iHar^Ianli

MADE BY THE

DEPARTMENT OF CHURCH AND COUNTRY LIFE

OF THE

y

R

55

^3

7

912

BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
IN THE U.S. A.

Warren H. Wilson, Ph.D., Superintendent
Anna B. Taft, Assistant Superintendent

1 56 Fifth Avenue, New York City

3R 555 .MJ P7 1912
Presbyterian Church in the

U.S.A. Board of Home
A rural survey in Maryland

-/y

^ 3^ural giur^e^ in

■;38 ^

MADE BY THE

DEPARTMENT OF CHURCH AND COUNTRY LIFE

OF THE

BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
IN THE U. S. A.

Warren H. Wilson, Ph.D., Superintendent
Anna B. Taft, Assistant Superintendent

1 56 Fifth Avenue, New York City

The Field Work in this investigation was done by E. Fred Eastman
and Hermann N. Morse

a JHarplanli ^urtep

This report embodies the results of a Sociological Survey of Montgom-
ery County, Maryland, which was undertaken by this department at the
instance, and conducted under the auspices, of The Montgomery County
Country Life Committee. Hence an introductory word as to the origin
and nature of this committee is not out of place here. In September,
1911, the Hon. Willet M. Hays, Assistant Secretary of the United States
Department of Agriculture, invited 53 representative men and women,
residents of Montgomery County, to meet at his home to consider the
feasibility of organizing a Country Life Federation for the County. In
order that the form of organization to be adopted might be wrought
out with the good of the farming community as a wlwle for its prime
purpose, the choice of those invited to attend was based upon geo-
graphical distribution, 17 centres being recognized and three or four
selected from each centre. As a result of this meeting, which was held
on September 29, the Montgomery County Country Life Committee was
provisionally organized, with the avowed aim of making Montgomery
County the Model Rural County of the United States. In the judgement
of the committee, the first necessary step toward this end, without
which no other step could well be taken, was to determine the exact
present status of affairs in the county. In accordance with this idea,
its first official act was to decide upon the undertaking of a Sociological
Survey, with the end in view of obtaining, as a scientific basis for future
work of improvement, accurate information concerning the prevailing
economic, social, educational and religious conditions throughout the
county. The following resolution was adopted: "Resolved: That
the Montgomery County Country Life Committee invite the Presby-
terian Department of Church and Country Life, and the Interstate
Executive Committee of the Y. M. C. A. of Delaware, Maryland, and
District of Columbia, to assist in making a Social Life Survey of Mont-
gomery County." The Interstate Y. M. C. A. was to cooperate by
raising funds to pay part of the expenses of the survey. The actual
work of investigation was undertaken for the Presbyterian Department
of Church and Country Life by the Superintendent, Dr. Warren H.
Wilson. The department also met the bulk of the expense and published
the results. Two field investigators, E. Fred Eastman and Hermann
N. Morse, were detailed for this work which was begun in January,
1912, and finished in April,

3

The Investigators desire at this point to express their personal thanks,
and the thanks of the Department of Church and Country Life, to all
those whose assistance and unfailing kindness made their work possible
of accomplishment. Maryland hosi)itality is not an over-praised in-
stitution, as they discovered to their complete satisfaction.

In particular, they are under obligations to the members of the Country
Life Committee, to its founder, Prof. Hays, and to its Secretary, Mr.
Earle B. Wood, the County Superintendent of Schools. Mr. Wood's
assistance, which was important for every branch of the survey, was of
especial aid in making the study of the schools complete and accurate.
Thanks are also due to Mr. A. C. Monahan of the United States Bureau
of Education for counsel and assistance.

LOCATION AND TOPOGRAPHY

Foreword

A certain historic interest attaches to the county. It was born with
the Republic, being formed out of the "Lower District of Frederick"
in 1776. Its part in all the wars the United States has waged, including
the Revolution, has been an honorable one, and it has also furnished its
share of those who have had charge of the destinies of both nation and
state. The village of Brookeville was at one time temporary Capital
of the United States. Citizens of Rockville point out an old tavern,
still standing, where George Washington was once entertained, and in
which the first Court convened under the Republic in the county held
its sessions.

Location

Montgomery County has the natural advantage of a location both
beautiful and economically convenient. It lies along the Potomac
from the District of Columbia to the Monococy River. The adjoining
Maryland Counties are Frederick, Howard, and Prince George's. The
District of Columbia and Loudon and Fairfax Counties, Virginia, form
the remainder of its boundary line. The greatest dimension of the
county is from Harrison's Island in the Potomac due East to the Pautux-
ent River at the point where Montgomery, Howard and Prince George's
Counties meet, a distance of about 35 miles; while a line drawn from the
northernmost point of the county due south to Cabin John on the
Potomac would measure 26 miles. The total area of the county is
estimated as 521 square miles.

Civil Divisions

The county is divided into 13 minor civil divisions called Election
Districts. These are, in the order of their numerical sequence, Lay-
tonsville, Clarksburg, Poolesville, Rockville, Colesville, Darnestown,

4

Bethesda, Olney, Gaithersburg, Potomac, Barnesville, Damascus and
Wheaton. The town of Rockville in the Rockville District is the
County Seat.

Topography

In general, the land is high and its surface is rolling, in some sections
quite hilly. The average height above mean sea level for the whole
county is approximately 431.5 feet, the highest point being in the Damas-
cus District, 822 feet. The centres of population are almost always the
highest points in their respective neighborhoods. Generally speaking,
the towns are so situated that the land slopes off in every direction.
The following tables give the average height above mean sea level for
the Districts and the elevation of the towns and villages within the
Districts.

Average Height Vill^crP Height Above

District Above Mean r T w Mean Sea

Sea Level Level

Laytonsville 528.6 ft. Laytonsville 615 ft.

Clarksburg 560. " Clarksburg 661 "

Poolesville 319. '' Poolesville 390 "

Martinsburg 413 "

Rockville 391 . " Rockville 451 "

Colesville 474.6 " Spencerville .516 "

Burtonsville . . .500 "

Darnestown 342.9 " Quince Orchard 435 "

Darnestown 400 "

Bethesda 282.2 " Chevy Chase 300 "

Olney 449. " Olney 544 "

Sandy Spring 500 "

Gaithersburg 429 . 1 " Gaithersburg 508 "

Germantown 475 "

Potomac 329.6 " Potomac 364 "

Barnesville 475. " Barnesville 575 "

Boyds 400 "

Damascus 665.5 " Damascus 787 "

Wheaton 342.9 " Wheaton 459 "

As is usually the case with rolling, partially- wooded land, the country
has much picturesque scenery. Almost every hill-top is a vantage point
for the viewing of rich and varied country. In every direction it is
dissected by creeks and runs, none of very startling proportions, but all,
from the great Seneca (the only one dignified by the name ' river ') down
to the tiniest brook, adding to the beauty of the scene. For 35 miles of
its length, the Potomac lies within the bounds of the county, whose
limits include both banks, while the Pautuxent River marks the entire
length of the line between Montgomery and Howard Counties. The
Great Falls of the Potomac, considered one of the largest available

5

REFLECTIONS

water powers in the world, which could supply the City of Washington,
are no less remarkable for their beauty than for their commercial value.
The Cabin John Bridge over a stream leading into the Potomac is
the second longest single span bridge in the world and is a noteworthy
sight. Throughout much of the county, the combination of profitable
farming and a generally high level of culture and education among the
farmers has made for a county of attractive homes and well-kept farms
where beauty is not neglected in the struggle for utility.

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
Foreword

Montgomery County has always been primarily an agricultural

County. From the day of its first settlers until now its wealth has been

drawn from its soil. Of late new forces have begun to operate. The

Suburbanite has come into certain sections, has set a new, and from the

farmer's point of view, a fictitious value on the land, and large areas

have been turned over to him for his home, his club house and his park.

This 'suburbanizing' process will go on, but it will be limited in its

extent. In the future as in the past, the prosperity of the county over

at least two thirds of its area must depend upon the success of its farming

operations.

6

When the soil of the county was virgin its staple products were corn
and tobacco and the yield was abundant. After the fashion of pioneer
farming, the land was repeatedly sown to these profitable crops until the
strength of what was naturally rather rich soil was exhausted. Nothing
was ever given back to the land and farming suffered. Toward the
beginning of the nineteenth century, emigration to the newer lands of
the West and South set in, as the direct result of an agricultural system
which could no longer get enough from the soil to support its population.
This increasing economic pressure marked the passing of the day of " the
old tobacco planters, with their baronial estates and armies of slaves.
They (what time they flourished), felled the native forests and planted
the virgin soil in tobacco and Indian corn. They did very well so long
as there was timber for the ax and new land for the hoe; and these old
lords of the manor were happy. They feasted and frolicked and fox-
hunted and made the most of life. Those days were known as 'the
good old times.'

In less than a century after this system of denuding and exhaustion
began there were no more forests to clear and no more new land to till.
Then succeeded the period of old fields, decaying worm fences and
mouldering homesteads. This sad condition of the county had reached
its climax about the year 1840. . . . The land would no longer yield an
increase, and they made no attempt at renovating and improving the
soil, and Montgomery lands became a synonym for poverty."*

The population, over the first four decades of the last century, showed
a net decrease of more than 14%. Land values decreased, in some
cases almost to the vanishing point, and the fortunes of the county were
at low ebb. As one instance of this condition, in the early forties a
large tract of land in the Sandy Spring neighborhood (a tract now
occupied by fine farms) was sold at ^2.05 an acre, and the opinion was
expressed that this was ^2.04 too high. In the first experiment with
wheat on this land, its new owner sowed 8 bushels in a certain field
and reaped but 5. It was in this neighborhood, among the society of
Friends, that this characteristically pioneer method of farming was first
abandoned. In 1845, the man above referred to, sowed Peruvian Guano
with his wheat, and marked improvements were at once seen to follow
its use, which soon became general. With the continued employment of
this and other commercial fertilizers and with a change to rotative crop-
ping the fertility of the soil returned, and with it came population and
prosperity. During the second four decades of the nineteenth century,
the population made a net increase of about 55%. The progress of
the county has thus depended upon its success in making its farms
productive.

♦Boyd's History, 107, 108.

ECONOMIC RESOURCES
(a) Natural Resources

Mineral: There are only two mineral resources to be mentioned^
gold and building stone. Neither of these is at present of very great
commercial importance. It has long been a tradition in many parts of
the county that gold was to be found there. In several localities there
has been some prospecting. In all but one instance this has come to
nothing. The Sandy Spring Annalist, speaking for that neighborhood,
expresses the situation for most of the county, when she writes of "the
ine\'itable three degrees of mining speculation in this vicinity — positive,
mine; comparative, minor; superlative, minus." In the Potomac Dis-
trict, however, gold-mining has been somewhat more profitable. Here
there are two gold-mines not far from the Great Falls of the Potomac
River which have been worked intermittently since 1887. From ^40,000
to ^50,000 worth of gold is said to have been taken from them to date.
A report on this property by a geological expert states that "at the
present time the property is still in the prospective stage as the develop-
ment work so far performed is confined to the surface. The work done
on the main vain has demonstrated satisfactory gold values in several
places. . . . There is no geological reason w^hy gold should not be

I A KM UAKN

here." Work on the mines is now being carried on, and the company
owning the property announces extensive work of improvement and
development for the near future.

Marketable stone is found in at least five districts of the county —
Potomac, Darnestown, Gaithersburg, Poolesville and Barnesville.
There are quarries of some little importance at Seneca, Gaithersburg and
Dickerson. Much of this stone has value for building purposes. A
considerable amount has been shipped from the Seneca quarries and
many buildings in Washington City including The Smithsonian Insti-
tute and The Georgetown College are made of this stone. These quarries
are now becoming exhausted. The Potomac and Poolesville stone has
commercial value but is not very extensively marketed. The Gaithers-
burg quarry is small, but turns out a good quality of stone. The quarry
at Dickerson produces and ships in considerable quantities a very hard,
durable stone used chiefly for roadtopping.

Vegetable: For the county as a whole, the soil is chiefly adapted to
the raising of corn, wheat and forage crops. In certain districts, these
staples are supplemented by oats, rye, tobacco, potatoes, garden
vegetables, small fruits and apples.

Other: There is a great deal of clay in the county which apparently
could be profitably used for brick making. But little use is made of it
for this purpose ; less now, perhaps, than formerly.

(b) Developed Resources

Farming Industry: The farm is the county's great wealth producer.
A large proportion of the money invested is invested in farm lands and
property. Over 90% of the population get their living directly or in-
directly from the soil.

Other Productive Agencies: Montgomery is not to any considerable
extent a manufacturing county. There are, however, a canning factory,
a rope factory, a carriage factory, and several marble and granite works.
A dozen or more grist mills, equipped variously with water, steam and
electric power, furnish a local market for a limited amount of grain.

THE BUSINESS OF FARMING
(a) Assets

(1) The total land area of the county is approximately 333,440 acres.
82% of this, or 273,270 acres, is in farms. In 1900 the area in farms
was about 10,000 acres greater. 76.5% of the farm land or 209,153
acres is improved. Of the remaining 64,117 acres, 59,409 acres are
in woodland, leaving only 4,708 acres neither wooded nor improved.

(2) Value: The total value of all farm property is about ^21,000,000
an increase of over 38% in ten years. Table No. 1, (Appendix, page I),
from the 1910 United States Census shows how this value is distributed.

The average value of land per acre for the total farming area of the
county is ^46.39, as against ^33.48 in 1900, an increase of 38.3%. This
increase, however, varies greatly in different sections, and so does the
present value. The land which is still farmed within the sections now
enjoying extensive suburban development (a question which will be taken
up later) has for the most part by that fact received an increase in market
value all out of proportion to its value for farming purposes. Location,
rather than intrinsic value has been in all cases the determining factor.
Much of the land adjacent to the Railroad, even in the upper end of the
county where the development has been slower, has increased in value
50 to 80%. This is true also of land adjacent to the newer pikes, where
the increase has often been rapid. In parts of the county less favorably
situated the increase has been proportionately small. Damascus District
and parts of the Bamesville and Clarksburg Districts are examples cf
this. In general, farm land has proven a good investment. Not much
of it is for sale. When offered, it usually finds a ready purchaser. More-
over, with the increased facilities of transportation that will surely
come, with the improved methods of farming which every decade brings,
and with the steady development of the available markets, it is reason-
able to expect that the value of farm land will continue to increase.
There has been no very marked tendency to speculate in farm lands
for farming purposes. The farm is usually regarded as a home rather
than as an investment. What speculation there has been has had an
eye to possible suburban development.

(3) How the Land is Held. There are in all 2,432 farms in the county,
of which 2,093 or 85.7% are operated by white farmers and 349 or 14.3%
are operated by colored farmers. Of those operated by white farmers,
2,042 are operated by native-born, and 51 by foreign-born whites. At
present the average size of the farms is about 112 acres, but they are
tending to become smaller. In 1900 with 10,000 acres more in farms,
there were 357 fewer farmers, making the average size of the farms at
that time 136 acres. Apparently, the increased value of the land, and
the ever increasing diflficulty of obtaining good farm labor are not only
causing the breaking up of the very large farms, but are also considerably
increasing the number of very small farms. Then too, there is a greater
amount of truck farming, which does not require as much land for pro-
fitable operation as general farming. Thirty-nine per cent, of all the
farms have less than 50 acres each. The farms operated by colored
farmers are on the whole much smaller than those operated by the white.
69.3% of all colored farmers have 19 acres or less. (See Diagram No. 1
on opposite page and Table No. 2, Appendix, page I).

The study of the kind of tenure reveals some rather significant
facts; (See Table No. 3, Appendix, page I,) 75.4% of all farms

10

are operated by those who own the land in whole or in part.
21.4% are operated by tenants. This is an increase of .5% in the
amount of tenantry during ten years, and of 6.2% since 1890;
a small degree of change to be sure, but a change in the wrong direction.
In at least two districts, Laytonsville and Potomac, the amount of tenan-
try has been increased appreciably during five or six years, and has
meant a poorer and less profitable grade of farming, and a gradual ap-
preciation of the soil. On the face of the returns, the per cent, of farms
operated by owners, 75.4%, seems like a fair proportion. These farms,
however, only represent 55% of the total acreage of farm land, and the same
per cent, of the total value of farm property. That is to say, a much greater
proportion of the small farms are operated by their owners than of the
large ones. Of the farms of 19 acres or less, 88.6% are operated by
owners; of those of 19-99 acres, 74.5% are so operated; of those of
100-259 acres, 60.3%; of those of more than 259 acres, 51.8%. Speak-
ing broadly, it is common experience that under a system of tenantry
the land is usually not so well farmed as when operated by its owners.
The tenant usually has but a short lease on the land ; inferior methods of
farming are apt to be employed; the needs of the soil are not so carefully
studied or attended to; there is generally a smaller working capital; the
cost of operation is somewhat greater. In consequence, the property
is not kept up ; the fertility of the soil is seldom increased or even main-

/J-r^sj io-j'f fo-lf /oa-t79- nS-ZS'i Uo-fit Soo- tif ajzi^e^" " '

DIAGRAM NO. I — HOW THE LANDtS HELD BY SIZE OF FARMS
11

tained; and in the long run, the net income is smaller. To have 45%
of the land operated under a tenant system and to have that system on
the increase, would then seem to present a problem worthy of considera-
tion. The obvious solution would be along the line of aiding the present
operators to obtain the ownership of the land. In Europe and to a
lesser extent in some parts of the United States this need is met by an
ably managed and extensive system of cooperative banking.

Another interesting angle of this question has to do with the length
of tenure. The average length of tenure for all farms is 12.4 years.
But more than half of the farms and considerably more than half of the total
acreage of farm lands, have changed hands at least once during the last ten
years. This means an unstable element in the population large enough
to cause concern. For all owned land, the average term of occupancy
is 15 years, but for land operated by tenants, the average term of occu-
pancy is only 4 years. One fourth of the entire farming population, then,
is shifting, a fact which must necessarily hamper all efforts toward the
betterment of rural life conditions along social, religious and educational
lines.

