IN 107 388 sTHS THESIS. TOK BINDERS ERSANOSTATIONERS Lo SPOKANE on uo ADAISS ET. a | opener, +e THE FARMER'S MIND A Study of the Mental Eabits and Intellectual Processes of Men Whose Enerzies Are Absorbed in the Tilling of the Soil. By E. E. Elliott Of the University of Idaho. 1911 Thesis tor the deqree {fhT.sS., Zen. THES 105425 --INDEX-~ Paze THE POINT OF VIFW.------------ eee eee eee 1, INDIVIDUALITY AND THE MENTAL VISION---------------- 2. THE SURRENDER OF THE INDIVITUAL-----~-- ------------ 4, THE FARMER AS A MEMBER OF A PRIMARY GROUP---------- 5. THE FARJER AS A UNIT.------------ wee ee eee eee nee. THE OBJECT OF THIS STUDY---------~---------------~- 8. SOURCES OF INFORMATION-----------------------~--~~- °. SUMMARY OF THE REPLIES----------------------------- 11. HUNTING FOR A HOMR--------------------------------- 12. EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIFS-------------------------- 15. CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS--------------- ween eee pene eee 17. WHY APE YOU A FARMFR--------------- eee 19. FOULD YOU REMAIN A FARMER----------------.. - ------- 22 YHAT ABOUT YOUR CHILDREN-----------------------~---. £2 COMPARED WITH OTHER AVOCATIONS AND LINES OF INDUSTRY IS THE FARMER GETTING THE SHOW HE IS ENTITLED TO RECEIVE. ------------------~~-- ween ene eee 23. THE FARMERS! INTFLLECTUAL HABITS.----------------- 26. NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES--~-----------~---.. eee + +30. AS HE THINKFTH.--------------.---~-------.. ------- 33. HOW MANY ARE CHURCH MEMBERS ----- ~---------------- 36. WHAT SOME FARMERS THINK OF THEIR OWN MORAL AND RELIGIOUS SENSE .----------- eee ee eee ee ee 37. TEE FARMER AS A PHILOSOPHER. ----------------~----- Al. IS THE WORLD GROWING BRETTFR ----~---- ree eee ee 4B. ~-~INDEX-- (continued) Page. IS THE FORLD GROWING YORSE-----.- |p eee eee eee 45. CULIM ARY ee ee —— 48 ° --THE POINT OF VIEY¥-- The most familiar sight from my window is a bit ofa mountain. It is an unpretentious peak,altho lifting its head a half mile above the surrounding country in which it is located and easily dominating the low foothills which support it. For years this particular feature of the landscape has duly impressed its form and outlines on my vision,but always from one direotion,until this form and outline had become fixed in my mind as the only one which was real and exact. One day chance took me on an overland journey and the trail wound up from the lower levels over a ridge which jutted out upon the open prairie. There turning in the saddle I oaught a new view of my mountain, looming up a hundred miles away,and in the distance, with fields and forms and oities lying between, it seemed to rise with a majesty and enchantment that the nearer and more familiar view had naver given. On another oooasion a complete tour of the mountain was made and as’point after point in the journey was reached there was constant ohange in the view point and a corresponding change in the aspect of this well known feature of the landscape. At times, as from the surface of some lake or river, it loomed large,again, with other peaks and hills oompeting, it appeared almost insignificant,relatively dwarfed. During all these years the mountain has stood, as it still Be stands, unohanged and immovable but to the onlooker has come a wider, more oomprehensive aspeot and tho with each recurring day there oomes the old familiar vision from my own window I know that elsewhere there are other eyes gazing on this same objeot from other angles and to these it presents a vastly different impression. It all depends on the point of view. A study of the point of view is always interesting and when oertain results are desired such study is essential. The object toward which the eye may be directed has many sides but it remains inherently the same no matter what may be its nature,but viewed from different angles or only in part it presents a variety of aspeots. The more numerous the angles of vision the more oomplete will be the comprehension of the picture thus obtained and even when but one point of view is granted, it goes without saying that if it have breadth and olearness and be taken advantage of judiciously the resultant grasp of goene is vastly improved. We have pushed this figure of speech => far beyond its original meaning, for the eye is,after all, but one of the outlooks of the human mind and "the point of view" passes in its meaning from the purely physical sense to the deeper one of a mental and spiritual survey. -~-INDIVIDUALITY AND THE MENTAL VISION-- The Human Mind, when studied individually,presents Se a bewildering diversity. No two people see,think or act alike. Were the impulses of heredity, the bonds of custom, and the influences of environment all removed and each intelligence permitted to expand of its own volition, there would be an appalling multiplicity of difference. It is fortunate that in human development there is a tendenoy toward the suppression of individuality and its merging into cooperative groups. With eaoh intelligence thinking and moving on its own individual plane human progress would be barred, and it