Not an Isolated Question 45 



my readers will at once see that a wholly 

 unlike line of thought might have evolved 

 from the discussion and wholly different con- 

 clusions might have been reached. There is 

 really no problem of abandoned farms as such. 

 The so-called abandonment of farms does not 

 represent one condition but many conditions ; 

 not one series of facts but many series of 

 facts; not one forthcoming result but many 

 results. The condition of agriculture, even 

 though we admit it to be bad in many particu- 

 lars, is not a cause for alarm, but is rather a 

 reason for new and careful study. Nor does this 

 condition affect agriculture alone; it is rather 

 a problem of economic evolution, that con- 

 cerns the organization of society, and consid- 

 eration of it cannot be separated from the dis- 

 cussion of general welfare questions of the day. 

 Mere public propaganda cannot solve these 

 questions of land occupancy. Associations 

 and conventions cannot solve them. Importa- 

 tions of labor cannot solve them, much as it 

 may help the individual farmer here and there. 

 It is a debatable question whether we should 



