THE GROWTH OF RURAL POPULATION. i8i 



ments and innovations which improve the social condition of the coun- 

 try people all tend to increase the wants of the rural communities, to 

 raise their standard of living and hence to increase the real wages of 

 the dwellers in those places. Here stands revealed one of the positive 

 forces which is stopping the drift of population from country to city. 

 The standard of living of the rural population has been lower than 

 that of urban communities. The wants of the farmer have been few 

 and simple; but better facilities for communication, for travel and for 

 intercourse with his fellow men are improving his social and economic 

 condition. Those who have been most ambitious, whose standard of 

 living has been the highest, have been forced, of necessity, to migrate 

 first to the town and then to the city or to forego the gratification of 

 their wants and desires, both material and social. The hours of labor 

 have been very long in rural communities, not only for the farmer, 

 but for the women and children as well. Little leisure has been allowed 

 the farmer and his wife in which to develop new wants. New inventions, 

 new methods and better opportunities to reach markets for buying and 

 selling are decreasing the necessity for long hours and are giving the 

 farmers better social and intellectual advantages. All forces which 

 gradually improve the social, moral, intellectual or economic condi- 

 tion of the farmers as a class tend to improve their standard of living 

 and will in turn decrease the rate of migration from country to city. 



