80 The State and the Farmer 



The now common phrase u back to the 

 country," has a deeper significance than most 

 of us, I fancy, have caught. It means not only 

 that certain persons are going, or talking 

 about going, from the city to the country, but 

 that initiative is being reflected from centers 

 largely governmental centers back into the 

 country. There is developing a ganglionic in- 

 tellectual organization, as in years past there 

 has developed a similar economic organization. 



It is easy to trace the over-influence of the 

 city in country affairs. The cities, for example, 

 because they provide the market, are begin- 

 ning to dictate the mode of producing milk, 

 sometimes with too little consideration for the 

 farming conditions. This work is properly a 

 state function rather than a city function. The 

 present agitation on bovine tuberculosis 

 exhibits a similar influence. 



The kinds of help. 



I think that I see at least six classes of help- 

 ful activities for the betterment of rural con- 

 ditions: (i) The discovery of local fact ; (2) 



