COLLEGE AND STATE 



rational point of view on engineering prob- 

 lems as they affect country life, are all of 

 the first importance. The engineer is to 

 exert tremendous influence on the develop- 

 ment of our rural civilization, playing a 

 part that we little realize to-day. The 

 whole system of highways and byways will 

 be evolved, as one part of the development 

 of our natural resources. This evolution 

 must depend in good part on the attitude of 

 the farming people. I am afraid that we 

 are in danger of making the mistake of 

 developing our highways only from trans- 

 ported material, as we have continued to 

 be in error in depending for fertility on 

 material mined in some other part of the 

 globe. The best philosophy of farm life is 

 to develop the business directly from na- 

 tive home resources ; this must be equally 

 true of roads, at least of the greater num- 

 ber of them. What we now very much 

 need is knowledge of how to build service- 

 able highways with the dirt and other 

 material of the neighborhood. A good- 

 roads school could well be added to a col- 

 lege of agriculture. A course of at least 

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