INTRODUCTION. 



How TO Make Country Life Moee Attractive. 



This is tlie question the committee recently appointed 

 by President Eoosevelt has to answer. 



Hon. Emory Washburn, a former Governor of Massa- 

 chusetts, said, ''All men speak well of agriculture, but all 

 who can shun it." Why? The two chief indictments 

 brought are the isolation of the farmer's life and the 

 unprofitableness of the occupation. 



If those who bring the first charge were subjected to a 

 strict examination, in most cases we think it would be 

 made apparent that other objectionable features were in 

 combination with it that would largely be obviated if 

 crops brought in a plentiful supply of money. Money 

 will not buy everything, but a sufficiency will buy a great 

 variety of things and add immensely to the enjoyment of 

 life. The isolation of the situation does not stop men 

 from braving hardships and extreme peril, even risking 

 life itself in the search for gold. Make it worth while in 

 a financial way and plenty of families will gladly face 

 the isolation of country life. Even were it not so. Con- 

 gress is powerless to provide a remedy. 



Is it in the power of Congress to make the 

 pursuit of agriculture more profitable? To a 

 certain extent, and in certain ways, it certainly 

 is. The industry has greatly suffered from the 

 fact that its interests have not had fair representa- 



