INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 49 



the time, while the whole number of pupils ranges 

 in summer from eight to twelve. I cannot explain 

 altogether the causes of this change in District 

 No. 8. The farms are not deserted, only some- 

 what less productive and somewhat more expensive 

 to till; but I believe that the low price of farm 

 products, especially of wheat, our staple crop, has 

 had much to do with this decadence, since for 

 more than a quarter of a century wheat has sold 

 on an average in New York for less than $i per 

 bushel, while the cost of production under the local 

 conditions has become one dollar and a quarter or 

 more. It should be remembered that wheat sold 

 in 1818 for $3.00 per bushel in this very locality. 

 I have recently been making an extended investi- 

 gation of the cost of producing a bushel of wheat 

 in various parts of the country and it is my opinion 

 that the lack of profit in wheat growing has been 

 an important factor in the decline of the birth rate 

 and at the same time it has been the cause of the 

 westward migration of the more adventurous 

 members of the population. Nevertheless the land 

 from which products have for so long been sold 

 for less than the true cost of production figured 

 at a fair wage and with deduction for loss of pro- 

 ducing power is still worthy of the plowman's 