has advanced largely in proportion to the degree of concentrated and oombined effort that has been obtainable. We have seen the individual merged into the family group, the Clan, the olass, individualism giving way to the olaims of the larger number, personal privileges and rights constantly being surrendered because of the necessity for a union of forces which would bring about the greatest good to the greatest number. This surrender of individuality has not always been granted willingly. Most frequently it has been forced from the individual by pressure, which he could not resist and oontinue to live. Sometimes it was brought about through the need of protection from a common enemy; often the influence was the securing or oontrol of a food supply, but in every instanoe this surrender had first to take place before 4, the highest results were attainable. --THE SURRENDER OF THE INDIVIDUAL-- In the development of civilization there has grown up what we call the sooial organization. At the beginning this organization was of a distinot elemental nature, and therefore these social combinations are usually referred to as "primary groups"#. These primary groups, as is well shown by this author, are founded essentially on the primitive instinots of the human heart and intelligence. This gathering together into the social groups oommon to sooiety, the family, the neighborhood, the playground or in any other way where similar ideas and sentiments may prevail is an evidence of the instinctive communiman that is to be found everywhere anong humanity. Says De Tocqueville, "It is man who makes monarchies and estaplishes republics, but the oommune seems to come direotly from the hand of God®"°. Human nature, the out growth of the best and noblest impulses of the human heart and intelligence is responsible for this grouping and oooperative effort and the more primitive the group the more perfectly will it be found to illustrate the pe age a oD ¥ (Cooley: Sooial Organization, p.26-29) ° (Democracy in America, Vol. 1. Chap. 5) truest and simplest aspeots of human life. It may not be illogical to assume that the more primitive, using this term, not in a historic sense, the life may be, the more natural will be its expression. The farther removed the life is from nature and the simplicity which characterizes it, the more artificial it beoomes and therefore less acourate and true. It is not unreasonable,therefore, to conclude that if we would seek the nost natural and perfeot expression of human intelligence we must look for it in those more primary groups of the social order and among the people whose manner of life,while not lacking in development is yet pristine and devoid of artificiality. --THE FARMER AS A MEMBER OF A PRIMARY GROUP-— The lines of cleavazse which separate society into its numerous groups are easily traceable altho they extend in all directions and oftentimes oross each other ina bewildtring manner. The particular line of cleavage which sets aside the farmer and places him in a group by himself is one that is as ancient as the race. The farmers occupation is more primitive than any other. Furthermore it has to do with the essential things of human existence. Primarily the farmer is a produoer of the products which are consumed as food or manufactured into clothing, food and raiment being the two elenental 6. requirements of the human body. Dealing in suoh produots it has naturally resulted that the needs of himself and fanily have been his first and ohief consideration, and only his surplus has been placed at the disposal of his fellow man. Living thus within his own resoumwes the farmer has always been possessed of an independent turn of mind and habit of life. He and his family have inolined to live within themselves in both a sooial,as well as economio way. More than this, the home and business life of the farmer are so complicated that it is difficult to oonsider them apart. For these reasons the farmer oan only be classified as a group by Considering him as a unit rather than in the mass. In the effort to olassify him little oohesion will be found between the units altho each will reveal many common Gharacteristics. When considered in this manner, however, it will be discovered that there he constitutes a distinct and definite social group possessing ideals, habits, oustoms and temperanents which are in a maasure different from other groups and which make up a composite Oharacter for hin. Sinoe the farmer,then, deals with the elemental things of life and has done so since the beginning, we may expeot to find with him more of the primary oonceptions of life and social organization. More than any other olass he has retained the 7. characteristics which are peculiar to his kind,many of whioh reaoh baok to prehistoric men whose thought has gone to build it up. We may find that because of the very nature of his ocoupation he has developed a partioular attitude toward all other oocupations and the world in general and that any marked mental peculiarities which he may reveal are but the natural result of the reflex influence of his daily life. --THE PARNER AS A UNIT-- As