22 PRINCIPLES OF RURAL ECONOMICS 



farms not only feed the cities with their material products, but 

 they also furnish the cities with men and women. 



Relation of the sexes in farming communities. One of the 

 most important of all the characteristics which distinguish rural 

 from urban life is the greater interdependence of the sexes in 

 the former. Most of our present notions as to what is " proper 

 work " for men and women have been handed down to us from 

 our rural ancestors. The idea that the " proper work " of women 

 lies mainly within the walls of the dwelling, while that of men 

 lies without, is a natural result of rural conditions. Though 

 there is a great deal of light work to be done about a farm, 

 there are always kinds of work which require the somewhat 

 higher average muscular development of masculine workers. 

 Where there is live stock to be handled, there are also kinds of 

 work which require masculine courage and resourcefulness as 

 well as muscularity. There are very few farms, in fact, where 

 all the outdoor work could be carried on profitably by women 

 alone. It is true that on farms where highly specialized agricul- 

 ture is practiced there is room for the use of considerable female 

 labor out of doors, but these farms are exceptional. Again, on 

 the small peasant farms of Europe, and on a few of the small 

 negro farms of our Southern states, a great deal of work is done 

 by women. But peasant farming is a low type of farming, usu- 

 ally carried on by very inefficient methods, the purpose being 

 to make as good a living as possible from a tract of land too 

 small to permit of an efficient application of labor and tools. 

 Such farming is usually accompanied by a low standard of living 

 on the part of the farmer and his family. One result of this 

 necessity for masculine labor in the country is that there are rela- 

 tively few opportunities, certainly much fewer than in the city, 

 for a woman to make an independent living for herself outside 

 of the household. An unmarried woman is therefore at a much 

 greater disadvantage in the country than in the towns and cities. 



