The Devils Lake world., 1922-11-08
The Farmer in The
Commonwealth
By RALPH H. GABRIEL
prof. Of History, Yale University

By RALPH H. GABRIEL
| prof. of History, Yale University
"The farmer group Of America was not
built up by the evolutionary method OF
the selection OF the fit and the elimination
Of the unfit. The process was quite the
reverse. Democracy's policy Of lavish
distribution Qf the rich bounty Of nature
gave the inefficient an equal chance with
The efficient, the farmer with ths map who
knew nothing OF agriculture. 1t is doubt
full if the penalty for individual failure,
either on the fields or in the city, has ever
been so light as in America Of the nine
teenth century when the down-and-out
could still 60 west. OF such materials
the American farmer group was originally
composed. Is it surprising that this
group, until recently practically isolated
from contemporaneous civilization, should,
at times, bring forth strange things? The
security enjoyed by the nineteenth CEN
fury is paid for, in part, by the socialistic,
Non Partisan League of the twentieth.
"But the picture is not all dark; the
very disadvantages Of the farmer group
proved advantageous. The equality of
the frontier that enticed the derelict de-
veloped sturdy independence and an
outstanding individualsm that has separ-
ated the farmer Of America from the
peasant Of Europe by an impossible
gulf. The very isolation of the primitive
frontier that brought intellectual stag
nation developed that aggressive resource
fulness upon which success is built. Out
Of the composite Of peoples that crossed
the Appalachians came the American.
Though many Of the abler men left the
farm for the cities, in more cases than We
know the love Of the soil remained with
them. From these, for the most part,
were recruited that army OF experiment.
ers who, in the last half Of the nineteenti
century, brought into being the science
Of agriculture.
A New Epoch.
THE last decade of the nineteenth
century saw the conclusion Of the old
epoch in American farming and the be-
ginning Of the new agrarianism The
frontier disappeared bringing to an end
the timeworn process Of increasing agri-
cultural products by taking up new lands.
Escape from the rigors Of competition
was cut off. Moreover. the rolling prairie
country had been covered with network
Of railroads and the haunts OF the bison
shook under the wheels Of hurrying loco
motives As free land disappeared and
the country filled up with people, land
values rose and farms became costly.
Ex-secretary Meredith rece ent ~
announced that, in the forty years from
1860 to 1900, during most of which time
the frontier was an active force, farm
values increased only twenty per cent.
In 1920, they were FIVE times as great as
in 1900, and the end is not yet. Not only
have farms become costly but the tools
which have replaced the scythe and cradle
have greatly increased in expense. The
result Of these changes is that farming has
passed out Of the simple, almost primitive
development Of the mid-nineteenth cen
tury and become capitalstic enterprise.
Purged of Riaraf.
"The change is one Of the fundamental
factors in the new agrarianism. 1t is a
change which has brought inexorable
competition into the farmer group and a
wedding out Of the unfit and the inefficient.
The purge Of the riffraf that flooded the
farming areas Of America during the
years in which they served as the safety
valve of the nation has begun. The grow
Ing keennsss of this competition ha,
played no inconsiderable part in breaking
down the lethargy of "old habits already
and insensibly acquired without any ex.
pense Of thought" and in bringing open
mindedness to the new agricultural science
For more than quarter Of century
the land grant colleges and the State and
Natlooal experiment stations developed
this science against the day when ther.
fhould be no more unoccupied land
They foresaw that, when it came, foot
production must be increased by the us,
Of better methods. To abolish the inerti,
Of the traditional farmer and to put tn,
new science actually at work behind th,
plough was the task which lay ahead
The beginning Of the solution Of thi
problem is at the very centre Of tn
agrarian movement Of the first quartz
ofthe twentieth century.
Apotsnt Factor.
almost overnight, the Farm Burea,
has become q factor Of major nations
importance. It must not be believe
that this Is the only farmers' organization
There are active survivals Of earlier q
ganizations Of which the Grange q prob
ably the most powerful and most useful
Furthermore there are organizations q
specialists within the agricultural 6el
such a. the Dairymen's League and tn
National Wool Grower Association
The centre Of this complex Of organize
.tions, however, Is to be found In the Farr
ns,1An,,