no class should the state look for such leadership, 

 and with so much assurance, as to the alumni of 

 its Agricultural College. Educated at public ex- 

 pense and in an institution of higher learning that 

 stands specifically for all-round rural improve- 

 ment and rural patriotism, the students that go 

 out from this college cannot misinterpret their 

 duties nor fail to understand the responsibilities 

 they assume as graduates of the North Dakota 

 Agricultural College. Nor is their field of labor 

 an unenviable one. It may at times seem irksome, 

 even discouraging, but nevertheless it is the most 

 exalted and dignified calling to which men and 

 women of special training and culture can aspire. 



To rescue the soil from the indifference and 

 greed and selfishness wherein this generation un- 

 wittingly robs succeeding generations of their 

 rightful inheritance, and to rescue the very voca- 

 tion of agriculture from mercenary interests is 

 a mission worthy of the best leadership and pa- 

 triotism of our day. But it must not stop even at 

 this. The public welfare demands that nearly half 

 the population of the entire country, and certainly 

 four-fifths of the population of this state, shall 

 permanently pursue agriculture for a livelihood. 

 This vocation, therefore, must be made so desir- 

 able and satisfying that that number will joyfully 

 accept it as a matter of free choice. It must be 

 so developed that it will afford an unsurpassed 

 market for energy and brains, and so independent 

 of parasitical interests that when two bushels of 

 wheat are grown where one now grows the pro- 

 ducer will receive the benefit. 



Increased Production Not Sufficient. Hither- 

 to the agencies for rural improvement, both state 

 and federal, have directed their energies chiefly 

 toward increased production. And this with but 



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