student working under the auspices of the Department of Sociology in the University of Missouri on the problem of "The Rural Church in Missouri." Another that may be of interest is the investigation that has recently been undertaken and partially completed by the writer on the conditions existing in the county homes of Iowa. The investigations made by the vice commissions of Chicago and Minneapolis, and those wider studies made by the Board of Public Welfare of Kansas City, are good examples, the former of what may be done by voluntary organizations, the later by a public body. These are but a few examples from among a number of promising beginnings. Of course, those made by the schools of philanthropy are too well known to need citation. At presentthere is being carried on under the auspices of the recently launched "Men and Religion Forward Movement" a social survey whereby every city in the country is to be investigated by local workers. This is not so hopeful, because while the schedules may have been made out by men who had good training, they are proceeding on the assumption that all communities are practically alike. Furthermore, it labors under the disadvantage that in many of these places those who fill out these blanks have had no training to enable them to gather accurate statistics, to say nothing of the impossibility of judging of those more subtle sociological factors which elude often even the trained statistician.

In this emergency the colleges and the universities and such men in the community as have had training in the social sciences are the ones upon whom reliance must be placed for the doing of this work in any promising way. True, the college professors are already overworked; they have no time or energy to give to the direction of investigations. Nevertheless if our teachers of sociology once get the idea that it is better for the student to know the problem of poverty, for example, by immediate acquaintance with it in his own community rather than by reading volumes on the subject concerning other communities, the professor's work will be very much lightened, not that his hours will be less or the energy to be expended smaller, but in teaching sociology he will be carrying on investigations, and under his charge will be a corps of workers molded by his own instructions and under his direct

guidance. As an incident in this matter, but one of some importance, such a plan will put the professor into contact with the people and officials.

Another way in which this investigation of small communities could be very well forwarded is to increase the number of fellowships and scholarships in our colleges and universities for graduate students in social sciences. Here the Russell Sage Foundation, or some similar organization, might well take such steps as are necessary to open up this promising but almost unexplored territory.

DISCUSSION

E. FRED EASTMAN, REPRESENTING THE DEPARTMENT OF CHURCH AND COUNTRY LIFE OF THE PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS

Mr. Eastman writes: I will state briefly my remarks on Professor Gillin's paper, at the meeting of the American Sociological Society in Washington, last January.

I had no criticism of the paper to offer, but wished instead to raise a question or two. I said that the Presbyterian church had realized the need of rural surveys, that it was awake to the critical condition of rural communities from the social and religious standpoint, that it was anxious to contribute its share to the revival of these communities, and that for three years it had been collecting information about the present economic, social, educational, and religious conditions of some half-dozen states. I then raised this question: What is the best usage to which we can put the survey information already collected?

The members of the society were very good in offering suggestions, the chief of which was that we publish the reports. (Since that time we have published several of the reports.) Regarding some definite follow-up system for improvement in the communities surveyed there was no suggestion offered.

I cannot remember whether or not I raised this second question during the discussion of Professor Gillin's paper, or while talking to some professors after the meeting had adjourned: Give us a workable definition of a community. By workable I meant a definition that could be conveniently used by field men and which would be a compromise between the theoretical definition and such practical definitions as townships or minor civil divisions used by the government for its collection of statistics. The answers to this question were not satisfactory, as few seemed to realize the practical difficulties that are met on the field by those who are making the surveys.

