was reached when one town in Wisconsin with a population of 600 people, located twelve miles from a railroad, was able to become part of a circuit formed by the university for a series of concerts by seventeen of the best men from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

And not only is the quantity of music to be heard increasing; there has also been a steady gain in the quality. The experiences of New York under the guidance of Arthur Farwell, director of community music, are typical. Band and orchestra leaders in their popular concerts need only guidance and encouragement to strengthen their desires to play the best, and tact and patience to lead their audiences to prefer the best.

(2) MUSIC OF THE PEOPLE

But these concerts are not to be given entirely by professional musicians. The people themselves are entering into the production of music in entertainments. Lindsborg, Kansas, with its annual production of the Messiah; Bethlehem with its restored Bach chorus; New York, Boston, Cincinnati, and scores of other places with their established and historical choruses; Worcester, Massachusetts, Ithaca, New York, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Evanston, Illinois, and other centers with their great three-day, or more, spring festivals-these down to the thousands of towns which support, albeit sometimes rather precariously, choral organizations, bands, or orchestras, are typical of the demand that there be a place for the amateur producer of music. It is a far cry from the tremendous chorus that New York gets together for its open-air festival society down to the village choral union of twenty-five voices, struggling to round into shape for its initial performance a presentation of the "Rose-maiden." But in each case the same impulse is present, namely, the desire of the men and the women to use music as an expression of the emotions and the sense of beauty.

One of the most remarkable phases of this aspect of music is the developments that have gone on in industrial establishments. One of the first manifestations of the so-called welfare work of the great business houses is invariably some musical endeavor. In Chicago, for example, Marshall Field and Company have a large choral society; the Commonwealth Edison Company a choral society and an orchestra; the International Harvester Company a choral society and a band; the Bell Telephone Company an orchestra, a band, and a glee club. In many parts of the country a number of newspapers have bands or glee clubs. Associations of commerce, rotary clubs, university clubs in the large cities, in fact the most diverse organizations seem to be able to unite in their love for the study and production of music. Movements like the People's Singing Classes of New York and extension divisions of some of the universities devote their energies to the formation of choral organizations for the definite acquirement of a certain minimum of musical knowledge, the study of some of the larger choral works, and the presentation of those in a rather formal way. It is certain that an organization such as the Civic Music Association of Chicago, which began its work by giving at low prices concerts by professional musicians who largely volunteered their services, has found that an increasing proportion of its work is being devoted to the forwarding of choruses. At its June, 1916, spring festival, there were included works by eleven choruses, six of them being children's groups, the others being adults, one of the most interesting being the Volkslieder Verein, a group of women under the leadership of Mari Ruef Hofer, most of whom are housewives or scrubwomen. Likewise in Pittsburgh, one of the noteworthy contributions which Mr. Will Earhart has made to the music of that city has been the development of a number of robust evening choruses and orchestras of adults. As the democratic movement in our country slowly elevates the standard of every individual, it is inevitable, if our growth is steady and sane, that the people should more and more desire to enter into a serious study of music, the most companionable of the arts.

