Transition Epochs 47 



No mere treatment of symptoms can have 

 much permanent effect on agricultural condi- 

 tions. Many agricultural localities are mak- 

 ing great effort to secure summer boarders. 

 This may aid a certain class of persons ; 

 but as the summer boarder advances into the 

 open country, agriculture is likely to recede. 

 The solution of the problem is a long-time 

 process. It is not merely adding fertilizer, 

 nor killing daisies and paint-brush ; it may not 

 be even a question of making the farm more 

 productive. The little -farm -well -tilled idea 

 will not solve the problem. It must be a pro- 

 cess of reorganization. 



Let us bear in mind that the questions of 

 ineffective farming are not new. Just now the 

 emphasis seems to be placed on the so-called 

 abandonment of farms, and on certain kinds 

 of propaganda that promise to solve these dif- 

 ficulties. We have passed through many epochs 

 or eras of wide-spread propaganda, in each one 

 of which some one factor was supposed to 

 afford the means of relieving agricultural dis- 

 tress. I remember that at one time the emphn- 



