units and denser settlement, as well as the efficiency
and alertness of the irrigator, have combined to give the irrigated
regions very high rank among the most progressive farming communities of
the world. Such rural communities as those of the irrigated West are
useful examples for the consideration of regions in which life is more
isolated, has less of the benefits of cooeperation, and generally has
lacked the stimulus found in irrigation farming.

The object of education in general is to produce in the boy or girl,
and so in the man or woman, three results: first, a sound, useful, and
usable body; second, a flexible, well-equipped, and well-organized mind;
alert to gain interest and assistance from contact with nature and
cooeperation with other minds; and third, a wise and true and valiant
spirit, able to gather to itself the higher things that best make life
worth while. The use and growth of these three things, body, mind, and
spirit, must all be found in any effective system of education.

The same three-fold activity is equally necessary in a group of
individuals. Take for example the merchants of a town, who have
established a Chamber of Commerce or Board of Trade. They have three
objects: first, sound and profitable business; second, organized
cooeperation with each other to their mutual advantage, as in settling
disputes, securing satisfactory rates from railroads, and inducing new
industries to settle amongst them; and third, to make their town more
beautiful, more healthful, and generally a better place to live in. Take
a labor union as another example, and you will find the same three-fold
purpose. A good union admits only good workmen to membership in its
sound body; the members get from the Union the advantages of organized
cooeperation in selling their labor to the best advantage; and in
addition they enjoy certain special advantages often of overwhelming
importance.

The practical value of organization and cooeperation is obvious, and they
are being utilized very widely in nearly every branch of our national
life. But what is the case with the farmer? The farmers are the only
great body of our people who remain in large part substantially
unorganized. The merchants are organized, the wage-workers are
organized, the railroads are organized. The men with whom the farmer
competes are organized to get the best results for themselves in their
dealings with him. The farmer is engaged, usually without the