land for their own sake as well as for the sake
of their children.

In this connection the most interesting fact is the new interest in
country life opportunity which city boys and young men are manifesting.
The discontented country boy who has come to seek his fortune in the city
finds there the city boy anxious to fit himself for a successful life in
the country! In view of the facts, the farm boy tired of the old farm
ought to ponder well Fishin' 'Zeke's philosophy:

"Fish don't bite just for the wishin',
Keep a pullin'!
Change your bait and keep on fishin';
Keep a pullin'!
Luck ain't nailed to any spot;
_Men you envy, like as not,
Envy you your job and lot!_
Keep a pullin'!"

In many agricultural colleges and state universities, we find an
increasing proportion of students _coming from the cities_ for training in
the science of agriculture and the arts of rural life. This is a very
significant and encouraging fact. It shows us that the tide has begun to
turn. Rural life is coming to its own, for country life is beginning to be
appreciated again after several decades of disfavor and neglect. Our
purpose in this chapter is to discuss these matters in detail.

It is difficult to find a more comprehensive statement of the
attractiveness of country life, in concrete terms, than this fine bit of
rural optimism entitled The Country Boy's Creed:

THE COUNTRY BOY'S CREED

"I believe that the country which God made is more beautiful than the
city which man made; that life out-of-doors and in touch with the
earth is the natural life of man. I believe that work is work
wherever I find it; but that work with Nature is more inspiring than
work with the most intricate machinery. I believe that the dignity of
labor depends not on what you do, but on how you do it; that
opportunity comes to a boy on the farm as often as to a boy in the
city; that life is larger and freer and happier on the farm than in
the town; that my success depends not upon my location, but upon
myself,--not upon my dreams, but upon what I actually do, not upon
luck but upon pluck. I believe in working when you work and playing
when you play, and in giving and demanding a square deal in every act
of life."[12]

There are many contented country boys in comfortable modern homes and
prosperous rural communities, who