farm work and not improving their morals.' This belief may partly explain the discrimination against the negro schools in certain States, at least in the salaries paid the colored teachers. Yet there is testimony to the effect that equal school facilities are provided in some of the Southern States, and that the Southern whites are in favor of negro education.+ There is an annual migration of negro agricultural laborers from Virginia and other Southern States to the North, at least as far as New Jersey, where they readily find employment during the crop season. In some cases they remain permanently in the North." It is thought by some witnesses that the labor of the negroes was more productive under the system of slavery than it is at present, and also that the laborers were better taken care of than now; but it is also said that their labor cost the slave owner more than is paid under the wage system, and there seems to be no desire to return to the system of slavery. Yet comparisons between the elder negroes who received their training under the system of slavery and the younger generation are very much to the disadvantage of the latter. It is said that the younger negroes are discontented, idle, and disinclined to receive instruction. Incompetence of the negro as a farmer is even assigned as one of the great causes of agricultural depression in the South. The specific charges brought against him in this connection are his inability to use improved machinery, his exclusive cultivation of cotton, and the necessity of white supervision. He is also said to be cruel and careless in his treatment of stock. His low standard of living is also mentioned as a cause of cheap cotton. 10 On the other hand, the negro has a certain economic advantage over the white farmer in the South, in that he is his own laborer, and as a result of this the negroes of the Black Belt can afford to pay more rent for their land than white tenants can. 11 Several witnesses agree that, however great his delinquencies, the negro is after all the best agricultural laborer available for the South; indeed, there seems to be a quite general agreement that negroes are better adapted to farm labor in the South than white men,12 though some Louisiana farmers prefer Italians.18 One proposed solution of the negro problem is the separation of the races and the colonization of the negroes, either in some part of this country or elsewhere;14 but there is considerable opposition to this plan among Southern planters, partly because of the feeling that the negro is needed in the South as a laborer. 15 It is suggested, however, that the overcrowded agricultural communities of the South might be gradually thinned out by sending some of the negroes into the Northern States. 16 Mr. Dillingham emphasizes the necessity of further investigation of actual conditions before the negro problem can be satisfactorily solved, but agricultural education is proposed as an important element in its solution.17 Foreigners as farmers.-While there is a feeling that the United States has been too generous in encouraging immigration, especially by its liberal public land policy, 18 high tributes are paid to the general intelligence of the foreigners who have settled upon the farms of America; they are said to have elevated the character of Western and Northern agriculture, because they have appreciated the necessity of keeping up the fertility of the land and tilling the soil thoroughly, 19 1 Youmans, 119, 120; Manson, 508, 509. 2 Ager, 106, 107; White, 424; Reading, 451, 452. 9 Clohan, 594; Nall, 803; Manson, 507, 508; Hill, 504; Kyle, 468; Batchelder, 497. 4 Hammond, 826, 827; White, 424, 426. Nunnally, 456; Kyle, 467, 469, 471; Manson, 509; 7 Hill, 504, 505: Manson, 509. Brown, 62; Barrett, 58, 59. 10 Redding, 445. 11 Poole, 496. 12 Stevens, 912, 913. 13 Stubbs, 777. 14 Brown, 62, 63. 15 Youmans, 120; Duncan, 518; Poole, 924. 16 White, 428, 429. 17 Crowell, 336; Dillingham, 166. 18 Brigham, 10, 11; Dye, 86, 87. 19 Powers, 179, 180: Davenport, 263; Norris, 323. Immigrants from Holland have, in various localities, reclaimed lowlands which might otherwise have remained useless. While the foreign-born farmers are at a disadvantage because of the time it takes them to adapt themselves to changed conditions, their careful agriculture and their economy have enabled them in many cases to acquire considerable property, and immigrants and the children of immigrants often purchase farms from American farmers. Even Chinese farmers have, in many cases, become owners of fruit plantations in California.1 The most general complaint against the foreign farmers arises from their tendency to clannishness and to the preservation of their own languages and customs, which make them slow to become Americanized. Yet Dr. Crowell maintains that certain colonies of foreigners, such as the Pennsylvania Dutch, the Scandinavians in the Northwest, and the Huguenots of North Carolina, have, by reason of that very solidarity, preserved their agricultural instincts and abilities on a high level. Dr. Crowell considers the economic traditions of the European farmer as among the most valuable assets of American agriculture." Agricultural distribution of immigrants. (See also Vol. XV, Part III. Chapter X.)-Mr. Godwin, of South Dakota, calls attention to the desirability of distributing immigrants throughout the farming districts of the West, where he says any sober, land-loving man, with a little agricultural experience, would have no difficulty in working into permanent employment. He thinks this would be of mutual advantage to the country and to the immigrants." Public lands.—While there is some criticism of the Government's land policy, the extraordinary development of American agriculture is attributed by one witness to liberal land laws and the admission of foreign labor to occupy free lands. Most of the claims taken up in North Dakota are said to have passed from the hands of the original settlers either through voluntary sale or mortgage foreclosure. While most of the public domain has been disposed of, except in the arid and semiarid regions, there still remain considerable areas of State and railroad lands. Several of the Western States lease part of their public lands."1 Emigration to Canada.