The Best Public Opinion 69 



land is well educated in the terms of his envi- 

 ronment, we shall have the kind of public 

 opinion that stands. The roots of society are- 

 away back in the soil. 



If society is under obligation to consider the 

 farmer, it is equally true that the farmer bears 

 an obligation to society. This the farmer is 

 likely not to recognize. The means that will 

 bring about the one, however, will necessarily 

 bring about the other. 



Rural needs. 



Before we can intelligently discuss some of 

 the remedies for the social ills of the open 

 country, we must inventory the needs. These 

 needs seem to fall chiefly into five great groups, 

 which may be briefly stated: 



( I ) The need of greater technical knowledge 

 of agriculture. This knowledge of discovery 

 and teaching is being rapidly supplied by the 

 experiment stations and colleges of agriculture. 

 The knowledge that we already have is far in 

 advance of the practice of it; this is necessarily 

 true in any branch of human activity, but this 



