46 CHAPTERS IN RURAL PROGRESS 



country. It is true that our picture is not all 

 of rose tints. But what of that ? If it were not 

 true there would be no farm problem; the 

 country would have to convert the town. The 

 fact remains that rural life is undergoing a 

 rapid expansion. Materially, socially, and in- 

 tellectually, the farmer is broadening. Old 

 prejudices are fading. The plowman is no 

 longer content to keep his eye forever on the 

 furrow. The revival has been in slow progress 

 for some time and has not yet reached its zenith ; 

 indeed, the movement is but well under way. 

 For while the new day came long ago to some 

 rural communities and they are basking in a 

 noonday sun, yet in far too many localities the 

 faintest gray of dawn is all that rouses hope. 



The fundamental change that is taking place 

 is the gradual adoption of the new agriculture. 

 " Book-farmin' " is still decried, and many "per- 

 fessers" have a rocky road to travel in their at- 

 tempts to guide the masses through the laby- 

 rinth of scientific knowledge that has been con- 

 structed during the last decade or two. This 

 difficulty has not been wholly the farmer's fault 

 the scientist would often have been more per- 

 suasive had his wings been clipped. But there 

 is a decided "getting together" nowadays 



