RURAL ECONOMICS. 895 



sale to fix prices and a diiily biilleliu showing? the quantity and prices of sup- 

 plies in the market. 



The drift to the city in relation to the rural problem, J. M. Gillktte 

 (Amer. Jour. ^ocioL, 16 (lUJl), Xo. o, pp. 6"//J-/;V;7).— The author concludes that 

 the increase in rural population is in reverse and that in urban poi)ulation is 

 in direct proportion to the degree of industrializafon. lie considers that the 

 increase in urban population is due primarily to iumiigration, that migration 

 from rural districts is of secondary importance, and that the birth rate is 

 approximately the same in the urban as in the rural districts. Although the 

 birth rate for those of the same nativity is higher in rural districts than in 

 urban, the preponderance of foreigners in cities tends to equalize the rate. 



The most serious effect of migration from rural communities is the loss of 

 leadership. The author would check this cityward movement by improving 

 the home and social conditions and reorganizing the rural schools. 



The movement of rural population in Illinois, II, K. IIoagland (Jour. 

 Polit. Econ., 20 {1012), No. 9, pp. WJ-iy27).— According to the author the 

 poverty of rural social life has not been the cause of rural depopulation, since 

 the regions with a decrease in population are not found to be the ones where 

 the farmer's life is duller or more monotonous than those in which the rural 

 population has increased. The exodus from rural communities has been fully 

 as active since the introduction of rural free delivery, the telephone, and better 

 roads as before. The increased use of machinery, increase in the relative 

 number of horses, and in saving of time by use of the telephone and by im- 

 proving the roads have done much toward increasing the efficiency of the 

 farmers so that it takes less of them to produce a given quantity. These same 

 factors have influenced the changes in the small rural villages or towns since 

 they have made the larger town more accessible and have taken away the 

 necessity of frequent trips to the village. 



The migration of people within France and from foreign countries and 

 between the urban and i-ural districts, E. Payen (/'Jcon. Franc., .'/.? iWl'i), 

 I, No. 7, pp. 227-229) .—This article calls attention to the fact that the number 

 of foreigners in France has increased from 106 per 10.000 inhabitants in 18.51 to 

 286 in 1911. It also shows that the rural population has decreased from 

 26,650,446 in 1846 to 22,093,318 in 1911, while the urban population has increased 

 from 8,751,315 in 1846 to 17,508,940 in 1911. Attention is called to the localities 

 with the more marked changes. 



["World" increase in population and agricultural production], X. C. 

 Murray (Amer. Econ. Rev., 3 (1913), No. 1, Sup., pp. 29-31). — The author points 

 out that the population of the civilized world, excluding China, has been increas- 

 ing at a rate slightly more than 1 per cent a year, the production of wheat, 

 corn, oats, and barley more than 2 per cent a year, of potatoes more than 3 

 per cent, and of sugar nearly 4 per cent. The supply of animal products has 

 also kept pace with the population. Although there has been a decline in the 

 exports of agricultural products from the United States, the quantity remaining 

 for home consumption has increased faster than the iwpulation. 



Index number as expressing- the fluctuation of agricultural production in 

 France, E. Gain (Rev. Gen. Sci., 25 (191^), No. 2, pp. ^7-^i)).— The author, by 

 dividing the difference between the maximum and minimum by the average, 

 obtains the index number of the fluctuation in cultivated area, total production, 

 total value and value per quintal, and average yield per hectare for the prin- 

 cipal crops for 1901-1910. He gives similar index numbers for the fluctuation 

 in the monthly prices for a number of crops and of meat for 1801-1010. This 

 article is devoted to a description of his method and the results obtained. 



