22 The State and the Farmer 



THE " ABANDONED FARM " AS AN ILLUSTRA- 

 TION OF THE AGRICULTURAL SHIFT 



The process of the shift in occupancy of 

 land has resulted in the desertion of some 

 areas for customary agricultural uses. Home- 

 steads have become unoccupied and the build- 

 ings have fallen into ruin. To this condition 

 the name "abandoned farms" has been ap- 

 plied. The words are inexact, since the land 

 is really not abandoned, but belongs to some 

 one, and is still classed as property; but the 

 term has become so well fixed in the public 

 mind that it expresses phases of our contem- 

 porary agriculture better than any other phrase. 

 I therefore use the term for convenience, to 

 express the idea of the lessening present use 

 of certain lands, and also because it enables 

 me to arrive at my subject without tedious ex- 

 planation. 



In the discussion of abandoned farms, we 

 have usually confused the economic and personal 

 results. Our regret for the abandonment of 

 these farms is, in fact, largely sentimental. We 



