THE DEMONSTRATION WORK 



"The credit system has been a potent factor in depressing agri- 

 culture. To some extent it might have been a necessary evil in a 

 V limited way forty years ago, but it prospered and became dominant, 

 oppressive, and insolent. . It unblushingly swept the earnings of toil 

 from the masses into the coffers of the few. It substituted voluntary 

 for involuntary servitude, ownership by agreement and poverty by 

 contract under fear of the sheriff for the ownership by birthright 

 and a government by proprietary right. So we have lived under a 

 slavery where the chains are ingeniously forged and the bands 

 riveted with gold." 



"Another class of reformers is prescribing 'diversification of 

 farm products' as a remedy. Diversifying is a great aid to success 

 in agriculture under certain conditions ; but how can the man who has 

 nothing diversify? He cannot go into dairying nor stock farming, 

 because he cannot buy the fraction of a cow or pig. He cannot plant 

 new crops, because the merchant regards the move as an experiment, 

 and he will not advance on an experiment. The only way such 

 farmers can prosper is by remaining in the old rut and improving 

 the rut." 



"I have been talking about common schools. In our portion 

 of the United States there are no common schools. They are most 

 extraordinary schools. The children are given science lessons, 

 language lessons, social economy, French, Latin, drawing, vocal and 

 piano music, etc. Possibly later they may learn to read and spell. I 

 asked the patron of one school how the pupils progressed in Latin. 

 He replied, 'Very well, indeed. The only difficulty is that they are 

 required to write their translations in English, and they do not know 

 how to write English.' " 



"Farm renovation and maximum crop production are now fully 

 understood, and they can be explained and illustrated in such a simple 

 and practical way that it would be a crime not to send the gospel of 

 maximum production to the rural toiler. It is said by some that the 

 farmers are a hard class to reach and impress. That is not my experi- 

 ence. They are the most tractable of people, if you have anything 

 substantial to offer — but they all want proof. They do not take 

 kindly to pure theories, and no class can more quickly discriminate 

 between the real farmer and the book farmer than the men who till 

 the soil. The message to the farmers must be practical and of easy 



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