Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1916-07-20
TALK ON RURAL ECONOMICS
Pigs Aren't Pigs Sometimes in
BrOckton, Speaker Proves.
A Lot Of Common Sense Advice PRE-
scented In Closing Addresrc. of
Conference ON RurnI Prob
lens mt University.

Get ut the fundamentals, know what you
are aiming Mt before you think about
means or data: This Was tho keynote OF
Or. G.. G. Groat's talk In tho final session
of the rural problems conference
ut Vermont University Saturday.
DIR. Groat who Is professor of
agricultural economics at tho university,
made delightfully."- luminous several knotty
questions connected with tho problem of
rural economics. Tho other speaker OF
tho morning WINS Charles J.. Holland,
president of the Plymouth County Trust
company of Brockton. Mass, who told
how his company had employed first enc
agricultural expert, then second and
finally n domestic science expert to advise
dairymen and gardeners. The latter were
given loans on condition that they follow
ed the advise the experts provided Now
hll three experts are part of the institu-
ton and everybody is beneiting from the
cooperation.
What are we getting data for? The
answer to that question will determine
what sort of data you get" said Pro-
fessor Groat. a geOloRist or botanst has
specific objects In mind which decide what
he Ia to collect. The same thing Is true
Of any person making n survey, so-called.
of any field. The limitations of tho search
should DO determined and kept in mind
before the search was started. Evidently
the soil, the climate and tho seeds were
the things the gardener fixed In mind.
The tendency Of most people In discuss
ing a problem was to touch principally
the most exalted aspects of tho subject.
II II had any. But the problem of bread
and buttei.'' updarluy almost avery ulleE-
fion.
So far as rural economics was concerned
there were three fundamental facts to be
kept in mind. The first OF these was that
the farmer had rarely regarded farming
as a business. Farming had it's problems
and difficulties the same as every other
kind of industry Traditionally the farm
had been self-suficing unit, which pro-
vided food, clothing and shelter to its oc-
cupants regardless of anything else that
might happen. The farmer had no
thought of going outside himself to sat
1sfy his needs. This tradition halted the
spread of the notion that farming was a
business. Farming now was a matter of
exchange and hence the farmer was not
the Independent worker he imagined him
self to be. eve have weight of tradi-
Until the farmer can be made to realize
that farming is a business, all effort at
Improvement of his lot Is futile. The
claim Of splendid independence" was one
with which he said he found himself diff
3ering more and more Another question
to come up was whether the kind of indie
pendence the farmer did enjoy was the de-
eirable sort.
There We're two kinds of independ-
ence. independence of environment and
independence Of men. AS the farmers
life grows broader It becomes less in
dependent. in Prof. Greats opinion
We are all dependent in some way or
other. The farmer is not independent
OF his environment because the light
ming for instance may strike his barn
and set it afire any time To guard
against this he must sacrifice part
Of his independence by insuring the
buildings. His crops similarly are de-
pendent upon the weather. Even the
wheat speculator. much as the farmer