In olden times any one could "farm," but it is necessary to-day to
teach people to obtain a livelihood directly from the earth.
Scientific methods of agriculture have revealed possibilities in the
soil that make farming the most fascinating occupation known to man.
People in every city are longing for the freedom of country life,
yet hesitate to enter into its liberty because no one points the
way.
Most sociologists are agreed that the great problem of our day is to
stop the drift of population toward the cities. Seeing the
overcrowding, the want and misery of our great towns, the
philanthropist chimes in with "Get the people to the country, that
is the need."
But there is no such need. Man is a social animal, he naturally goes
in flocks, he earns more and learns more in crowds. To transport him
to the country, even if he would stay, which happily he won't, would
be to doctor a symptom. As in typhoid, what is needed is not to
suppress the fever, that is easy, but to remove the cause of it.
It is not the growth of the cities that we want to check, but the
needless want and misery in the cities, and this can be done by
restoring the natural condition of living, and among other things,
by showing that it is easier and making it more attractive to live
in comfort on the outskirts of the city as producers, than in the
slums as paupers.
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