Sixty-two per cent, of all farms operated by their owners are held
free of mortgage debt. A slightly larger per cent, of white farmers than
of colored farmers carry a mortgage debt, a fact more than offset by the
greater size and better equipment of the farms of the white farmers.
The amount of the mortgage debt where reported was about 32% of
the total value of the land and buildings. The age of the farmers is of
interest in this connection. Table No. 4, (Appendix, page I), shows
the number of farmers, white and colored, coming within the different
age groups.

Diagrams Nos. II and III, show the proportion of the farmers within
each age group who are farm owners, with or without mortgage indebt-
edness, or tenants. For the white farmers, certain things should be
noticed as follows: the proportion of farmers in each given age-group
who own farms without mortgage indebtedness increases as the age in-
creases, so that while only 12% of those under 24 years of age have un-
mortgaged farms, in the four following age groups the per-cents. are
respectively 19.4, 32.7, 48 and 58, and of all those over 64 years of age,
67% come within this class. The proportion of each age-group who
own farms with mortgage indebtedness increases through the first three
groups, and then decreases through the succeeding groups, the highest
proportion being in the group 35-44 years of age, 31% of these coming
within this class. Lastly the proportion of each age gioup who are ten-
ants decreases rapidly through the successive groups; 64% of all farmers
under 25 years of age are tenants, the i)cr-cents. in the four following
groups are respectively 44, 24, 13, 12, while all over 64 years of age only

12

DIAGRAM NO. II

i5

40-

5'^-

P

to

GrtloJ-eci' /atrmet-s,.

2j;"

Z0--

!4:

>

/!,;;

/

yo,:

^ J/

fctft.-it;-;.-FPit,--~.--t;^:r^-:t=;;:;

i»or/ess XStoit ' iStcf-f t-^to^t- S'Stob'f

-V

on! .jeQ.rs

DIAGRAM NO. Ill
HOW THE LAND IS HELD BY AGE OF FARMERS AND KIND OF TENURE

13

7% are tenants. For the colored farmers, the most important difference
is that shown by the Hne indicating the proportion who own farms with
mortgage^indebtedness; it will be noticed that the per-cent. for the last
group (65 years and over) is greater than for any of the preceding groups.
The proportion of tenantry here, as with the white farmers decreases as
the age increases.

The inferences from these figures are: that there is a constant tendency
for tenant farmers to acquire ownership in land; that this is accomplished
by means of borrowed capital, a mortgage being given as security; that
a large proportion of the white farmers are able to pay off this indebted-
ness; and that the colored farmers secure their land later in life and are
less able to free themselves from debt.

(4) How the Farms are Stocked. Two thousand three hundred and one
farms reported domestic animals with a total valuation of ^2,163,518
(1910 United States Census, Table No. 5, Appendix, page II). In 1890,
all holdings in domestic animals and poultry were valued at ^1,249,790.
From 1890-1910, there was a decided increase in the number of horses,
dairy cows, and sheep on the farms, but a decrease in the number of
beef cattle, swine and poultry.

There are many fine draft horses in the county. Twenty-five years
or more ago a number of Percheron Stallions were imported, and since
that time there has been considerable up-grading in all parts of the
county, with the result that at present one can see almost any number
of splendid, heavy four or six horse teams. Good driving horses are
much scarcer, as but little attention has been paid to the breeding of
roadsters.

(b) Output

(1) General Farming. The crops showing the largest acreage and
yield are corn, wheat, hay and forage. (1910 census, Table No. 6,
Appendix, page II.)

The census crop reports for 1890 and 1900 show that there has been
an appreciable increase in the production of all staple crops with the
exception of hay and forage.
■ The money crops, vary somewhat in the different districts. Wheat
and hay are money crops throughout the county. In the Laytonsville,
Gaithersburg, and Wheaton districts, and in parts of Olney and Coles-
ville, most of the corn raised is fed. Through the remainder of the
county, corn is a money crop. In Colesville, Wheaton and Olney, and
to a less extent in Laytonsville, potatoes are an important crop. Some
rye is raised in Clarksburg, and oats in Damascus. In Poolesville and
Damascus, straw is a source of income. In Damascus, the chief money
crop is tobacco; in Clarksburg, 20% of the farms, mostly toward the

14

Damascus line, raise tobacco. The average yield on these products
for all land sown is fairly constant throughout all the county. For the
ordinarily good land, this would run about 18 to 30 bushels for wheat,
150 bushels for potatoes, 10 to 14 barrels of corn, 1}4 tons of hay, 1,200
to 1,300 pounds for burley tobacco, and 700 pounds for all other tobacco.
The average for the entire county, including as it must, all the poor land
planted, is not so high.

(2) Specialized Farming: Stock Feeding. In five districts, viz., Clarks-
burg, Rockville, Colesville, Potomac and Bethesda, there is little or no
stock feeding. Through the remainder of the county it is a more or less
important industry. Laytonsville, Gaithersburg and Olney lead in
this respect. Sixty or seventy car loads of stock are shipped into the
the town of Gaithersburg yearly, and are bought up by the farmers living
within seven or eight miles, averaging about 15 or 18 head to the farm,
90% of the farms within that radius sharing in the distribution. In the
Olney district, 75% feed 10 to 20 head. In Poolesville, 25% feed 10 to
15 head. In Damestown and Barnesville, 10% feed stock. In Damas-
cus, many feed a little, but it is not an extensive industry; so also in
Wheaton.

Breeding. In no part of the county, is stock breeding carried on to
any considerable extent. Only three exclusively stock farms were found.
Otherwise, most of the breeding done is for home use, to keep up the
dairy herds or replenish the string of draft horses, and not for market.
In Laytonsville, probably 60% of the farms breed horses and sheep to a
limited extent. In Poolesville, there is some general up-grading of cattle,
mostly Durham or Hereford. Through the rest of the county, there is
little or no breeding except as indicated above.

Dairying. In the eastern and southern ends of the county, and along
the entire length of the B. & O. Railroad dairying is an important in-
dustry. There are at present, from ten to twelve thousand dairy cows
in the county. During the last two or three years, the tuberculine test
has been administered to all herds whose milk is shipped to the District
of Columbia (and practically all the milk is shipped there.) The method
of administering the test has been considered by many dairymen very
unfair, and decidedly unsatisfactory. Many cows have been condemned,
and the farmers have received no compensation for their loss. In con-
sequence, the dairy business in some sections is not as prosperous and
thriving as it was. It still remains, however, a very important source
of income for the county. The districts doing little or no dairying are
Darnestown, Poolesville and Damascus, though in each of the first two
named there are a few farms running dairies on a small scale. The
sections most important in this connection are as follows: the parts of
Barnesville, Clarksburg, Gaithersburg, Laytonsville, and Rockville

15

WHERE TRAVEL IS EASY

which are within three miles of the railroad ; here probably 50% of the
farmers are engaged in dairying to some extent; also the part of Olney
known as the Sandy Spring neighborhood, two-thirds of Colesville, and
Wheaton below Lay Hill; here a large proportion of the farmers count
this one of their chief sources of income. The number of exclusively
dairy farms is relatively small. In the larger number of cases, the
dairying is done in connection with general farming, though many
make it their speciality.

Fruit Raising. The county is well adapted to the raising of fruit,
particularly apples, but this is still an industry of the future. Peaches
are raised very little, the "yellows" having proven troublesome. In the
vicinity of Sandy Spring, many apple orchards have been set out within
the last few years, and interest in this branch of farming is growing
rapidly. In Rockville district, there is one large fruit farm and a half-
dozen other farms have each from 4 to 10 acres of trees. In certain
other sections, notably Gaithersburg district, there are a number of
young apple orchards. Through the rest of the county, little fruit
is raised except for home consumption.

Small Farming. In certain sections adjacent to the railroad (viz.
parts of Clarksburg, Barnesville, Gaithersburg and Darnestown), in the

16

lower and eastern parts of Colesville, in Bethesda, Potomac, and the
lower part of Wheaton, there is considerable market gardening for the
Washington market. Colesville ships a considerable quantity of berries
In Wheaton, Colesville, and Damascus, and to some extent in other
sections, eggs are an important product.

(c) Farm Expenses

(1) The census, on the basis of a limited number of farms, estimates
the average annual expenditures per farm as follows: cash for labor,
^279, rent and board furnished, ^103, feed, ^136, fertilizer, ^124. (See
Table No. 7, Appendix, page II.)

(2) Labor. The wage for day labor varies from 75 cents and board
to ^1.50, the average being about ^1.00. Month labor costs from ^12.00
with house and allowance to ^30.00, the average being about ^18.00.
Everywhere the same complaint is made, that it is hard to get sufficient
labor, and that what can be had is for the most part very poor. There is
not much white labor in the county. Potomac, Barnesville and Wheaton
Districts report a fair proportion of white labor. Through the rest of the
county it is mostly colored.

The laborer here appears to have but little opportunity to better his
condition. In the upper end of the county, a number are reported to
have acquired farms during the last ten years, but this is far from the
rule. Generally speaking, their prospects of economic advancement are
almost nil. Their usual treatment from their employers is that of in-
feriors with good care. An exception is made in certain districts, nota-
bly Darnestown, Potomac, Barnesville and Damascus, in the case of
the white laborer, who is often accepted as an equal by his employer.

(d) Farm Methods

(1) Rotation of Crops. The usual rotation practised throughout the
county is a five field rotation, and consists of, first year, corn; second and
third years, wheat; fourth and fifth years, grass. This seems to be the
rotation best adapted to the prevailing conditions. The commonest
method is to plant corn, then sow wheat in the stubble, then fallow the
ground and sow to wheat again, then sow to grass for two years (three
sometimes if a good set is not obtained in two). This rotation is varied
somewhat where there are special circumstances to be considered, as in
the tobacco sections, or where dairying is chiefly engaged in. But the
greater part of the farmers adhere to something like this procedure, and
the results seem to be quite satisfactory.

(2) Farm Machinery. In general the farms may be said to be equipped
wifh all the best modern machinery which can be used to advantage
on medium or small sized farms under the prevailing conditions (such as

17

hilly or rolling land, or stony ground). To be sure, most of the farmers
still walk behind their cultivators and their ])lo\vs; but modern reapers,
drills, potato planters, tedders, hay loaders, etc., are widely employed.
The binders, drills and wagons are practically always housed when not
in use, and over the whole county, probably 75 to 90% of all other
machinery is similarly cared for. On the farms operated by tenants
the cjuality of the machinery is not usually as high as on the other farms,
and not quite such good care is taken of it.

(3) The Use of Fertilizer. It is literally true that the county owes its
present prosperity to the widespread use of fertilizers. There are few
farms that over any length of time could produce even half crops without
fertilizing. All fertilize for wheat, usually 400 to GOO pounds to the
acre, and also for tobacco, about the same amount. Perhaps 75% fer-
tilize for potatoes, while a comparatively small proportion fertilize for
corn and grass, the amount used in these cases varying. Speaking for
the county as a whole it is necessary to lime very heavily, but the soil of
the county is so varied that the particular fertilizer ingredients required
differ in different districts. The extensive stock-feeding and dairying
of some sections make the use of commercial fertilizers less necessary in
those parts.

(4) Drainage. The land does not require a great deal of artificial
drainage. Where drainage is rec^uired, it is usually accomplished by pole
and stone or blind ditch. In Poolesville, Rockville, and Wheaton dis-
tricts a considerable amount of tile is used.

Montgomery, Compared with Other Counties in Maryland

In Montgomery County we have said that 75.4% of the farms were
operated by their owners and called attention to the misfortune of having
one fourth of the farms operated by tenants. However, the showing of
the county in this respect is better than the showing of the state as a
whole. The per cent, of the farms operated by owners for the entire state
is 68.5. Only five counties have a larger proportion of their farms so
operated than Montgomery County.

In Montgomery County, 82% of the land area is in farms, 75.6%
of the farm land is improved and the farms average 111.9 acres to the
farm. For the entire state, 79.5% of the land area is in farms, 66.3%
of the farm land is improved and the farms average 103.4 acres to the
farm. In Montgomery County the total average value of each farm
is ^8,542, and the average value of the land is ^46.39 per acre. For the
entire state, the average value of a farm is ^5,849 and the average value
per acre is ^32.32.

(5) Miscellaneous. In their general appearance the farms are usually
very attractive. The county is characterized by neat farming. There

18

is often considerable difference between the farms of the white and the
colored farmers at this point; but of the majority of the farms it is true
that the fields are well kept, the fences are in good repair, the farm
buildings are ample in size and well put up, and the whole impression
is that of good farm-keeping. The small negro settlements, the tenant
houses, and the cross-road stores seldom contribute very materially
to the beauty of the scene, but there is some compensation in the con-
trasts afforded.

In at least one respect, the county seems prodigal. The investigators
came from that part of the world where farmers consider two horses a
team able to haul almost anything that you ought to load on a wagon.
It was an inspiring sight to them on almost every drive through the
country to meet numbers of four and six horse teams, great, powerful-
looking horses, hauling anything from a half-dozen sacks of wheat to
large loads of grain or hay. Certainly it can not be said that the horses
are overworked.

(e) Cooperative Tendencies in Farming

One of the most obvious criticisms of rural life is its voluntary isola-
tion, and the difficulty of obtaining anything like cooperation among

THE SIX-HORSE HITCH

19

the farmers in the matters which most vitally concern them. Very few
rural communities can be said to be adequately organized. In Mont-
gomery County the first steps have been taken toward this adequate
organization. It is not our present purpose to discuss the social organi-
zation of the various communities, though certain aspects of this, as the
organization into Farmers' Clubs, have economic importance. We are
here interested in those forms of organization whose primary bearing is
economic.

(1) The Tobacco Growers' Association. This association, which in-
cludes the tobacco growers of Frederick, Howard, Carroll and Mont-
gomery Counties, was organized seven years ago. A large part of its
work has been educational. It is in no sense an attempt to pool the
tobacco output of these counties with a view to controlling the price.
It has encouraged better methods of production and care of the tobacco;
it has advocated honest packing, both as to weight and uniformity of
quality and in this connection employed a grader for a period of time;
it investigates market conditions and recommends to its members some
reliable firm to handle their output. Its effects have been almost to
double the crop yield through the improved methods of cultivation,
and to increase the price about one third by gaining the confidence
of the buyers in the quality of the tobacco and the fairness of its packing.

(2) The Milk Producers' Association of Maryland, Virginia and the
District of Columbia. This association represents about 20,000 dairy
cows of which at least two-fifths are owned in Montgomery County.
The total membership is about 450. There is at present no attempt to
fix prices of dairy products. The work of the association is to advocate
better legislation, protest against imposition of any sort, discuss and en-
courage improved methods of handling the herds and in general, better
the conditions under which the dairymen work.

(3) The Sandy Spring Fruit Growers' Association. This association
has just been formed with twenty-six members, and represents at present
about 15,000 trees. Most of the orchards are still young so naturally
its work in the immediate future must be largely educational. The pur-
pose of the association is described by its constitution as follows: (1)
To disseminate scientific information; (2) to secure advantageous legis-
lation; (3) to secure improved transportation facilities; (4) to secure
a uniform system of packing and package; (5) to develop and open up
markets. To this it may be added that when the orchards generally
begin to bear, the association plans to undertake cooperative selling of its
products through an agent, at which time it will probably be chartered.

(4) The Grange. There are three branches of the Grange in the
county, two in the Olney District and one in the Colesville District,
with a total membership of about 180. Though a considerable part

20

of the importance of the Grange is due to its social functions (typified
by the enormous dinner which is always a feature of its meeting) it has
also economic importance. It provides an opportunity for discussion
of improved farm methods; it is a medium for the expression of opinions
on matters relating to the welfare of the community; its executive com-
mittee does an amount of cooperative buying for its members, of house-
hold articles, farm machinery, fertilizer, etc.

(5) Farmers' Clubs. There are five Farmers' Clubs in the county;
three in the Sandy Spring Neighborhood, one in the Laytonsville Dis-
trict and one in the Colesville District. These clubs have had a very
important part in the development of farming in the county. Open
discussions of all matters connected with the business of farming, with
agricultural methods and with farm life are features of the meetings.
This has made possible a higher grade of farming and has induced a more
thorough understanding and more complete cooperation amongst the
farmers concerned.

(6) Open Meetings. An annual Farmers' Convention is held in the
Lyceum Hall at Sandy Spring. Last year about 200 were in attendance.
These gatherings are more representative of Sandy Spring than of the
entire county, but at least they are a short step toward better and more
general cooperation, and every little step helps.

The County Fair Association has an open membership of over 200.
It owns large Fair Grounds at Rockville, and holds an annual Fair in
September. The attendance is usually very good in spite of the fact
that rain is generally a feature. To the latter circumstance is due the
fact that the association is rather heavily in debt at present. The uses of
the County Fair are many, but are too well known to require comment here.

(7) There is one interesting instance of cooperative farming in the
Colesville District, namely the Commonwealth Farm, which is owned
and operated by a syndicate of Washington women, who conduct their
affairs very successfully. It is rumored that they get on entirely without
masculine counsel or assistance.

These instances of cooperation, scattering and insufficient as they are,
are nevertheless very significant. If it is true, as seems to us incon-
testable, that it is to organized cooperation that the farmers must look
if they would materially better their present circumstances, these present
beginnings are big with possibilities for the future and indicate a way
which must be more and more generally followed.

