220 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



should be a physician. The learned professions are being constantly 

 recruited from without. The son of the physician may go into busi- 

 ness or become a civil engineer; there is no dearth of doctors, for 

 other men's sons are studying medicine. 



On the other hand, the entrance of farmer boys into occupations 

 other than that of farming is a very serious matter, indeed, for the 

 reason that there is no corresponding movement of young men from 

 the cities to the farms. Though the sons of farmers are among the 

 most successful men in every walk of city life, it is comparatively 

 rare to find a man not country-born who is a successful farmer. The 

 city gates swing easily to admit the country boy; the city- trained 

 lad finds it exceedingly difficult to swing them the other way. 



Though from the beginning of the rapid development of the cities 

 there has been a constant movement of country people to them, the 

 migration has been considerably accelerated since the improvement of 

 rural schools, and the placing of high-school advantages within the 

 reach of rural pupils, as has been done in many localities. The virtual 

 extension of city school systems into the country districts, together 

 with other modern phenomena, among which may be mentioned the 

 rural mail system, the rural telephone, the improvement of highways, 

 and the building of interurban lines, is in a large measure breaking 

 /down the barriers which formerly existed between the country and 

 the city. The two civilizations, rural and urban, which had until 

 recent years existed to a large degree independently of each other, 

 are rapidly being blended into one. This new civilization thus 

 formed is city-centered, and a strong pull toward the center is 

 setting in. 



It is not alone the young people who are today drifting away from 

 the farms to town. There is also a continued movement of older men 

 with their families to the cities. Many farmers of middle age are 

 entering other occupations, depending for a portion of their income 

 upon the proceeds from the farms they have left. Many small towns 

 are made up to quite an extent of a population of "retired farmers," 

 many of whom are still in the prime of life. Instead of having 

 remained at their task until their days of activity should have nor- 

 mally ended, they chose to get away from it while they were still 

 young enough " to get some enjoyment out of life." Like those early 

 miners of gold who chanced to be successful, they, having gathered in 

 their piles, next enter upon the stage of spending. The typical 

 "retired farmer," however, differs very radically from the old-time 