intimated previously, the farmer is inolined toward individualism and the best way to approach an under standing of him as a group or olass is to study him as an individual. A oomparison of a large number of individual studies should show a series of similarities in charaoter which, taken collectively, would present a fairly acourate estimate of his habit of mind. We should be able to discover his point of view and find the formula to ocaloulate his angle of vision. As an individual it is easy to separate him from the mass of his fellows since he naturally inolines to stand alone and for the same reason it is always difficult ever to find him so massed in any collective way as to permit of any opportunity for study. This present investigation is therefore based on a considerable number of personal observations and upon statistical data gathered direotly 8. from individual farmers. The information sought was intended more to bring out the farmers way of thinking than to aooumulate an assortment of facts, altho the facts themselves have an important bearing on the entire investigation. It was hoped to seoure, first; an impression of the way the farmer looked at himself, personally, by bringing out oertain faots in his own history,seocond; his olass consoiousness,third; his intelleotual habits, fourth; his moral and religious perceptions, fifth; his philosophy of life. Not all of these have been fully developed nor is the present study by any means exhaustive. -- THE OBJECT OF THIS STUDY-- To acquire the farmers point of view, individually and, finally, oollectively, is to get upon a common ground of understanding with him. Says Professor Cooley; "No matter how mean or hideous a man's life is, the first thing is to understand him. "# A lifetime of Glose association with those who till the soil,together with unusual opportunities for the comparison of suoh people under different conditions has led to the oon- viotion that, to an extreme degree, they possess a peculiar habit of mind,and a failure to oomprehend this will be fatal so far as any exeroise of influence is #(Cooley: Social Organization, pn. 15.) 9. conoerned. --SOURCES OF INFORMATION-- In order to olassify this mental temperament the writer has employed three prinoipal methods of gathering and preparing the desired information. The first was the Collection of fugitive material suoh as notes of con- versations, interviews, and puplio addresses made by farmers under various oliroumstanoes. Many of these conversations were between two or more persons and being overheard were recorded from memory. Some were engaged in with a definite purpose in mind. Notes were taken of farmers gatherings, where addresses were made by farmers themselves and on topios of personal interest to him, Grange meetings, Farmers Unions, Pioneer Assooiations Farmers! Institutes, various agricultural oonventions, Sohool meetings and similar ocoasions. One of the most fruitful was a convention held in a northwestern state in which the presidents of the three largest trans- continental railroad systems met by arrangement a great mass meeting of farmers and wheat growers in an apparent effort to adjust differences as to transportation rates. It was an opportunity, not often afforded, to note the relative strength of mind between trained finanoial magnates and the everyday farmer. An extensive oorres- pondence with farmers during ten years of agricultural experiment work has also supplied muoh valuable data. LO. A second source of material was afforded by an extensive inquiry of a somewhat similar nature to that undertaken by President Roosevelt's Country Life Commission but antedating it. In this connection a study was made of a large number of manuscripts dealing with oertain topios relating to rural life and competing for prizes. While limited in its soope this inquiry was extremely valuable beoause of the large number of personal opinions presented for comparison. The most systematio survey was undertaken by the sending out of a carefully prepared list of questions intended to draw out from the correspondents, not only certain facts from which valuable inferenoes could be deduoted, but also views and opinions regarding many things on whioh the average farmer is not accustomed to express his mind freely. This list of questions was prepared with great care in order not to give offence or awaken distrust. Remembering that the famer, as a rule, is averse to muoh use of the pen, the questions were worded so as to require the minimum of effort in their reply. In order to disam suspicion a full explanation of the purpose of the inquiry accompanied each blank. The letters were addressed to nearly two hundred names seleoted from an extensive list. This list probably represented a type of men above the averagej;taken, as it was, from a olass, 11. whioh, through correspondence and other associations had previously shown an interest in the larger life. In order to make the inquiry genuine only those who were known to be actual farmers were seleoted and so far as possible none who had turned to agriculture after following some other oareer or occupation were to be Considered. It was desired that only those who by inheritanoe, instinot, and training had persisted in sticking to the farm should be inoluded sinoe they alone would be truly representative of that type of mind which would be distinotive. It was expected that a large number of the ciroulars sent out would never be answered but it was gratifying to find that fully half of them were returned and in every instance the replies were very complete and satisfactory. --SUMMARY OF THE REPLIES.