20世紀初頭のアメリカ合衆国における農村問題と農業拡張事業

―『農村生活委員会報告書』（1909）の分析を中心に―

抄録

The purpose of this paper is to analyze Report of the Commission on Country Life, published in 1909, and to consider the role that the Report played in the history of agricultural extension in the U.S.. This Report is known for having pointed out rural problems and asserted development of the extension.

The Report suggested various proposals in order to commercialize farming and to cancel the gap between countryside and cities. In particular, the rural development by the promotion of agricultural extension work was emphasized. One of the biggest problems in farm villages was the low consciousness among farmers for building new rural society. The agricultural extension work went into a new stage in response to such indication of the Report. In practice of extension, the work was positively managed by the Farm Bureau Association, which consists of farmers. The aim of this system was that a farmer comes to consider the solutions of the country life problems as his duty.

In the process of institutionalization of the agricultural extension in the 1910s, the policy of the Report which cultivated community spirit among farmers was reflected. Simultaneously, from a viewpoint of such spirit, agricultural colleges were expected to change the perspective toward farmers' education and to support their learning. The relation between college and rural people has also entered into a new era in the meaning.