Digging to the Roots of a Dying Tree 31 



it is still apparent that the cityward tendency is not un- 

 fortunate for society, in the sense of spiritual develop- 

 ment. 



The question of relative financial development under 

 the conditions of rural and urban life, if considered 

 from the standpoint of average earning power and 

 apart from the increment in land values, presents no 

 such difficulties as we found in the matter of spiritual 

 development. 



City earnings, at least where labor is organized, are 

 fairly high and tend upward; rural earnings are low 

 and tend downward. In both cases pre-war condi- 

 tions as to earnings and living costs should be the 

 basis of comparison, since the war precipitated ab- 

 normal wages and prices everywhere, and the process 

 of readjustment is not complete and may not be for 

 years. 



Between 1900 and 1914 the Federal Government, as 

 well as various States and universities, conducted ex- 

 tensive investigations to ascertain the amount of the 

 farmer's income. One Federal investigation covered ten 

 of the most important agricultural States, including 

 the cotton sections of the South, the grain regions of 



the Middle West, the dairy districts of Wisconsin, and 



the diversified farms of Vermont. The official report 



concluded in these words : 



"Extensive investigations relative to the profits of 



farming indicate that the average labor income of the 



farmer probably differs little from ordinary farm 



wages." 



That is to say $25 a month or $300 a year. (Labor 



income, of course, is apart from income on investment, 



