292 THE FARMER AND THE NEW DAY 



tions they believe the time ripe for the formulation of an agri- 

 cultural policy. Several are sure the hour is long overdue. 

 Not a few have been mulling over or working on the details of 

 such a problem for years. 



The reasons advanced for bringing forward the matter now 

 are various. But in the main they are to be found in the agri- 

 cultural status brought about by the war. Several men call 

 attention to the fact that the formulation of an agricultural 

 policy is imperative because food production problems are re- 

 ceiving more attention than ever before in the history of the 

 country; because the Food Administration, the War Industries 

 Board and the United States Department of Agriculture have 

 called the attention of all the people to the underlying principles 

 in the formulation of such a policy; because we have had two 

 fruitful years to study the problem ; because for the first time in 

 the history of our country farm production has become a na- 

 tional if not an international concern; because agriculturists as 

 well as statesmen at this time are more open-minded concern- 

 ing agriculture than ever before; others find in the necessary 

 reconstruction of agriculture and industry after the war, partic- 

 ularly with reference to land settlement and the employment of 

 returning soldiers, a sufficient reason for giving their careful 

 present thought to the formulation of such a policy. Moreover 

 agriculture has now become stabilized because we are beginning 

 to reap the unfortunate harvest of mistakes made in our land 

 policy and agricultural practice of the past; because the soil is 

 being rapidly depleted by exports of fertility in the shape of 

 raw products to other lands; because agriculture is every day 

 becoming commercialized, is in fact no longer a self-sufficing 

 industry; because of the advent of machinery, notably tractors 

 and electrical devices ; because the selection of the best men and 

 women in our rural population, owing to the competition of 

 cities, is depriving agriculture of much needed leadership are 

 further reasons for the prompt undertaking of an agricultural 

 policy. 



A few men significantly point out the fact that while it is pos- 

 sible to lay down the principles underlying an agricultural pol- 



