transition of the wheat belt from the East to the 

 West, as the virgin soils were conquered and made 

 new bases for destructive competition with the older 

 wheat states, we shall see how deeply they affected 

 not only land values, railroad building, the movement 

 of population and the supply of clieap food, but also 

 liow the regions once devoted to single cropping of 

 wheat Vv'erc forced to turn to varied and intensive 

 agriculture and to diversified industry, and we shall 

 see also how these transformations affected party 

 politics and even the ideals of the Americans of the 

 regions thus changed." ^ 



3. The economic history of agriculture in particu- 

 lar states or in given regions should also be written. 

 Such studies should include the consideration of agri- 

 cultural geography, Indian agricultiire. early trade 

 and travel, relations of the white race to the Indian, 

 pioneer population and agriculture, nearness to the 

 markets, transportation of agricultural products, de- 

 velopment of specialized and diversified farming, 

 systems of land tenure, agricultural labor, use of im- 

 proved farm machinery, size of farms, price of lands, 

 and rentals, and laws governing inheritance of real 

 estate in lands. These studies would naturally in- 

 clude also the consideration of the sources of immi- 

 gration, the type of farmers, the methods of agricul- 

 ture, and the social phases of life, including religion, 

 education, amusements, and entertainments. Atten- 

 tion should be given to currency and banking facili- 

 ties, rural credit, rates of interest, and the relation of 

 the farming population to national monetary legisla- 

 tion and to the tariff. The subject of agricultural 

 education should receive extended treatment ; a study 

 of state agricultural societies and fairs, the agricul- 

 tural press, and the agricultural colleges and experi- 

 ment stations, including rural extension departments 

 and recently introduced courses in agriculture in the 



2 F. J. Turner, " Social Forces in American History," in 

 The American Historical Review, Vol. XVI, 1911, pp. 220, 

 230. 



15 



