It has been estimated that the use of agricultural machinery saved in human labor in this country alone, in the year 1899, the vast sum of about seven hundred million dollars, with doubtless a great increase the past decade. No wonder American farmers are spending a hundred million dollars a year for their implements, and for this very reason have outstripped the farmers of the world, not only in the vast amount of production, but also in the increased comforts and satisfactions of farm life. [19] George Manikowske, Mooreton, N. D. [20] See Genesis 3:17-19. [21] Report of the U. S. Sec. of Agric. for 1910. p. 11. [22] "Brains that Make Billions." W. M. Hays, in _Saturday Evening Post_, Aug. 29, 1908. [23] However, let us not jump to the conclusion that general farming to-day is highly profitable. Inflation of farm values in many sections has resulted in serious over-capitalization. The general farmers making big dividends bought their farms some years ago, or inherited them. [24] Cyc. of Am. Agri., Vol. IV. [25] Doubtless this single fact would account for the loss in population in many townships. There are just as many families as ever but a lower birthrate. [26] "The Church of the Open Country," p. 79. [27] Rural Manhood, Vol. I, p. 22. [28] "Rural Recreation, a Socializing Factor." Annals of the Am. Acad. of Pol. and Soc. Sci., March, 1912; p. 189. [29] "Rural Recreation, a Socializing Factor," p. 190. [30] Annals of the Am. Acad. of Pol. and Soc. Sci., March, 1912, p. 61. [31] Of course country children should also be taught much about city life; city children should be taught about country life, and in the main the standard curriculum will be the same. The point to be made here is the exceedingly important one that rural schools must be made to fit the boys and girls for happy and efficient life in rural communities. This is the specific task of the country school. [32] "The American Rural School," p. 323. [33] "The Country Town," p. 299. [34] In several of the stronger denominations, and, in general, east of the Allegheny Mountains, the proportion is much higher. [35] Yet an earnest young college student in an Indiana college asked my advice recently on this significant personal problem. He is anxious to consecrate his life to the ministry of the country church, but his particular sect does not believe it right to pay salaries to their ministers; so he asked advice as to whether he should earn his living by farming or school teaching,--while _giving_ his services as pastor and preacher! Quite possibly in such a church a salary of $1000 might actually handicap a pastor's influence; but mainly with the conservative older people. [36] For an authoritative statement of the County Work program and principles written by International Secretaries Roberts and Israel, see "Annals of the Amer. Acad. of Polit. and Soc. Sci." for March, 1912, pp. 140-8. [37] "The Country Church and the Rural Problem," p. 146.