





PREFACE 



V 



^V^ 



In the pages that follow will be found a general 

 and free account of the past and present condition 

 of Michigan agriculture and rural life. It is not 

 ^ the province of the book to contain a careful and 

 detailed analysis of the economic and social prob- 

 lems related to the subject ; such a study must await 

 the labors of other students along many special lines 

 in the years to come. So far as it goes, it is hoped 

 that the book will prove of interest and value 



1, to the general reader and may serve as a basis for 

 further investigation of particular problems. The 

 book, then, may be regarded as an introduction to 

 the study of the rural situation in ]\Iichigan. putting 



) the State before the reading public in quite a new 



^ light. 





<S 



It has not been possible fully to refer to the 

 sources of information since many of these are in 

 manuscript, and information has been gained 

 through personal inquiry, contact, and observation. 

 It will be obvious that the writer is indebted to 

 many persons in the preparation of the work : state 

 officials, members of the faculties of the University 

 of Michigan and tbe iMichigan Agricultural Col- 

 lege, secretaries of the development bureaus and of 



