a close. There are forces at work that are molding rural life by new
standards, and the old regime is passing. We shall soon be able to say
of the country that "old things have passed away; all things have become
new."

This statement may seem too optimistic to some who can marshal an array
of facts to prove that bigotry, narrowness, and the whole family of ills
begotten by isolation still thrive in the country. It is true that our
picture is not all of rose tints. But what of that? If it were not true
there would be no farm problem; the country would have to convert the
town. The fact remains that rural life is undergoing a rapid expansion.
Materially, socially, and intellectually, the farmer is broadening. Old
prejudices are fading. The plowman is no longer content to keep his eye
forever on the furrow. The revival has been in slow progress for some
time and has not yet reached its zenith; indeed, the movement is but
well under way. For while the new day came long ago to some rural
communities and they are basking in a noonday sun, yet in far too many
localities the faintest gray of dawn is all that rouses hope.

The fundamental change that is taking place is the gradual adoption of
the new agriculture. "Book-farmin'" is still decried, and many
"perfessers" have a rocky road to travel in their attempts to guide the
masses through the labyrinth of scientific knowledge that has been
constructed during the last decade or two. This difficulty has not been
wholly the farmer's fault--the scientist would often have been more
persuasive had his wings been clipped. But there is a decided "getting
together" nowadays--the farmer and the man of science have at last
found common ground. And while the pendulum of agricultural prosperity
shall always swing to and fro, there are, to change the figure, reasons
for believing that an increasing number of farmers have rooted the tree
of permanent success.

To enumerate some of these reasons: (1) Thousands of farmers are farming
on a scientific basis. They use the results of soil and fertilizer
analysis; they cultivate, not to kill weeds so much as to conserve
moisture; horticulturists spray their trees according to formulas laid
down by experimenters; dairymen use the "Babcock test" for determining
the fat content of milk; stock-feeders utilize the scientists' feeding
rations. (2) The number of specialists among farmers is increasing. This
is a sign of progress surely. More and more fa