The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1907-05-31

culture has still larger field of USE
fulness ahead. 1t has been dealing
with growing crops. It must here
after deal also with living men. Hith-
Ierto agricultural research, instruction
land agitation have been directed al
most exclusively toward the prodnc-
| Ition Of wealth from the soil. 1t is
ltime to adopt in addition a new point
lof view. Hereafter another great task
lbefore the national department of ag-
lriculture and the similar agencies OF
| the various states must be to foster
agriculture for its social results, or
in other words, to assist in bringing
about the best kind of life on the farm
for the sake of producing the best kind
fof men. The government must recog-
lnize the far-reaching Importance OF
the study and treatment of the prob
lens of farm life alike from the social
and the economic standpoints; and
| the federal and state departments OF
agriculture should cooperate at every
point.
The farm grows the raw material
for the food and clothing of all our
citizens; 1t supports directly almost
half of them; and nearly half the
children of the United States are born
and brought up on farms. How can
the life of the farm family be made
Hess solitary, fuller of opportunity
freer from drudgery, more comfort
able, happier and more attractive
Such result is most earnestly to be
desired. How can life on the farm be
kept on the highest level. and where
II is. not already on that level, be so
Improved, dignified and frightened as
TO awaken and keep alive the pride
and loyalty of the farmers boys and
girls Of the farmers wife, and of the
farmer himself? How can compell-
ing desire to live on the farm be
aroused in children that are born on
the farm? All these questions are of
vital Importance not only to the farm
err shut to the whole nation; and the
department of agriculture must do its
share in answering, them
The drift toward the city is largely
determined by the superior social op-
portunities to be enjoyed there, by the
greater yividness and movement Of
city life. Considered from the point
of view of national efficiency, the
problem OF the farm is as much a
problem of attractiveness as it is a
problem of prosperity 1t has ceased
TO be merely a problem Of growing
wheat and corn and cattle The prob
lem gof production has not ceased to
be fundamental, but 1t is no longer
final; just as learning to read and
write and cipher are fundamental, but
are no longer the final ends of educa-
tion. We hope ultimately to double
the average yield of wheat and corn
per acre; it will be great achieve
ment; but 1t is even more important
to double the desirability, comfort and
standing of the farmers life.
We must consider, then, not merely
how to produce, but also how produc-
tion affects the producer. In the past
we have given but scant attention to
the social side of farm life. we should
study much more closely than has vet
been done the social organization Of
the country, and inquire whether its
institutions are now really as useful
to the farmer as they should be, or
whether they should not be given a
new direction and new impulse, for
no farmers life should lie merely
within the boundary of his farm This
study must be Of the east and the
vest the north and the south: for
the needs Of the farm vary from place
to place.
First in Importance, of course,
comes the effort to secure the mastery
Of production. Great strides toward
this end have already been taken over
the larger part or the United States;
much remains to be done, but much
has been done; and the debt of the
nation to the various agencies Of agri-
cultural Improvement for so great an
advance is not to be overstated. But
we cannot halt here The benefits Of
high social organization include such
advantages as ease of communication,
better educational facilities, increased
comfort of living, and those oppor-
tunities for social and intellectual life
and intercourse, of special value to !
the young people and to the women, /
which are as yet chiefly to be had in |
renters Of population. All this mustA
be brought within the reach OF the !,
farmers who live on the FARMS Of the
men whose labor feeds and clothes the
towns and cities.
Farmers must learn the vital need /
Df cooperation with one another. /
Next to this comes cooperation With
he government, and the government /
IAN best give its aid through associa-
ions Of farmers rather than through /
he individual farmer; for there Is no
greater agricultural problem than
hat Of delivering to the farmer theI