-—- A brief summary of these replies is here given. They all come from the three northwestern states of Oregon Washington and Idaho. As would be expeoted few could SGlaim these as the land of their nativity- only four of the entire number having been born in Iowa while Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio and Missouri were each well represented. TABLE SHOWING NATIVITY OF COPRESPONDENTS. States represented: Idahoy-~-------- —---34 Washington-----~----- 29 Ore gon-------—-——----- 2 Native State;Iowa---------------- 13 Wi sconsin-—--------- 8 Illinois-—---~-------- 6 Ohio--------------=- 6 Canada-------—-----~~+- 3 Sweden----~--~---——---- 2 Norway---------------- a Missouri--~----~--~- — 4 Kansas-—-—-~-——-~——~--~ 1 West Virginia-~----- 1 Indi ana~---—---~-——-~~- 1 Utah----------~------ 4 Ore pon------——- oe 3 Pennsylvania-—--——---—- a Arkansag---—-------——- 1 Minne sot a-—--~-—-—--~—-— 3 Idaho---—-~~—~—-—-~-=~ 1 Soot land---—-------.-— a Michi gan----—--~----~ e 1 -65 12. The table is signi ficant as showing the wide range from whioh the farming olass of the northwest has been drawn. It is interesting to note the small number from the southern states. The insionifioant number of foreign born farmers is acoounted for by the fact that they failed to respond to the inquiries sent them. These replies, therefore, represent as oosmopolitan a group of farmers as could have been selected by any method and they represent perhaps a more progressive list than would have been the case in any of the eastern states. The average age of the respondents was forty-six and five tenths years and the replies oan be considered as ooming from mature men who had attained their full philosophy of life,lived out the: usual round ef experiences common to mankind and reached the sober age when mental traits and opinions are absolutely fixed. It may be said that these men, perhaps, oannot altogether olassify as "born farmers} thirty-nine out of sixty-five having worked at some other occupation during the years of their early manhood. On this acoount their point of view may be broader than that of the man who has lived always on the fam and has not enjoyed the educative influence of other assooiations. It would have been better for the purposes of this investigation if it had been based entirely on the reports of men who had at no time been anything else than tillers 13. of the soil and themselves the products of it, but with material drawn at random from the farms of the west it would be impossible to do this. --HUNTING FOR A HOME-- Out of the historical data secured many facts oan be gleaned which show the effeot of the constant searoh for Ultima Thule. Many of these men had wandered far and long before finally seleoting a final dwelling place. Many had left the boyhood farm to follow the oall to other fields of enterprise only to return to the first love at last. Two men report years of travel as ocommewial salesmen. The mines had olaimed five for awhile as had that other western attraction, the timber. One had been a tinner, three had been carpenters, and eight had engaged in some form of merchandise. In some way or other, either on railway, steamboat or overland freight wagons, eight had at some time given their energies to the great question of transportation. Seven had taught school for awhile, but all of these mentioned a disinclination for this work and it was plainly merely a temporary diversion. It is evident that most of these had at some time or other met the temptation to forsake the farm and fully half had, for awhile, left the green fields and running brooks on adventure for wealth, happiness or con- tentment. Here are some terse biographies:- 14. W. A. R. Walla Walla, Wash., "Raised on a fam, one year telegraph operator, one year sohool teaching, three years general store. Came to Walla Walla in 1889. Went baok : to the soil and have been raising fruit and vegetables, buying and selling land ever sinme®. G. A. C.- Grangeville, Idaho. “Have lived, Wisconsin, Oregon, Idaho. Various vocations; from famer to teacher,book- keeper, post-master, storekeeper, warehouseman down to sheepshearer,-- back to the farm again". W. J. F. Wendall, Idaho. "Born on a farm, lived there until thirty-two years old. Agent C.R.I.