(f) Stores, Banks and Other Non-Productive Business Agencies

(1) Stores. There are 215 stores of various sorts in the county. Of
this number, nearly two-thirds are in the open country or in small vil-
lages. This is about one store to every 150 inhabitants,

21

(2) Banks. There are at present eight banks in the county, at Pooles-
ville, Gaithersburg, Rockville (2), Silver Spring, Kensington, Sandy
Spring (2). A ninth is in process of organization, at Bethesda. These
banks are all in good financial condition. Their total deposits amount
to more than two and a half million dollars.

(3) Others. The Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Montgomery
County has its headquarters at Sandy Spring. On December 1, 1911
this company reported its condition as follows: gain in risks during the
year, $275,648; amount of risks in force that day, $16,259,835; gain in
premium notes during the year, $90,646; premium notes in force that
day, $2,518,016.45.

There are about 60 blacksmith shops in the county. Of other business
firms not yet mentioned in any connection, there are perhaps a dozen,
including a Mutual Building and Loan Association, and several Real
Estate and Insurance Houses. In addition, there are several large land
companies operating in the county, but financed largely by outside
capital.

(g) Land Development for Suburban Purposes

In the lower end of Montgomery County, the conditions are almost
ideal for suburban development. This is the only section adjoining the
District of Columbia which is not separated from it by marshy ground.
The prime requisites of a suburb are, first, a location both convenient
and naturally attractive, second, good transportation facilities at a
moderate rate, and third, satisfactory local conditions, as to sanitation,
lighting, local government, etc. These requisities are all met here.

The development has taken place chiefly in the Wheaton and Bethesda
Districts. In Bethesda the greater part of the district has been taken
up for this purpose. Relatively little farrtiing is done here now. Most
of the land that has not already been subdivided, has either been bought
up and is held awaiting development, or is valued at so high a figure that
farming is no longer profitable. The land is for the most part rather
level and open and comparatively unwooded; the ridge or watershed
through the district affords good natural drainage and excellent water
supply. Gas and electricity are available in most sections. A great
deal of wealth has been invested here. Chevy Chase, for example, is
Washington's most aristocratic and fashionable suburb; its Country
Clubs are among the largest in the country, with grounds that are
unsur])assed anywhere. Except for Che\y Chase and vicinity, the
development is still largely in the future. One tract of 4,000 acres,
extending from Chevy Chase to the Great Falls of the Potomac in a
strip nine miles long and one mile wide, has just been acquired by a
land corporation which announces extensive improvement in the near

22

future. It is planned to run a boulevard and a trolley line through the
centre of the property for its entire length. Country homes of from
one to ten acres each, sold under the usual restrictions, are contemplated.

In the Wheaton District, the development is taking place along some-
what different lines. About one half of the arable land here is still
farmed. The subdivisions are all along the line of the B. & 0. Railroad.
Some farming land has been bought up by outside capital and is held
in large tracts, but where development has taken place most of the land
is in small holdings. A line of small towns extends along the railroad
from the District of Columbia to the Rockville District. These towns
are to a large extent settled by Government employees amd other
salaried men. The country here is naturally very picturesque and is
rather heavily wooded. All modern conveniences are available. Ta-
koma Park is the only place in the county where really urban conditions
are met with. Here the apartment house has made its appearance;
there is also mail delivery to the homes, by carriers from the Wash-
ington postofEce. Part of this town lies outside the county. Taking the
district as a whole, the development here has been carried farther than
in Bethesda.

Rockville District has also shared in the Suburban Development to
some extent. There are a number of sub-divisions along the railroad
which will undoubtedly be settled up in time, but not much progress
in this direction has been made as yet, and the chances are that it will
come rather slowly.

BRIDGE OVER NORTH BRANCH

23

I>iitr,i.t A^o L XL HL IV V EZ 22 EZZ /X X ii. sHxrlT

DIAGRAM NO. IV — PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL MILES OF PUBLIC
ROADS MACADAMIZED

(h) Transportation and Markets

This topic involves a summary of all that is most important in the
discussion of economic conditions. In the last analysis a farming com-
munity is dependent for its prosperity in the widest sense upon its
markets. The fundamental rural problem is the economic problem.
Good schools, good churches, developed social life, adequate recreation
facilities, constant communication with outside forces and influences
making for progress, and all their by-products in culture, education,
comfort and efficiency, these things that make life in the open country
worth while, are all dependent fundamentally upon the economic
status of the community. Obviously this is a question of income.
Social institutions must always be expected to occupy a second place.
Those things which pertain directly to the up-keep of the farm as a
producing agency must come first. If there is a sufficient margin of
income, social improvements become possible.

To obtain this margin it must be in a position to dispose of its pro-
ducts at a fair profit. Thus great importance attaches to the question
of transportation and market facilities.

(1) Means of Transportation. Three transportation mediums are im-
portant in this connection: the Metropolitan Branch of the B. & O.
Railroad, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and the roads, particularly
the stone roads. These we will discuss in the order named.

24

The B. & O. Branch runs out from Washington City diagonally
through the county, passing through the Wheaton, Rockville, Gaithers-
burg, Clarksburg and Barnesville Districts, and through the towns of
Takoma Park, Silver Spring, Kensington, Forest Glen, Rockville, Gaith-
ersburg, Germantown, Boyds, Barnesville Station and Dickerson. The
passenger service is convenient and reliable though the cars are mostly
of a somewhat ancient type. The freight service is sufficient for the needs
of the county. The road is double-tracked to a point between Gaithers-
burg and Germantown. It is available to about two- thirds of the
county, but is of value for shipping purposes chiefly to the Rockville,
Darnestown, Gaithersburg, Laytonsville, Clarksburg, Barnesville and
Poolesville Districts.

The C. & O. Canal runs parallel with the Potomac River on the Mont-
gomery County side, for the entire length of the county line from the
Monocacy River to the District of Columbia. It was built primarily
to transport coal from the Cumberland Mountains. Twenty years or
more ago it was taken over by the B. & 0. Railroad and has since been
operated by them. For the 19>2 miles above Seneca, there are two
levels, 11^ and 8 miles long respectively; between Seneca and the
District of Columbia there are 24 locks. The canal is not locally used as
much now as formerly. It is chiefly important for those districts
which lie along the Potomac; Poolesville, Darnestown and Potomac.

It might also be mentioned that the Southern Metropolitan Branch
of the B. & 0. runs through the Bethesda District, entering the county
near the Potomac River, running across the lower half of the district,
by Bethesda Station and Chevy Chase Lake, uniting with the Metro-
politan Branch at Linden. This road is for freight only; it is not used
appreciably for the marketing of farm produce, but is chiefly important
for the shipping of building materials, tile, etc., into the Bethesda District

The road question is somewhat more complicated. The total number
of miles of road in the county is 830. Ninety-nine miles of this total is
stone road of varying degrees of excellence. Diagram No. IV on op-
posite page and Table No. 8, Appendix, page II, show the distribution
of the roads by districts. The 99 miles of stone road are divided among
twelve out of the thirteen districts. For every mile of stone road
there is about 7^ miles of dirt road. The building of stone roads has
for some reason proven a very expensive operation, both in the initial
cost and the up-keep. All that is state and county built is relatively
new and for the most part is in good condition, with excellent culverts,
bridges and grades. The 24 miles of toll-road is older, and though
originally very well made and with an excellent bottom, is at present
rather rough, a condition not much improved by the fact that the
prevailing method of repairing it appears to be to dump small stone

25

and a limited amount of dirt on the worn places and let the traffic crush
it. The dirt roads are not necessarily bad; they have the advantage of
having been laid out according to the contour of the land. But the
culverts and bridges are apt to be poor; moreover, in the wet season,
it saddens the soul to behold the mud; good rich, red clay of the kind
that sticketh closer than a brother. The investigators experienced the
joy of many long drives during the month of March, when a good horse
might attain the dizzy speed of 2)4. or 3 miles an hour. But the rest of
the year they are not so bad, as there is little sand and much clay and
stone. The roads chiefly important for marketing which may be
termed good roads are as follows:

Norbeck to Rockville.
Ashton to Burtonsville.
Columbia Turnpike.

From the Sandy Spring Road to the Columbia Turnpike near White-
oak, via Colesville.
Union Turnpike.
Ashton to Olney.

Sandy Spring to Norwood to Lay Hill to Glenmont.
Georgetown Turnpike.
Rockville to (near) Gaithersburg.
Darnestown to Gaithersburg.
Laytonsville to Gaithersburg.
Poolesville to Barnsville.
Potomac to District of Columbia.
Clarksburg to (near) Boyds.

These roads give access to Washington by stone road to the Coles-
ville, Olney, Wheaton, Bethesda, Potomac, Rockville, Laytonsville,
Gaithersburg and Darnestown Districts. The Laytonsville and Darnes-
town Pikes also connect with the B. & O. at Gaithersburg; the Pooles-
ville-Barnesville Pike connects with the B. & 0. at Barnesville Station,
and the Norbeck Pike connects with it at Rockville.

In general, it may be said that what has made Montgomery County
commercially is its proximity to the City of Washington, afifording it a
ready and easily accessible market for all of its products. We will now
discuss in detail the methods of marketing which prevail in the different
districts.

Poolesville. The farmers here have two mediums of transportation,
the canal and the railroad. The canal is now used less and the railroad
more than formerly; both, however, are important. In general it may
be said that all those living between the Potomac River and a line drawn
from Seneca to the mouth of the Monococy, ship by the canal. The main

26

shipping points are Seneca, Sycamore, Edward's Ferry and White's
Ferry. There are grain elevators at all of these places. The usual
custom is to sell to men on the ground, who board the produce and
market it in Washington. Often the owners of the canal boats carry the
grain to the city for the growers and sell it for a freight commission.
One canal boat will carry about 4,000 bushels of grain, and takes one
day to get to market. The farmers living in that part of the district not
included in the section described above usually ship by rail. The ship-
ping points are Dickerson, Barnesville Station, Bucklodge and Boyds.
The dairymen, of whom there are a few in the north end of the District,
all ship by rail, selling to middlemen in Washington. Washington is
ultimately the market for all of the products of this district.

Barnesville. The dairymen all ship to Washington by rail, boarding
it at Dickerson, Barnesville Station, Bucklodge or Boyds. The wheat
is for the most part hauled to German town and other local elevators;
little of it is shipped by the growers.

Darnestown. In this district three means of transportation are
used, the canal, the railroad, and direct haul by wagon to Washington.
In general it may be said that those living between Darnestown village
and the river use the canal to market their grain, shipping mostly from
Seneca. In the upper end of the district, the grain is hauled to German-
town and sold at the elevator there. Some in the vicinity of Quince
Orchard haul to Gaithersburg. Between Travillah and Quince Orchard
there is some tendency to haul directly to Washington, a distance of
from 15 to 18 miles. The few dairymen in the district ship by rail from
Gaithersburg.

Clarksburg. In the lower end of this district there is a considerable
amount of dairying; in the upper end tobacco is grown; throughout the
district grain and grass are staples. The dairy products are all shipped
to Washington by rail. The market for tobacco is Baltimore, and the
shipping point is Mt. Airy, a haul of ten miles or more over what are
technically known as "ordinary country roads," which in this instance
means roads not ordinarily good and more than ordinarily hilly. The
chief market for wheat is Germantown.

Gaithersburg. The chief marketable products are hay, grain, dairy
products and garden truck. The dairy products are shipped to Wash-
ington by rail and handled by middlemen there. Grain is sold at local
elevators. There is some local market for hay among dairymen. Gar-
den truck is in part shipped by rail and in part handled by trucksters
in a manner which will be explained later. A few who farm on a large
scale ship their grain to the city and dispose of it there.

Laytonsville. The marketing facilities here are practically the same
as in Gaithsburg, with the addition that beef is also marketed in

27

Washington and shii)])e(l there by rail. The shipping point is
Gaithersburg.

Da?>iascHS. This district has the poorest market facilities of any dis-
trict in the county. The farmers here have the longest haul to their
shipping points and they have the poorest roads to haul over. There
is not an inch of macadam in the district. The land is the highest in
the county. The hills which are numerous and substantial would be
more convenient for skeeing than for marketing. All tobacco is hauled
to Mt. Airy and shipped by rail to Baltimore. Shipment is made in
hogsheads containing 700 to 800 pounds. The wheat is hauled either
to Mt. Airy or Germantown. From Damascus village the distance
to Mt. Airy is 7 miles, to Germantown 10 miles, and to Gaithersburg 12
miles. It is expected, or at least hoped, that the Germantown road
will soon be macadamized.

Potomac. In this District the farmers for the greater part haul
directly to Washington, ten miles, with pike all the way. The canal is
available to some, but is not used to any considerable extent.

Rockville. All dairy products are shipped by rail to middlemen in
Washington. Grain, hay, etc., are either shipped by rail or hauled
direct to the same market. There is good pike all the way, a haul of
about 14 miles.

Olney. This district has but one market and but one way of getting
there, Washington, reached by direct wagon haul. But it is blessed
with good stone roads available to almost all parts, a haul of from 12
miles upward. Grain, hay and potatoes are all marketed in this way.
Dairying is an extensive industry here. In the lower end of the district
some dairymen drive daily to the city and sell their milk on retail routes.
Further up, most of the milk is carried by a few men who make the trip
daily, picking up milk along their way, charging 2>^ cents a gallon for
hauling, and selling to small dairies. A few sell to certain large con-
sumers in Washington, as hospitals or hotels. One dairy in Washing-
ton is owned here, and considerable milk is handled through that medium.

ColesviUe. In the upper end of the District, the milk is hauled by a
few men at a stated rate for hauling. In the lower part it is to some
extent disposed of on retail routes. There are three markets for wheat:
local mills, Silver Spring, and Washington; most of it goes to the first
two. Other products, potatoes, hay, eggs, etc., are hauled to Washington
by their producers and sold in the public market there. Good stone
roads are available to almost all.

Wheaton. In this district there is a home market for much hay and
corn, the dairymen for the most part requiring more than they can raise.
Wheat and hay are hauled to Silver Spring and sold there. Most of the
dairymen, especially in the lower end of the District, drive to Washington

28

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ROAD GRADING ON THE ROCKVILLE-NORBECK ROAD

daily. Trucking is of course done almost exclusively for the Washington
market. The district is well provided with available pikes.

Bethesda. This is the least important district, agriculturally, in the
county. All of its products are hauled direct to Washington. Good
roads are available.

One other feature of the market situation which deserves attention
is the way in which garden products, eggs, butter, poultry, etc., are
handled. A number of hucksters have well established routes through
the county which they cover on set days picking up these particular
products. At the end of the week they take them to Washington,
usually selling from the stands in the City market. Returning they
bring melons, fish, etc. in season, peddling them through the county.
Almost the entire county is covered in this fashion and a good proportion
of these products are so handled.

In general it will be observed that market conditions are very favor-
able. The market is constant and moreover is a growing market, and
for the most part it is a cash market. But little time is required to reach
it and in most instances it is fairly accessible. However, it is also ap-
parent that more good roads are required' and that from every point
of view it will pay the county to build them. This is quite generally

29

realized and the Good Roads Movement is rapidly gaining supporters.
In certain sections the farmers are about ready to build the roads at
their own expense. This spring a group of men from the Darnestown
District so expressed themselves with reference to a road which for their
purposes particularly needed piking. At the present time an addition
of 72 miles is proposed under the State Road System which will
materially improve conditions if built as planned.

POPULATION

The 1910 Census gives the total population of the county as 32,089.
This is an increase for the decade 1900-1910 of 1,638 or 5.4%. The
increase for the preceeding decade, 1890-1900, was 3,266 or 12%.
(See Table No. 9, Appendix, page III).

Since the total land area of the county is 521 square miles, a popula-
tion of 32,089 makes the density for the whole county 61.4 inhabitants
per square mile. For the entire state the density is 130.3 per square
mile. There are 23 counties in the state and Montgomery County
stands fourteenth in respect to the density of the total population.
For the entire state the density of the rural population (according to the
Census definition of "rural" as all those living outside of places of 2,500
inhabitants or more) is 64.1 per square mile. Montgomery stands
eleventh in this respect, its entire population being classified as rural.
In this report hereafter a different classification will be more con-
venient. All places of 750 or more inhabitants will be referred to as

towns; places of from 100 to 750 in-
habitants will be termed villages; the
remaining population will be termed
"rural". (The division of the popu-
lation into these classes for 1900 and
1910 is shown by Table No. 10,
Appendix, page III).

In 1900 the rural population formed
a larger per cent, of the total than in
1910 and there has been a gain in
the towns. Six districts, Nos. 5, 7,
9, 11, 12 and 13, during that decade
showed an increase of 2,855, while the
remaining seven districts showed a
decrease of 1,217. Of the six dis-
tricts showing an increase, two, Be-
thesda and Wheaton, are suburban
districts; two, Barnesville and Gai-
thersburg are adjacent to the railroad

30

MAMMY

and part of the increase is suburban in character; the other two,
Colesville and Damascus, are as strictly rural as any districts in
the county, but their gain was very small, 42 in one instance and 39
in the other. A closer examination of the figures shows that the rural
population of the county has decreased since 1900, and is steadily de-
creasing. For the six districts showing an increase, 66% of the increase
was of suburban, village or town population; for the seven districts
showing a decrease, 91% of the decrease was of rural population. The
increase for the whole county was 1,638; the increase in suburban,
village and town population was 2,402; the decrease in rural population
was 764. Seven districts, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, show a decrease in
rural population. The net loss in rural population is thus about 4%.
Excluding districts 7 and 13 (in which approximately two-thirds of the
area is not farmed) there are about 460 square miles of open country
in the county, with a population density of about 46 to the square mile.
Here the total population has slightly decreased, though the population
of the towns and villages has increased. (See Table No. 11, Appendix,
page TV).

Obviously there is a movement, marked though not of serious ])ro-
portions, out of the rural districts. This does not, however, necessarily
offer any very urgent problem, when it is remembered that the number
of farms over the same period has increased from 2,085 to 2,442. It is
evidently not the farmers who are making their exit, but either the class
from which have been drawn the laborers on the farms or in the country
stores, blacksmith shops, mills, etc., or the ''floating" population, colored
mostly, who in the past have been making their living, none knows how
but themselves, and who economically have not been a productive force
but rather a drag upon the community.

