mmercial salesman or
some city business man decrying the effect of automobiles on farmers,
claiming that they are neglecting their work while chasing around the
country having a good time. Doubtless in occasional instances this is as
true of the farmer as it is of the townsman, but such farmers will soon
come to their senses or get off the farm, and even were there a general
tendency of this sort in some communities it must be regarded as the
temporary excitement of a new experience. On the other hand, the
breaking down of the old stolidity which dominated many a farmer who had
become so accustomed to work day in and day out that he was hardly happy
when he had a chance for recreation, and the creation of a wholesome
desire for a larger experience and more association with others, is one
of the largest gains in country life and will not only raise the
standards of living, but will be a potent incentive for better
agricultural methods. There can be no progress without a certain amount
of dissatisfaction. Contentedness has its virtues, but it may
degenerate into inertia and the death of all desire for better life.

On the other hand, the automobile and trolley have made it possible for
farm people to easily reach the towns and there attend movies and other
commercial amusements and to take part in the social life of the town
and city. This may weaken the social life of the rural community, and it
also tends to make rural people imitate the forms of play, recreation,
and social life of the city, which are not necessarily best suited to
rural life. When rural people come to appreciate that those forms of
play and recreation which are native or are adapted to the country have
many advantages over those of their city cousins, and in many ways may
have higher values and satisfactions, they will give more heed to
developing those which are most suitable for their enjoyment. Because
various kinds of expensive play apparatus are desirable for the small
playground of the city, which is crowded with hundreds of children, is
no reason why similar apparatus should be thought necessary for the
school-yard of the rural school. Many of the present tendencies of
recreation in cities are but revivals of rural customs which are
receiving new recognition because they appeal to that which is innate in
human nature. What is community singing but a variation of the
old-fashioned singing school? Folk-dancing originated in the country as
an expr