12 CHAPTERS IN RURAL PROGRESS 



soil. We are astounded, and perhaps alarmed, 

 at the great centralization of capital, possibly 

 not realizing that the capital invested in agricul- 

 ture in the United States nearly equals the com- 

 bined capital invested in the manufacturing and 

 railway industries. But if we pause to consider 

 the scope and nature of the economic and 

 social interests involved, we cannot avoid the 

 conclusion that the farm problem is worthy of 

 serious thought from students of our national 

 welfare. 



We are aware that agriculture does not hold 

 the same relative rank among our industries that 

 it did in former years, and that our city popula- 

 tion has increased far more rapidly than has our 

 rural population. We ' do not ignore the fact 

 that urban industries are developing more 

 rapidly than is agriculture, nor deny the serious- 

 ness of the actual depletion of rural population, 

 and even of community decadence, in some 

 portions of the Union. But these facts merely 

 add to the importance of the farm question. 

 And it should not be forgotten that there has 

 been a large and constant growth both of our 

 agricultural wealth and of our rural population. 

 During the last half-century there was a gain of 

 500 per cent, in the value of farm property, while 



