Includes bibliographical references (pages 211-225) and index.

Introduction. The rural midwest and the farm press during the progressive era -- chapter 1. "First class papers" and "never-stop papers" : twenty-five years of the midwestern farm press -- ch. 2. Editors and publishers : the faces behind the midwestern farm press -- ch. 3. "What farmers read and liked" : scenes of reading in the rural midwest -- ch. 4. "Who read the agricultural journals?" : farm newspaper subscribers in the lower midwest -- ch. 5. "Innumerable little white churches" : the rural church and the midwestern farm press -- ch. 6. "The school house at the crossroads" : the rural school and the midwestern farm press -- ch. 7. "Why leave the farm?" : the rural family and the midwestern farm press -- Conclusion. "Good farming, clear thinking, right living" : the uses of midwestern farm newspapers -- Epilogue. Midwestern farm newspapers since the 1920s.

An in-depth look at producers and readers of Midwestern farm newspapers at the turn of the twentieth century.