32 CHAPTERS IN RURAL PROGRESS 



is: What is the function of the agricultural 

 college ? We have not time to trace the history 

 of these colleges, nor to elaborate the various 

 views relative to their mission. But let us for a 

 moment discuss their proper function in the 

 light of the proposition that the preservation of 

 the farmers' status is the real farm problem; 

 for the college can be justified only as it finds its 

 place among the social agencies helpful in the 

 solution of the farm question. 



In so far as the agricultural college, through 

 its experiment station or otherwise, is an organ 

 of research, it should carry its investigations 

 into the economic and sociological fields, as well 

 as pursue experiments in soil fertility and 

 animal nutrition. 



In the teaching of students, the agricultural 

 college will continue the important work of 

 training men for agricultural research, agricul- 

 tural teaching, and expert supervision of various 

 agricultural enterprises. But the college should 

 put renewed emphasis upon its ability to send 

 well-trained men to the farms, there to live their 

 lives, there to find their careers, and there to 

 lead in the movements for rural progress. A 

 decade ago it was not easy to find colleges which 

 believed that this could be done, and some agri- 



