The National Influence of a Single Farm Community
Title
The National Influence of a Single Farm Community
A Story of the Flow Into National Life of Migration From the Farms
Date
1921
Relation
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Bulletin Number 984
Subject
Excerpt
THE PRESENT STUDY
An initial study of migration from farm life is presented in the following pages. Attention is centered minutely upon a single representative farm community, and the story of migration over a series of years is unrolled so that one may plainly see it at work on single farm units as well as in a single community unit.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
As already stated, migration is a process natural to farm life and necessary to national life and very likely inevitable from either point of view. Danger to farm, to farm community, and to the Nation lies especially in too much migration. In our study, therefore, we shall consider migration as basically normal and good, rather than basically abriormal and evil.
At the present time (1920) the loss of workers from agriculture to city industry is so pronounced that one may be inclined to over- look the fact that migration is a normal condition of farm life. But it is hoped that in a study of the normal aspects of migration there will be disclosed some of the methods of preventing the evils of overmigration on the one hand and undermigration on the other.
The problem may be stated in this way: What are the facts surrounding and accompanying migration from the farms — especially with reference to the proportion of persons migrating; with reference to the character of the persons remaining; and to the conditions which render the farm community stable and prosperous in spite of its contribution of strong young people to the city; and with reference also to the occupations recruited from country-bred people; in fact, to the whole role in national life of the local farm community?
An initial study of migration from farm life is presented in the following pages. Attention is centered minutely upon a single representative farm community, and the story of migration over a series of years is unrolled so that one may plainly see it at work on single farm units as well as in a single community unit.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
As already stated, migration is a process natural to farm life and necessary to national life and very likely inevitable from either point of view. Danger to farm, to farm community, and to the Nation lies especially in too much migration. In our study, therefore, we shall consider migration as basically normal and good, rather than basically abriormal and evil.
At the present time (1920) the loss of workers from agriculture to city industry is so pronounced that one may be inclined to over- look the fact that migration is a normal condition of farm life. But it is hoped that in a study of the normal aspects of migration there will be disclosed some of the methods of preventing the evils of overmigration on the one hand and undermigration on the other.
The problem may be stated in this way: What are the facts surrounding and accompanying migration from the farms — especially with reference to the proportion of persons migrating; with reference to the character of the persons remaining; and to the conditions which render the farm community stable and prosperous in spite of its contribution of strong young people to the city; and with reference also to the occupations recruited from country-bred people; in fact, to the whole role in national life of the local farm community?
Publisher
U.S. Department of Agriculture