16 INTRODUCTION 



But such labors with and for the student who expects to take his 

 place hi the agricultural class is not all. The status of our agriculture 

 is not exclusively the concern of country people, but is an issue of the 

 highest public moment. As such it should command a broad and 

 deep attention. We have long since perceived the value of presenting 

 courses dealing with labor unions, trusts, and railways to young men 

 who do not anticipate ever joining a union or employing others who 

 have, who will certainly never be directors in even a small corporation, 

 and who may never even so much as own a share of industrial stock or 

 a railroad bond. It is clearly a matter of much importance that the 

 college-trained men of the oncoming generation shall be prepared to 

 act intelligently, whether as business men or as citizens, with reference 

 to these great economic institutions. But surely the importance of 

 agriculture in our whole industrial system is great enough to justify 

 in no less measure the inclusion of at least one solid course in agricul- 

 tural economics in the curriculum of every great university, even 

 though it have no professional school of agriculture. 



