ECONOMIC MOTIVES AND IDEALS IN AGRICULTURE 17 



what extent this action arises from the independent character 

 of the man ; but in either case it is effective. 



9. Legal compulsion. The activity of many farmers is in- 

 fluenced by legal compulsion. For instance, the law requires 

 that milk sold in cities shall contain a minimum percentage of 

 fat. It prescribes the maximum number of bacteria and the 

 maximum amount of dirt which can be sold with the milk. 

 It also prescribes the kinds of weeds which must be destroyed 

 before seeding and in many ways regulates the live stock in- 

 dustry. To the extent that the farmer possesses right motives, 

 legal compulsion is unnecessary, but there are usually some in 

 every community who would not live up to the standards laid 

 down by law if it were not for the necessity of doing so. 



10. Religion and the idea of duty. In the minds of many 

 farmers the religious motive to action is a very important one. 

 There are farmers who look upon themselves as stewards of the 

 property they possess and feel that it is their duty to handle 

 their property to the advancement of religious ideals. There are 

 very many who are much influenced in their dealings with other 

 men by the ideas of right and wrong which have been established 

 by religious teaching. Religious ideas with respect to the keep- 

 ing of the first day of the week as a day of rest and religious 

 education, as well as the keeping of various religious holidays, 

 may to some extent limit the amount of time devoted to agricul- 

 tural production and increase the amount of time devoted to 

 self-improvement and to the direct satisfactions of life. It is 

 probable that if farmers as a class should cease to observe 

 Sunday as a day of rest and religious activity and devote seven 

 days in the week to farm work, they would get no more pay for 

 the seven days than they are getting for the six. It seems to 

 be true that city workmen are getting as much pay for a shorter 

 day as they formerly did for a longer day. 



With this complex set of motives in operation, it is certain 

 that maximum net return in money and in products for direct 

 consumption, primary though it be, is too limited an ideal for 

 the farmer. 



In the mind of the high-class young farmer, a life for him- 

 c 



