301. OTHER ECONOMIC NEEDS OF THE FARMER.—The economic position of the farmer has been materially strengthened within the last forty years, yet much remains to be done before farming may be considered an altogether satisfactory and attractive occupation. Tenancy in rural districts needs to be studied carefully. Tenancy is not necessarily an evil, especially where it is a step toward ownership, but its rapid increase in this country has caused many serious problems to arise. From both the economic and the social point of view it is desirable that farmers own their land. Tenants have no permanent interest in the upkeep of the farm or in the rural community. Where tenancy is widespread, land and buildings deteriorate, and the development of rural institutions is slow.
Machinery is shortening the hours of labor for the farmer, and scientific farming is increasing his efficiency; nevertheless, in most sections of the country rural life still means long hours of hard labor for small returns. Many farmers still work ten hours a day in winter, twelve in summer, and from thirteen to fifteen in the harvest season. Despite this sustained effort, the perishable character of his product, the uncertainty of weather conditions, and his dependence upon commission dealers, too often jeopardize the returns to the farmer.
302. RURAL HEALTH.—We have noticed that in some cases people have moved to the city because in the country doctors tend to be both scarce and poorly trained, while frequently hospitals are inaccessible.
Recently a number of influences are counteracting this relative backwardness. The isolation of the rural dweller is disappearing before the automobile and the telephone. In many sections able doctors are increasingly plentiful. In most rural districts which are near large cities, there is now an efficient system of visiting nurses, free clinics, and health bulletins. Health campaigns are spreading the fundamental principles of sanitation into many of the outlying districts also.
But these measures, while helpful, are only a beginning. In the more isolated rural sections especially, ignorance of sanitary methods is still a serious evil. Many rural dwellers still rely upon traditional but ineffective remedies for common complaints. Quacks having nostrums and injurious patent medicines to sell often prey upon rural communities in which there is no adequate provision for doctors, nurses, and hospitals. Rural diet is often so heavy as to encourage stomach disorders. Farmhouses are in many cases poorly ventilated in summer and overheated in winter. Stables and stock pens are invariably so close to the farmhouse as to render difficult the protection of the dwelling against flies and mosquitoes.
303. THE RURAL SCHOOL.—The chief educational institution in rural districts has long been the small district school, inadequately supported and often inefficiently conducted.
But recently rural education has shown many signs of improvement. In most sections of the country the development of farm machinery has so reduced the amount of manual labor on the farm that rural children are enabled to remain in school for a longer period than formerly. The district school is in many cases being supplanted by the consolidated school. Under the consolidation plan, a single large and well-equipped school-house takes the place of a number of separate, small schools, indifferently equipped. When consolidation is accompanied by improved means of transporting children to school, the advantages of the plan are numerous. Because consolidation is a more economical arrangement than the old district plan, it allows larger salaries to be offered. This in turn allows the rural school to secure a higher grade of teacher. The trained educator is also attracted by the fact that the consolidation of rural schools allows curricula to be standardized and enlarged. Scientific agriculture and allied subjects are slowly finding their way into the rural grade school. The rural high school is beginning to appear.
In some sections of the country, on the other hand, the rural school is still in an unsatisfactory condition. In a number of states the rural school needs a more intelligent and consistent support from the taxpayers, in order that better teachers, more and better schoolhouses, and better working equipment may be provided. In many sections of the country there is very little understanding of the advantages of school consolidation and the necessity of more adequate rural education. It is desirable that rural schools be more closely correlated with the admirable work being done by experiment stations and agricultural colleges. The agricultural press might well co÷perate with the rural schools in attacking the problems of country life. Without doubt the rural school curriculum should place more emphasis upon practical agriculture and other subjects which will demonstrate the dignity and attractiveness of rural life. Finally, it is desirable that an increasing use be made of the schoolhouse as a social center.
304. THE RURAL CHURCH.—The rural church, though an older institution than the rural school, is advancing less rapidly. In many sections the cityward drift has drained the able ministers to the city, leaving inferior men to carry on the work of the rural church. Other rural sections have never had the benefit of an able clergy. In every part of the country it often happens that country ministers are not only inadequately trained, but are uninterested in rural problems.
One of the greatest needs of the American farming community, therefore, is for a vitalized church. In many places rural districts are overchurched, and there is great need of some such consolidation as has been developed among rural schools. This development would so decrease the number of ministers needed that higher salaries could be offered. This, in turn, would attract more highly trained ministers to the country. It is also desirable that rural ministers be trained to a keener appreciation of the economic and social problems of the country, with a view to making religion a practical help in solving the problems of everyday life. An efficient and vitalized church could advantageously be used as a focal point for the development of every phase of rural community life.