on the movement of free homesteads for actual set- 

 tlers; of Senator Morrill on the establishment of col- 

 leges of agriculture and mechanic arts; of O. H. 

 Kelly on the granger movement; of General James B. 

 Weaver on the organization of a farmers' party; and 

 of P. G. Holden, " the corn wizard/' on the develop- 

 ment of rural extension work and the popularization 

 of better farming methods. These names will sug- 

 gest at once a host of other Americans who have con- 

 tributed to the development of the farming industry; 

 our agrarian history is rich in the personal element. 



4. It further furnishes a background for the study 

 of agricultural economics. It is recognized that eco- 

 nomic science bears about the same relation to eco- 

 nomic history that political science bears to political 

 history. The value of political history to the politi- 

 cal scientist is so obvious as to require no defense. 

 It is equally evident that agricultural economics, a 

 science which is of recent origin, must have a his- 

 torical foundation and background. The agricultural 

 economist needs to be familiar with the economic life 

 of man in the past in order to realize and appreciate 

 the organic nature of society. He should be his- 

 torically minded if he would deal most efficiently with 

 the problems of the present. With the introduction 

 of the science of agricultural economics into the land 

 grant colleges and universities of the country, there- 

 fore, comes a new motive for productive work in the 

 field of agricultural history. 



5. The history of American agriculture, then, is 

 essential to the development of a sound and far- 

 sighted rural economy. The great problems of rural 

 communities are human rather than merely material- 

 istic. That is to say, they are economic, social, and 

 educational, and cannot be understood except in the 

 light of their historical evolution. Government action 

 involving agricultural interests should be based on a 

 broad knowledge of rural economic history. Ques- 

 tions of land tenure, tenancy, size of farms, markets 

 (including the complex problems of distribution and 



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