12 HOW TO LIVE IN THE COUNTRY 



wider and warmer and think nobler and develop 

 both food and character by intimacy with Nature. 

 I have a warm feeling for those who are tired of 

 city life or town life, and desire to react from arti- 

 ficiality. 



In 1890 the census told us that the cities were re- 

 ceiving over sixty-six per cent of the increase of 

 population, although I believe the tide was even then 

 slowly turning. In 1900 it was found that only 

 a little over thirty per cent of the annual increase 

 dropped into city congestion notwithstanding the 

 enormous increase of immigration. This was a 

 splendid showing for the country and country life, 

 and we are happy to know that the ratio has been 

 steadily increasing ever since. At present there is 

 not much over twenty per cent of the people lost to 

 the hills and valleys, that is the new folk. 



This, of course, does not mean that the cities are 

 decreasing in size; only that their ratio of growth, 

 with the single exception of New York City, is grow- 

 ing less. It means that country life has at last at- 

 tractions that counter-balance the attractions of the 

 town. The country telephone, rural free mail de- 

 livery, and the trolley are a triple alliance to make 

 the home in the remote glen or the farm on the 

 mountainside hardly more isolated than the apart- 

 ment in a city flat. Neighbors are joined together 

 so that they can converse freely and cooperate more 

 easily. The trolley is even hauling farmers' wagons 

 to market; backing up to the barn doors and taking 