Of the population 28.8% are colored. The figures for the county are:

White 22,847

Colored 9,235

Other non- white 7

Seventy-five percent., probably, of the colored population are found
either in little settlements and villages scattered through the county, or
in the colored sections of the larger towns.

k The county as a whole has a relatively stable population; the suburban
population is of course rather a shifting element, but for the remainder of
the county, probably 90% of the farm owners are old settlers, i.e., have
been in the county 15 years or more. In many sections the proportion
is even higher. There is some tendency, to move from one location to
another within the county. This fact and the fact that a fourth of the
farming population are tenants would make the proportion of old resid-

31

ents for any particular neighborhood somewhat less than 70%. Of
the new-comers, in the farming sections, a very small proportion are of
foreign birth, the greater part being from Pennsylvania, Virginia and the
neighboring Maryland counties.

As far as the white population is concerned, we are here dealing
with the best American stock. Throughout the county an unusually
high level of culture and education is maintained. In this respect, the
farms are as interesting as the towns. An astonishingly large propor-
tion of the farmers, especially in the Laytonsville and Olney Districts,
have had the benefit of a college education or have achieved its equival-
ent in general culture. This fact was borne in upon the investigators'
minds by their first experience with a Farmers' Club in the county.
They attended a meeting of this club with the preconceived notion that
"rural" meant good citizenship, high character and sterling worth,
but hardly broad education and general culture. They came away
knowing that it meant all of that and more, and realizing that the only
safe plan when attending similar meetings in the future would be to
have a care that their trousers were pressed and their shoes blacked,
their minds clear and their English correct, and their general deportment
above reproach. In the Districts mentioned, and elsewhere to a con-
siderable extent, traditions of education have been long maintained.
In other districts, particularly in the upper end of the county, the pres-
ent generation hasn't had the advantage of educated grandfathers,
but here within 30 years, very substantial progress along these lines has
been made. At present, there are very few illiterates among the white
population of the county.

As regards industry, the conditions aie quite as favorable. The
great proportion of the whites are regularly industrious. One district
reported an old practise of "white-capping" the idle. In general,
however, there has been little necessity for coercion in this direction.
To be sure, there are circles in which industry does not mean the long
hours and unceasingly hard labor that usually characterize farm life.
For example, in the Laytonsville District, a proportion of the farm-
owners represent what we may describe as "The Old South," and among
them the word "industry" must be liberally interpreted. These men
are good farmers, but do not themselves do much of the hard work,
and in consequence they are not making the progress economically that
many of their thriftier neighbors are making.

Among the negroes, the conditions are not so favorable. The exact
facts were exceedingly difficult to get at. Probably at least two-thirds
of the adults are illiterate and a considerable proportion more or less
regularly indolent. (In the Sandy Spring neighborhood, a bulletin
of the Department of Labor, 1899, reported 70% of the negroes as able

32

HOME OF A PROSPEROUS COLORED FARMER

to read and write, the majority of them as industrious, and many of
them as obtaining and holding property. The conditions here are
exceptional, however, and our present remarks are applicable to the
remainder of the county). It was frequently suggested to the investiga-
tors, as a profitable field for study, that they endeavor to ascertain just
what sources of income certain colonies of negroes had, as they were
popularly believed to do no work.

But if the negroes of the county are to any considerable extent illiterate
and indolent, at least a part of the blame should be put upon the white
population, who appear to have taken it for granted that such conditions
will always maintain and to have made no especial effort toward im-
provement. They have neglected the colored schools, have given no
encouragement to the colored churches, and have made no systematic
effort to better the economic condition of the negro.

This cannot be said to be a growing problem, for in the last thirty
years the colored population has remained stationary while the white
population has increased nearly 50%. But it is none the less an urgent
problem which should constrain us to remember that the while popula-
tion is charged with the responsibility of helping the colored population
until such time as it can care for itself in adequate fashion.

Industrial Types

There are 2,442 farm operators in the county, of whom 2,042 are native-
born whites, 51 are foreign-born whites and 349 are negroes. Forty-
five physicians live in the county, 42 having local practise. There are
20 practising lawyers. Other professional men who make their income

33

within the county number about 20. A large proportion of the men liv-
ing within the districts where suburban development has gone on have
their work in Washington. A complete industrial classification for
the whole county was not attempted.

SOCIAL MIND
I — Means of Transportation and Communication

The problem of rural isolation is an important one from many ])()ints
of view, but particularly from the point of view of the de\elopment of
the social life of a community. The typical rural community still has
the units composing it relatively isolated and hence has an altogether
inadequate social life, due, usually, in large part to inadequate means
of inter-communication. Adequate means of communication are of
the same primary importance socially that adequate means of trans-
portation are economically.

Railroad and Trolleys. As has been said, the Metropolitan Branch of
the B. & 0. runs diagonally through the county and is available, more
or less, to most of the county. For the upper end of the county, the B.
& 0. is also accessible at Mt. Airy, and for the eastern end of the county,
at Laurel, in Prince George's County.

There are six trolley roads operating in the county, all in the southern
end, providing easy communication with Washington for those adjacent
to them. They are as follows:

The Georgetown Electric, running from Washington to Rockville
through the Bethesda and Rockville Districts. This is one of the best
equipped trolley lines in the vicinity of Washington, giving efl&cient
service on a convenient schedule.

Capital Traction Company; running a line from Washington through
the eastern part of the Bethesda District to Chevy Chase Lake.

Kensington to Chevy Chase Lake connecting there for Washington.

Forest Glen to Washington, through Woodside, and Silver Spring.

Takoma Park to Washington; short run and convenient schedule.

"Washington and Great Falls Electric Railway," from Washington
to Cabin John via Glen Echo, chiefly important for the crowds that it
carries out from Washington in summer to the amusement park at
Glen Echo.

Another line is projected to run from Chevy Chase Lake to the Great
Falls in connection with the Bradley Hills Development.

Stage Lines. There are two stage lines in the county operated on a
regular schedule of two trips each way per day. One of these connects
Poolesville and Barnesville Station on the B. & O., a distance of 6 miles.
The other connects Ashton, in the Olney District, and Laurel, a distance
of 11 miles.

34

Roads. A table of the county roads was given in connection with the
discussion of markets. It would be hard to overestimate the social
importance of good roads. A system of good roads must inevitably
extend the limits of a community, by increasing the distance which
it is possible conveniently to travel for social intercourse, attendance
upon public gatherings, churches, schools, etc. It also tends to increase
the solidity of a community and the strength of its social bonds by
facilitating inter-communication. It is interesting to note that in
Montgomery County social organization of every sort is closely de-
pendant upon the availability of adequate transportation facilities,
particularly upon the existence of good roads. Where there are good
roads, as in the Olney District, there is developed social life; where there
are no good roads, as in the Barnesville District, there is little or no
social life except in the villages. This point will become clear if in
connection with the discussion of social organizations and of recreation
facilities reference is made to the table of roads. An incidental result
of good roads is that ultimately they mean the decline of the cross-
roads store on account of the increased tendency to drive to the villages
and towns.

R. F. D. and Telephones. There are 30 Rural Free Delivery Routes
starting from post offices within the county. These average 100 families
each on a 10 to 27 mile route. There are also seven routes starting
from points in adjoining counties. All the farmers in the county not
immediately adjacent to some post office are served by these routes.

There are approximately 1,250 telephones in the county. About 30%
of the entire number of farm homes, are equipped with telephones.
This is rather a small proportion for a prosperous county; in three counties
surveyed in Missouri, for example, 88% of the farmers had telephones.
The telephone on the farm, aside from its advantages for the conducting
of the farm business, greatly aids social intercourse, though it has some-
what diminished the practice of neighborly visits.

Centres of Informal Meeting

That is to say, the places where people are in the habit of congregating
informally for small talk and gossip. Before the advent of the rural
delivery, the post offices served that purpose. To a considerable extent
the stores are such centres now, both in the villages and in the open
country. In Rockville the Court House, especially when court is in
session, the drug store, the pool room, the club house and certain stores
all have their habitues. Throughout the county the churches provide
the meeting place for many who remain to chat a few moments after the
service. Other places frequented by some are the village streets, the
depots and the sheds erected at principal stops of the Georgetown trolley.

35

Incidentally, the trolleys and the railroad afford the opportunities for
many chance meetings, especially on Saturdays, when the county goes to
the city. The negroes, of course, have their own special centres of
meeting — churches, stores, lodge halls and, for the young men, often
certain open places in woods, where they gather for "pitch " and "craps."

Community Leadership and Social Control

If we take the word of the people themselves, we shall have to assert
that we are here dealing with a county that to all intents and purposes is
without leaders. There seems to be an idea abroad through these farm-
ing communities that to have leaders is undemocratic and savors of
servility. The question, "Who are your leaders?" could not be put
adroitly enough to the average farmer to elicit any answer that was not
in substance this: "We have no leaders; we all think for ourselves and
reach our decisions independently." Indeed, one might be led to think
that instead of leaders these communities were equipped with profes-
sional "leader killers." This condition, if actually existent, would be
lamentable enough, and, unfortunately to by far too considerable an
extent it is the case. A community, and particularly a farming com-
munity, without leaders, whether recognized as such or not, is afflicted
with a species of social disability amounting almost to impotence.
Definite, intelligent, \agorous leadership is always a prime necessity if
substantial progress is to be made. Whether the thing to be aimed at is
better roads, better schools or churches, better methods of farming,
better social conditions, more efficient cooperation or what not, leader-
ship is essential or nothing will be accomplished. Now, as a matter of
observation, there never was a community quite without leadership, and
neither is Montgomery County without it. The question is in part as
to the efficiency and desirability of the particular leadership found. In
general, it may be said that the chief weakness of the county from this
point of view is the lack of efficient leadership among the farmers them-
selves. In a number of districts the evident leaders are politicians;
among certain groups ministers are influential. The results would, how-
ever, be better if their places were taken by successful, well-equipped
farmers. In some sections, to be sure, farmers of this type are influential
and in quiet, unostentatious fashion are doing much to promote the
general welfare.

Social control is not altogether a matter of direct leadership. Institu-
tions and organizations and the operation of social forces of \'arious sorts
are frequently of more importance, and it is so in this case. One of these
controlling forces, probably for the county at large the most potent, is
politics. The county is known as a Democratic county, but the voting
strength is quite evenly divided, and political lines are quite sharply

36

drawn. The hand of politics is upon almost everything in the county,
and not always for good. For example, the schools, here as throughout
the State, are distinctly in politics, and this fact is the bane of the school
system, making the tenure of office of the county officials uncertain at
best, and thus adding greatly to the difficulty of carrying out a permanent
policy of school management.

After politics, other forces to be mentioned are religious denomination-
alism, which among certain classes is still a controlling factor; lodges
and clubs have a power of their own; the farmers' clubs deserve special
mention, though their influence is geographically limited, as there are
only three in the county (except in Sandy Spring, which throughout this
discussion is not considered, as the problem there is a distinctive one).
Two of the three are limited organizations for discussion and social meet-
ing; the third is a cooperative association. While it is true that economic
pressure has been responsible for most of the progress in the direction of
scientific farming, nevertheless these clubs have been directly concerned
in giving currency to many advanced ideas and improved methods of
farm management. Lastly, we must mention a factor which is rather
hard to gauge, but which is doubtless exceedingly important in certain
districts, notably Gaithersburg, Rockville, Laytonsville, Olney and
Wheaton, and parts of Colesville; namely, the organization of the com-
munity into social classes. This will be discussed more in detail in the
succeeding paragraph. Here let us remark that this social organization,
where it is definite and clear cut, is probably the most potent of all
socially controlling forces.

Social and Economic Standards

By social standards, we do not refer primarily to the groups or cliques
of those who in any given community actually do associate together
regularly, but rather to the larger recognized groups, or strata of society,
composed of those who would or could associate together; to those classes
distinctly conscious of their likeness to each other and of their difference
from other elements of the social whole. By economic standards, we
refer to that classification of a community which one would make
measuring it by property held, by income, by housing conditions, clothing,
table service, etc. Since the same conditions do not prevail throughout
the county, it will be convenient to discuss this topic by districts, making
such groupings of districts as conditions warrant.

Laytonsville. Here we have three very distinct standards, both social
and economic, and the lines are sharply drawn. One class is that group
which we have referred to as lineal descendants of the "Old South";
their ancestors were of the slave-holding aristocracy and the present
generation maintains their traditions. A second class is composed partly

37

of farm owners, partly of tenants, including a number who have come
into the county in recent years; economically the future belongs to this
class rather than to the other, as they are making rapid strides toward
prosperity. A third class is comi)osed largely of laborers, or of tenants
on the smaller places; their prospects economically are not very bright.
Socially there is little or no opportunity of passing from one class to
another. Here, and generally throughout the county, there are classes
among the negroes, also, usually on the basis of prosperity and industry.
Clarksburg, Barnesvillc and Poolesville. In these three districts, gen-
erally sjieaking, two standards are maintained; there is but little distinc-
tion between the farm owner and the renter; the lines are not closely
drawn. Throughout the upper end of the county a more democratic
spirit prevails. In the Poolesville District there is one instance of a
group, not different from those around them, either socially or economi-
cally, but nevertheless very homogeneous. This group, now the third
generation from the original settlers, are all of one stock; but they have
at the present time reached a condition which probably means the
ultimate breaking up of the community, as the young men are moving
out, partly owing to the fact that the farms have been divided as much
as is considered profitable.

COLORED LODGE HALL
38

Damascus. Here the lines are more loosely drawn than anywhere
else in the county. There are two economic standards, but practically
only one social standard.

Colesville. Part of this district belongs properly with Sandy Spring
and will be discussed in that connection; for the remainder of the dis-
trict, there are two economic standards, but hardly more than one
social standard.

Wheaton. In the towns there is very largely a suburban population
maintaining on the whole but one standard, socially and economically;
the only distinction here would be between this class and the laboring
element. In that part of the district which is farmed, there are two
distinct standards.

Gaithersburg. Here there are three social standards, in general con-
forming to the three groups of farm-owners, tenants, and laborers.
These lines are not hard and fast, and are easily stepped over; one great
reason for this is that for 15 or 20 years most of the young people have
belonged to the so-called "middle" class. There are only two economic
standards, as there is practically no difference between owner and tenant
in this respect.

Potomac and Darnestown. The conditions here are much the same
as in Damascus, two standard economically and one socially.

Olney. Part of this district should be classed in the main with Lay-
tonsville; the remainder belongs to the Sandy Spring neighborhood and
will be described later.

Bethesda. The situation here is peculiar owing to the extensive but
rather uneven suburban development, and is hardly of sufficient im-
portance for our present purpose to warrant discussion.

Rockville. The town of Rockville has its own standards the basis
of which it is a little difficult to see. For the remainder of the district
there are apparently three economic and three social standards.

Outside of Rockville, Laytonsville and Sandy Spring the county
appears to be, from the point of view of our present discussion, more or
less in a stage of transition. Now it is common experience that social
institutions prosper best in communities where the social organization is
compact and definite, whether composite or not. It was observed, for
example, in a survey of 53 communities in central Pennsylvania, that the
churches had their greatest difficulties in just such periods of transition,
and worked with greater ease and efficiency when the communities had
arrived "through industrial development at a clear recognition of the
composite nature of social life." Here the movement is in the opposite
direction, but the point holds that social institutions prosper best where
the organization is compact. In the discussion of recreation and social
life it will be discovered that the most highly developed communities in

39

this respect are communities of this tyj^e. The great danger here, of
course, is that only one stratum of society will be provided for, which is,
in fact, exactly what has happened.

Leveling Influences

An interesting question is how these class lines are maintained and
what forces are operating to break them down. The chief reason for
their maintenance appears to be that in the communities where they are
maintained the entire community seldom if ever acts as a unit. The
group within the community acts as a unit, thus heightening its o\^^^ class
consciousness; it expresses itself through its own institutions, its own
churches, its own clubs and societies, and, in the past to a considerable
extent, its own schools. There has been very little intermarriage with
other groups not similarly situated. In consequence, no forces have ever
been set in motion which would tend to break down these standards, and
they have been carried on by sheer momentum. In the other districts,
where the transition is now taking place, the conditions have been differ-
ent. In the first place, there has been no such compact group to start
with and, hence, not so much resistance to disintegrating forces. One
prime consideration here, moreover, has been economic. Many influences,
chief among them improved methods of farming and better mar-
keting facilities, have operated to place the different groups more nearly
upon an economic equality. This has meant more nearly equal oppor-
tunities for education, culture, and the cultivation of refinement of taste.
This has led the communities to act more as wholes, and churches and
lodges and schools have come in as leveling influences. Also, what
facilities for recreation and social life existed must have the support of
practically the entire community to thrive, and these assemblings in
common have tended, especially among the young people, to break down
class distinctions. This last deserves a more extended notice.

Assemblies Attended in Common by the Community

At the outset we may except Laytonsville and Olney Districts from this
discussion, for in those districts there are, apparently, no assemblies so
attended. For the remainder of the county, the first assembly to be
mentioned and the chief of them all, is the picnic, usually given by the
church, but sometimes by the lodge, and frequently referred to as the
"political picnic." These picnics are a great institution; everybody goes
to them, including the politicians, who during a campaign year utilize
them for campaign purposes. Then, too, oyster suppers and strawberry
festivals flourish like the green bay tree and are always cordially sup-
ported. In many parts of the county home-talent plays are a frequent
form of entertainment and are very generally attended. Rockville has

40

a moving picture show and the "movies" know no class lines. The
County Fair is another event that draws its patronage from nearly the
entire county and from all classes.

