FEDERATION FOR RURAL PROGRESS 249 



spect to the desirability and practicability of 

 federating on so large a scale. In addition to 

 the main meeting, the presidents of the agricul- 

 tural colleges of New England were called to- 

 gether in a special section, and the same was 

 true of the directors of the New England ex- 

 periment stations, the masters of the various 

 state granges, the secretaries of the various state 

 boards of agriculture, and the leaders in the 

 New England Federation of Churches. 



The idea of federation was clearly approved 

 by the delegates present, and a temporary or- 

 ganization was effected. It was voted to hold 

 a similar conference in Boston in the spring of 

 1908. 



It is probably true that the first and most 

 important step in bringing about a federation of 

 rural social forces is to educate all concerned 

 to the desirability of such a federation — to sow 

 the seeds of the idea. So far as machinery is 

 concerned it may not be necessary to form any 

 new organization. Indeed, what is chiefly 

 necessary is a sort of clearing-house for an 

 exchange of ideas and plans among all who are 

 at work on any phase of the rural social problem. 

 There is need of a central bureau that shall 

 emphasize the necessity of a study of agrictil- 