& P.Ry. Post-master, engaged in retail grocery eight years, travelling sales- man for coffee, spice and oracker factory eleven years. Milling Co. one year. Grooery and meat market two years. Now farming a Carey Act Homestead". J.G. Melrose, Idaho. "Born in Scotland, Sailed one year. Did not like it and went to work on a farm. Bought a butoher shop, didn't like that. Came to Canada and worked on a fam four years. Too long hours. Went to Dakota. Worked on a farm, too dry. Sold out and came to Idaho. Worked in mines six years, got married and have farmed ever since". A striking instance of a return to first love is this; as he apparently came back to the farm four or five times. after trying something else. Some of these had traversed the continent, stopping for awhile in different 15. locations, seeking and testing the claims and pretensions of each as a permanent abiding place. Most of them had lived in three or more states, and one olaimed to have lived in eighteen. The. average western farmer is a wide travelled man as as a rule has rarely moved direotly from his native state to the place where he finally settled. The searoh for the “Rook Candy Mountain" of the Childhood story, has taken him a long,tiresome journey and sometimes he has been well tired out before he has found it. --EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES-- It is surprising how limited an education was enjoyed by the most of these famers. Only four or five attended a graded school. The common rural school, with one teacher, supplied the large majority with all the schooling they received. Quite a few reported that they had spent less than ten months time altogether in the school room and few had éompleted the full oourse of study which would be the equivalent of completing the 8th.Grade. It is significant that the list does not inolude a single student, much less a graduate, of an agricultural school of any sort except in the oase of one foreign born farmer who had attended an elementary agrioultural school in Sweden, and one other who reported a terms work at Illinois Agricultural College. 16. Here and there were found men who had evidently tried to seoure a better education than was to be secured in the Common Schools, but only two or three had finished a High School course. The oheaper sort of an education had attracted some, Business Oourses and Law schools whioh required little preparatory training. Some had studied at State Normals and taught perhaps a short time. It is to be noted that three out of sixty-five had attended Valparaiso(Ind)Nommal University. One held an A.M. from Knox College(I11l.) and one was a graduate of Andover, Harvard, Columbia Law School, and had studied a year in Berlin. Out of these reports one can glean the constant note of regret that the education reoeived was so limited and meagre. The tone was constantly apologetio and the wonder is that so many of these farmers were able to express themselves in such intelligible language and for the most part in such read- able handwriting. Surely it may be hoped that the present day generation will be unable to report suoh limited educational opportunities even on the frontier and the farther hope may be expressed that the larger education and training now being so freely offered may show results in proportion to that of the earlier day. Out of these items of personal history as given in the handwriting of each corresponddnt, there may be drawn 17. these conolusions, first; The American Farmer, and in partioular the western farmer, is versatile, even some- what restless in temperament. This does not mean that he is discontented but merely that he is governed by a desire to find for himself and fanily, the vest attainable, first in home and then in fortune. In the second place these men are by instinot farmers, although many of them were unaware of the impulses driving them from one occupation to another and leading them through the devious paths so many of them have traversed. Third; The artifiocialities of the schools have not had a prominent place in direot- their sphere of life. Suocoess oame not beoause of education but in spite of it. The two or three men who had the advantage of College and University years are known to me personally and they are farmers, if suoh they may be called, of a different type from the majority. They have the instinot but not the genuine spirit that aotuates the real tiller of the soil. --CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS~—- Any student of rural folk can not fail to be impressed with their self consciousness. Among his own kind the farmer is at ease, place him in the Company of any other class and he reveals a timidity and self repression that is difficult to understand. "Farmers are a Olass among Classes" Says President Butterfield, 18. and he is constantly aware of the fact. In his latest book Professor Ely concedes the existence of an agricultural olass: "We must acknowledge that we have Glasses in the United States. Ye have groups of individuals who possess common characteristics. They have their own peouliar habits of body and mind and their own peculiar needs. The farmer has his own way of look- ing at things, the merchant another way. The wage earner, espeoially as he develops, as he is doing, olass consciousness, has still other ways of doing things and viewing affairs"#. Now this olass consoiousness in the — farmer may be instinctive or it may be a reflection of the manner of life he is called to live. “However isolated from his