ge.
Educated at public expense and in an institution of higher learning that
stands specifically for all-round rural improvement and rural
patriotism, the students that go out from this college cannot
misinterpret their duties nor fail to understand the responsibilities
they assume as graduates of the North Dakota Agricultural College. Nor
is their field of labor an unenviable one. It may at times seem irksome,
even discouraging, but nevertheless it is the most exalted and dignified
calling to which men and women of special training and culture can
aspire.

To rescue the soil from the indifference and greed and selfishness
wherein this generation unwittingly robs succeeding generations of their
rightful inheritance, and to rescue the very vocation of agriculture
from mercenary interests is a mission worthy of the best leadership and
patriotism of our day. But it must not stop even at this. The public
welfare demands that nearly half the population of the entire country,
and certainly four-fifths of the population of this state, shall
permanently pursue agriculture for a livelihood. This vocation,
therefore, must be made so desirable and satisfying that that number
will joyfully accept it as a matter of free choice. It must be so
developed that it will afford an unsurpassed market for energy and
brains, and so independent of parasitical interests that when two
bushels of wheat are grown where one now grows the producer will receive
the benefit.

_Increased Production Not Sufficient._ Hitherto the agencies for rural
improvement, both state and federal, have directed their energies
chiefly toward increased production. And this with but scant
consideration for profits that should be realized by the producer as a
result of the larger yields. Material prosperity, however, is not a
sufficient motive, except where it assuredly is used to improve the
moral and social conditions of the community life. To double the yield
of crops without doubling the enjoyments of living and improving home
comforts accordingly, will avail but little toward developing rural
conditions that will withstand the competition and false allurements of
the city.

_Urban Degeneracy._ A nation's strength, moreover, is a matter of blood
and brain fiber. Urban degeneracy is an accepted biological fact. The
dissipation, lack of physical exercise in the open air, and high
pressure living and working leaves in its trail a progeny diminishing in
numbers and