UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 984 tfjA 
Contribution from *lffl^^^il? 1 ' 
Br 
^J^" the Office of Farm Management and Farm Economics 
jZfr^^U H - c - TAYLOR, Chief S&? 
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 of the community. . . 17 
Occupations of migrants and of stay-at-homes . 35 
Achievements of migrants from the community 36 
Page. 
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 
