Part II. 



RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



Definitions 



Sociology is the science which treats of the general struc- 

 ture of society, the laws of its development, and the progress 

 of actual civilization. Economics, treating of the wealth get- 

 ting and wealth using activities of man, is a closely related but 

 a much more limited subject than sociology. 



Rural Sociology includes everything which has to do with 

 the social customs, habits, institutions, thought, progress or 

 lack of progress in the country. In a constructive sense rural 

 sociology is concerned with those forces which make for the 

 betterment of country life as, the improvement of the farm 

 home, the building of better roads, the growth of schools and 

 churches, the improvement of means of transportation and 

 communication. 



The Commission on Country Life. The appointment of 

 the Commission on Country Life by President Roosevelt in 

 1908 marks the beginning of a really serious consideration of 

 the farm life problem in the United States. In appointing the 

 Commission President Roosevelt said: 



"I am therefore anxious to bring before the people of the 

 United States the question of securing better business and bet- 

 ter living on the farm, whether by co-operation between far- 

 mers for buying and selling and borrowing; by promoting so- 

 cial advantages and opportunities in the country; or by any 

 other legitimate means that will help to make country life 

 more gainful, more attractive, and fuller of opportunities, 

 pleasures, and rewards for the men, women, and children of 

 the farms." 



Recommendations of the Commission. The Commission 

 found that "agriculture is not commercially as profitable as it 

 is entitled to be for the labor and energy that the farmer ex- 



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