olass fellows the individual may be,he sees, thinks, and feels regarding his more immediate ooncerns as his class interest and funotion determine; and the color and direction given by his primary interests tinge and direct his beliefs and influenoe his actions in most other matters®° It may be properly stated that many farmers have actually inherited from farmer parentage tempermental distinotions which place them naturally in the category of “born farmers! On the other hand, nee fe ee neem &. ee © & & & oo =e oan an Qn * x ‘Gne e> Ce #(Ely: Studies in the Evolution of Individual Society) °(Ghent: Mass and Class, p. 57) 19. however, these feelings and convictions are not so fixed in the individual that they are not easily shifted when he passes out of the farming class into another. F¥e have known farmers to become transformed by virtue of prosperity into bankers and under the influence of new interests they quickly develop new beliefs and standards of conduct, many of which were at variance with those whioh had been religiously maintained previously. Self-consciousness in the individual farmer and consciousness of himself as a member of a Class, or Class consciousness are not necessarily one and the same thing. The reserve and other temperazental differences which so often characterize men of this olass may probably be oonsidered as mental reflexes produoed by those vocational funotions and interests which are the foundation of his existenoe. The true olass oconsoiousness is not so prominent among famers as their own individual Oonsoiousness of themselves as belonging to a large body of workers who are accidentally engaged in a similar ocoupation. At the same time these men have an appreciation of their avocation and it is of interest to us to estimate this if possible. WHY ARE YOU A FARMER? Sixty-five answers were given to this question, "Why are you a farmer? If you had your choice would you remain 20-6 a farmer? Would you want your children to be farmers?" The replies were definite and positive and revealed a surprising community of opinion. By far the larger number spoke in some manner of the satisfaction that farm life afforded, the enjoyment of working with nature, the attractions of Science, the pleasure and enjoyment of the open air life. That, deep in the hearts of these men rested an appreciation of the aesthetio side of life, Gould not be overlooked. No less than seventeen per cent of the replies used such superlative language as "I like farming." "I love stook." "I always loved the fam." "I am a farmer because I love farming." Here is the statement of a grizzled old veteran who states that he has made a fortune of £75,000. by the plow. "Because I love to farm and farm well, I like to out do my neighbors and set a good example, I have my Choice to be & farmer." Here is another: "My wife and I both love the farm and stock. I would rather be a farmer than President." One of the best replies is this: "Because we have a touch of the coamopolitan in our make up; we delight in old olothes; to get next to the soil. Ye love to experiment, to plan, and enjoy the labor necessary. We take pleasure in thoroughness, realizing that eaoh step or oreration must be perfect in itself, must harmonize with the succeeding performance. Because it is 21. the grandest opportunity on earth to exercise every trait found in humanity.* This feelings of satis- faction arises naturally from different sources. Some found it in the out door life, others in the fact that they were producers, ministering to the needs of the world. Not less than five expressly referred to the dignity and nobility of the farmer's calling and the influence it had on the formation of oharaoter. "Farming affords opportunities for properly balanced manhood."® "I am a farmer beoause I think it one of the most honorable ways of making a living.*® "I believe it is one of the most noble and honorable oooupations whioh & man oan engage in today."® It is not likely that men, engaged in any of the ordinary trades and vocations will be found in any large numbers giving expression to suoh sentiments regarding the work they are doing. Nor will many be found who would speak as do these farmers so emphatically of the pleasure and satisfaction to be found in the pursuit of their particular calling. Occasionally in these replies there was a depressing note of dissent. Five men reported that they were farmers simply beoause their fathers before them were farmers. Three complained that they knew nothing else when they came to manhood Three gave the excuse of poor health, while circun- LR stances more or less uncontrollable had caused eight to follow the plow. A large number spoke definitely of the independence and freedom of the rural life as being the real reason why they were thus engaged. One impressive fact is to be noted. These men, almost without exception, were able to give a olear and conoise reason for being farmers and had evidently thought it out long before hand. WOULD YOU REMAIN A FARMER? When asked the question what they might do today if given free choice, the replies are still more positive and show that,whatever might have been the original influence which made them tillers of the soil they would not from choice do otherwise at the present time. Four only gave the negative replies, all of these belonged to the list of unfortunates just mentioned. One was a man who had stated that he was farming beoause he didn't know any better, another had poor health, which had first put him on the farm, a third was a farmer "through misfortune", and the fourth, a personal friend of the writer, known as a prominent socialist, evidently recarded himself as belonging to an oppressed class altho he is known to be worth in land and chattels over $200,000, all of which was acoumulated through farming and stook raising. 