e American people still live
under rural conditions. We are perplexed by the labor wars that are
waged about us, for the time unmindful that one-third of the workers of
this country make their living immediately from the soil. We are
astounded, and perhaps alarmed, at the great centralization of capital,
possibly not realizing that the capital invested in agriculture in the
United States nearly equals the combined capital invested in the
manufacturing and railway industries. But if we pause to consider the
scope and nature of the economic and social interests involved, we
cannot avoid the conclusion that the farm problem is worthy of serious
thought from students of our national welfare.

We are aware that agriculture does not hold the same relative rank among
our industries that it did in former years, and that our city population
has increased far more rapidly than has our rural population. We do not
ignore the fact that urban industries are developing more rapidly than
is agriculture, nor deny the seriousness of the actual depletion of
rural population, and even of community decadence, in some portions of
the Union. But these facts merely add to the importance of the farm
question. And it should not be forgotten that there has been a large and
constant growth both of our agricultural wealth and of our rural
population. During the last half-century there was a gain of 500 per
cent. in the value of farm property, while the non-urban population
increased 250 per cent. Agriculture has been one of the chief elements
of America's industrial greatness, it is still our dominant economic
interest, and it will long remain at least a leading industry. The
people of the farm have furnished a sturdy citizenship and have been the
primary source of much of our best leadership in political, business,
and professional life. For an indefinite future, a large proportion of
the American people will continue to live in a rural environment.

WHAT IS THE FARM PROBLEM?

Current agricultural discussion would lead us to think that the farm
problem is largely one of technique. The possibilities of the
agricultural industry, in the light of applied science, emphasize the
need of the farmer for more complete knowledge of soil and plant and
animal, and for increased proficiency in utilizing this knowledge to
secure greater production at less cost. This is a fundamental need. It
lies at the basis of success in farming. But it is not the farm p