SOCIAL WELFARE
Public Health

The county health officer has the general oversight of the public health
for all of the county, except the Olney District and the town of Takoma
Park. The Olney District has its local board of health, chartered by the
State Legislature; the town of Takoma Park is under the supervision of
the health officer of the District of Columbia. (For principal causes
of death see Tables Nos. 12 and 13 and note, Appendix page III.)
The vital statistics for the county (Olney included, but Takoma Park
excluded) are as follows for the year 191 1, January i to December 31
inclusive:

Birth rate, white (per 1,000 inhabitants) 14.8

Birth rate, colored (per 1,000 inhabitants) 15 .3

Death rate, white (per 1,000 inhabitants) 7.8

Death rate, colored (per 1,000 inhabitants) 14.5

The birth rate, it will be noticed, is rather low, but the death rate is
also low. The death rate for the United States, year 1910, was 14.7
as against 9.7 for Montgomery County (both white and colored popu-
lation). This low death rate bears out the observation of the inves-
tigators that the average length of life seemed unusually great. It is
also significant that the death rate of the negroes is almost double
that of the whites, while the birth rate is only slightly higher.

The County Alms House

This is located on the Falls Road a mile and a half from the town of
Rockville. The building contains seven rooms and two halls with a
basement; there is a room for white women and another for white men;
one for colored women and one for colored men; one for married couples;
one for a crippled colored woman; one for tramps (in the basement);
there are two dining rooms, two bath rooms and two toilets. The
farm contains 140 acres, and has been poorly worked heretofore.
The inmates do not help in the farm work, being either physically or
mentally incompetent. At the time the investigators visited the Alms
House it contained 24 inmates, 12 white (6 male and 6 female) and 12
colored (also 6 male and 6 female, including 3 children). Under the
present management, the place is well kept and the inmates are given
proper care and good treatment.

41

Average Age of Marriage

For the white farming population, the average age at which the man
marries is 25.7 years and the woman, 21.6 years; for the colored popu-
lation, the ages are respectively, 28.5 and 22.2 years. These averages
as compared with the averages in counties surveyed in other states
are high, fully a year above the averages in Kentucky and 3 years above
the averages in Missouri. Reference to the chart on the age of farmers
and to the discussion on that point will suggest one reason for this —
namely that the difficulty of the young farmer in acquiring land without
going in debt for it postpones marriage.

Housing Conditions

No ver>' intensive survey was made of the housing conditions but a
few general observations may be ventured as in point here. Our in-
terest is primarily in the farm homes. If we were to compare Mont-
gomery County with the average farming community of the Middle
West, it would be safe to say that on the whole Montgomery County
has from 25 to 50% better housing conditions. Here the story-and-a-
half, relatively unpainted frame house of weather-beaten aspect, that
graces so many country roads in such profusion, is almost unknown.
Its place is taken by a large, freshly painted, two or three-story house
which is both commodious and comfortable and equipped with many
modern conveniences. In the upper end of the county the homes are
on the average a little smaller. For the entire county, probably the
homes of the farm owners would average seven or eight rooms. Ninety-
five per-cent. of them are painted. A fair proportion are supplied with
water by windmill or ram or engine. Sanitar}/ conveniences are excell-
ent. The homes of the farm-tenants, for the county as a whole, are
smaller; probably not more than 60% are painted. The homes of the
colored farmers, while considerably_^below the average for the white
farmers, are well above the average^for colored farmers_in many other
sections of the country, j | , i

On almost all the farms a distinct effort has been made to beautify
the homes and the home-surroundings. One sees an unusual number
of well-kept lawns, with an abundance of shade trees, shrubbery, and
flowers. In general, the household furnishings huxe beauty in mind as
well as utility. Probably a third of the homes have musicalinstruments
of some sort.

Institutions of Public Importance

There are four large, well-equipped sanitariums in the county. One
of these is devoted to the open air treatment of all forms of tuberculosis;
a second is given over to the treatment of nervous and mental diseases,

42

including mild forms of insanity; the other two are general in their
scope.

There are several circulating or public libraries in the county; one,
Takoma Park, has just been housed in a fine $40,000 building. This
latter is a Carnegie Library, a branch of Washington City Library; the
building stands in the district of Columbia, but is patronized by Mont-
gomery County people from Silver Spring down to the district line.
Rockville has a small museum, apparently but little used.

Community Improvements

The suburban sections of the county are of course still very much
in the process of making, but throughout the county more or less build-
ing has been going on continuously. Twenty-six new school houses
have been built during the last six years, 20 of them having two or more
rooms. At least two of these were built with the local assistance of
their patrons. There are a number of Town Halls in the county which
were built by subscription, and several of these have been put up within
five years. Money is now being raised for one in the Darnestown
District. The Knights of Pythias Hall in Gaithersburg, a fine, large
brick building, was built quite recently. Other buildings put up within
a few years which particularly deserve mention are the Baptist Church
and the Sunday-school building of the Southern Methodist Episcopal
Church at Rockville, the Episcopal Churches at Laytonsville and Olney,
the Club House of the Chevy Chase Country Club, the Chevy Chase
Presbyterian Church, the building of the Montgomery County National
Bank at Rockville, of the National Bank and Savings Bank at Sandy
Spring, and of the Fire Insurance Company at Sandy Spring.

Local Option

In 1880 the county voted upon the question of local option, and the
vote was in favor of prohibition; the fight was a bitter one, but every
district in the county gave Prohibition at least a small majority.
This went into effect the following year and has remained in force ever
since. Of recent years, the law has been fairly well enforced. A con-
siderable amount of liquor is shipped or otherwise brought into the
County from Washington; the "locker" system is in force at one or two
club houses; but there is little or no open selling.

Newspapers

Three newspapers are published in the county, two in Rockville,
and one in Kensington. Of these, one is a Republican paper and the
other two are Democratic. Each issues one edition a week.

43

Crime and Law-Suits

The county is about normal in respect to the amount of crime com-
mitted. Each term of court averages about one murder case, and the
usual run of petty and grand larceny cases. Automobile-speeding has
furnished a considerable number of cases, especially in view of the auto-
mobile war waged between Maryland and the District of Columbia.
To an outsider, there would seem to be more than an ordinary amount
of litigation over property, but what this might argue for the temper
of the people we would not venture to say.

ORGANIZATIONS

The county is very unevenly organized, both as regards Secret Fra-
ternal Organizations and Open Organizations or Clubs. In this dis-
cussion, as elsewhere in this section, Sandy Spring is not considered nor
included in the totals for the Olney District, with the exception of the
Olney Grange, which is largely supported by Sandy Spring.

Secret Fraternal Organizations

The social importance of these societies is not usually very great;
in most of them the insurance feature is the most important aspect.
The attendance at their meetings is a small proportion of their member-
ship; for all lodges in the county not more than 15% of the member-
ship are in attendance at any given session. The total number of
local organizations is 29, representing 9 varieties, located in 12 dis-
tricts, with an aggregate membership of 1,744. Only one district,
Barnesville, is without one or more local branches; a number of the
residents of this District belong to lodges in adjoining districts. Tables
Nos. 14 and 15 (Appendix, pages IV and V), give the number of
organizations and aggregate membership, one by the kind of organ-
ization, and the other by districts.

Open Fraternal Organizations or Clubs

111 respect to these organizations, the county is much more unex'cnly
organized than is the case as regards Secret Societies. These, more-
o\-er, are of much greater social importance. Excluding certain organi-
zations which are of more than local importance (discussed in the suc-
ceeding paragraph); also three Country Clubs with a membership of
1,938, in the Bethesda District, which draw their patronage so largely
from without the county that we need not be concerned with them
here, there are 40 organizations (Tables Nos. 16 and 17, and following
note, Appendix, pages IV and V), having a total membership of 969
(including 3 Athletic Associations which have no definite memberhip);
the total average attendance is 580 (5 have no stated meetings). The
attendance of those having stated meetings is 71% of the membership.

44

COLORED SCHOOL, LODGE HALL AND CHURCH

Societies of More Than Local Interest

There are a number of organizations in the county which deserve
mention but which can hardly be said to have immediate social import-
ance for any one locality. The following may be cited: The IV. C. T. U.
has nine local branches in the county located respectively at Spencer-
ville, Laytonsville, Rockville, Colesville, Travillah, Kensington, Sandy
Spring, Brighton and Oakdale; the work is conducted along the lines
usually followed by this organization; the Anti-Saloon League; the
Montgomery County Suffrage Association; the United Daughters of the
Confederacy; The Janet Montgomery D. A . R. Chapter; the Montgomery
County Medical Society, of which all but three of the physicians in the
county are members; the Montgomery County Federation of Woman's
Clubs, which includes twelve local organizations; and the Montgomery
County Social Service League. This last deserves a more extended
notice, though its work is important for public health and well-being
rather than for social life. This League, which was formed in 1908,
has for its objects: "to assist in the care of the poor, of the sick, especi-
ally tuberculosis cases, and of destitute and deficient children in the
county; to direct public attention to the causes and the prevention of
disease and suffering, and to arouse general interest in securing proper
provisions for the needy in their homes and in institutions." It was the
first association of its kind to be formed in the state, and from the start
has had generous support. At the present time it is supporting a
resident tuberculosis nurse-, who gives her entire time to visiting the homes
of the poor and instructing them in the care of the sick.

45

Negro Societies

The investigators, with the time at their disposal, couhl not undertake
the task of ol)taining detailed and accurate information concerning the
Negro Lodges and Clubs; there are too many of them and they are too
hard to discover. The Colored Church, School, and Lodge Hall compose
a group of buildings freciucntly come upon through the county; benevol-
ent societies thrive, and they care for you when sick, bury you, and
look after your family. There are also many lodges and societies of other
sorts. These all Y)\-dy a prominent part in the social life of the negroes,
more prominent jjrobably than the similar organizations do for the whites.

As to the Distribution of Organizations

If the assumption is a valid one that the Secret Fraternal Organiza-
tions ha^•e relati\'ely little social importance and that the open organiza-
tions or clubs afford the better index of the social life, then certain
significant conclusions seem safely established, (a) The social organi-
zation of the county is highly uneven as regards geographical distribu-
tion. Four districts are altogether without societies, and a fifth has
only two athletic associations. 57% of, the existent societies are in the
suburban sections. (It must be remembered that Sandy Spring is
being excluded from this present discussion). All of the Scientific
Clubs and Citizen's Improvement Associations are in these suburban
sections. The best organized localities are those with the best trans-
portation facilities and the best roads, (b) Only a small proportion
of the i)opulation in any instance is provided for in these organizations.
There are no societies for the laboring and tenant classes; the existent
societies are those of the farm owners and town folk, (c) It will be
pointed out in the succeeding section that these conditions are paralleled
with respect to existing recreation facilities and developed social life,
those districts which are deficient with respect to organization being
deficient in both those respects also.

RECREATION AND SOCIAL LIFE

"The things we do, when we do what we please, are vitally related
not only to health, but also to morality and the whole development of
the finer self. The forms of our pleasure-seeking disclose what we really
are. Those nations which devoted their leisure to re-creating health
and building up beautiful bodies have tended to survive, while those
which turned, in the marginal hours, to dissipation ha\-e written for us
the history of national downfall. A daily life in which there is no time
for recreation may be fraught with as much exil as a leisure given over
to a futile frittering away of energ>'." (Dr. Luther H. Gulick). The
day has passed when there is need of advancing to thoughtful students

46

of social problems an argument as to the necessity for recreation in the
culture of well-rounded manhood and womanhood. Yet this problem
of recreation remains one of the vital rural problems. The city also
has its recreation problem, but the initial terms of the problem are not
so serious as in the country, for congestion lends itself to the solution
more readily than isolation.

It is not our present purpose to attempt anything more than a descrip-
tion of existing conditions, which will include a discussion of the types
of recreation offered and the agencies by which offered. All of the
county except the Sandy Spring neighborhood will be considered.

Types of Recreation

Athletics. Baseball is played quite generally throughout the county.
The larger schools have organized teams, playing with each other and to
some extent with teams from Washington City. Rockville, Gaithersburg,
Brookville and Sandy Spring High Schools are the most important in this
respect. There were last season eight organized town teams, playing
one game each per week; admission was charged and crowds of 100 or
more were usually in attendance. Four of these teams were organized
into a league; this, however, will not be the case this year. Probably,
there is more playing in Clarksburg, Boyds, Germantown, Gaithersburg,
Washington Grove, Rockville and Kensington than elsewhere in the
county. Laytonsville town usually has one game a month. In Pooles-
ville, Colesville, Darnestown, Potomac, Barnesville, Damascus and
Bethesda Districts, there is little or no organized playing, but there are
scrub teams which play in the fields on Saturdays or Sundays, and at the
picnics.

Basketball is played in several of the schools; there are also two town
teams, in Rockville and Gaithersburg. Football is played in the Rock-
ville and Gaithersburg schools to some extent, and Kensington has a
town team; this game, however, is not very popular. Soccer is played
to an even less extent. The larger schools do more or less track work,
occasionally entering teams in State meets. A meet is held at Washington
Grove every summer, in which not only the county athletes but athletes
from various parts of the State and from neighboring States participate.

Tennis is played in various sections, particularly in the Rockville,
Darnestown, Olney, Gaithersburg, Wheaton and Bethesda districts.
Tournaments are often held, both for particular sections and for the
county. Croquet (if this can be called a form of athletics) is played in
the Potomac District, and here and there throughout the county.
Roque and quoits are played at Washington Grove.

Theatricals. Home-talent plays are very popular in at least eight dis-
tricts in the county. These are given by churches, schools, lodges or

47

athletic associations. They are generally well supported, in the main
reporting "capacity houses." Rockville, Gaithersburg, Laytonsville and
Clarksburg seem the fondest of this form of diversion. Minstrel shows
are also occasionally given. The type of play usually employed is the
light comedy, clean and quite above reproach, but of al^solutely no
literary or dramatic merit. The investigators attended several of these
])erformances and found them highly enjoyable, their chief regret being
that with such a wealth of dramatic material to draw from, plays of so
inconsequential a sort were invariably selected.

Once or twice a year some traveling stock company will appear in one
of the public halls and present some inexpressibly poor "show" (one
could hardly call it drama). Rockville has a moving picture show, open
one or two nights a week. This presents a good quality of films, all
approved by the National Board of Censorship, and is reasonably well
patronized.

Dancing and Card Playing. Laytonsville has a few private subscrip-
tion dances each year, but no public dances. Clarksburg district has a
dance a month, at Boyds, attended by about fifteen to twenty couples;
there are usually dances at the picnics attended by a hundred couples.
Poolesville town has a dance a week during the winter, at the hall,
attended by twenty-five to fifty couples; there is no charge except for
expenses. Rockville has private dances at the hall, and dances at the
club house for members; the latter are invitation dances. Colesville
district has an occasional dance given by the lodge. Few dances are
held in the Darnestown district, but 10% of the young people attend
those given at Boyds and Gaithersburg. In the Olney district a number
of dances are given in the course of the year at private homes and in the
Grange halls at Olney and Brighton. In Gaithersburg both public and
private dances are given at the Masonic Hall. Potomac has three or
four a year at the Great Falls Hotel, and several at the Knights of
Pythias Hall; there is also dancing at the Catholic picnic. In Barnes-
\\\\c there are public dances at the picnics; private dances are also given.
In Wheaton most of the towns along the railroad have frequent dances
during the winter; these are usually invitation affairs. There is less
dancing in Damascus district than elsewhere in the county.

There are card clubs in the Laytonsville, Poolesville, Rockville and
Wheaton districts. Elsewhere there is considerable playing privately,
less in the Damascus district than anywhere else in the county.

Lectures and Public Entertainments. Lectures are not very much in
N'ogue in the county. Washington Grove has a number in connection
with its summer Chautauqua. A number of towns in the W^heaton
district have frequent lectures, usually to restricted audiences in clubs.
Elsewhere they are very infrequent now, though in general they were

48

much more frequent and much more popular fifteen or twenty years ago.
Public entertainments, other than theatrical performances, are not much
more common. Takoma Park and Kensington usually have a number
of musical entertainments or illustrated talks during the winter. Wash-
ington Grove has them on its Chautauqua program. Churches or schools
in other places give occasional public entertainments, which will be
taken up more in detail in the church and school sections.

Suppers, Festivals, etc. For most of the churches in the county the
festive strawberry and oyster are the first aids to the budget; the lodges
also require their assistance. It would be difficult to estimate the total
number of oyster suppers, strawberry festivals and lawn parties given
in the county in the course of the year. Practically all of the organiza-
tions which require money give them, and in spite of their number,
throughout the county, 75 to 100 people or more can usually be gotten
out to such an event.

Fairs. Very frequently the fair is combined with the oyster supper or
strawberry festival or church picnic. Probably there are thirty or forty
such fairs in the county during a year. The annual agricultural fair at
Rockville has already been mentioned.

Picnics. As was said in another connection, a great number of picnics
are given during the year by churches and lodges; the total number for
the county is probably over 60. The largest is usually the Catholic
picnic in the Barnesville district, which is often attended by as many as
5,000 people. The average attendance for all picnics is probably about
150. Many features are combined with the picnics, such as dancing,
baseball, sales of candy, refreshments and other things, and (sometimes)
raflles and similar money-making devices. The only districts where
these picnics are apparently not a prominent and popular feature of the
social life are the Olney and Bethesda distncts.

Amusement Parks, Chautauquas and Resorts. Washington Grove in
the Gaithersburg district is the only strictly summer resort in the county.
This resort occupies 200 acres of ground, and is very pleasantly situated.
Among its attractions may be enumc-ated its Chautauqua program of
12 lectures and concerts, its athletic association, allied with the South
Atlantic division of the A. A. U. and furnished with a finely equipped
athletic field, its annual athletic carnival, its 10-day camp meeting, con-
ducted by its committee on religious services, and its kindergarten.

