 for the cities and towns. Most of our 

 increase in population, as you know, 

 comes from the going of people from 

 farms into towns. It is clear, then, the 

 quality of family life on our farms is of 

 national importance. Of course, we have 

 more family life on farms than any other 

 place. Undoubtedly we are better fed, 

 clothed and sheltered than we would have 

 been had not our various agricultural 

 agents been working at research and edu- 

 cation directed toward the problem of the 

 farm and farm life. We can well be 

 proud of our accomplishments, but that 

 is only one phase of the problem. 



What about the human aspects, fam- 

 ily life, building up men and women 

 increasingly able to enjoy life, to work 

 comfortably and happily with others for 

 the common good? Some factors state 

 we are far from being a mentally and 

 emotionally happy people, and I have 

 cited some. I suggest that we incorporate 

 into our programs all that science -has to 

 offer in the solution of these human 

 problems. You cannot have cooperation 

 until you have learned something about 

 it in the family. Unhappiness takes a 

 dreadful toll in human suffering and in 

 money. 



I talked to a psychiatrist in charge of 

 the psychiatric clinic at McGill. I said to 



this man, "If you could tell folks one 

 thing that could help them, what would 

 you say?" 



He said, "I would tell them to play — 

 to play with the children. They will tell 

 you how to get off your high horse of 

 bigotry and really play. It is as neces- 

 sary as food and drink to have some 

 light-hearted play." 

 - After all, we have at our hands all 

 the things that ought to make for human 

 happiness. A psychologist has made the 

 suggestion that in addition to our physi-_ 

 cal needs every individual needs four 

 things. A sense of security, that is one 

 of the things that has been troubling us 

 these last few years. It is one of the 

 things at which you are working and it 

 is very much worth while working at. 

 Everybody needs a sense of knowing 

 where their next meal is coming from. 



The second thing everybody needs is 

 recognition. You are not happy unless 

 you have a degree of success among your 

 fellow-men. It may be growing good 

 sheep. It may be planting straight rows 

 of corn. Help your children to dis- 

 tinguish themselves in some things. To 

 learn to do something well is one of the 

 things we need for mental happiness. 



Then everybody needs affection. Farm peo- 

 ple are a little shy. They do not express their 

 aflfection nor their appreciation as well as they 

 might. This is the place for cooperation. 

 The woman works in her own home. She 

 does not have so much recognition. Give 

 her some recognition, a little appreciation, and 

 get the children to do it. It may seem folderol 

 to you, but it will bring large returns. Every 

 human being needs adventure or neu experi- 

 ence. That is what is likely to happen to us 

 at mid-life. Life gets dull. We are doing 

 the same thing over and over, and we die 

 on our feet. We do not realize that every- 

 body needs some new exf>erience, needs to 

 get away from home. Look at it as a neces- 

 sity, not as a luxury. 



One psychologist says as a human being 

 you have the choice of three basic attitudes 

 toward life. Vou may approach life with the 

 philosophy of the plant, in which case your 

 life will consist in being born, eating, drink- 

 ing, sleeping, maturing, mating, growing old 

 and dying. This brings contentment undis- 

 turbed by the problems of this world. Hap- 

 piness is not attained. 



You may approach life as a business. Your 

 first reaction to any new experience will be 

 "How much is this worth to me?" On this 

 level, happiness becomes a matter of success- 

 ful competition and this is the method of 



(Continued on page 20) 



It 