—There has been a noticeable emigration of farmers from some of the Western States, such as Michigan and South Dokota, to northwestern Canada, induced by agents of the Canadian government; but most of those who have migrated to Canada from South Dakota are said to have returned. 12 THE RURAL EXODUS. Abandoned farms.-The abandonment of farms in New England is said to have begun about 50 years ago. The two important causes of this rural exodus appear to be the rapid development of the West and the attractions of the cities, the former cause being assisted by cheap transportation and local discriminations in freight rates, and the latter being both cause and result of the difficulty of obtaining suitable farm laborers, especially for truck farming. A contributory cause is said to be the demoralizing effect upon agriculture exerted by summer boarders. 13 Professor Bailey remarks that many of the farms now abandoned would never have been settled if the more fertile lands of the West had been accessible earlier, and that all the more fertile accessible lands in the East are still good farming He regards the abandonment of the unfertile farms as a necessary and desirable change. In Maryland the abandonment of farms is attributed to the areas. 14 loss of farms by the original owners through mortgage foreclosures, and to the exhaustion of the soil by continuous farming.' Several of the New England States seek to bring the abandoned farms back into use by advertising them for sale. Three-fourths of the abandoned farms in New Hampshire have been taken up, in many cases by people of wealth for summer residences; and in Massachusetts, also, there are now said to be practically no abandoned farms. The growth of cities.-The movement from country to city has been going on for centuries, and seems likely to continue. While the movement is sometimes attributed to the depression of agriculture, Mr. Powers finds the fundamental cause in the increased productiveness of farm labor, which makes it possible for a smaller proportion of the total population to produce food enough for all, thus giving opportunity for the development of manufactures and other industries. It is pointed out that the trend to the cities has been accompanied not only by a decline of agriculture in New England, but also by the decline of the smaller manufacturing industries in the hill towns, where abandoned wagon shops, shoe shops, sawmills, etc., are found, as well as abandoned farms. The difficulty experienced in getting reliable farm labor has led a great many to give up agriculture. A part of the movement to the cities is explained by the difficulty of finding room on one farm for all of the farmer's sons; and the migration of the most intelligent young men to the city is assigned as a cause of the diminished efficiency of farm labor.1 Aside from the underlying economic causes of the movement to the cities, much stress is laid upon the desire for an exciting environment and for the social advantages of the city. The absence of good roads and good schools in rural districts is also mentioned as contributing to the movement. Among other causes mentioned are the higher wages paid in the cities, the development of industries along mechanical lines, the success of individuals in commercial and industrial occupations and the apparent ease of their lives as compared with the hard work of a farm, the opportunities for advancement in the city, and the opportunities for the employment of the various members of the family. It is also said that many young men have an idea that farm work is degrading, and that some boys and girls are obliged to work so hard on farms that the thought of farming is distasteful to them throughout life. In parts of the South the cotton mills have drawn heavily upon agricultural labor." Attention is called to the disposition of the American to engage in commerce and speculation rather than depend upon the slow processes of agriculture. The New Englander is said to be a man of the city rather than of the country, and the children of native Americans prefer school teaching or work in a store to manual labor. 10 The lack of steady employment on farms is mentioned as one of the causes of the movement to the cities, which is also attributed in part to the failure of attempts to farm on unsuitable land or by men not adapted to agriculture." It is pointed out that there is nothing alarming in the migration to the cities so long as people are free to go and free to return, and it is predicted that the development of transportation facilities will lead to the return of men to the country as they grow older or when work is slack in the cities. 12 Already there is some evidence of a reaction from the movement to the cities, which manifests itself in a 1 Ager, 109. 2 Bachelder, 41, 42; Stockwell, 901. 4 Stockwell, 888. Ketchum, 133, 138. • Coles, 125. 7 Clohan, 591, 592. Hamilton, 365; Powers, 174; Redding, 10 Crowell, 335; Norris, 323. slackening of a movement away from the farms and in a tendency to return from the city to the country.' Among the remedies which are suggested for the too rapid depopulation of agricultural districts are a wider education of farmers along agricultural lines, better roads and schools, and other conveniences in rural districts. It is also suggested that if farming can in any way be made more profitable the tendency will be checked. One witness suggests that the tendency will cure itself through the difficulty of making both ends meet in the city, even with a fair salary. While congestion in the cities and the scarcity of farm laborers may both be relieved to some extent by finding employment on farms for men from the cities, the plan of sending men ignorant of farming into the country to farm on their own account is criticised as likely to inflict an injury both upon the men most directly concerned and upon the community at large. Relative advantages of city and country.