235. WHAT ABOUT YOUR CHILDREN? Most of these farmers preferred that their Children stay on the farm. It is significant that many desired that they have the privilege of choice and adaptibility is frequently referred to. I quote. "I believe a child should do that for whioh he has a natural liking. For myself, I always liked machinery and think I would have been successful as a mechanic or engineer, however, I am a famer from choice and will be well satisfied if my children grow up to be good farmers" Another says: "I would not want to spoil a good carpenter to make a poor farmer. If they liked the fam, yes,otherwise,no." A significant statement has an economic bearing. Several replies aver that they preferred their children to be farmers, if at the same time they could be land owners. Evidently the thought of being tenant farmers was repugnant and I doubt not that many others would have presented the same opinion had this point occurred to then. COMPARED WITH OTHER AVOCATIONS AND LINES OF INDUSTRY IS THE FARMER GETTING THE SHOW HE IS ENTITLED TO RECEIVE? The above question was included in the list for the direct purpose of bringing comparative opinions and discovering what jealousy, if any, might be 24. entertained by farmers toward other olasses. There is little reason to believe that we shall find, what political economists oall class hatred, on the part of the farmer; for it is not apparent that he has any olear idea of what oonstitutes his class rights and privileges. A summary of the answers reveal the fact that a large majority, forty-eight, think the farmer does not get a fair show, compared with other olasses, fifteen believed he does and two dodge the question. There is some Clinging to the old belief that the farmer is down- trodden and the prey of the speoulator but on the whole the views expressed are sane and sensible and the reasons given are honest and self critioal. The lack of any appreciation is largely charged to the famer hin- self. Many lay the blame on his failure to assert his rights in legislative halls, and see the remedy in organization and cooperation. So many speak of the need of the farmer to get together that it cannot be over- looked that the sentiment in favor of organization is making rapid growth. Strangely enough,but a single reference was made to the tariff as having any influence. A few extracts, to show the drift of opinion are here appended. "No, but he is gaining in influenoe, in this northwest oountry, at least, and is not a despised "“hayseed" anymore but a respectable farmer.*® Here is a 20 « study in economics. "No, he neither prices his commodities, coming or going; the other fellow does both and in this faot lies the trouble in keeping people on the farm.* This one tells a plain truth. "I think he does, his mede of praise should only be in keeping with his individual effort in improving the oonditions of his environment.* Here are two sides of the argument: "Yes and No.’ Yes oompared with other manual labor, no, in regard to laws and his say-so in finanoial affairs. Perhaps his own fault, as he does not take time to study and think for himself and learn business methods. * Here is offered another remedy. "I do not think the farmer is getting all that is coming to him but it is his own fault. If the farmers will throw off the apathy whioh envelopes them and get together they oan have any- thing they want.* The last quotation to be given expresses a different idea from any other but has doubt- less a lot of truth in its: "NO, because his business will not permit him to dress as well and take the care of himself necessary to make a good appearanoe.* To summarize these sentiments we may conclude that while the farmer as a farmer has a keen appreciation of his place in the social soale and economic kingdom, he hardly thinks of himself as a olass of workers whose interests are all alike. That this consciousness is 26. inoreasing is evidenced by the frequent references to the need of education, to special legislation, presumably to be secured only by united effort and to the desire for cooperation and organization as the solution for all his problems. --THE FARMERS INTELLECTUAL HABITS-- The mental attitudes of men are usually betrayed by their intellectual habits. To some extent it is possible to fathom the depths of the mind of another, to discern his mental processes, to trace his thought, but it is not always so. We may,in one way or