THE SOCIAL SIDE OF FARM LIFE 393 



closer mutual organization, but from the point of view of 

 country life, the first essential is that the farm shall be unmis- 

 takably linked with a particular local community of business 

 enterprises. The farmer needs the esprit de corps of business 

 associates, not only in farming, but in the other lines of 

 business throughout his local community. 



From being a solitary seller of farm produce and buyer of 

 the raw materials which enter into his farm products, to being 

 associated with the farmers of his neighborhood in selling and 

 buying, is a considerable step ; but this sort of business associa- 

 tion falls short of ranging oneself with the business men in 

 general of a considerable village or small city trading center. 

 The farmer's kind of business is worthy of being represented in 

 the local business group. The modern farmer is personally 

 worthy of this association. Moreover, the community of 

 business in town and on farm has a unity of purpose, territory, 

 institutions, ideals, which logically demand that every farmer 

 of hope recognize himself as a member of the business group and 

 assume all the responsibilities of his common business citizen- 

 ship. 



The time has passed when a modern farmer can evade his local 

 responsibilities as a business man with the plea that he can go to 

 several trading centers at will, for he can and should choose his 

 main business center and business associates. The time, also, 

 has gone when the mercantile and professional business 

 men of a village or city can ignore the outlying farmer as a 

 community partner in business enterprises on the ground that 

 he is not a voter in the village or city. The right attitude of 

 farmers and townsmen is based upon the fundamental fact 

 that most villages and small cities in America have fixed agricul- 

 tural land bases, and that farm and town belong to each other. 



The problem of reorganization of the business life of the farm 

 involves on the social side the distribution of American popula- 

 tion into rather definite population groups of town and terri- 

 torially associated farms. The sooner a farmer knows his 

 business groups and stands loyal to his group, the sooner a 

 community spirit will arise which will react upon the farmer's 



