618 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



exist, and all the insane may have been placed in hospitals ; but a 

 sane method of dealing with juvenile delinquency and of reaching 

 the multitudes of epileptics and feeble-minded scattered among 

 rural populations who are menacing the future by unrestricted 

 procreation are among the most pressing imperatives. 



An eighth center of interest is the psychology of the rural 

 social mind. As a scientific curio the rural mind may be inter- 

 esting to the highest degree. But its scientific understanding is 

 more worthy because any approach to rural betterment and 

 progress must be founded upon it. The psychological interpre- 

 tation of that great urbanward movement, which sweeps from 

 300,000 to 400,000 persons a year from country to city, should 

 prove most significant and fruitful. It 'is desirable also that 

 the rural mind be studied to discover its avenues of appeal, for 

 all steps in rural progress are conditioned by an educational pro- 

 gram of presentation and discussion. In order that rural ad- 

 vance shall take place, it is likewise requisite that the social 

 mind of the country neighborhoods be inoculated with the germs 

 of aspiration and expectation of better things. The means and 

 methods of reaching the rural intelligence which are specifically 

 adapted to its characteristics must be discovered and developed. 



The ninth group of considerations deal with semi-rural and 

 town-country communities and their problems. The situation in 

 towns and villages of less than 2,500 inhabitants, such groups 

 of population being usually included with rural groups, is de- 

 cidedly distinct from that prevailing in the open country. A 

 study of conditions peculiar to these groups, the deficits existing, 

 the effect of these on the developing youth, especially, and their 

 correctives would appear to be worthy of the highest consid- 

 eration. The town-country communities, the small town together 

 with its surrounding agricultural district, present some specially 

 interesting problems. There needs to be attention given to the 

 possibility and methods of developing a larger and more vital 

 cooperation between the two sides of such neighborhoods. 



Tenth, some attention should be devoted to the relation of 

 country to city. Since the influence of country upon city appears 

 to be directly less than that of city upon country, it is appropriate 

 for the rural sociologist to draw this group of considerations 

 within his survey. The characteristic differences between the 