There is a large amusement park at Glen Echo in the Bethesda Dis-
trict, occupying a huge stone ampitheater which was built for Chau-
tauqua purposes but has not been so used for many years. Cabin John
is somewhat of a resort, and Chevy Chase Lake with its frequent band-
concerts in the summer is very popular. These three draw much of
their patronage from Washington.

49

Hunting and Fishing. There is a Fox Hunters' Association in the
count}- which holds a field trial every fall in the upper end of the county.
This is always very largely attended. There is also a Hunt Club in
Che\y Chase which maintains a pack of hounds. A considerable
amount of fox hunting is done altogether, chiefiy around Rockville,
between Coles\illr iind Brighton, and in the Poolesville District. There
is also some coon hunting.

There is excellent fishing in the Potomac River, particularly in the
vicinity of the Great Falls, and this is a favorite pastime with many,
especially in the Potomac District.

Miscellaneous. Rockville has the only public pool room in the
county; there are no bowling alleys. Pool and billiards are played
privately to a certain extent. Flinch and crockinole are said to be
pojiular in the Potomac and Darnestown Districts.

Agencies Furnishing Recreation Facilities. In general, it will be
noticed that there is no agency which feels impelled to furnish recrea-
tion facilities out of any sense of its obligation to the community. It
is not a desire for service but a need for money that pushes the church
and the lodge into this field. The fact that they do perform a public
service in providing recreation is quite incidental to the fact that they
find this a convenient way to raise funds. Such facilities as do not
owe their existence to this circumstance are the results of the efforts
of individuals or of groups organized for that purpose, such as card-
clubs, athletic associations, etc.

General Characteristics

In respect to recreation facilities as in respect to social organization,
conditions through the county seem to be somewhat uneven. Certain
districts or parts of districts seem to have inadequate local facilities,
notably Potomac, Darnestown, Damascus, and parts of Colesville and
Wheaton. Throughout the county, there seems to be little provision
made for the laboring classes and others less favorably situated; this
of course results from the fact which we have mentioned that there are
no agencies concerned to furnish recreation for its own sake, so that
those who because of economic circumstances, lack of personal initia-
tive or some other cause can not provide their own recreation facilities,
are left without. These, too, are the classes upon which the church
and the lodge have the slightest hold.

In general, the recreation furnished the various communities is
clean and wholesome. There is a little gambling among certain sets
some of the jMcnics and a few of the dances are accompanied by drinking
But on the whole, there is little that is objectionable and much that is
commendable. At one time, Cabin John was popularly described as

50

SANDY SPRING HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL TEAM

"A Sunday Booze Resort for Washington Toughs"; this was broken up,
however, and there is nothing approaching that to be found in the
county now.

Social Life

Not much needs to be added under this head. Broadly speaking, the
communities which are definitely organized are apt to be very social
communities; those which are not are correspondingly less so. In the
suburban sections, circumstances are different from elsewhere in the
county. The suburb is "neither flesh, fish nor fowl"; it differs from
the city and the country alike. In communities here which have been
settled up for some time and by a fairly homogeneous group, there
is considerable local social life; Kensington is a case in point here.
In other sections where the population is more shifting, more
recent or more diverse, there is little social life. Along the District
of Columbia line, in Takoma Park and parts of Bethesda, there is con-
siderable social dependence upon Washington; here, though, there is
coming to be more local social life. The many Citizens' Improvement
Associations are encouraging this. Throughout the county, the same
classes which we have said were practically without social organization
and recreation facilities, are also practically without social life of any sort.

51

52

SANDY SPRING NEIGHBORHOOD

Sandy Spring is not a town or village or civil division of any sort,
but a natural division, a neighborhood, whose people are united by the
bonds of religion and bloodkinship, and contrasted more or less sharply
with the people of the adjoining territory by differences of thought,
feeling and custom. The first settlement was made by the Society of
Friends and the community has always been under their predominant
influence. The limits of the section at present occupied by this com-
munity are clearly defined. Most of the territory lies within the Olney
District, but a part of the Colesville District, as far east as Spencerville
is included. The real centre of the community is in the vicinity of
the Sandy Spring Post Office where are located the meeting houses, the
school, the Lyceum Hall, the old library and the banks, institutions
upon which the life of the community has been built. There is no town
or railroad within 10 miles of this point.

It is not easy to say just when the first settlement was made, but the
earliest land records date from the beginning of the eighteenth century,
having to do with grants of land some of which are still in part held by
the families to which they were originally patented. There are records
of a considerable number of land transfers prior to 1750. The Friends'
Meeting, always the mainspring of the community life, has had a recorded
existence since 1753, a mention of it being contained in the minutes of
the Monthly Meeting at the Cliffs and Herring Creek under that date.
Many incidents in the subsequent history of this community are highly
important for an understanding of its present and would be exceedingly
interesting; but we can only pass them hastily in review. Before the
opening of the Revolutionary War, the meeting took up "the testimony
against slavery"; 1775 may be set as the approximate date after which
there was no settled policy of slave holding in Sandy Spring. Econo-
mically, as well as in other ways, the freeing of the slaves was a step
attended by important results, and the subsequent experiment of free-
labor owning the soil proved this to be a sounder economic policy than
the slaveholding system which it displaced.

Shortly after 1830, local option was voted for the territory adjacent
to the meeting house, nearly 50 years before it was voted for the county
as a whole. And it is safe to say that it was the influence of this com-
minity, working through those many years, which ultimately brought
about the victory of the temperance cause in the county. Many in-
stitutions, closely associated with the development of the community
life, and still enjoying a flourishing existence, had their beginnings about
the_middle of the nineteenth century. In 1842 a Library Company
was_organized and a library started at Sandy Spring. In 1844 the first
Farmers' Club for men, and in 1857 the first club for women were

53

organized. These were probably the earliest societies of their kind to
be organized in the United States. The next twenty years witnessed
the organization of four other societies. In 1858 the Lyceum Stock
Company was formed and the Lyceum Hall was built. Here began one
of the most interesting of local institutions. It was found difficult
to muster a quorum for the annual business meeting of the Stock Com-
pany. The brilliant idea was conceived of a])pointing an Annalist, a
neighborhood historian, who should keep the record of all happenings
and read that record at each annual meeting. The first historian was
appointed in 1863. It was the wisdom of experience that knew that
people always like to hear, themselves talked about. The annual meet-
ing ne^'e^ thereafter lacked a quorum. After a number of years the
annals were published in book form; three volumes have been issued to
date, giving the history of Sandy Spring from its earliest records. And
now, after 50 years, though the Lyceum Hall is little used, the Lyceum
Stock Company is a flourishing institution, and interest in the annals
is as keen as ever.

The Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Montgomery County began
operations in 1848. The Savings Institution was established in 1868.
The first turnpike in this section was built in 1860. A railroad has been
"about to be built at once" for more than fifty years. In 1872, the
first annual convention of Farmers' Clubs of Montgomery County was
held. The Olney Grange was organized at about this time. The
Maryland Woman's Suffrage Association was originated here in 1889.
Something of the significance of these various institutions, all of which
are still in existence, will be discussed at a later point. The interesting
thing to be noted here is that this community should so early have
de\-eloped many of those social institutions which most rural districts,
by a long and painful process of education are just now being brought
to see the vital importance of and that it should have maintained them
and enlarged them as it has.

There is much that is interesting also in the economic development
of the community. Beginning with soil naturally rather poor, it sub-
jected it to the same exhaustive tobacco cultivation that prevailed
through the remainder of the county. Here, as elsewhere, the price of
land dro])ped to a very low figure, reaching its lowest point about 1835.
On account of this deterioration of the soil some slight tendency to
emigration westward appeared. The first fertilizer experiments were
made about this time with lime. In 1838 there were 19 lime kilns
within a short radius, the stone being brought 5 to 10 miles. Subse-
quent experiments demonstrated the value of bone-dust. In 1844,
Peruvian Guano was introduced. The new methods of agriculture
which followed these experiments ushered in a period of rapidly in-

54

creasing prosperity. To-day the soil of this section is more than ordin-
arily fertile, and the farmers are more than ordinarily prosperous,
results brought about by 60 years of superior farming. No other sec-
tion of this county and few farming sections anywhere show to a more
marked degree the evidences of a substantial prosperity, fine homes,
excellent farm buildings, well-kept farms, strong banks, and a strong
school and church meeting the needs of rural life.

In 1900, the white population of the Sandy Spring neighborhood was
estimated at about 700, and the colored population at about 1,000.
It is unlikely that there has been much change since that time. The
white population has been exceedingly stable. Not all the people living
within the limits of the neighborhood belong, strictly speaking, to the
community. But of those who are members of the Sandy Spring
social group, at least 90% are of the famihes of "old residents." These
families are practically all inter-related.

We have said that the community has always been predominantly
under the influence of the Society of Friends, and this still holds true.
Within recent years, some of other faiths have been received as mem-
bers of the group, but they are also for the most part old residents.
During the summer there is always an influx of people from near-by
cities, whose annual coming has wrought social changes of some im-
portance. But in general we may say that we are here concerned
with a group very highly homogeneous. The distinctive Friend's dress
has been abandoned, and among the younger generation the distinctive
speech is to some extent being dropped.

This is a population whose main characteristics are remarkably per-
manent and who have attained a rare sort of social solidarity which
permits them to retain the institutions of the past while still making
room for the best that the present has to offer. They cling tenaciously
to many of their old traditions; societies and customs are very often
much longer lived than are the individuals who father them; yet no
community has been readier to adopt improved methods of agriculture
or more active in the support of reform and progress along all lines.
We have, moreover, a highly cultured group, strong in its advocacy of
good schools and thorough education. Illiteracy is altogether absent
here, while indolence and shiftlessness are practically so. It would
doubtless be easy to show that this uniformly high cultural level is
fundamentally responsible for the high degree of prosperity which the
community has been able to maintain.

The usual rural-community problem of holding the young people
has been a more or less vital issue here. During the last 50 years 75 or
80 young men have gone out into business in various parts of the world.
The farms have been divided a^ much as is economically desirable, and

55

there has seemed to be nothing to hold these young people. But many
of the farms are now being operated by an older generation, and in many
instances there are no young men in their families who can be looked to
to carry them on. The Annalist cities that in 1884 there were 77 spinsters
in the community. A similar comment might be made of the present.
Within the next 50 years a period of reorganization, with possible
disintegration, must be faced. Institutions of long standing will be
subjected to a severe test in such a period of transition as seems inevitable.

The vitality of this community is very high. It is not practicable
to separate out the vital statistics for this neighborhood from the statis-
tics for the entire county, but it is abundantly evident that if this could
be done a very low death rate would be shown. There are more than
20 people in this group who are 80 years of age or older. A year or so
ago, the average age of the 13 directors of the Savings Institution was
over 70 years. Throughout the community the average length of
life is great.

In many ways this neighborhood keeps in close touch with the outer
world, and this in spite of the fact that it is ten miles from a railroad.
Those of its members who have left to take up residence in the cities
usually remain in some sort of close touch with the community to its
decided advantage. The annual summer visitor serves somewhat the
same purpose. A large proportion of the young people go away to
schools and colleges, many of them returning to Sandy Spring to live.
Then, too, there has been a more than ordinary amount of travelling
by members of the community. The Annals record many trips to the
large cities of the country, visits in the North or far West, and tours
through Europe; for example, 140 people from this neighborhood at-
tended the Chicago World's Fair in 1892. All this has tended to give,
to their life many semi-urban characteristics.

The negroes of this section are for many reasons interesting enough
to deserve extended mention. This Survey however made little at-
tempt to study them except for their churches and schools. These are
discussed for the entire county in another place and will not be
considered here. Reference is again made to the special study of the
negroes of Sandy Spring by Prof. William Taylor Thorn, published
as a part of the Bulletin of the Department of Labor, No. 32, under
date of January, 1901. This is a very careful and exhaustive study and
precludes any necessity of discussing further the topics of which it treats.

In many respects the criticisms which are usually directed against
agricultural communities are here disarmed. For example it is cus-
tomary to say that the farmer lacks organization, that his social life
is at low c1)b and that he has altogether inadequate recreation facilities.
Such comments would be pointless as regards Sandy Spring, for it is at

56

just these points that the community is most highly developed. Fra-
ternal organizations do not prosper, but it is because there seems to be
no need for them. The place which they would occupy in the social
life of the group is otherwise well-filled.

Here as elsewhere, societies have come and gone. The Annals con-
tain records of various organizations no longer in existence. But more
often they have come than gone. As long as an organization performs
any real function it is maintained. There are at least six societies
forty or more years old. Nineteen societies now enjoying vigorous
health may be enumerated. Ten of these are in some sense agricultural
societies. A list follows, giving the name, number of meetings per
month (expressed 1/4 or 2/4, meaning one meeting a month or
two meetings a month), the membership and, in some cases, the
average attendance at the meetings (expressed 75-50, meaning mem-
bership 75, attendance 50), and the date of organization in the case of
societies more than 40 years old. The Agricultural societies are marked
by an *.

For Men Only

*Montgomery Farmers' Club: 1/4. 16 & 3 honorary. 1872.
*The Senior Club: 1/4. 16. 1844.
* The Enterprise Club: 1/4. 16. 1865.
The Physicians' Social Club: 1/4. 9.
*The Sandy Spring Fruit Growers' Association: 26.
*The Milk Producers' Association of Md., Va. and D. C: 450. (This

is an interstate organization with considerable local strength.)
*The Pigeon Club. 1/4, 17. (For boys.)

For Ladies Only

The Benevolent Aid Society.

The W. C. T. U. (four branches in this vicinity.)

The Association for Mutual Improvement: 1857. 45-70.

The Wednesday Club: 2/4. 36-25. October to June.

For Both Sexes

*The Olney Grange No. 7. 1/4. 89-50.

The Lyceum Stock Company.

The Montgomery Co. Woman's Sujfrage Assoc: 100.
*The Horticultural Society: 1/4. 75-50. 1863. May to October.
*The Home Interest Society: 1/4. 25-25. 1870.
*The Neighbors' Society: 1/4. 50-50.
The Whist Club: 1/4. 50.
The Book Club: Two branches; 30 families in each.

57

AN ATTRACTIVE FARM HOME

Several of these organizations have already been discussed in previous
sections, as, for instance, the Fruit Growers' and the Milk Producers'
Associations. Something of the significance of the other agricultural
clubs will be taken up later. For the present it will be sufficient to
indicate the sort of work which is undertaken by these societies. Both
the men's societies and those which are for both men and women combine
social features with the discussion of all manner of topics important to
their members as farmers. They give opportunity for informal meeting,
as well as for the exchange of ideas. The program of a meeting of one of
these clubs may be cited as typical. This is taken from a meeting of the
Home Interest Society on the night of the 26th of February last. Al-
though it was raining very hard sixteen members and some eight or ten
guests were assembled by six o'clock, some of them having driven
upwards of five miles. The order of the evening was as follows : 1. Sup-
per— the rule of the club stipulates that this shall always be a one-course
meal, a rule which is observed in letter but not in spirit. (We might at
this point interject the observation that a monumental banquet is a
feature of almost every gathering of this neighborhood.) 2. Music and
informal conversation. 3. The reading of the minutes of the last meet-

58

ing held at this house and also of the last regular meeting. 4. Vote on
proposed members. 5. Reports of the various committees.

(a) The committee of delegates to a recent anti-saloon league conven-
tion,

(b) The peace committee. A committee appointed to inform the
senator of this State of the favorable attitude of this club toward the
peace treaties, then pending in Congress.

(c) The committee appointed to prepare a memorial to the deceased
daughter of two of the members.

(d) The forethought committee, whose advice to the club was to trim
the grape vines, to have oxate of lead ready to spray them, etc., regarding
blackberries and rhubarb and vegetables.

6. One of the members told of a recent visit to Bermuda, and described
the way its farmers raised three crops of potatoes a year, and perform
other like agricultural miracles.

7. Questions and discussion.

(a) "I should like to read a letter from a student of the Maryland
Agricultural College, who would like a job for the summer. Will any-
one need the help of such a young man?"

(b) "We are going to build a tenant house. Should we build a cellar
under it? The tenants will probably not keep it sanitary. Will such a
cellar do more harm than good?"

This was discussed pro and con, the pros having it.

(c) "Has anybody been able to keep cabbage this winter?" Some
have by putting leaves on it.

(d) "What kind of asparagus root would you plant? How old should
it be? How should one plant it? "

(Answer too technical for the investigators to grasp.)

(e) "If cider freezes will it make vinegar?" Better get some "new
mother" and put in it.

(/") "Has any one any hens setting?" No, not even laying.

(g) "How should I make rebellious cream butter?" Use buttermilk
as a starter.

(h) "I have a colored man who has been forty-five years on my place.
Several years now he has not been able to do a half a man's work. I
have continued to pay him full wages, higher than most farm hands
receive in this district. He has never saved any of his money nor made
any attempt to do so. He is now 65 years old. Living with him are his
wife, daughter and mother-in-law, who all depend upon him for support.
Shall I continue to pay this man his full wages, shall I turn him out or
what shall I do with him? "

Here was indeed a fine ethical question, which was discussed at some
length without arriving at any definite conclusion, but it was the sense

59

of the club that the questioner had fuhilled his duty and that the problem
had now become one of charity. Following this an adjournment was
taken at ten o'clock.

From this it will be seen that a great variety of topics relating to every
aspect of farm life and work are discussed in these clubs. In the men's
clubs more technical questions of fertilization, of methods of planting, of
stock breeding and many similar branches of farming are discussed.

The Pigeon^ Club is doing for the boys what these other clubs do for
their elders. Its scope is wider than its name. In it the boy receives
preliminary initiation into the mysteries of the farm. This club holds
an annual poultry show at the Lyceum Hall.

