J20 



CONSERVATION 



read what he has to say in regard to 

 the farmers of the country. 

 to Tudffe Goudy follows : 



nf u 



Hon. Frank C. Goudy, President bixte 

 National Irrigation Congress, Albuquerque, 

 N. Mex. 



MY DEAR JUDGE GOUDY : As I have al- 

 readv written you I regret more than I can 

 easily iy that I cannot be with you at Al- 

 buaueraue this year. For a number of years 

 ut I have attended every session of the 

 National Irrigation Congress, and at the 

 more recent ones I have been honored as 

 the bearer of a message from the President, 

 whose interest in irrigation never flags. This 

 fall under his orders, I am trying to do cer- 

 tain work on the National Conservation, and 

 the Commission on Country Life, and that 

 is why I am unable to come. 



Ever since I came to have first-hand 

 knowledge of irrigation, I have been im- 

 pressed with the peculiar advantages which 

 surround the irrigation rancher. The high 

 productiveness of irrigated land, resulting in 

 smaller farm units and denser settlement, as 

 well as the efficiency and alertness of the 

 irrigator, have combined to give the irri- 

 gated regions very high rank among the most 

 progressive farming communities of the 

 world. Such rural communities as those of 

 the irrigated west are useful examples for 

 the consideration of regions in which life is 

 more isolated, has less of the benefits of co- 

 operation, and generally has lacked the stim- 

 ulus which has sent the men whom this con- 

 gress represents so far along on the road 

 the ideal country life. It is for this reason 

 that I venture to send you the following 

 considerations bearing on the work of tn 

 President's Commission on Country Lite 

 because you have gone so far on the road 

 wants others to follow. 



The object of education in general is 1 

 produce in the boy or girl, and so m the 1 

 or woman, three results. First, a sound, 

 useful, and usable body; second, a flexible, 

 well-equipped, and well-organized mind ; ale 

 to gain interest and assistance from contac 

 with nature and cooperation with 

 minds; and third, a wise and true and valiant 

 spirit, able to gather to itself the higher 

 things that best make life worth wh :. Ihe 

 use and growth of these three things, body, 

 mind, and spirit, must all be found in any 

 effective system of education 



The same three-fold activity is equally 

 necessary in a group of individuals. Take, 

 for example, the -er chants ; pf a town who 

 have established a Chamber of 

 or Board of Trade. They have three ob- 

 jects: First, sound and profitable business; 

 second, organized cooperation with each 



Si? g.*S, ^lg dV s a aTsfa e cto a rV n ra S tt 

 from railroads, and inducing new industries 



Seif foU^^tift morl' 



and generally a better place to live in. Take 

 [ n fj^ e ^ n a as ano er example, and you 

 w iH fi nd the same three-fold purpose. A 

 good union admits only good workmen to 

 membership in its sound body; the members 

 from the union the advantages of organ- 

 ^ cooperation j n se lling their labor to the 

 best advantage; and in addition they enjoy 

 certain sqcial advantages often of overwhelm- 

 mg importance. 



& T he practical value of organization and 

 COO peration is obvious, and they are being 

 ut iH ze d very widely in nearly every branch 

 of our national life. But what is the case 

 with the farmer? The farmers are the only 

 great body of O ur people who remain for 

 the most part substantially unorganized. Ihe 

 merchants are organized, the wage-workers 

 are organized, the railroads are organized 

 The men w i th whom the farmer competes 

 are organized to get the best results tor 

 themselves in their dealings with him. 

 f arme r is engaged, usually without the as- 

 s j sta nce of organization, in competing with 

 these organizations of other groups of citi- 

 zens _ Thus tne farmer, the man on whose 

 proc iuct we all live, contends almost single- 

 handed against his highly organized com- 



pe titors. 



How have the agricultural schools and col- 

 leges and the departments of agriculture of 

 gtate and N at i O n met this situation? Largely 

 by the asser tion, in word or in act, that 

 therg Js only one th i n g to be done for the 

 f armer . So far as his personal education is 

 concerne d they have tried to give him a 

 sound bodVj a trained mind, and a wise and 

 va ii ant spirit. But so far as his calling is 

 concerned they have stopped with the body. 

 Th haye sa}d in e ff ect . We will help the 

 f armer to grO w better crops, but we will 

 take nQ thought o f how he can get the best 

 re t u rns for the crops he grows, or of how 

 h can ut ili ze those returns so as to make 

 them idd Wm thg best and happiest life 

 ^ . no( . wige tQ stop the education of a 

 ^ ^ ^.^ thg body( and to ne glect 



J mind and thg spirit But we hav e done 



equ i v alent of that in dealing with farm 

 -^ haye done more> and have done it 



r effectively, for the farmer along the 

 hall other nation. 



^ for better business and 



* h fafm Hereafter we 



Jg ^ ^ ^ wQrk of departmen ts 



agriculture in state and nation, such as 

 & shall need to have 



we have now g as wiu 



Apartments of rural business and 

 * u Q depar t m ents of ag- 

 ^^^ whole field of the 



H fe it is not enough to touch 

 s life. 1 1 is not g problems> 



h^ugh that is fhe first in time and in 



w ^ realize that the gr ow- 

 ingof rops is the great foundation on which 



