750 THE RURAL COMMUNITY 



family is isolated from other families. A small city of perhaps 

 twenty thousand population will contain from four hundred to six 

 hundred families per square mile, whereas a typical agricultural 

 community in a prosperous agricultural state will hardly average 

 more than ten families per square mile. The farming class is isolated 

 from other classes. Farmers, of course, mingle considerably in a 

 business and political way with the men of their trading town and 

 county seat; but, broadly speaking, farmers do not associate freely 

 with people living under urban conditions and possessing other than 

 the rural point of view. It would be venturesome to suggest very 

 definite generalizations with respect to the precise influence of these 

 conditions because, so far as the writer is aware, the psychology of 

 isolation has not been worked out. But two or three conclusions 

 seem to be admissible, and for that matter rather generally accepted. 



The well-known conservatism of the farming class is doubtless 

 largely due to class isolation. Habits, ideas, traditions, and ideals 

 have long life in the rural community. Changes come slowly. 

 There is a tendency to tread the well-worn paths. The farmer does 

 not easily keep in touch with rapid modern development, unless the 

 movements or methods directly affect him. Physical agencies which 

 improve social conditions, such as electric lights, telephones, and 

 pavements, come to the city first. The atmosphere of the country 

 speaks peace and quiet. Nature's routine of sunshine and storm, of 

 summer and winter, encourages routine and repetition in the man 

 who works with her. 



A complement of this rural conservatism, which at first thought 

 seems a paradox, but which probably grows out of these same con- 

 ditions of isolation, is the intense radicalism of a rural community 

 when once it breaks aw T ay from its moorings. Many farmers are 

 unduly suspicious of others' motives; yet the same people often 

 succumb to the wiles of the charlatan, whether medical or political. 

 Farmers are usually conservative in politics and intensely loyal to 

 party; but the Populist movement indicates the tendency to ex- 

 tremes when the old allegiance is left behind. Old methods of 

 farming may be found alongside ill-considered attempts to raise new 

 crops or to utilize untried machines. 



Other effects of rural isolation are seen in a class provincialism 

 that is hard to eradicate, and in the development of minds less 

 alert to seize business advantages and less far-sighted than are 

 developed by the intense industrial life of the town. There is 

 time to brood over wrongs, real and imaginary. Personal preju- 

 dices often grow to be rank and coarse-fibered. Neighborhood 

 feuds are not uncommon and are often virulent. Leadership is 

 made difficult and sometimes impossible. It is easy to fall into 

 personal habits that may mark off the farmer from other classes 



