ependency of the isolated community, but we
must give further consideration to the influence of markets on rural
community life, for the world is now facing problems of the readjustment
of its whole economic system which necessitate a better understanding by
the farmer of his dependence on markets and by urban populations of
their dependence upon the raw materials produced by the farm, if the
mechanism of our complex modern civilization is to be maintained. These
relations involve the largest questions of the interdependence of
industries and of national and international policy in relation thereto,
and we can but call attention to some of the more fundamental principles
involved. An understanding of some of the elementary principles of
agricultural economy in relation to national and international economy
by the masses of our farmers, but particularly by their local leaders,
is essential to any permanent progress not only of agriculture, but of
industry and commerce.

Before the time of railroads when rural communities were isolated from
the few cities situated on the seaboard and along the larger waterways,
there was little incentive for the inland farmer to raise more than he
needed for the use of his own family. As a result there was inefficient
farming and a low standard of living.[25] Railroad transportation made
it possible for the farmer to send his products to the existing markets
and so made it an object for him to produce a surplus, but, more
important, it also made possible the rapid growth of numerous industrial
and commercial centers and so was directly responsible for the creation
of new and growing markets. Steam power, the use of coal, and the
economies of the factory system made it possible to manufacture in large
city factories many articles previously produced in the farmer's home or
in the village centers. Thus a division of labor was effected which was
profitable to all parties; the growth of industrial populations gave the
farmer a market for his produce, and in turn he was able to purchase
from the city many goods previously unknown to the farm--fertilizers,
agricultural machinery, factory-made clothing, furniture, and other
factory products too numerous to mention. Furthermore, transportation
and reasonably stable government made possible the growth of
international commerce so that the markets of many staple farm products
became practically world-wide and a division of labor arose between
certa