Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-31
ROOSEVELT TALKS
At LANSING, MICH,
CONTINUED from First Page.)


| country church must be revived. All kinds
of agencies, from rural free delivery to the
| bicycle and the telephone. should De utllZeo
to the utmost; good roads should De IA
vored; everything should be done to make 1t
easier for the farmer to lead the most ac-
| tive and effective intellectual, political and
economic life.
| Where Churches and Schools Flourish.
There are regions of large extent where
| all this, or most of this, has already been
realized; and while this is perhaps es-
pecially true of great tracts of farming
| country west of the Mississippi, with some
| Of which 1 have a fairly intimate personal
know ledge, 1t is no less true of other
| great tracts of country east of the Missls.
| sippi. In these regions the church ana
| the school flourish as never before; there
| is more successful and more varied
| farming industry; the social advantages
and opportunities are greater than ever
| before; life is fuller, happier, more use
| full; and though the work is more effective
| than ever, and in a way quite as hard. IL
is carried to give more scope for
well-used leisure. My plea Is that We shall
| all try to make more nearly universal the
| conditions that now obtain In the most
favored localities.
Nothing in the way of scientific work
| can ever take the place of business man
agement on farm. We ought all of US to
teach ourselves much as possible; but
we can also all Of US learn from others;
and the former can best learn how to man
age his farm even better than he now does
by practice, under intelligent supervision,
on his own soil In such way as to increase
his income. This is the kind of teaching
which has been carried on in Texas, Louis
| lana and Arkansas by DR.. Knapp OF the
national Department of Agriculture. But
much has been accomplished by the growth
of what is broadly designated as agrlcui-
tural science. This has been developed
with remarkable rapidity during the last
quarter of a century and the benefit 10
agriculture has been great. AS was in
evitable, there was much error and much
repetition of work in the early application
of money to the needs of agricultural col
leges and experiment stations alike by the
nation and the several states. Much has
been accomplished; but much more can be
accomplished in the future. The prime
need must always be for real research, re-
sulting in scientific conclusions OF proved
soundness. Both the farmer ana the leglS-
lature must beware of invariably demand
ing immediate returns from investments IN
| research efforts. 1t is probably one OF our
faults as nation that we are too impa-
| tient to wait a sufficient length OF time to
accomplish the best results; and in agrl-
| culture effective research often, although
not always, involves slow and long-con-
trustworthy While applied science in
agriculture elsewhere must be judged
largely from the standpoint of Its actual
return in dollars, yet the farmers, no more
than any one else, can afford to ignore the
large results that can be enjoyed because
of broader knowledge. The farmer must
prepare for using the knowledge that can
be obtained through agricultural colleges
by insisting upon a constantly more prac-
teal curriculum in the schools IN Whlcn
his children are taught. He must not lose
his independence his initiative, his rugged
sef-suffciency; and yet he must learn 10
work in the heartiest cooperation with his
fellows.
The Cornerstones Of Prosperity.
The cornerstones Of our unexampled
prosperity are, on the one hand, the pro-
duction of raw material, and lis manufac-
ture and distribution on the other. These
two great groups of subjects are repre-
scented in the national government prlnci-
pally by the Departments Of Agriculture
and of Commerce and Labor. Inc pro-
duction of raw material from the surface
of the earth IS the sphere IN which the De-
partment of Agriculture has hitherto
achieved such notable results. or all the
executive departments there is no other,
not even the Post Office, which comes into
more direct and beneticent contact with
the daily life of the people than the De-
partment of Agriculture and none whose
yield of practical ,enetits is greater In
proportion to the public money expended.
But great as it's s1rvices have been In
the past. the Department of Agriculture
has a still larger field of usefulness ahead
1t has been dealing with growing crops.
1t must hereafter deal also with nVlnS
men, Hitherto agricultural research, in
struction ard agitation have been directed
almost exclusively toward the production
of. wealth from the soil 1t is time 10
adopt In addition new point OF view
Hereafter another great task before the
national Department of Agriculture and
the similar agencies of the various states
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 of men. The government must
recognize the far-reaching Importance of
the study and treatment Of the problems or
farm life alike from the social and the
economic standponts; and the federal and
state departments of agriculture should CO.
operate at every point.
The farm grows the raw material for the
food and clothing of all our citizens; II
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 less
solitary, fuller Of opportunity, freer from
drudgery, more comfortable, 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 it 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 compelling desire to live on the
farm be aroused in the children that are
born on the farm? All these questions are
of vital importance not only to the farmer,
but to the whole nation; and the Depart
,nent of Agriculture must do Its share In
answering them.
Drift Of the Cities.
The drift toward the city is largely deter
mined by the superior social opportunities
to be enjoyed there, by the greater vivid
ness and movement of city life. Considered
from the point of view Of national eff
cheney, the problem of the farm Is as much
a problem of attractiveness as 1t is prob
lem of prosperity. 1t has ceased to be
merely a problem of growing wheat and
corn and cattle. The problem Of produce
ton has not ceased to be fundamental, but
It is no longer final; just as learning to read
and write and cipher are fundamental, but
are no longer the final ends of education.
We hope ultimately to double the average
yield of wheat and corn per acre; 1t will be
a great achievement; but 1t is even more
important to double the desirability, COM
fort and standing of the farmers life.
We must consider, then, not merely how
to produce, but also how production effects
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 yet been done the social or
ganiZa ton of the country, and inquire
whether its Institutions are now really as
useful to the farmer as they should be, or
Il