Chapters in Rural Progress

Chapters in Rural Progress, by Kenyon L. Butterfield, says in its preface that the book does not offer a complete analysis of the rural problem. The writer says you may flatter the American farmer but cannot patronize him, because he demands and needs, not philanthropy, but simple justice, equal opportunity, and better facilities for education. The writer says there is a farm problem worth solving, but that it differs from the city problem.

A chapter headed THE PROBLEMS OF PROGRESS says we are impressed with the rise of cities like Chicago, forgetting for the moment that half of the American people still live under rural conditions. The book describes leagues, first organized in 1898, that give exhibitions and entertainments for the purpose of raising funds and sometimes use these funds to buy books for the schoolroom. The writer says the need for federation exists in the desirability of securing both the intensity and the breadth, and one plan proposed is to let the agricultural college in each state take the lead in the movement.