32 THE farmer's EDU(JATrON. 



pute, but to which no one attaches any special significance. 

 It is proper at tliis point to inquire what are some of the 

 definite things which the modern farmer needs to know, 

 and which constitute his "Hope" of better progress towards 

 material comfort. 



The mechanical operations of the farm are, of course, not 

 referred to, for those the farmers already understand, although 

 those who know most about even them will be the first to 

 concede that they are constantly acquiring helpful informa- 

 tion as to operations which they have conducted from boy- 

 hood. No I'armer of fifty years of age will concede tliat he has 

 not learned much since he was forty, as to management of 

 soils, methods of drainage, ways of combating pests, desirable 

 varieties of crop plants, treatment of crops in harvesting, the 

 feeding and breeding of stock, and the like, which, taken 

 togetlier, constitute what we call farm practice. He does know 

 more, and part of his increased knowledge has been attained 

 by his own experience, and part by observation of the experi- 

 ence of his neighbors. The ordinary farm practice in different 

 localities is very well understood by those who live in them, 

 and is best learned on the farm itself, if, indeed, it be possible 

 to learn it well elsewhere. Such knowledge, therefore, is 

 assumed to be possessed by the farmer. So long as he is on 

 virgin soils in a growing country with extending markets, it 

 serves his purpose very well. 



But the modern farmer does not live under such condi- 

 tions. He lives, for the most part, upon deteriorated soils in 

 communities which seem lo have gotten their growth. Tliere 

 are no longer new settlers coming in to make a home market 

 for produce. It seems harder, for some reason, to get on. 

 The shiftless families whose children once swarmed in the 

 schoolhouses have been gone for years. Where? — No one 

 knows. Tliey are undergoing the process of extinction. Of 

 late years there has been in many neighborhoods another 

 process going on. One by one the small farmers have been 

 "selling out" to the larger farmers adjoining, and these families 

 also have gone. Why did tliey sell, and where have tiiey 

 gone? These questions are not so easy to answer. Doubtless 



