THE TRAINING OF FARMERS 



The college of agriculture cannot, of 

 course, attack all the problems of rural 

 communities directly, but it can set forces 

 and activities in motion that will go a long 

 way toward solving many of the questions 

 not immediately within its sphere. The 

 very difficult farm-labor problem is a case 

 in point. The stringency in farm labor 

 should be alleviated by various forms of 

 public action ; but the final solution of the 

 difficulty lies in such a redirection of coun- 

 try life as will enable the situation to take 

 care of itself. It cannot be expected that 

 labor may be found in enormous quantities 

 for very brief periods in the year and im- 

 ported bodily into country districts; nor 

 that the individual farmer may look for 

 satisfactory results from hired* help that 

 is brought in from the outside and that has 

 no connection with the life or interests of 

 the rural community. The present scarcity 

 of farm labor is in large part a symptom of 

 an imperfectly developed rural society, and 

 the correction must come slowly through a 

 process of education. 



The public begins to realize the situation 

 262 



