496 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



church, usually of some one denomination, but generally con- 

 sidered as a "community church." A resident minister is in 

 charge, and a vigorous social life is in progress. The favoring 

 circumstance for this aggressive activity seems to be the 

 blend of farm and hamlet cooperation in a single church parish. 



High-School Zones. Practically every farm home in the 

 county is easily within daily reach of some high-school. Taking 

 the county as a whole, less than fifteen per cent, of the farm 

 homes are sending children to high-schools. 



The high-school zones are not only much smaller than the 

 trade or banking zones, but the proportion of farm homes 

 within the zones using the high-school is much smaller than 

 that using the shop or bank. It will be noticed that the form 

 of this zone follows the general lines of the trade zone. Instead 

 of an over-lapping of zone lines giving a belt of neutral territory, 

 there appears surrounding every zone a belt of homes outside the 

 influence of any high-school. 



With all the general deficiency apparent in the amount of 

 farm use of these nine high-schools, it is plain that a fair per- 

 centage of the farm families within two miles of each high-school 

 recognizes its value. The character of the high-school as an 

 agent in idea-forming and association-making, plays a won- 

 derful part at the adolescent period of life, in democratizing 

 the children of the farm who attend and the children of the 

 village. It would be difficult to overestimate its influence as 

 a force for constructive cooperation, were each high-school con- 

 sciously controlled in adaptation of subjects and management of 

 courses in the interest of those living upon the land as well 

 as of those living in the small city. 



Village Library Zones. Four fine examples of the institu- 

 tional library are in the county. The privilege of free use 

 is open to farm families, and a certain considerable number of 

 farm homes, in fact, thirty-one per cent, of all farm homes within 

 the library zones, avail themselves of this privilege. A wider 

 farm use of the high-school would doubtless lead to a wider use 

 of the library. 



The School Districts. A study of the country school districts 

 of the county shows the fact that the prevailing scale of organ- 

 ized farm life is that of the neighborhood. The school house, 



