BACK TO THE LAND 279 



It seems that the average American has gone 

 amusement mad. His main object in life is the 

 insatiate search for amusement. When a man or 

 woman allows themselves to be stricken with this 

 malady, the peaceful quiet restful life of the farm 

 has no power over them. To this life they are 

 irretrievably lost. 



The discontent with farm life can in most every 

 instance be traced to this trait of man and accounts 

 in a large measure for the breaking of farm ties. 



The isolation and lonesomeness of farm life in 

 these days of telephones, rural mail routes, the 

 automobile and an abundance of varied literature, 

 have their existence only in the mind, and so can- 

 not be responsible for the discontent with farm 

 life. We do not have to go to the remote parts 

 of the country to find isolation and lonesomeness. 

 They are found in the most acute stage in the best 

 cities, for where can one find the counterpart to 

 the awful isolation and lonesomeness of one in the 

 city without friends or money, or without work, a 

 business, trade, or profession with which to supply 

 the necessaries of life. Yet there are thousands 

 of men and women who would rather live in the 

 city, endure its galling poverty and distress, so as 

 to be near the maddening excitement found on city 

 streets, rather than go back to the land and plenty, 

 with its quiet and peaceful rest and freedom from 

 worry. 



But there are thousands of city people who 

 ought to be on the farm and who want to be for 

 they know too well that it is a most difficult thing 

 to rear and train children properly under city in- 

 fluence and environment, for no matter what the 



