The Farmer 



" The reasons for the lack of a highly- 

 organised rural society are very many, as the 

 full report explains. The leading specific 

 causes are :— 



" A lack of knowledge on the part of farmers 

 of the exact agricultural conditions and possi- 

 bilities of their regions. 



" Lack of good training for country life in the 

 schools. 



" The disadvantage or handicap of the farmer 

 as against the established business systems and 

 interests, preventing him from securing ade- 

 quate returns for his products. 



" There are two great classes of farmers — 

 those who make farming a real and active 

 constructive business, as much as the success- 

 ful manufacturer or merchant makes his effort 

 a business ; and those who merely passively 

 live on the land, often because they cannot do 

 anything else and, by dint of hard work and the 

 strictest economy, manage to subsist. Each class 

 has its difficulties. The problems of the former 

 class are largely those arising from the man's 

 relation to the world at large. The farmer of 

 the latter class is not only powerless as against 

 trade in general, but is also more or less help- 

 less in his own farming problems. In applying 

 corrective measures we must recognise these 

 two classes of persons." — Report of U.S.A. Com- 

 mission on Country Life. 



53 