The social significance of these clubs is very great. The week of the
full moon is always a steady round of festivities, as most of these societies
date by the moon. Even if the community had no other opportunity for
recreation than that furnished by its clubs, it would be better provided
for than is the average rural community. However, the activities of the
clubs do not begin to exhaust the list of amusements of this neighborhood.
Each season has its lectures and its musicals, at least two or three of each
and a half dozen or more of home talent plays and school entertainments.
These are held in the school assembly room or in the Lyceum Hall, and
are usually very well attended. The same sort of a change has been
going on here as elsewhere in the county, during the last thirty years or
more. Lecturers on sober topics do not now speak to the large, enthusi-
astic audiences that once faced them. However, these entertainments, of
whatever sort, are all of more than ordinary high class. There are usually
four or five dances a season in the Assembly Hall, sponsored by the High
School. These are invitation dances with an admission fee. The aver-
age attendance is fifty, plus plenty of chaperones. A number of other
dances are usually held in the Grange Hall at Olney or in private homes.
On the road between Ashton and Ednor there is a club house which has
been in process of completion for a number of years. It is still rather
airy for winter use, but occasional dances are held there during the
summer, perhaps four a season. In addition to these forms of amuse-
ment there are all the various outdoor activities of a well-organized
community. There are three tennis courts in Sandy Spring, and many
play. There is an annual tournament which attracts considerable
interest. The High School has a baseball team and during the summer
there is a neighborhood team. The games are all fairly well attended.
There is no admission charged. Of course, there is the annual game of
the "Hasbeens" and the " Never- were-anything-muches,'' without which
the life of no community would be complete. Basketball and soccer are
played at the High School.

There are many private picnics and outings during the course of the

60

year. This is an exceedingly social neighborhood, due in part to the fact
that its people are so closely inter-related, and there is in consequence a
great deal of social visiting. If it is true that the problem of the main-
tenance of a high standard of social morality is very vitally connected with
the problem of providing adequate recreation facilities, then one would
expect to find here, what is actually found, that the moral plane is
quite above the average. The term moral is used in a broad sense.
It is evident that not only are all gross violations of the accepted con-
ventions quite absent; but also the lesser vices of social intercourse,
those things which are the making of neighborhood scandals, the gos-
sipings and petty dishonesties are conspicuously absent. The discipline
of the Friends' meeting admonishes its members to observe simplicity,
to encourage kindness and gentle dignity and to guard against corrupt
conversation. The spirit of this discipline prevailing in the community
means the cultivation of social virtues of high order.

The entire organization of the community, in fact, serves this same
end. This is not the place to discuss the characteristics of the Friends'
religion, other than to say that it is a religion that concerns itself vitally
with the affairs of common life, with the dress and conversation and the
daily deportment of its people. The meeting occupies a much larger
place in the total life of the neighborhood than a church usually fills
in this age.

We have reserved the discussion of the real social impact of such
institutions as the Club and the Meeting for a later paragraph. The one
aspect of the religious life which concerns us here is the philanthropic
work of the Meeting. A new plan has just been adopted for carrying
out this philanthropic work, which a member of the Meeting, in a letter
to the investigators, describes as follows:

"That the whole meeting be constituted a philanthropic committee,
with a call during our business proceedings in the second, fifth, eighth,
and eleventh months:

"That a superintendent be appointed for each branch of our philan-
thropic work, to make a detailed report to the Meeting at least once a
year, in the eighth month, and at other periods as they deem necessary:

"That the following branches of social service be selected:

"Peace and arbitration.

"Purity and Demoralizing Publications.

"Work among Colored People, also for Women and Children.
. "Tobacco and Narcotics.

"Temperance, Prisons, Asylums and Hospitals.

"Lotteries, Gambling and Kindred Vices.

"Equal Rights for Women."

The variety and scope of these interests will be at once remarked.

61

Closely associated with this philanthropic work, though done, for the
most, quite informally, is the care which the community takes of its
poor and unfortunate. No one living within the bounds of the neigh-
borhood is knowingly suffered to be in want. This does not apply
only to the members of the Meeting but to all, white and colored alike.
This is a well established practice, which permits the one in need to
accept help as readily as it is offered \^ithout loss of self-respect. As
regards the negroes, this attitude of helpfulness has always expressed
itself in very j^ractical ways. Since the members of the Meeting first
manumitted their slaves and declared themselves committed to freedom
from bondage and equal opportunity for all, they and their descendents
have encouraged the colored churches, supported the schools and as-
sisted the negroes to reach and maintain a condition of economic
independence.

The main school of the neighborhood is admirably adapted for the
needs of country life. We may anticipate the discussion of educational
conditions in the county sufficiently to sketch the main characteristics
of the school at Sandy Spring. It is the outgrowth of a long established
Friend's school, taken over by the county some years ago. The old
building was enlarged and remodeled. It is now a modern rural school

SANDY SPRING HIGH SCHOOL
62

in every respect, with eleven grades, offering four year courses in Ele-
mentary Agriculture, Domestic Science, and Music. It has an efficient
teaching force, and material equipment reasonably ample for all its needs.
Provision is made for the social and recreational life of the pupils. The
school is under the influence of the Friends' whose educational ideals
are notably high. There are other elementary schools within the borders
of the neighborhood, but the educational life of the community centers
about this High School.

The social organization of this neighborhood is sharp and distinct.
There are three economic and three social classes. Class lines are de-
finitely drawn. Among the members of the Sandy Spring social group,
there is a distinct class consciousness. There is no wealth qualification
for admittance to this circle, but the qualifications of education, morality,
and congeniality. Another class is composed partly of farm owners
and partly of tenants. A third class is the group of laborers and small
renters. This last named class have little or no social life. They are
within the neighborhood, but are not of it. The second class mentioned
is somewhat more compact than these. But practically, we may say,
the Sandy Spring community means that social group which we have
been discussing. Class consciousness is here a form of community
consciousness.

The question of social control within this group, is a peculiarly in-
teresting one. There are forces at work which have long since produced
a distinctive type and which now induce adherence to it. There are
forces working for the continuity of social institutions and for a high
form of what we may call social cohesion. There is, for example the
force of their common religion, distinctive and different from the faith
of the people round about them. This serves both to separate them
from others and to bind them closely together. Had the line of cleavage
here been less distinct it is doubtful if the community could have retained
its individuality through so long a period of time. Then too this is,
as we have said, a religion which emphasizes practical ideals dealing
directly with neighborhood activities and associations, and having
intimate relation with all that is important in their daily life. The
Meeting provides for them a program of service as well as a stimulus to
worship, and by working together, so constantly and in such a diversity
of ways the social group becomes solidified. This result is made the
easier of achievement since the membership of the Meeting has always
included practically all of those who are prominent in the community
socially.

The Annals, which we have mentioned, affect the community in
helping it to maintain a sense of its own continuity. The present is
intimate with the past to a degree not at all true of the typical rural

63

community. There is a constant awakening of the memory of former
days; and a consequent cherishing of community ideals and standards;
promoting, in turn, the persistence of all neighborhood interests. As
long as a community is unable to forget its own history, especially
when that history is a distinctively worthy and inspiring one, it is
impossible for it to sink far below the level of its past.

The various forms of neighborhood activity, past and present, which
ha\'e found outward expression in such institutions as the school, the
Lyceum Hall, the banks, the insurance company, and the library, all
serve to increase the homogeneity of the social group. These are the
monuments of cooperation and community endeavor. Of course the
stability of the population and the great degree of inter-marriage help
to weld the community together, so that within the neighborhood itself
there are practically no divisive forces.

But the most potent form of social control expresses itself in what
we may call the community conscience. The clubs and the Grange
share with the Monthly Meeting the function of providing this con-
science. In the program which we cited of the Meeting of the Home
Interest Society, it will be recalled that among the questions brought
up for discussion, was one which was properly an ethical problem. This
is very frequent. Many personal problems whose significance is social
are solved by the club or the Meeting. In many ways, not always easy
to trace, standards of conduct are created, which determine for the
individual what his course should be. It is the Group Will imposing
itself upon the individual, or rather it is the Will of the individual find-
ing expression through the Will of the Group. The force of this cumu-
lative social pressure must be great; greater, probably, than the in-
dividual is apt to realize. This sort of control prepossesses leadership
and here, more clearly than elsewhere in the county, can the source and
the activities of that leadership be discerned. Economically it is the
leadership of the farmer who has himself succeeded; morally and religi-
ously it is the leadership of the older, tried members of the Meeting.
Always it is quite unostentatious and self-efifacing.

So far we have been looking at the favorable aspects of this community
and have been constrained to praise rather than to criticism. But in
conclusion we may point but that if this community is to reach its maxi-
mum de\-elopment and fill the place of its maximum usefulness, if indeed
it is to maintain its present level, there are certain pertinent problems
for which it must find a solution. There is its race problem, less acute
here than elsewhere, and also in process of solution, but important, never-
theless. Had Sandy Spring had for its negro population only the
descendants of that group of negroes originally given their freedom, and
trained there under such admirable auspices, its problem would not now

64

SANDY SPRING HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS CLUB

be a very serious one. But the negroes have been migratory; favorable
conditions have attracted to the neighborhood many brought up under
very different circumstances, and it is never easy to make a shifting
population respond to the stimulus of social standards. The problem of
the relation of the negro to the rural community is in many respects
more acute now than ever before; even though apparently nearer solu-
tion. Sandy Spring must remember that the status of the entire com-
munity may be expected to be influenced, intellectually and morally and
certainly economically, by the status of the negro within its bounds. It
must make more determmed efforts than ever to raise him to a higher
level of industry, morality and trained efficiency.

There is also a present social problem, the problem, we may say, of a
social ministry. There is a class of whites living in this neighborhood
on a distinctly inferior level; a class almost without social life; a class
with lower standards and ideals. These are the marginal people of the
community, and they are the people whose welfare must ultimately
condition the welfare of the community as a whole. The service to the
marginal man is not charity; it is necessity. How this problem is to be
solved is for the community itself to determine. The Grange began as a
leveling and uniting force, reaching, to be sure, only a small portion of

65

these people, but now, after forty years of existence, it has ceased to fulfill
that function and has become an organization of a single group.
I Closely connected with this is the problem of achieving a closer degree
of cooperation with the rest of the county. Friends are known as propogan-
dists and reformers, and have a reputation of being clannish. These two
things have made it hard for them to exert the influence which they
should exert upon the county. There is room for aggressive leadershi]:)
along many lines; better farming, more thorough cooperation, more
efficient organization and greater social compactness and continuity.

Lastly we may mention the problem of self-preservation. We ha\e
already pointed out the source of this problem and we can hardly venture
an opinion as to its solution, but the indications are that it will be more
acute in fifty years than now.

These are problems which the community must set itself to solve.
To aid it it has strong memories, a developed social pride, and a high
degree of social compactness, along with those prime necessities, a sound
economic policy and a developed and apparently permanent prosperity.

EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS

Some time during the current year the United States Bureau of Educa-
tion will probably publish a bulletin on the educational conditions in
Montgomery County which will contain in detail all the information
gathered by this survey, including a full discussion of all public and
private schools. In consequence, only the outstanding features of the
educational situation will be discussed here, and the reader is referred to
the Government bulletin for a detailed account.

The Public School System

The supervision of the public schools of the county is entrusted to a
county superintendent and a board of six commissioners, appointed by
the governor of the State for a term of years. Each school has its local
trustees, charged with the immediate oversight of its affairs and cooperat-
ing with the county board, which has complete control over the county
system. The appointment of teachers and all matters of policy and
administration rest with this board and the superintendent. This type
of organization has one great weakness, to which we have already
referred, which is, that thereby the schools arc put most distinctly into
politics. In the actual results produced, the fact that the superintendent
and the conimissioners owe their appointment to political influence may
or may not work detriment to the schools. In the present instance it so
happens that it does not. The men now filling these positions are all
highly efficient men, genuinely concerned for the welfare of the schools
and serving them faithfully and with marked ability. The record made

66

O fOf^L O'srff/cr SCHOOL fi/i/M/ rc:J
■ fic/f>/iL o/srf?/cr scMOOi. (colo^eoJ
^pmv/^rc SCHOOL Off coll cg£

MAP NO. I — LOCATION OF SCHOOLS

during the present administration clearly proves that. The condition in
itself, however, is undesirable, if for no other reason than that it makes the
tenure of office uncertain and hampers the ofi&cials in putting into effect
any permanent policy of administration and development, which it
obviously requires more than two or four or six years to accomplish.

There are in all 106 schools in the county, 76 for white pupils and 30
for colored. There is one white school for every 101 of the white popu-
lation of school age (5 to 20 years) and one colored school for every 103
of the colored children. Each election district has from two to nine
white schools; twelve of the districts have from one to four colored schools
each. (For the exact location of these schools see the map above.) No
section of the county is without its white school reasonably accessible,
while there is no considerable settlement of negroes without a colored
school near. The 76 white schools include 7 high schools and 17 grammar
schools. The policy of the present administration has been one of
expansion. Twenty-six new school houses have been built within the

67

last six years; only 6 of these have been one-room schools. In all the
county there is only one consolidated school with public transportation
of pupils; this is located at Poolesville. The white schools are in session
188 days a year, but the colored schools are in session only 140 days,
except in a few cases in which private subscription makes it possible to ,
keep them open longer.

The Material Equipment

Buildings. The 76 white schools occupy 77 buildings; 70 of these are
frame structures, 5 are of brick and 2 are of stone. The total number of
rooms is 151, of which 140 were last year used for school purposes; 51 of
the schools were one-room, one-teacher schools. The law requires the
maintenance of a certain average attendance before two teachers can be
assigned to one school, so that a number of two-room buildings were in
effect only one-room schools. This proportion of one-teacher schools,
67% of the total number, raises a problem which is, in a way, at the crux
of the whole situation.

The most frequent criticism aimed at the rural schools of recent years
has been that they have borrowed their course of study and their teach-
ing methods from the city schools, and have offered the country pupil
nothing distinctively adapted to his actual sphere in life. In another
connection we will discuss the movement for the broadening of the cur-
riculum of the rural schools by the introduction of studies which aim
directly to equip the students for farm life. This is a thing for which
there is an ever-growing demand. Yet it must be remembered that there
is an equally insistent demand for more highly efficient teaching in the
rural schools and a general improvement of the class of work done. This
brings us again to our point that 67% of the schools are one-teacher
schools.

It will readily be seen that in a school in which one teacher has charge
of 30 or more pupils in eight different grades, with the average length of
the recitation period only 15 minutes, any movement to increase the
efficiency of the teaching must begin by narrowing rather than broaden-
ing the curriculum. It is only when the teaching force is multiplied that
the curriculum can be broadened and the general efficiency at the same
time increased. In the main, this situation has raised the question of
the consolidation of schools.

As we have said, there is at the present time only one consolidated school
in the county with public transportation of pupils, though several other
schools, notably the Sandy Spring and Brookeville High Schools, are in
effect consolidated schools. It is the hope of the School Administration
to put into effect in the near future a policy of gradually consolidating
the schools at convenient centres, with a ^'iew to covering ultimately

68

69

the entire county in this fashion. This "ultiniatel}'," ho\ve\er, ])ro-
Ixibly means tlu' dim, dim future, as will subsequently be brought out
in our discussion of the altitude of the school ])atrons toward their
school problems.

In general it may be said that the equipment of the white schools for
school ])urposes is above the average for similar communities. On the
credit side of the ledger we may mention that all the buildings are in
good repair; nearly half of them have been built within the last ten years.
All but 13 have ample seating facilities. Practically all have a sufficient
number of globes, maps and charts, while all have sufficient school books
and other materials furnished the pupils without cost by the county.
In the majority of the rooms some attention has been paid to the aesthe-
tic; practically all have pictures, drawings or other decorations of some
sort, representing all degrees of artistic appreciation, but for the most
part ])roducing a pleasing effect. Rockville High School deserves
special mention in this connection. This school has recently purchased
some excellent plaques and friezes at a cost of several hundred dollars.
Twenty-eight of the schools are provided with some sort of musical
instrument.

All but 11 schools have a good water supply; 46 have wells and 9 have
springs on the school property or within convenient distance. Sanitary
conditions are in the main good. All but four schools have outside
toilets, but only 12 of these are in any way unsanitary. Fifty per-cent.
have cloak rooms for the pupils. Certain other things must be entered
on the debit side of the ledger. In general it must be confessed that
school architects have paid altogether insufficient attention to the ques-
tion of proper methods of lighting, heating and ventilation. Nearly
90% of the rooms have cross lighting; a number of rooms have windows
so placed that the pupils must face the light; in only 16 rooms is the
lighting adjacent. Seven of the buildings are furnace heated and ten
are equipped with jacketed stoves; the remainder retain the unjacketed
stove, in spite of its obvious disadvantages. The ventilation is often
very ])oor. The seating of the pupils is for the most part at the old-
fashioned double desks. Twenty-two per-cent. of all rooms have single
desks and 3 rooms report desks that are adjustable. Only 6 schools are
provided with teachers' rooms.

Nearly all of the colored schools are in a more or less delapidated
condition. All the buildings are frame. One school holds its sessions
in a church. The total number of rooms is 38 of which 34 are actually
used for school purposes. Twenty-eight of the schools, or 93%, are
one-teacher schools. Twenty-eight are equipped with double, non-
adjustal)le desks; 25 are heated with non-jacketed stoves; all have cross-
lighting. In 16 the seating facilities are not ample. Nine have an

70

A COUNTRY SCHOOL — UNTOLD POSSIBILITIES FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE LIE
DORMANT IN SUCH SCHOOLS AS THIS "

insufficient number of maps, charts and globes; 27 are without any sort
of muscial instrument ; only one has a cloak room and none have teachers'
rooms; 10 are without water supply; nearly one-half have unsanitary
toilets. Free school-books and other materials are provided by the
county, usually in sufficient quantity.

