FARMING THAT IS NOT FARMING 71 



list his sympathy. At any rate, it is probably inevit- 

 able, and even if the farmer's business is affected, he 

 will probably have to adjust his mind and plans thereto. 



We must not confuse this new field with what has 

 been called the " back to the farm " movement. There 

 are still some who believe that our agricultural problem 

 is to be solved by a return migration from city to farm. 

 This twilight zone of farming does not at all solve the 

 farm problem; perhaps it complicates it. It may help 

 mightily to solve the city problem, for looking at it in 

 the large way, it promises not so much an economic 

 gain for humanity as the evolution of a great welfare 

 movement. It is likely to become a real asset in im- 

 proved methods of living. It consists of a rather mis- 

 cellaneous group of activities. At present, it is more 

 in evidence in the East where the population is crowded, 

 but it arises wherever there are large cities with huge 

 factories and crowded living conditions. Let us re- 

 cite quite briefly some of the items in this twilight zone 

 of farming that is not farming. 



The Five-Acre Farm. The acreage suggested is a 

 rough measure for what might be called u a farmlet." 

 It ranges perhaps from three to ten acres. It has to be 

 carried on as a rule near a large market, under a system 

 of intensive cultivation and chiefly with vegetables, 

 fruit, poultry or some combination of these, although it 

 is quite common in some irrigated valleys in the West, 

 especially where fruit is grown. There are cases of a 

 more general type of farming practiced by the owner 

 of the " little farm well tilled," but these are excep- 

 tional. This small farm can support a family only 

 where the market is good, the soil fertile, either natu- 

 rally or under commercial fertilization, and where the 

 family can do the work without hiring extra labor, ex- 



