PREFACE 



HOMESTEADING days are here again. The pres- 

 ent movement of people back to the land 

 is of a different type and has different objectives 

 from those which prevailed when a continent 

 was to be conquered and exploited. Today we 

 know that many urban industries will operate 

 on a seasonal basis and we know too that periods 

 of unemployment and shorter working days 

 will provide more leisure and probably lower 

 incomes for hundreds of thousands of families. 

 The utilization of this leisure time to supplement 

 incomes, to raise the standards of living and of 

 health, and to attain some measure of economic 

 security will tend more and more to settlement 

 on the land. 



In these days of rapid transportation and 

 all the attributes and conveniences of modern 

 country life, the hardships of the earlier period 

 of land development are non-existent. Although 

 urban industrial development has reached a 

 point which will not be exceeded for many years 

 to come, the individual who needs additional 

 income may adjust himself to such circum- 

 stances by establishing a country homestead. 



ix 



