4 CHAPTERS IN RURAL PROGRESS 



intelligent notions of affairs should be ignorant 

 of the forces that control rural life. 



In view of this apparent change in the attitude 

 of people toward the farm problem, it may not 

 be idle to suggest some possible errors that 

 should be avoided when we are thinking of rural 

 society. The student will doubtless approach 

 his problem fortified against misconceptions he 

 probably has thoughtfully established his view- 

 point. But the average person in the city is 

 likely to call up the image of his ancestral home 

 of a generation ago, if he were born in the coun- 

 try, or, if not, to draw upon his observations 

 made on a summer vacation or on casual business 

 trips into the interior. Or he takes his picture 

 from Shore Acres and the Old Homestead. In 

 any case it is not improbable that the image may 

 be faulty and as a consequence his appreciation 

 of present conditions wholly inadequate. Let 

 us consider some of these possible sources of 

 misconception. 



In the first place it is not fair to compare 

 country life as a whole with the best city condi- 

 tions. This is often done. The observer usu- 

 ally has education, culture, leisure, the experience 

 of travel, more or less wealth ; his acquaintance 

 is mostly with people of like attainments. When 



