50 CHAPTERS IN RURAL PROGRESS 



list from the rural offices. Rural free mail de- 

 livery promises, among many other results of 

 vast importance, to enlarge the circulation of 

 daily papers among farmers not less than tenfold. 



The really great lesson that farmers are 

 rapidly learning is to work together. They have 

 been the last class to organize, and jealousy, dis- 

 trust, and isolation have made such organiza- 

 tions as they have had comparatively ineffective. 

 But gradually they are learning to compromise, 

 to work in harmony, to sink merely personal 

 views, to trust their own leaders, to keep troth 

 in financially co-operative projects. There will 

 be no Farmers' Party organized ; but the higher 

 politics is gaining among farmers, and more and 

 more independent voting may be expected from 

 the rural precincts. Farmers are learning to 

 pool such of their interests as can be furthered 

 by legislation. 



It is also true that the whole aspect of social 

 life in the country is undergoing a profound evo- 

 lutionary movement. Farmers are meeting one 

 another more frequently than they used to. 

 They have more picnics and holidays. They 

 travel more. They go sight-seeing. They take 

 advantage of excursions. Their social life is 

 more mobile than formerly. Farmers have 



