ows the routes where roads are best and passes entirely
across a county, attracted by some public gathering. Often it is
inter-state in character, made up of tourists who are traveling to
distant pleasure resorts. Such traffic at present constitutes a
relatively small part of the travel on public highways, except on
certain favorable routes, but as the wealth of the country increases
and good touring roads are numerous, long distance travel will
increase and will eventually necessitate the construction of a number
of well maintained national highways, located with reference to the
convenience of the automobile tourist.

PUBLIC HIGHWAYS AND COMMUNITY LIFE

It is well to recognize the intimate relation public highways bear to
the economic progress of a nation. Normal development of all of the
diverse activities of a people depends very largely upon the highway
policy that is adopted and whether the actual construction of
serviceable roads keeps pace with transportation needs.

=Rural Education.=--It has become increasingly apparent during the
World War that the demand upon North America for food stuffs is to
become more and more insistent as the years pass. Already the
consumption in the United States has approached quite closely to the
average production and yet the population is constantly increasing.
The time is not far distant when greater production will be required
of the agricultural area in North America in order to meet the home
demand for foodstuffs, and many thousands of tons will be needed for
export. This need can only be met by agricultural methods that will
increase greatly the present yield of the soil. The adoption of better
agricultural methods must of necessity be preceded by the technical
training of the school children who will be the farmers of the next
generation, which can best be accomplished in graded schools with well
equipped laboratories and with suitably trained teachers. The problem
of providing such schools in rural communities has, in some instances,
been solved by consolidating a number of rural school districts and
constructing a well equipped building to accommodate the students from
an area several miles square. An educational system of this sort can
reach its highest usefulness only when adequate public highways
facilitate attendance of pupils. The whole trend of rural educational
progress is toward a system which is predicated upon a comprehensive
highway policy in the district.