(3) MUSIC BY THE PEOPLE

In this phrase, "the most companionable of the arts," lies the secret of that phase of the development of community music which has attracted most attention and which probably is most characteristic of the democratic movement, namely, informal or community singing. In this type of music the social element becomes so strong that in selecting a leader for this work it is difficult to know which is the more important attribute, the knowledge of music or the knowledge of people. If the community music movement has developed a new form, it is in connection with this phase of the work. Singing by great groups of people has occurred again and again. The revivalist, the militarist, and the politician, have used it on special occasions, but never yet has it been capitalized as a permanent social force. The community Christmas tree with its attempts at general singing has each year started into vibration a great wave of love, brotherliness, and community consciousness. But in the year that intervenes before it is reinforced, these waves have lost their force. The community music movement proposes to keep these vibrating and to add to them the reinforcement of many other musical attributes. This is not a movement primarily for the study of music, or the mastering of technique; it is rather the using of that natural love and command of music which everyone possesses and which, when rendered collectively by a large group, is surprisingly efficient, even with comparatively difficult music. The National Conference of Music Supervisors at its meeting in Rochester in 1913 agreed upon a list of eighteen songs which were to be used for community singing and which, in preparation for later adult use, were to be taught to the children of the country. This material, all of the simple folk-song type, has been sung by thousands of people under hundreds of directors and, from these four years' experience, one lesson has already emerged, namely, the group can do things which are impossible for the individual. Mr. Harry H. Barnhart has demonstrated, with his so-called community choruses in Rochester and New York City, that, with an inspiring conductor and proper accompaniment, a great group of people can easily pass beyond such songs as "Old Folks at Home"; "Love's Old Sweet Song"; "Sweet and Low"; "How Can I Leave Thee," simple three-part rounds, and like material which makes up the original collection of eighteen songs; and can give with little or no rehearsal great sweeping renderings of such great compositions as the "Pilgrims' Chorus" from Tannhauser; "Soldiers' Chorus" from Faust; and Beethoven's "The Heavens Resound." In the new list which the music supervisors are about to publish, the number of songs will be extended to fifty which will include the larger portion of the simpler folk songs of the original eighteen and many others of the same type. But there will also be included some of the massive material for great groups with large accompaniment such as that just mentioned. Another interesting aspect of this community singing idea has been developed in Chicago, that city of many nationalities, in a program called the "melting pot of music." Here were gathered groups of Swedish and Norwegian singers, united Bohemian singing societies, German liederchöre, and Polish singing groups. Each group in turn sang songs of its own nationality and then from the music thrown upon the screen, one song of each nation was sung in English translation by the entire audience. Finally, all the elements joined in the singing of a number of American patriotic and folk songs.

The results of these great community sings are already having their effect on external conditions. In Rochester, the Park Department, under the guidance of an enthusiastic architect, went to considerable expense and an endless amount of pains to prepare an out-of-door auditorium for a great community chorus. In Central Park, New York City, preparations are made to receive the 10,000 participators in the Sunday afternoon sings. At the other end of the scale in population, but more permanent in form, Anoka, Minnesota, a town of 8,000, has built a concrete stadium with a capacity of almost 2,000. As a direct result of those community singing gatherings, in a large number of places, the school architect is making such a procedure unnecessary for the greater part of the year by providing suitable auditoriums in the school building. Undoubtedly, however, Anoka's stadium, the great pageant grounds at St. Louis and Philadelphia, the Greek theatres, all possess possibilities through their being in the open air, which are closed to the indoor auditorium.

THE HEART OF IT

The community music movement is measuring all musical endeavors by the standard of usefulness for the great social body. It is increasing the number of concerts and bettering their quality. It is stressing the necessity of serious choral study and enlarging the membership of choral organizations. And finally, it is giving the opportunity to every man and woman for free and frequent participation in music, especially in choral singing with great groups of people. It is insisting that, while man must be fed, clothed and housed, while his body must be properly cared for, these measures alone will make but well groomed animals. It maintains that man's glory lies in his intellectual and spiritual attributes and that music aids in satisfying these longings which make life here worth while, and points the way to those aspirations which make a life beyond possible.

EDUCATION THROUGH FARM DEMONSTRATION

BY BRADFORD KNAPP,

Chief, Office of Extension Work in the South, States Relations Service, United States Department of Agriculture.

During the past twelve years a new and distinct type of agricultural education has been established in America. This new and practical plan of disseminating information may now be regarded as a part of the educational system of the country. It introduces a method by which those who do not attend schools are able to learn while they still pursue the busy work of their every-day struggle for a living. So far as agriculture and the rural problem are concerned, this system of education has given a new meaning to the phrase, "Knowledge and the means of education shall be forever free." It is rapidly giving to all rural people an equal opportunity to acquire useful knowledge without needless sacrifice of time. While the public school system brought some training in primary branches of learning within reach of the masses, it required the pupil to seek the education and confined its effort mainly to the youth of the land. Schools, colleges and universities necessarily withdraw the student from active life and from gainful occupations. Educational facilities supplied by these necessary and useful parts of our system are still found mainly within the walls of the institution. Above the primary grades education has been, after all, a thing for the few rather than for the masses.

Systematic teaching by demonstrations or object lessons in the field is a distinct addition to the American system of agricultural education. It does not take the place of nor does it interfere with any part of the present system. It is the addition of a new part. One of the recognized problems in agriculture is the dissemination of information. For years it has been recognized that farm practices in general have been much below those of the best farmers. The knowledge gained by the experiment stations and other public institutions established for the purpose of acquiring information has not been taken from the bulletins and put into universal practice. This is clearly recognized in the act establishing this new system of education when it says,