-Nearly all the witnesses who discuss the relative advantages of city and country life consider country life the more desirable, though Mr. Hanley, while recognizing the moral dangers of the city to young men and women suddenly freed from parental restraint, also emphasizes the lonesomeness and monotonous character of farm life and work, which, he says, cause farmers' wives and daughters to break down physically and mentally.' The isolation of the farm, however, is growing less with the development of trolley lines, better wagon roads, rural mail delivery, neighborhood telephones, etc., and the wide dissemination of books and papers. Mr. Powers thinks the style of living of the uneducated farmer is about the same as that of the average day laborer in the city, while he knows some successful farmers who live better than the average lawyer." The chances of economic success are said to be greater in agriculture than in other industries, for men of equal mental equipment.10 A man adapted to agriculture can be reasonably sure of at least making a living on a farm." While a man who is able to control large interests is likely to come into that control more readily in the city than in the country, one who would remain a workingman in the city has a better opportunity to become influential in the country than in the city. One witness, however, maintains that, as a general rule, an industrious and frugal young man can succeed better in the city than in the country, notwithstanding the difference in the cost of living. 13 15 In discussing the rate of profit on the capital invested many witnesses agree that it is much less than in other kinds of business; 14 but an investment in a farm is considered safer than mercantile investments, and the difference in the apparent rate of profit is said to be due to disregarding the products consumed on the farm and the rental value of the farmhouse; making these allowances, Mr. Greeley maintains that agriculture is more profitable than other occupations. Mr. Holmes calculates, on the basis of the value of agricultural products as given in the Eleventh Census, that the farmers of the United States, if allowed reasonable interest on their capital, receive no remuneration for their labor; but the general opinion is that the census figure is too low. Mr. Holmes attributes the small income of farmers, and also the small wages of farm laborers, to the small value of the wealth they produce as compared with workers in other industries, and points out that in the Western States, where the product per capita in agriculture is greatest, the rate of farm wages is also high.' Dr. Crowell explains the comparatively low profit of agriculture by the theory that the farmer is governed by the law of diminishing returns, getting less than a proportional return for additional amounts of capital and labor applied to the land; and by the persistence of the competitive principle in the sale of agricultural products, while in manufacture, after a certain limit of competition is reached, there is a tendency to combine for the purpose of controlling production and prices." AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AND RESEARCH. Agricultural colleges.-The development of agricultural colleges and experiment stations in America is part of a world-wide movement for the organization of technical education and scientific research in agriculture, due mainly to Governmental action, though there is at least one case in England in which a large private fortune has been devoted to experimental work in agriculture. The American agricultural colleges are organized under the land-grant act of 1862, which granted to each State and Territory 30,000 acres of land for each Representative and Senator in Congress; though a few States had even before that date made some efforts in the direction of establishing such colleges.* There is some dissatisfaction with the manner in which the land-grant funds have been disposed of. In many cases the funds were turned over to colleges and institutions the management of which took little interest in agricultural education. At the time of the land grant there was comparatively little demand for scientific instruction in agriculture, especially in the West, because large crops could be raised without special agricultural knowledge or intensive culture; but with the necessity of producing the best possible results on each acre of land there is arising a demand for scientific methods, and hence for better education. Moreover, the principles underlying agriculture had to be discovered before they could be taught, and it has taken time to develop a literature upon which agricultural education may be based. While the universities were longer in working out a satisfactory basis for agricultural instruction than the separate colleges, which had but one problem to solve, a number of the State universities have recently established very strong departments of agriculture. Instruction in the mechanical arts was naturally developed more rapidly than agricultural instruction, because of the relative simplicity of mechanical problems and the rapid development of mechanical industries.' There is some complaint relative to the large amount of attention still given to the mechanical arts in some of the agricultural colleges, and it is suggested that the curriculum should be modified so as to lay more stress on agriculture. It is also suggested that if the agricultural and mechanical colleges were kept distinct from the State universities they would be more likely to develop an enthusiasm for agriculture. Other witnesses, however, point out certain advantages of union, and predict that in the future the best work in agricultural education and research will be done at the universities. 10 The Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations is studying the methods of teaching agriculture with a view to further improvement." There is a demand for agricultural schools below the college grade, at which 1 Pages 154, 155. 2 Pages 339, 340. 3 True, 138; Wiley, 643. 4 True, 139, 144. • Hale, 386. • McKay, 534. Davenport, 259, 261. 8 Batchelder, 44. ⚫ Brigham, 13. 10 M. F. Greeley, 932; Davenport, 259–261. |