614 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 





Colleges and Experiment Stations at Berkeley last August, when 

 he said, * ' Our business is ultimately a sociological business. Con- 

 siderations of soil technology but scratch the surface. What we 

 are busied with here is trying to find out how to adjust this soil 

 to the use of families." Or, as President Butterfield puts it, 

 "The improved acre must yield not only corn but civilization, 

 not only potatoes but culture, not only wheat but effective man- 

 hood." 



In barest outline this describes the field which the sociologist 

 regards as his province and indicates the general character of 

 the problems which the student of the sociology of rural life 

 finds so extremely absorbing; and it may serve to answer the 

 editor's question as to the meaning of the subject. The study 

 of this vast field has scarcely yet been entered upon and its 

 conquests lie ahead of us. 



THE SCOPE OF RURAL SOCIOLOGY 1 



JOHN M. GILETTE 



RURAL sociology, by reason of its very nature, is obliged to 

 regard agricultural phenomena in their collective bearing or 

 community aspect. All social phenomena are interesting objects 

 of study and their treatment may be necessary as causal foun- 

 dations. But those which relate to the determination of progress, 

 which manifest in what manner the estate of the mass of men 

 may be improved and how a more balanced functioning of society 

 at large may be secured, are regarded as the most worthy of 

 attention. 



The first point of attack concerns rural responses to physical 

 conditions. Variations in temperature, soil, and precipitation 

 are, to a great extent, responsible for differentiating the United 

 States into distinct agricultural regions by reason of the differ- 

 ences in crop responses. Crop responses, in turn, largely decide 

 the forms of agriculture, stock-raising, dairying, large and small 

 farming, and the density of population. Climatic conditions, 



i Adapted from American Sociological Society Publications, Vol. XI, 

 166-180, 1016. 



