242 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



farm home is supposed by some to be the cause of lack 

 of interest in country life, but it has been demon- 

 strated in hundreds of homes that good cheer and 

 abundant comforts in the form of improved houses 

 with modern facilities, lawns, and even automobiles 

 come quickly, when the farmers are financially suc- 

 cessful." 



Pointing out that the study of agriculture has 

 become highly popular, he says : 



" In this State there are at least twenty-one different 

 kinds of agencies " (and two more to be added soon) 

 " working for the advancement of agricultural interests, 

 chiefly by making known better methods. . . . No 

 two of these schools are alike either in details of 

 schedules or management." 



To a pioneer this alacrity to climb on the farm- 

 ers' band-wagon is amusing. There are many who 

 want to ride and are climbing in over the tail- 

 board, now that the crop is ready to harvest Pro- 

 fessor Pearson goes on to say that there are in 

 New York alone twenty institutions for agricul- 

 tural promotion supported wholly or in part by the 

 State, and two altogether supported by the Federal 

 Government. This tremendous and expensive 

 equipment is broken up into fragments and each 

 is being used, largely irrespective of the others, to 

 solve one of three greatest problems of the age. 



