126 READINGS IN RURAL ECONOMICS 



Europe are largely responsible for this unfortunate condition. 

 One of the popular errors is to compare the potato crop of New 

 York with that of Europe in order to show how little our farmers 

 know about farming. It would be just as accurate to compare the 

 apple crop of Europe with that of New York in order to show 

 what superior farmers we have in New York. Or we might com- 

 pare the corn yields of Champaign County, Illinois, with those of 

 Europe, in order to show our superiority. Our wheat yields are 

 compared with those of England as a means of showing how 

 poorly we farm, but most of our wheat is grown with much less 

 rain and with a less favorable climate. Our farmers also pay better 

 wages and get less for their wheat. Such unscientific and mis- 

 leading comparisons have done much harm. 



As our farms are the foundation of our wealth, so the farmers 

 are the foundation of our civilization. No high civilization can 

 long endure that is not based on a high type of citizenship on the 

 farms. No temporary inflation of production can compensate for 

 bringing in a lower class of farmers. 



A large proportion of our farm boys are now staying on the 

 farms. The great movement to cities has been checked. We do 

 not need to look to any other country for more farmers or farm 

 laborers. Throughout the North our farms have always been 

 " family farms." The farmer and his family do nearly all the 

 work. Less than half of the farmers (46 per cent) hire any labor. 

 Most of the hired men are the sons of neighboring farmers. 

 Some individuals always clamor for cheap labor, but such labor is 

 not needed. If it were supplied in large amount the family-farm 

 system would be destroyed. This system results in the best citizen- 

 ship and in the best agriculture. How much more efficient it is 

 than hired labor can be testified to by business men who have 

 tried to run large farms. Such farms often get large yields and 

 are often referred to as examples of what can be done, but with 

 very rare exceptions they furnish examples of how to lose money. 



If any considerable amount of low-class labor settles on our 

 farms it will result, as it always has resulted, in driving out the 

 better farmers, and will at the same time result in a poorer agri- 

 culture. The aim of public-spirited persons and of government 



