24 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



As to the specific question, what about New England agricul- 

 ture after the war? I suppose that what I have thus far said 

 answers the question in the main. We are not to expect rev- 

 olutionary changes at once, although unquestionably great 

 changes will come as the result of the war. The interest of the 

 people of the cities in the quality and cheapness of their food 

 supply has been aroused as never before. Alongside of this 

 new interest has come the more active participation of repre- 

 sentative urban agencies, such as business organizations and 

 women's associations. People have learned their dependence 

 upon the farmer. 



The participation by thousands of city and village people, 

 old and young, in the garden work has given a new respect for 

 agriculture, and the toil and rights of farmers. People who 

 heretofore supposed that cabbages came from the grocery now 

 know that they come from the ground. People who had never 

 given a thought to the farmer's difficulties now understand some 

 of the uncertainties of the weather as the farmer has to face 

 them. 



The whole problem of food supply in all its aspects has been 

 given a new unity. The production of food, the transportation 

 and distribution of food, and the wise use of food have all been 

 brought together into one common problem, and the rights and 

 obligations of all the different groups particularly interested in 

 this common problem have also been brought together pro- 

 ducers, distributors and consumers. The part which each must 

 play is more clear. The dependence of one group upon the other 

 stands out prominently. The need of close cooperation among 

 them all has been emphasized. The power and possibility of the 

 principles of organization, as applied to the food supply problem, 

 have been demonstrated as never before. What has been done 

 in Massachusetts has probably been done with equal thorough- 

 ness in other states. All over the country the food supply prob- 

 lem has been brought to a degree of organization that has often 

 been dreamed of but never before attained. All this has been 

 done by cooperation, not by compulsion. There has never been 

 anything like it in the history of America. All this leads to my 

 last point : 



The state and the nation are learning that no man liveth 



