202 CHAPTERS IN RURAL PROGRESS 



just as fully and thoroughly as he wishes to 

 master the formulae for commercial fertilizers. 

 No man will have acquired an adequate agri- 

 cultural education who has not been trained in 

 rural social science, and who does not recognize 

 the bearing of this wide field of thought upon the 

 business of farming as well as upon American 

 destiny. 



Research, too, will be touched with the social 

 idea. The men who study conditions existing 

 in rural communities which have to do with the 

 real life of the people — the effects of their en- 

 vironment, the tendencies of their habits and 

 customs — will need as thorough preparation for 

 their work, and the result of their efforts will 

 be as useful as that of the men who labor in 

 field and laboratory. 



But the most profound consequence of recog- 

 nizing the social side of the farm question will 

 be the new atmosphere created at the agricultural 

 colleges. These institutions are fast gaining 

 leadership in all the technical questions of 

 agriculture — leadership gladly granted by pro- 

 gressive farmers whenever the institution is 

 managed with intelligence and in the spirit of 

 genuine sympathy with farming. But these 

 colleges must minister to the whole farmer. 



