needs to have a program of its own carefully worked 

 out, and this program should rest on a physical valu- 

 ation. It may be some time yet before the importance 

 and magnitude of this undertaking will impress the 

 minds of the people, but it is essential to the best per- 

 manent progress. 



Statemeni of the Commission on Country Life 



The Commission on Country Life, 1909, after 

 having considered great numbers of suggestions from 

 persons in all parts of the country, mentioned as 

 the first item in its category of the most prominent 

 deficiencies in country life in the United States, ''a 

 lack of knowledge on the part of farmers of the exact 

 agricultural conditions and possibilities of their re- 

 gions." It also stated that this lack of knowledge 

 constitutes one of the great "underlying problems of 

 country life." Its main statement in regard to the 

 need of agricultural or country life surveys is as fol- 

 lows: 



The time has now come when we should know in 

 detail what our agricultural resources are. We have 

 long been engaged in making geological surveys, 

 largely with a view to locating our mineral wealth. 

 The country has been explored and mapped. The 

 main native resources have been located in a general 

 way. We must now know what are the capabilities 

 of every agricultural locality, for agriculture is the 

 basis of our prosperity and farming is always a local 

 business. We cannot make the best and most perma- 

 nent progress in the developing a good country life 

 until we have completed a very careful inventory of 

 the entire country. 



