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place of empiricism. The despotism of the grandfather Is passing. Applied 
science and business practice hare been bitched to 1 1 1 « - plow, ret the most 
obvious need of American agriculture is better farming, improved farm land 
in the United states gives bul $9 of gross return per acre. The average yield 
per acre of corn is 23.5 bushels, whereas a very modes! ideal would be double 
this amount The wheat yield is 13.5 bushels per acre; in Germany nearly 
twice as much. These are crude, hut legitimate, illustrations of our inferior 
farming. We must have greater yields of better products, secured at less cost 
per unit. The farm problem is therefore Bret of all a problem of increasing 
the technical skill of our farmers. Science unlocks the cabinet of Nature's 
treasures, but only the artist farmer can appreciate and use the storehouse 
thus opened to him. 
1 1' i But produce growing is not the only aspect of the farm problem. Each 
effective pair of shears needs two blades; in this case produce selling is the 
other blade. Mere productiveness does not solve the farm question. The 
farmer cares less for the second spear of grass than he does lor a proper return 
from the first spear. Business s*kill must be added to better farming methods. 
The farm problem is also a business question. 
(3) The moment, however, we begin to discuss price we enter a realm where 
economic factors dominate. We commonly say demand and supply determine 
price; but effective demand and effective supply are the resultants of many 
forces. The supply of a given product is influenced by the cost of growing in 
various locations, by cost of transportation, by competition of other countries. 
The demand is influenced by the state of wages, by standards of living, by effect- 
iveness of distribution. The farmer may not always control these conditions, 
but he must reckon with them. He must know the laws of economics as well 
as the laws of soil fertility. The farm problem becomes then an industrial 
question, for the farmer's prosperity is influenced most profoundly by the 
economic life of the nation raid of the world. And in a still wider sense is the 
rural question one of economics. The industry as a whole must prosper. Jt is 
of no great moment that here and there a farmer succeeds. The farming class 
must prosper. Of course individual success in the case of a sufficient number 
of farmers implies the success of the industry, but it is quite possible to have 
f\ stagnant industry alongside numerous individual successes. The farmers as a 
whole must be continually and speedily advancing to better economic conditions. 
(-1) Nor may we ignore the political factor in the rural problem. Doubtless 
the American farmer, like most Americans, places undue reliance upon legisla- 
tion. But we can not disregard the profound industrial and social effects of 
either wise or foolish laws. The political efficiency of the farmer will have 
much to do in determining class progress. Furthermore, the political duties of 
farmers must he enforced, their influence must continue to he exerted in behalf 
of the general policies of government. It is of vital consequence to our demo- 
cratic government that the American farmer shall in nowise lose his political 
instinct and effectiveness. 
(5) The consideration of the political phase of the question leads us to the 
heart of the farm problem. For it is conceivable that the farmers of this 
country may as a class be skilled growers of produce, successful sellers of 
what they grow, and indeed that the industry as a whole may be prosperous, 
and yet the farming class in its general social and intellectual power fail to 
keep pace with other classes. It is not impossible that a landlord-and-tenant 
system, or even a peasant system, should yield fairly satisfactory industrial 
conditions. But who for a moment would expect either system to develop 
the political and general social efficiency that American democratic ideals 
demand? Even if there is no immediate danger of either of these systems 
becoming established in America, we still desire that our farmers as a class 
shall secure for themselves the highest possible position not only in industry 
but in the political and social organization of American society. Indeed this 
is the ultimate American rural problem, to maintain the best possible status 
of the farming class. No other statement of the problem is satisfactory in 
theory. No other is explanatory of the struggles and ambitions of farmers 
themselves. The American farmer will be satisfied with nothing less than 
securing for his class the highest possible class efficiency and largest class 
influence, industrially, politically, socially. It is true that industrial success 
is necessary to political and social power, but it is also true that social 
agencies are needed in order to develop in our American farmers the requisite 
technical skill, business method, and industrial efficiency. The influence of 
such social forces as education, developed means of communication, the organi- 
