i8 CHAPTERS IN RURAL PROGRESS 



Habits, ideas, traditions, and ideals have long 

 life in the rural community. Changes come 

 slowly. There is a tendency to tread the well- 

 worn paths. The farmer does not easily keep 

 in touch with rapid modern development, unless 

 the movements or methods directly affect him. 

 Physical agencies which improve social condi- 

 tions, such as electric lights, telephones, and 

 pavements, come to the city first. The atmos- 

 phere of the country speaks peace and quiet. 

 Nature's routine of sunshine and storm, of 

 summer and winter, encourages routine and 

 repetition in the man who works with her. 



A complement of this rural conservatism, 

 which at first thought seems a paradox, but 

 which probably grows out of these same condi- 

 tions of isolation, is the intense radicalism of a 

 rural community when once it breaks away from 

 its moorings. Many farmers are unduly suspi- 

 cious of others' motives; yet the same people 

 often succumb to the wiles of the charlatan, 

 whether medical or political. Farmers are 

 usually conservative in politics and intensely 

 loyal to party ; but the Populist movement indi- 

 cates the tendency to extremes when the old 

 allegiance is left behind. Old methods of farm- 

 ing may be found alongside ill-considered 



