hey could take the
lead in the movement. In this way the society would keep in touch with
the homes and communities of the state, and all would grow together in
horticultural grace--and the other graces that go with it.

[Illustration: A Minnesota farm home with handsome grounds and modern
conveniences.]

The gospel of better homes is like every other gospel. It must be taken
to those who need it and who know it not or are not interested. The
extension service of the University is organized to carry the message of
better homes, better farms, better social and business relations to the
people who need it. Farmers' institutes, short courses, lectures,
demonstration, farm supervision, judging at county fairs, boys' and
girls' club work, institute trains, county agent service, indicate some
of the kinds of work in progress. The press is also a powerful factor in
this work. The Minnesota Farmers' Library, which is made up of timely
publications on all matters of rural interest, has a mailing list of
fifty-five thousand farmers. From six to twelve of these publications
are issued each year. "University Farm Press News" reaches regularly
six hundred papers in the state. "Rural School Agriculture," containing
material especially adapted to the needs of the consolidated and rural
schools, reaches practically every rural and consolidated school in the
state each month. "The Visitor" is a special publication prepared for
the use of the teachers of agriculture in the high schools of the state.
The "Farmers' Institute Annual" is a manual of three hundred pages
published each year in editions of fifty thousand and contains material
of interest to every farmer. Many special articles are prepared for farm
papers. Every department of the extension service and college and
station is in touch with the farm homes of the state through
correspondence, and much valuable work is accomplished in this way. The
aim is always to work from the home as the center, and from that to the
group of homes constituting the community, the township, the county and
the state, in an ever-enlarging circle.

[Illustration: A typical Minnesota consolidated school building.]

The greatest opportunity for better homes and better farms and a better
country life is in enlisting the children of the country in the
movement. When I say the children of the country, I do not mean to
exclude the children of the villages and towns whose tastes may lead
them countryward.