RURAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 157 



Domestic Industries 



In regard to domestic industries carried on in the homes of the 

 people comparatively little has been done to promote them on this 

 continent and, no doubt, they will be very difficult to establish in a 

 country which has such a scattered, cosmopolitan and restless popu- 

 lation as that of rural Canada. In France and Belgium the people 

 have been long trained to make small articles in their homes during 

 the periods of the year when they are not engaged in cultivating 

 their farms. They are firmly rooted in their respective localities 

 and accustomed to practise small economies, thus being restful and 

 contented with their simple surroundings and small, but steady, 

 incomes. In Canada the rural population is more independent and 

 enterprising, and less tied by family traditions and personal associa- 

 tions to the localities in which they live. Farms in Canada are larger 

 than those in the European countries where domestic industries have 

 succeeded, and, although the economic conditions are such that a 

 great part of the winter would seem to be suitable only for indoor 

 occupations, it is said that farmers, as a rule, have plenty to do in 

 the winter in connection with the work of the farm. 



No doubt there is less idleness on the farm in the winter than 

 some people seem to believe and probably there is not the same need for 

 domestic industries in Canada as in countries where small agricul- 

 tural holdings exist and the people live closer together and enjoy good 

 facilities for distributing the products of their labour. But every- 

 thing that can be done to bring agriculture and manufacture closer 

 together and to develop, on the part of the farmer and his family, 

 the skill and social interest which can be developed in connection with 

 domestic industries, will be of considerable value to the country. 

 Agriculture is the parent of manufacture and the closer identification 

 of the two classes of industry is necessary in the interests of economic 

 production. The farmer and his family also need the ready money 

 which domestic manufacture would bring them, particularly in lean 

 years and during slack seasons. More young people could be kept 

 on the farm if there was suitable occupation for them of a kind which 

 would develop their artistic faculties and give them a greater interest 

 in creative work. With more intensive cultivation and increased 

 occupation for the young people on the farms and in rural villages 

 we would thereby be able to improve the social conditions and the 

 co-operative facilities which can only come with increased rural popu- 

 lation. In proportion as we could successfully develop domestic 

 industries we would be able to eliminate the cost of distribution and 



