Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-03-18
CITY PEOPLE
MOVING BACK
TO THE FARMS
Statistics Show That Many
Idle City Residents Take
Up Farming.

New York. March 1s.-A real estate
firm Of nation wide scope which in
valued at more than $40. 900, 900, from
Maine to California, has made public
at its offices here the interesting dis
coVery that, for the first time in many
years there arc signs Of a change in
the drift of population away from
the cities n back to the FARMS.
Recently announced federal statis-
tics showed that the aggregate popu-
latlon OF American cities, when the
canvass was made six months or
more ago., actually exceeded the ag-
gregate population Of the farming dis
trlcts, a condition unprecedented in
the country's history. This is ex-
planned by the fact hat there was an
munities to h cities, especially in the
period of abnoEmal industrial ac-
tivity during and Immediately follow
ing the war. Thousands of farmers
and members of their families came
to factory localities where, for two
or three years. they made big wages.
With the slump following the general
industrial readjustment, however.
these farmers and. in many cases.
idle city jewellers as we'll. are turning
to the farms where labor has LON
been at a premium.
The records Of the firm in question
are said to show that during the past
20 years its sales have been made in
almost unvarying proportion, two
thirds to farmers moving from one
section or state to another and one-
third to men from the cities. The
present back to the land movement,
however, it is declared, shows an al
most exact reversal Of these percent
ages, that is, t~wo-thirds of the sales
are now being made to men from the
as against one-third to farmers.
right"
Tide Changes.
THE first check in the cityward
movement" a member of this firm
stated. appears from available sta
tistics to have come late last fall,
with the Tightening of Industrial con-
dltions and consequent lack of en-
ployment in the cities. It became in
~creasingly evident this winter until in
February the tide seems to have be-
gun to flow the other way.
THE change. naturally is most
marked in the vicinity Of the indus
trial centers, the February sales in
New England, for instance. having
increased more than 200 per cent
over those Of last year, those in the
middle Atlantic states about IT'S per
cent over last year n in the steel
centers and manufacturing districts
of the central west approximately 100
per cent.
1.-THE great majority Of men going
from the cities and manufacturing
towns back to the farms are believed
to be men who came from the coun-
try originally. attracted by high
wages in industry Many of these
men accumul1e ed considerable saw
ings and % that work is uncertain
and scarce, they are using their a V
ings to purchase self-supporting
homes for themselves. rather than to
accept lower wages or to live in idle
ness while their savings are being
eaten up by high rents and other un-
a%voidable living costs in h cities"
New England Leads.
New England was said to be lead
ing the entire country in h back
to-the- land movement. While the
increase throughout the United States
is in excess Of 80 per cent greater in
February than for the same period
last veal New England's farm sales
show an increase of 200 per cent. due
to the fact that many factory work
ers who have been thrown out of
emplt yment or forced to submit to
wage reductions, have left the cities
and towns and gone into general
farming, dairying, poultry and hog
raising and bee keeping as we'll as the
cultivation of small fruits.
An interesting feature of the stu
alton is that of the 4,272 farms sold
last year. LII were disposed of in
New England. more than one-quarter
of them to residents Of other states:
while of the 300 farms sold in
other states, only 81 buyers were New
f, England pepole.