20 CHAPTERS IN RURAL PROGRESS 



qualities of industry, patience, and perseverance. 

 The manual work of the schools is but a make- 

 shift for the old-fashioned training of the coun- 

 try-grown boy. Country life is an admirable 

 preparation for the modern industrial and 

 professional career. 



Nevertheless, rural isolation is a real evil. 

 Present-day living is so distinctively social, 

 progress is so dependent upon social agencies, 

 social development is so rapid, that if the farmer 

 is to keep his status he must be fully in step with 

 the rest of the army. He must secure the social 

 view-point. The disadvantages of rural isola- 

 tion are largely in the realm of the social rela- 

 tions, its advantages mostly on the individual 

 and moral side. Farm life makes a strong 

 individual ; it is a serious menace to the achieve- 

 ment of class power. 



A cure for isolation sometimes suggested is 

 the gathering of the farmers into villages. This 

 remedy, however, is of doubtful value. In the 

 first place, the scheme is not immediately practi- 

 cable. About three and one-half billions of 

 dollars are now invested in farm buildings, and 

 it will require some motive more powerful than 

 that inspired by academic logic to transfer, even 

 gradually, this investment to village groups. 