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AND ITS RELATION TO

RURAL SOCIOLOGY

A. F. WOODS

Dean and Director, Department of Agriculture, University of Minnesota

THE RURAL SCHOOL

All who have investigated country-life conditions at first hand, agree that faulty education and educational methods are among the more fundamental of the limiting factors to proper social development. A very large number of those engaged in the business of farming have not reached the sixth grade in their educational work and it is estimated that even under present conditions 75 per cent of the pupils in rural schools leave school before they have finished the sixth grade. This lack of educational training is one of the most difficult conditions with which the rural life worker has to contend. It is doubtful if the average rural school of today is equal in socializing influence to the school of a generation ago. Today the rural school is taught largely by young women who have taken the normal course in a high school and are taking a country school simply as a stepping-stone to a "better position." Many of these young women may be pedagogically fairly well trained, but they have little sympathy, as a rule, with the environment in which they are living and have little knowledge of rural affairs and have little power of leadership. The young people may learn their lessons but they are not in general brought into sympathetic touch with the life about them or given the breadth of vision or the inspiration and controlling leadership that the men inspired who taught a generation ago. Under present conditions with a bare living wage there is little incentive for men and women of capacity to prepare themselves for, and continue in, rural school work. some way or other, the boys and girls on the farm must receive this better educational training and inspiration from men and women interested in their work and who have a broad and sympathetic outlook upon rural affairs.

In

I do not intend by this statement of the situation to imply that women are not good teachers or leaders. Some of the most effective teachers and leaders we have are women but they are women who know the country and have an interest in its problems, women who are not looking cityward but who have a vision of a new country life and who are willing to devote their life and their energy to the realization of the vision. If money were available to attract more of the right kind of teachers to the rural schools and to retain the good ones who have demonstrated their ability, the situation would quickly improve. But in many districts the financial difficulty appears to be almost insurmountable.

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

With the rapid expansion of cultivated area, production of staple crops was for many years so much in excess of demand that prices were often below the cost of production. During that period which is just now closing, the exodus from the farm to the city has been constantly increasing, and will continue to increase until young men and women are convinced that they can make life on the farm as profitable and attractive as life in the village or city. The present generation of farmers has made more from the increase in value of land than from the profits of farming. The increased value comes not from increased fertility and producing power but from the fact that the farm has been brought nearer to market by the development of railroads and wagon roads and the increased number of consumers of agricultural products. The fact is that, in the older agricultural regions, soils once highly productive have been drawn upon by constant cropping without returning sufficient to the soil until now the soils give comparatively meager returns, yet the market price of these soils is very high compared to their original price. The young farmer of today, therefore, must pay a comparatively high price for his land, and must expend much time and money in bringing the soil back to its original producing power. This requires capital, knowledge, and experience. For the past ten years, the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station has been conducting a careful investigation of the cost of producing farm crops on 81 farms, distributed in different sections of the state,

representing different types of soil, size of farms, and systems of farm management. The result of this investigation shows not only a great diversity in the capacity of the individual farmer but a great difference in the different systems of management as related to profit and loss. The more capable individuals make a good profit in addition to the interest charge on the capital invested. Some make a smaller profit, some nothing at all, and others lose money, actually using up their capital stock. The general average of the 81 farms for the period under investigation was approximately 5 per cent interest on the investment. This is significant from the viewpoint of the socialization of country life. The average represents the real social status with a fair degree of accuracy. It is clearly evident that those changes requiring money and some degree of leisure cannot be secured in a community where neither exists in a community sense. A young man starting into business therefore, if he is an average farmer, can count upon about 5 per cent interest on his investment. If he pays 6 or 8 per cent for his money, as is usually the case, it is not difficult to see where he will come out. Consequently, if he has enough education to do some figuring beforehand, he is not likely to invest in a high-priced farm unless he feels fairly certain that he has the knowledge and the skill to make a reasonable net gain in addition to interest for his labor. He will either go where he can buy good land cheap or become a tenant farmer or farm laborer or find a job in town. This condition is probably in part responsible for the relatively rapid increase in tenant farming. Whether or not it is a condition which will continue will depend largely upon the opportunity which the young man has of securing an education that will enable him to reap the largest returns from agricultural operations. A great many of the better class of farmers move to the village or town to educate their children for a life which they hope will be not quite so hard as the one the parents have lived. They usually rent their farms, and thus become a sort of landlord class. Thus much of the best life is drawn out of the country into the towns. Sometimes the family is replaced by one just as good, but more often by a family not so much interested in education or in the community. The interest