ration as has agriculture. The rapid
advance in the value of land, the introduction of new forms of farm
machinery, and above all the application of science to the raising of
crops and stock, have almost reconstructed the work of the farm within a
decade.

Special "corn trains" and "dairy trains" have traversed nearly every
county in many States, teaching the farmers scientific methods.
Lecturers on scientific agriculture have found their way into many
communities. The Federal Government has encouraged in every way the
spread of information and the development of enthusiasm in agriculture.
The agricultural schools have given courses of instruction during the
winter to farmers. Farmers' institutes have been organized; corn-judging
and stock-judging contests have been held; prizes have been offered for
the best results in the raising of grains, vegetables, or stock. New
varieties of grains have been introduced, improved methods of
cultivation discovered, and means of enriching and conserving the soil
devised. Stock-breeding and the care of animals is rapidly becoming a
science. Farming bids fair soon to become one of the skilled
occupations.

Such, then, is a brief view of the situation of which the rural school
is a part. It ministers to the education of almost half of the American
people. This industrial group are engaged in the most fundamental of all
occupations, the one upon which all national welfare and progress
depend. They control a large part of the wealth of the country, the
capital invested in agriculture being more than double that invested in
manufactures. Agricultural wealth is rapidly increasing, both through
the rise in the value of land and through improved methods of farming.
The conditions of life on the farm have greatly improved during the last
decade. Rural telephones reach almost every home; free mail delivery is
being rapidly extended in almost every section of the country; the
automobile is coming to be a part of the equipment of many farms; and
the trolley is rapidly pushing out along the country roads.

Yet, in spite of these hopeful tendencies, the rural community shows
signs of deterioration in many places. Rural population is steadily
decreasing in proportion to the total aggregate of population. Interest
in education is at a low ebb, the farm children having educational
opportunities below those of any other class of our people. For, while
town and city schools have been improving until