EXPLANATION 



THE immediate basis of this book is a 

 paper on "The State and the Farmer," 

 originating as a presidential address before the 

 Association of American Agricultural Colleges 

 and Experiment Stations at Lansing, Michi- 

 gan, May 28, 1907. Five hundred copies of 

 this address were printed by order of the 

 Association. The demand continuing, I de- 

 cided to expand the principles there expressed, 

 and to apply them to a somewhat wider range; 

 in doing this I have, of course, much increased 

 the size of the original paper, but the general 

 motive is not different. That paper, in turn, 

 was the result of previous papers and ad- 

 dresses, some parts of which were incorpor- 

 ated in it; therefore, some of the arguments 

 and points of view in this book are likely not 

 to appear to be new to those readers who 

 have followed this class of discussions. It is 

 needless to say that the book is in no sense a 

 treatise, but only a budget of opinions ; and I 



