. The community idea is fairly well established as
an essential of rural social organization.

One might gain the impression that the community is a new discovery or
social invention were he to read only the current discussions. It is,
however, a form of social organization as old as agriculture itself, but
which was very largely neglected in the settlement of the larger part of
the United States. This new emphasis on the community is, therefore, but
the revival in a new form of a very ancient mode of human association.
The community becomes essential because the conditions of rural life
have changed and rural people are again being forced to act together in
locality groups to meet the needs of their common life.

The author has attempted to define the rural community and to describe
the new conditions which are determining its structure and shaping its
functions, in the belief that an understanding of the nature of the
rural community should aid those who are seeking to secure a better
social adjustment of the countryside. It attempts to relate "The Farmer
and His Community." The problems and methods of community organization
have been discussed but incidentally, and the book is not designed as a
handbook for community development. Its chief aim is to establish a
point of view with regard to the rural community as an essential unit
for rural social organization through a sociological analysis of the
past history and present tendencies of the various forms of associations
which seem necessary for a satisfying rural society. It is hoped that
such an analysis presented in an untechnical manner may be of service to
rural leaders who are working for the development of country life by
giving them a better understanding of the nature of the community and
therefore a firmer faith in its future and greater enthusiasm and
loyalty in its service.

The present volume is a brief summary of a more extended study of the
rural community, not only in this country but in other lands and in
other times, which is now in preparation for publication.

DWIGHT SANDERSON.

CORNELL UNIVERSITY. _May, 1922._

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE RURAL COMMUNITY 3

II. THE FARM HOME AND THE COMMUNITY 14

III. THE COMMUNITY'S PEOPLE AND HISTORY 29

IV. COMMUNICATION THE MEANS OF COMMUNITY LIFE 37