32 BULLETIN 592, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
OUTLINE FOR RURAL ECONOMICS AND FARM MANAGEMENT— FOURTH 
YEAR. 
(One-half unit, 52 lessons, 36 exercises.) 
General references. — A Method of Analyzing the Farm Business, Farmers' Bulletin 
661. The following bulletins of the Bureau of Plant Industry: 236, Farm Manage- 
ment; 259, What is Farm Management? Some Outstanding Factors in Profitable 
Farming. A Graphic Summary of American Agriculture, Yearbook 1915. 
Lesson 1. — Introduction. 
1. Definitions. 
2. Relations of agriculture to other industries. 
Lesson 2. — Historical Sketch. 
1. The beginnings of agriculture. 
2. Development of modern agriculture. * 
Lesson 3. — Farming as a Means of Making a Living. 
1. Comparison with other occupations. 
2. Opportunities in agriculture. 
Lesson 4. — Farming as a Mode of Life. 
1. Living in the country. 
2. The farm as a home. 
Lesson 5. — Problems of Rural Social Life. 
1. Country life v. city life. 
2. Factors for social betterment. 
3. Personal obligations. 
Special references. — Articles in the following Yearbooks: 1914, Organization of a 
Rural Community; 1915, How the Department cf Agriculture Promotes Organiza- 
tion in Rural Life. 
Lesson 6. — City-bred v. Country-bred Farmers. 
1. Advantages of country training. 
2. Advantages of city training. 
3. The back-to-the-land movement. 
Special reference. — Movement of City and Town to Farms, Yearbook 1914. 
Lesson 7. — Farming as a Business. 
1. Comparison with other business. 
2. Business principles to be applied. 
Exercise 1. — A Suggested Debate. 
Time equal to one laboratory period (a double period) may be 
spent profitably in a debate involving the question of the relative 
opportunities for young men in the country and in the city. It 
will be best to apply the question to the opportunities in the district 
where the school is located as compared with a neighboring town 
with which the students are familiar. 
Lesson 8. — The Distribution of Wealth. 
1. Economic principles involved. 
2. Relation to use of land. 
3. Relation to labor. 
