Digging to the Roots of a Dying Tree 41 



poorest can see the swift revolutions of the city wheels. 

 As a penniless derelict remarked: "Anyhow, I can read 

 the billboards and see what's going on!" 



There is, of course, a very charming side of rural 

 life, and one that must be preserved if civilization is to 

 remain sweet and wholesome. But millions have turned 

 away from it. "The proof of the pudding is the eating 

 thereof." Millions born to country pudding have 

 shown their marked preference for city desserts. 



No man of our time has done so much to keep alive 

 true love of country life as Ray Stannard Baker, or 

 "David Grayson," as he delights to call himself in his 

 rural moods. He happens to be one of my most valued 

 friends, and I shall later make use of his actual experi- 

 ence to demonstrate my own philosophy of the coming 

 life on the land. 



We have now examined the relative advantages of 

 urban and rural life from a number of different stand- 

 points. Our finding is in harmony with the obvious drift 

 of the times. From the Census of 1830 to that of 1920, 

 the race between country and town as rival claimants for 

 the favor of a majority of our people has gone cease- 

 lessly on. Decade after decade the city has rushed 

 ahead, the country fallen back, until by the latest 

 count the supremacy passes to the city. A majority 

 of our hundred million people now dwell in town. 



Why? Because — 



A man can make more of himself in the city than 

 in the country ; can earn more money ; do better for his 

 children ; live in better surroundings ; drink deeper from 

 the cup of human happiness. The city draws into its 



