Speech #630121579

For many years there has been a constant drift of rural population to the towns and cities. In 1880. 70 per cent of the population was rural. while in 1910 only 53 per cent of our i)eople lived upon our farms. With our population increasing at the rate of 2.000.000 a year and 1.500.000 of these being foreign immigrants. who will not go upon the farm. but remain in our cities and must be fed. the question of stopping this movement away from the farm becomes an important one. Many farms. have already been deserted throughout the country. and the only way to change this condition is to make farm life as attractive and as profitable as city life. and this can be done only through a systematic effort to redirect rural methods and ideals. Mr.