UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



, f BULLETIN No. 984 4g^ 



vjV» Contribution from **£"& 



the Office of Farm Management and Farm Economics ^ gac 

 j&g^Sl, H. C. TAYLOR, Chief dW&^SVt. 



Washington, D. C. 



December 1, 1921 



THE NATIONAL INFLUENCE OF A SINGLE FARM 



COMMUNITY. 



A Story of the Flow into National Life of Migration from the Farms. 



Emily F. Hoag, Assistant Economist, 

 (Section of Farm Life Studies, C. J. Galpin, Economist in Charge.) 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Some national aspects of farm life 1 



The present study : 5 



Description of the community 7 



Migration from the farms o f the community ... 17 



Occupations of migrants and of stay-at-homes . 35 



Achievements of migrants from the community 36 



Connections of Belleville community with 

 national life 42 



Persistent families remaining on the farms of 

 the community 47 



Conclusions 52 



SOME NATIONAL ASPECTS OF FARM LIFE. 



IT IS A HARD MATTER TO KEEP FARM LIFE AND CITY LIFE IN BALANCE. 



It is to the best interest of a nation to keep its basic occupations 

 in a practical equilibrium. . In our own country, agriculture, manu- 

 facturing, transportation, merchandising, and professional service — 

 strong competitors with one another for both capital and workers — 

 are all expected to hold their own. But our most basic occupation, 

 agriculture, seems to be in periodic danger of losing its grip on both 

 capital and men and of allowing them to slip away into city industries. 



Statesmen have always "viewed with alarm" the tip of the scales 

 from farming to industry and from country life to city life. When 

 the farm loses its balance to the city, national life is threatened with 

 a food shortage, or with dependence upon foreign countries for food 

 essentials; but the shortage of food is not the only danger. When 

 the American farmer begins to lose ground, the stability of the nation 

 is disturbed ; and out of this disquieting situation grows a peril which 

 menaces the very seed beds of national life. 



FARM COMMUNITIES BREAK UP WHEN STRONG FAMILIES LEAVE. 



The rural community, underlain by the occupation of farming, has 

 always rightly been looked upon, in America at least, as the seed plot 

 from which virile young humans are constantly being taken up by 

 the roots and transplanted into national life and enterprise. 



54705°— 21— Bull. 984 1 