another, extract from him views, ideas and opinions all of which are indicative but not conolusive, for few men are as easily read as the pages of an open book and no one knows absolutely the heart of another. A knowledge of his reading habits may also help us to gain an insight into a man's mind, for what,when and how a person reads must certainly be a guide to the paths of his thought. We should not assume,however, that the reading habit is a true test of mental stature or calibre. After all, reading is more or less an aoquired accomplishment and must not be acoepted as an infallible mirror of the mind. Observation during many years of close assooi- ation with farmers gave me the impression that the average farmer is not much of a reader. Of books he 27 « knew very little and even his acquaintance with papers and magazines was peouliarly oultivated. An instance is recalled of a very intimate friend and nei ghbor,who was a prominent famer in the oommunity.At that time he was probably a trifle past fifty years of age. Both of us were members of the same Farmers Club. Hearing a disoussion one day of the well known historical novel, "Ben Hur® by General Lew Wallace, whioh had just recently been publishedshe asked for the loan of the book, with the remark "I've a notion to read that book myself.* Some three months later another request came in for the book and on my asking for ite return my farmer friend remarked, "I'm not through with it yet". “How far along are you?" "Well I've got to the one hundred. twenty-sixth page and I'm going to finish it if it kills me.* But he never did,although he kept the book for a year, and there were few of his kind who did or could make a better report of their intimacy with books. The following humorous story illustrates the point. Said one old farmer to another during the late Congressional war: “*What do you think of the tariff situationn? "What they doin’ to it?" was the reply. "Why, haven't you read the papers?*® "Well, I used to," said the other, "but ‘bout a year ago I stopt ‘em off. They got to be too frivoling for me. Sinoe then I've been took up readin! a book." . ==... i 2... — Je‘ S. so 28. In recent years there has poured from the press a continuous output of books on Agriculture. Some of this is soientifio, having been prepared with a view to its use by students but muoh of it is in popular fom and all supposed to meet a orying need among the agrioulturists of the land for literature pertaining to their oalling. As a matter of fact it is to be questioned whether the farmers are buying or reading these attractive books at all, or in fact any other sort of bound literature. To speak of the literary habits of the farmer is practically to speak of something that does not exist. In order to bring out information on this point these questions were asked: “What books have you read during the past year?" “What Agricultural books have you in your library?* and what agricultural papers do you take:-— Follow the summaries. Seventeen replied that they had read a book during the year and as the question was direotly asked, some of them gave the name of the book, but others were unable to remember it. Only four had read an agricultural text, the list inoluding the following; “Campbells Farm Manual Gampbellis "Soil Culture,* Plumb's "Types and Breeds of Live Stook§ Shaw's "Feeding Farm Animale," "Year Book," United States Department of Agriculture. Two, and these were members of The Church of Latter Day Saints of Jesus Christ (Mormon) had read a new Church History. One man 29 had read his Bible through but no other book was mentioned. Two reported the reading of Shakespeare, Scott and Eugene Field's Poems. Two others, "The Old Oregon Trail," a book evidently sold through the north- west during the year by book agents, and eight reported a goodly list of popular novels, inoluding "The Right of Way," "The Spoilers,* "Courtship of John Stevens," "Ben Hur,"(Two) "John Halifax," "Quo Vadis," (Two) "The Eternal City," Ralph Connor's works and The Tale of Two Cities. The most voluminous reader, a lone bachelor by the way, states that he had absorbed the following list during the year. "John Halifax," "Tale of Two Cities," "Quo Vadis," "Ben Hur,*® "Eternal City,* “Law of Psychio Phenomena and Evolution of the Soul,*® and "Steele's Popular Physics, * Not such a bad mixture, by any means. The absenoe of agricultural books is so simpnificant as almost to be pathetio. Nine were straight forward enough to state direotly that they had not read a complete book during the past year, but by far the larger number, thirty six, dodged a direot anewer and several others made some sort of excuse for the failure. One had poor eyesight, two say they are always reading, four have no time to read. Asa matter of fact, of the sixty-five responses, good intelligent men,all of them, it could hardly be said that they were consistent book worms. The number and 30. variety of books discovered on the library shelves would hardly stook a second hand book store. The Year Books of the United States Department of Agriculture and bulletins from the same souroe are most oommonly quoted.