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economic institutions if the old ones (:3n be made to function a while longer; to have a conservative outlook on money matters; and to insist upon maintaining rather large physical and monetary reserves. The drought proved rather conclusively that some farming methods imported to the frontier were not suited to the environment of the basin, particularly the plains portion. Economic hardships of the drought undoubtedly speeded acceptance of a large number of agricultural innovations which thereafter came into widespread use. During the "thirties" and early "forlies," the tractor almost completely replaced the horse as the farm power ullit, the combine made the threshing machine obsolete, and the introduction of several farm implements such as the disc plow made it feasible to apply stubble mulching and other dry-land farming methods to large acreages. Irrigation. spurred by more efticient equipment and methods, increased throughout the great plains and moved eastward into the traditional corn-belt areas. With the advent of modern farm machinery, the small acreage subsistence farm has largely been replaced by the large commercial Dperation. The generally concurrent drought and depression were instrumental in bringing about important changes in agricultural land use. During the settlement period, the land use emphasis had been on exploitation of the soil resources. Dust storms of the 1930's proved that this was a situation which neither the basin nor the Nation could afford. The result was a number of governmental programs which provided economic incentives and technical assistance for soil and water conservtltion. Perhtlps more important, the agriculturalists tlnd residents at large came to realize that maintenance of the soil resources and the fullest practicable water usage was in their best interests. '- '.- Fallowland Strip Farming Conserves Limited Soil Moisture for Crops 26 Further, the 1930's made the NatiDIl aware of the morc seriDus economic and social problems within agriculture. For the first time in its history, the Federal Government initiated progr:.tms to diredly control agricultur:.tl production. to deal with surpluses. to try to increase and stabilize the incDmes of rural families. and to make rural life easier. The total effect of the adoption of better farming methods, specialization, better land use. and. the govern- mental programs was a revolution in agriculture. 10\31 production climbed dramatically, the efliciency ur a single farmer increased markedly. and many of the hardships of rural life disappeared. In fact. electrification of the rural areas through the REA's, the advent of modern communications, and the improvcment of trans. portation have been of tremendous importance in allowing the rural people to partake of goods ilnd seJVices enjoyed by the rest of society. The 1930's accelerated an out-migration of the rural population. Basin cDunties as <t whole probably had their greatest rural population about J 930, and h<lve since shown :1 rather steady decline. 'f the fmnt\er was thought of as a safety nive for migration of the eastern populations during the setlle- menl period, the cities of the Nation can be thought of as being a safety valve for the rural population out- migratiDn since the 1930's. The vast majority of the population leaving the basin's farms has migrated to cities located both within and outside the b3sin. Few have bel.:omc farmers in other areas. In some instances the urban areas have provided the out-migrants with a better standard of living and greater opportunities for a livelihood_ A decreasing population is not necessarily an inherent disadvantage, but the sparse rural population within much of the basin has been, and is now at a point where it is too small to support many of the commonly accepted institutional patterns. The decreasing rural population has strained the physical and I1nancial strength of such institution:s as churches, schools, and local governmental units. It is not easy to measure the extent of the sDcial costs of space, but there is nD doubt that they exist. Many of the costs occur in the form of subsidies made by local, State, and Federal Governments. In contfilst with rural .problems of decreasing population are the problems arising from Dut-migratiDn to congested urban areas. Rural electrification and the RFD are ex.amples where other segments of the population provjde a subsidy for their services in the sparsely settled 3reas. Other mDunting social costs are not always apparent currently. but become evident with lime. Inadequ,lte schooling may not be apparent until college entrance examinatiDns are taken. The costs of maintaining a two-dwelling household for school purposes, one on the farm and the other in town, represent a higher social cost of space