File:Country life and the country school- a study of the agencies of rural progress and of the social relationship of the school to the country community (1912) (14763729592).jpg

Identifier: countrylifecount01carn (find matches)
Title: Country life and the country school: a study of the agencies of rural progress and of the social relationship of the school to the country community
Year: 1912 (1910s)
Authors: Carney, Mabel, 1885-
Subjects: Schools Rural schools Country life
Publisher: Chicago, Row, Peterson and company
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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shall be satisfactory from its own viewpoint.When this is done it will be found that the city has benefitedalso, and that there is no clash between urban and rural wel-fare in their best realizations. Cause: Isolation in Country Life. In the last analysisthe cause of most of the difficulties of country life can be tracedto its openness and isolation. In this respect country life inAmerica contrasts strongly with that of Europe. Americanfarms average about one hundred forty-five acres, and homesare often a mile or more apart; separated in many sec- THE FARM PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION 5 tions by a despondent stretch of mud and mire. In Europe,on the other hand, land holdings are small, and rural homespractically constitute scattered but continuous villages con-nected by good hard roads, centuries old. In America, espe-cially during the winter and early spring, bad roads alonemake hermits of many farm families. The snow-bound dayspictured by Whittier in his charming idyl are no longer fre-
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Mud-stuck Days are Still a Reality quent occurrences, but less poetic, mud-stuck days are still areality. Another factor of this isolation not to be disregarded is thefact that the farm home is almost complete in itself. Farmersproduce their own food supply and can exist for days whollycut off from their fellow-men. In case of severe storms orimpassable roads, this state of existence may be continued 6 COUNTRY LIFE AND THE COUNTRY SCHOOL for weeks, especially by women, and some families, unfor-tunately, are willing to tolerate a semi-exclusive mode of lifeeven when circumstances become more favorable. Physicalisolation and the economic independence of the farm home arethus two fundamental causes of social isolation which, in turn,results in conditions making the farm situation, as a whole,problematic. The effects of social isolation in country life aremanifested in various ways. The well-known conservative attitude of farmers on allnew undertakings is the most noticeable of these. Whe

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