FACTORS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION 125 



it may reduce the standard of living, the average per capita 

 wealth of the agricultural people growing less as their numbers 

 increase. In this situation we have a key to the understanding 

 no; only of the policies of agricultural nations, but also to the 

 movements of agricultural populations. 



Formerly the choice was uniformly for war and conquest, 

 bul; this solution of the problem is contrary to all the sentiments 

 and ideals of civilization. Therefore the tendency is more and 

 more toward one of the other solutions. All civilized countries 

 are spending money and energy for the improvement of the 

 methods of agricultural production, or for the improvement of 

 lands already within their boundaries ; but none of them are 

 able to make improvements rapidly enough to avoid the emigra- 

 tion of their rural populations either to foreign countries or 

 to their own cities, where they are open to the new danger of 

 overproduction or lack of markets. 



Rural as distinguished from urban migrations. One of the 

 most striking facts in economic history is the different character 

 of rural and urban migrations. Leaving out of account, for the 

 moment, the transformation of a rural into an urban, or an urban 

 into a rural population, and considering only the migration of 

 rural people who remain rural and of urban people who remain 

 urban, it will be easy to see the distinction. Rural migrations 

 are uniformly from a densely to a sparsely settled territory, 

 whereas urban migrations are almost as uniformly from a 

 sparsely to a densely settled territory, that is, from smaller to 

 larger towns and cities. In both cases there are of course coun- 

 tercurrents, and this is especially noticeable within the area 

 of a given city. Though congested districts seem uniformly 

 to jow more congested, there is also a recessive movement 

 toward the suburbs. As between different cities, however, the 

 tendency seems fairly clear. The larger the city, other things 

 being equal, the more rapidly it grows. 



