A SUMMARY OF RECENT PROGRESS 193 



before. A walk, the length of Beacon Street in 

 Boston, at any time from the middle of June to 

 late autumn, convinces one that the majority 

 of the people are somewhere in the country. All 

 over the North, city people are making country 

 homes for at least a portion of the year. There 

 is also a growing interest in the farm and farm 

 problems among the general public. Just now 

 the country schools are attracting special atten- 

 tion from the educators — so much so that the 

 late President Harper stated, not long ago, that 

 the rural-school question is the coming question 

 in education. Even the country church is being 

 made a subject of discussion in religious circles. 

 It is conceded that agriculture presents " prob- 

 lems.' ' And while the throbbing, busy, intense 

 life of the city brings perplexing questions to our 

 civilization, our people are coming to realize 

 that the agricultural population and the agricul- 

 tural industry are still tremendous factors in our 

 national life and success, and that both social and 

 industrial conditions in the country are such 

 that there also are grave questions to be settled. 

 In view of the facts which have been given, I 

 think if one were asked to give a direct answer 

 to the question, Is the farmer keeping up ? one 

 could reply, Yes. In some sections of the country, 