Grounds. The grounds of the white schools have a total acreage of
98>^. There is no school without a fair plot of ground. Thirteen of
the school lots are fenced, 36 are fairly level, 11 have good walks; 63
have shade trees, 13 have flower beds. The 30 colored schools are
provided with approximately 24 acres of ground. Several schools have
no grounds. The average lot is about three-fourths of an acre. Only
7 of the lots are fenced and only 6 have walks; 16 are reasonably level;
23 have shade trees and 3 have flower beds. The school equipment
has in the past taken only very slightly into account the play side of
school life. Very few of the rural schools have ground adapted for use
as play grounds, though the high schools are fairly well provided for in
this respect. Only 11 schools, all white, have any play apparatus;
these 11 include the Rockville, Brookeville and Sandy Spring High
Schools, which are exceptionally well furnished in this respect. Most
of the schools, however, leave their pupils very much to their own de-
vices during play hours, and there is but little attempt to lead or direct
them. Of the white schools 29 and of colored schools 2 possess American
flags— 31 out of 106.

Value. The total value of the school property owned by the county
is $165,800; $155,050 of this amount is invested in buildings and grounds

71

for white schools; $10,750 is invested in colored schools. The average
xahic of each white school is about $2,095; of each colored school, $470.

The Teaching Force

The white schools have a teaching force of 128, 27 male and 101
female. An attempt was made to obtain accurate information as to
the training of these teachers, and although our data are incomplete
and not always reliable, it appears that a fair proportion, probably 25%,
have had a college or normal-school training. Somewhat more than
half of the whole number have had the equivalent of a high school
course, while the remainder have had only a grade school training.
Fifty-two reported first-grade, first-class certificates. The 30 colored
schools were in the charge of 33 teachers, 6 male and 27 female. Of
this number, 27 reported that they had had a normal or industrial
school training.

It has been observed in many rural districts that one of the chief
weaknesses of the schools has arisen from the fact that the teaching
force is so constant4y shifting. In 3 counties surveyed in Missouri,
for example, it was found that practically all of the rural teachers moved
every year and that changes were frequently made during the school
term. The causes of this condition are various but the results are
fairly constant. The one-year teacher can only begin to understand
the pupils and the community she is to serve and get ahold of the parti-
cular problems of the school. Each year the process is to be gone through
with and can never be completed. At least three or four years in one
community are necessary before the best result can be obtained. In
Montgomery County, on the whole, quite favorable conditions prevail.
All the teachers reported the length of time which they had held their
present positions. The average for the white teachers was four years
and for the colored teachers three years. This average is in part due
to a few cases of exceptionally long tenure, but a large proportion of the
teachers reported that they had held their present positions two years or
more. The average number of positions held during the last five years
was, for white teachers, l.G, and for colored teachers, 1.8. The average
number of years of teaching experience was 8.1 and 9.6 years for white
and colored teachers, respectively. The advice of the President of the
Colored Teachers' Association to the teachers on this point of tenure of
position was brief and pithy. "Stay in a locality until you know it
and make the people love you; but leave while they are still loving you."
Fifty-five of the white teachers and 30 of the colored reported that it
was their intention to teach permanently. About 50 white teachers
had definitely decided to give up teaching. The remaining number,
mostly young ladies, expressed themselves as undecided. Last year

72

the average salary paid the white teachers was ^440.48; the colored
teachers received on the average, $174. The salary paid is in part de-
pendent upon the average attendance maintained by the particular
school over which the teacher presides, there being a uniform scale
throughout the county.

The Pupils

The total population of the county between the ages of 5 and 20
years is approximately 10,800, of which number 7,710 are whice and
3,090 are colored. The total enrollment of the schools, white and
colored, for the year 1911 to 1912, was 5,709 or 52.8% of the population
of school age. For the entire continental United States, according to
the Census of 1910, the proportion of the population of school age
enrolled in the schools was 62.8%. Montgomery County, then, is
nearly 10% below the average for the country (even allowing for the
number attending private schools and colleges.) Of the total enrollment,
3,726 were in regular attendance. This last means that 65.5% of the
children of the county did not attend the public schools regularly.

White Schools. The highest total enrollment of the white schools
last year was 3,927 or 50.9% of the white population of school age.
The total average attendance was 2,639 or 67.3% of the enrollment.
This made an average attendance of 34.7 pupils per school.

The proportion of pupils enrolled in each grade begins to decrease
after the fourth grade and drops ofif sharply after the sixth. (Table
No. 18, Appendix, page VI).

The district showing the best average attendance was Bethesda,

GREEN BUT GROWING

73

with 78.2'^/^ of the enrollment in regular attendance. Olney and Rock-
N-ille were second and third respectively, with 78.1% and 73.3%. The
poorest average attendance was shown by the Barnesville District,
with 52%, of its enrollment in regular attendance. Potomac was a
close second, with 53%. Evidently it would seem that the attendance
at the schools is very closely related to the question of transportation
facilities and roads. Throughout the county it holds true that in those
districts accessable to trolley lines and railroads or equijjped with good
roads, the average attendance is high. In those districts having poor
roads and no other transportation facilities available for school pur-
poses, the average attendance is low. For the entire county the average
distance from the school to the home of the pupil is about 1.2 miles,
but for those pupils living in the open country the average distance is
greater, for at least an appreciable number travel three miles or more
from their homes to the school. As we have said, there is only one
school in the county that provides transportation for its pupils to the
school. The State Legislature has just passed a "compulsory educa-
tion" law which it is hoped will make for a higher proportion of the school
population enrolled and in regular attendance.

In 1911 all of the schools of the county graduated 09 pui)ils, 28 boys
and 46 girls. Of this number it is reported that 14 boys and 19 girls
went to higher schools. How little these schools have been attempting
to do for the pupils enrolled in them, over and above the routine teaching
of the prescribed lessons, may in part be gathered from the fact that there
were last year in existence, only 13 student organizations of any sort
in all the schools of the county; of this number 8 were literary and debat-
ing societies; 2 were athletic associations and 1 was a boys' brigade.
The total membership of the 13 societies was about 250.

In 1911 the first step was taken toward a larger service to the boys
in the schools when a Corn-growing contest was initiated by the president
of the Board of School Commissioners. This contest was a success in
a small way, but not much interest was manifested in it. This year
it is being repeated under the auspices of the Agricultural High School
at Sandy Spring and will be made a permanent feature. A number of
prizes ranging from $5.00 to $50 are offered and the contest is open to
all boys from ten to eighteen years of age. Each boy must j^lant
one acre of corn, doing all the work himself e.xcept the plowing. The
basis used in the awarding of prizes is 40% for the greatest yield per
acre; 40% for the best showing of profit on the investment and 20%
for the best written account giving the histor>^ of the crop. The boys
are required to render an exact account of all the time spent in doing
the work and of their expenditure for seed, fertilizer, etc. The contest
this year has been well advertised and great interest is being shown.

74

Colored Schools. The highest total enrollment of the colored schools
for the year of 1911/12 was 1,782 which is 57.6% of the colored popula-
tion of school age, a better showing than the white schools have made
in this regard. The total average attendance was 1,087 or 60.9% of
the enrollment, a proportionately smaller average than that maintained
by the white schools. The average attendance per school was 36.
The average attendance in the different districts varies greatly for no
very evident reason. The highest per-cent. was shown by the Clarks-
burg District with 75%, while in the adjoining district of Damascus the
average attendance was only 32.5% of the enrollment.

After the fourth grade the enrollment begins to decrease rapidly and
only four schools have any pupils enrolled above the sixth grade. (Table
No. 19, Appendix, page VI). These schools graduated in 1911, only 4
pupils, 1 boy and 3 girls, but it was reported that all of these went on
to higher schools. The average distance from the school to the home
of the pupils for the county, is about one and a quarter miles.

In the matter of organizations for the pupils, the colored schools do
even less than the white schools, there being only four organizations
among the 30 schools; 2 of these are literary societies and 2 are temper-
ance societies; they have a total membership of 260.

The Curriculum

White Schools. The teacher in the one-room school has a multiplicity
of things to do and a very limited time to do them in. This is the prime
reason why the criticism holds true here as everywhere where the one-
room school flourishes, that the curriculum of the rural school contains
very little that distinctly prepares for country life. In spite of the
fact that conditions are far better here than in many rural communities,
the fact remains that each teacher in the county must conduct on the
average, twenty-three recitations per day, with the average time allotted
each recitation, only fifteen minutes. Such a program leaves opportunity
for very little beyond the limits of the presecribed course of study.

The greater proportion of the schools give no time at all to those
studies which are of special importance for country life (See Table No.
20, Appendix, page VI); namely, Nature Study, Elementary Agriculture,
Manual Training, and Domestic Science. The same is true of Music
and Drawing. Only a small number attempt to teach these subjects
thoroughly. Sandy Spring and Brookeville High Schools share between
them the entire time of one man in teaching of Elementary Agriculture.
Four schools have each a special teacher of Domestic Science, three
schools share the time of one man as an instructor of Manual Training
and one school has a special teacher giving her entire time to the teaching
of music.

75

DARNESTOWN ACADEMY

Colored Schools. The teachers in the colored schools have an average
of twenty recitations per day each, and the average length of the recita-
tion period is 18 minutes. Even less time is given in these schools
than in the white schools to the teaching of the special subjects mentioned
above. (Table No. 21, Appendix, page VI).

The most interesting school in this connection is the Sharp Street
Industrial School near Sandy Spring. An industrial exhibit for all the
colored schools was held last spring, and the results showed that in the
schools where industrial training is undertaken at all, the work is of a
very high class all things considered, and suggested that here is a field
of education that has hardly been touched and which it would be well
worth while to develop.

The School as a Social Center

Forty-six white schools and 17 colored schools report a total of 176
public entertainments given by the schools during the last school year.
These were of various sorts: Lectures, debates, concerts, programs
of miscellaneous recitations, mock trials, etc. For the main part,
they were well attended.

The School Budget

The total cost of operating the schools for the year 1910/1911 was
$118,355.62. Of this amount, $99,771.59 was expended directly on the
white schools; $8,448.08 was expended directly on the colored schools; the
remainder, $10,185.95, went for supervision, office expenses, interest,
cancellation of indebtedness, etc. That is to say, of every dollar spent,

76

85 cents is spent on the white schools, 7 cents on the colored schools, and
8 cents on adminstration, etc. (Table No. 22, on page VII of the Ap-
pendix is an itemized account of how $1 of the school's money is spent.)
The average total cost of maintaining a white school is $1,407.16 per year;
a colored school costs only $379.92 per year. The average total cost of
educating each white pupil in regular attendance is $40.55 per year; the
annual expense to the county of .each colored pupil is $10.49. The white
schools cost the county $568.88 per day in session, which is $7.48 per
school per day. The colored schools cost $81.38 per day in session, or
$2.71 per school per day. (See Table No. 23, Appendix page VII, for
total figures on the various items of expense.) From this it would
appear that colored pupils are an economy, but that white pupils are, in
fact, a luxury.

The question of where the school's money comes from is interesting
from several points of view. (Table No. 24, on page VII of the Appendix,
"Where $1 of the School's Money Comes From," is a statement of the
various sources of income.) Just 61.7% of the school's income is raised
by taxation. The county's receipts from the State school levy of 16|
cents on each $100 were $26,830.41; from the county levy of 31.4 cents
per $100, $47,500. The total receipts from all sources were $120,895.90.
The tax levy, of course, is on the basis of the assessed valuation of the
property, which for the county over is not three-quarters of the actual
value, so that in point of fact the total tax levy for school purposes hardly
represents .35 per cent. Twenty-four per cent, of all money raised is
acquired by loans, a much higher per cent, than in any other county in
the State. For the entire State, loans represent only 4.6% of the entire
amount raised. There is no way in which the school expenses can be cut
down. In fact, increased expenditure will be required if the schools are
to make substantial progress in the future. It would seem that the tax
payers are guilty of a short-sighted policy in compelling the school
administration to raise by loans 24% of the money needed for necessary
expenses.

The Schools Twelve Years Ago

A bulletin of the department of labor prepared by Prof. W. T. Thom
summarizes the school situation for the year 1898/99 as follows: "In
1898/99 the county had 114 public schools, which were open nine months.
Of these 81 were white schools, with 100 teachers (33 male and 67 female) ,
82 of the buildings, valued at $51,375, being owned by the county, and
33 were colored schools, with 40 teachers (9 males and 31 females), 25 of
the buildings, valued at $9,615, being owned by the coimty. The average
yearly salary of the teachers was $328.90. For these schools the county
received from the State School tax $16,181.30; from the free-school fund,

77

$2,154.35; from State appropriation for colored schools, $7,477.44. The
county le\y was $30,000, and the receipts from all sources, including
balance on hand, were $59,546.60." This shows that in most respects
substantial progress has been made.

PATRONS OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

In order really to estimate the significance of the public school system
and to place the proper value upon the work which it is doing, it is neces-
sary to ascertain what place it actually fills in the total life of the com-
munity. The first step toward this end is to consider the schools objec-
tively, i.e., investigate the material equipment, the teaching force, the
enrollment and attendance and all the various activities of each individual
school. This we have already done, but it is quite conceivable that one
might have a correct understanding of all these points and still fail to
grasp the significance of the school. It is also necessary to understand
the attitude of the people toward the schools. This aspect of the inquiry
into the educational conditions was undertaken with several ends in view:

(a) To discover whether the school patrons feel that the schools as
actually operated are serving their respective communities in a satisfac-
tory manner.

(b) To discover what they consider the greatest weaknesses of the
schools, whether as locally conducted or as conceived in the general
"system."

(c) To learn what they would suggest in the way of improvement and
particularly what would be their attitude toward the adoption of a policy
of consolidation with the public transportation of pupils.

(d) Lastly, by means of these inquiries it was hoped that some light
might be thrown on the general temper and attitude of the people of the
county. Two lines of approach were followed. In the course of the
general survey of the county the investigators discussed various phases of
the school question, both privately with numbers of representative men
and women, and publicly at meetings of farmers' clubs and similar
organizations. In addition to this, that the results might be more repre-
sentative of the entire body of the people, a questionaire was prepared.
Copies of this were sent by the superintendent of schools to all the teachers
throughout the county, who were requested by him to obtain from the
heads of families in their districts written answers to the six more or
less pertinent questions on the blanks. These questions were as follows:

1. What, in your opinion, are the principal weaknesses of the country
schools?

2. Do the schools need a different course of study?

3. How may they serve the community other than as an ordinary day
school for children ?

78

4. Do you think consolidation of schools and the transportation of
pupils in school wagons feasible?

5. Are the schools as they now are satisfactorily progressive?

6. What would you suggest to improve them?

The total number of public school patrons in the county was roughly
estimated as about 2,800, of which number 2,000 were patrons of white
schools and 800 of the colored. Both groups were included in the inves-
tigation. About 2,000 blanks were distributed and about 700 were
returned filled out. The investigators labor under no delusion as to
the efficacy of the questionaire method to finally exhaust any subject.
They appreciate thoroughly the danger of trusting too implicitly in the
accuracy and value of answers to set questions asked in this fashion.
Also, they realize that the number of blanks returned is hardly a suffi-
cient proportion of the whole number to form a safe basis for any final
conclusions. The answers, however, seem quite representative. They
came from all classes and conditions of people and represent all degrees
of education and general enlightenment. Moreover, though differing
widely from each other in many particulars and including many shades
and varieties of opinion, there are yet certain general lines of cleavage
running through them all.

As a result, then, of the two lines of inquiry followed, certain conclu-
sions seem safely established. First let us consider the white schools.
It is apparent that on the whole the county is proud of its school system
and is satisfied that its present administration is making substantial
progress along the right lines. Fifteen per cent, of the patrons answering
would offer no criticisms at all, displaying a complacent satisfaction
which hardly argues for any great amount of thought or labor expended
in making themselves conversant with the school situation and the
problems which it involves. Sixty-five per cent, however, considered
the schools as satisfactorily progressive and gave good reasons for their
belief. In fact, a considerably larger proportion endorsed the school
administration, even while offering criticisms and suggestions for improve-
ment.

In this connection a somewhat anomalous situation was brought to
light. The chief criticisms advanced were aimed, not so much at the
method of conducting particular schools or at any particular points
in the methods of supervision and general administration practiced
in the county, as at the whole principle involved in such a school system.
Implicitly and explicitly the principle of small, isolated, one-room
schools was attacked. Certain weaknesses inherent in such a system
were clearly indicated. Certain remedies fundamentally involving a
departure from such a system were advocated. Yet it was evidently
not often clear in the minds of the writers where the remedy for the

79

defects whicli they i)omtcd out must inevitably lead or what sort of a
reconstruction the reforms which they suggested would make necessary.

Seventy-five percent, of the answers received worked around in one
way or another to certain main points which we will indicate. There
are too few teachers for the amount of work to be covered. Each teacher
is compelled to teach too many grades. The common branches are not
taught with sufficient thoroughness and yet the special branches, of
more value to the country pupils, cannot be imder taken at all. There
is no room in the curriculum for specialization, nor would the teachers
be able to prepare themselves for it if there were. The salaries are too
low and in consequence there are too many relatively inefficient, poorly
trained teachers. There is no proper inducement for highly trained
men and women, desirous of making teaching a life work rather than a
temporary means of gaining a livelihood, to devote themselves to the
work of education in the country. The buildings and equipment are
not always up to the standard and the rooms are frequently over-
crowded. The work is not carried far enough in those schools upon which
a majority of the pupils are dependent. Eight grades are offered in the
one-room schools. In many sections any pupils desiring work beyond
that point must travel away from home to obtain it. This the children
of poorer families are not able to do and consequently their education
is brought to a premature close. The attendance of pupils, particularly
of the younger pupils, is very irregular whenever weather and roads are
bad and consequently satisfactory results are hard to obtain.

The demand for more highly specialized courses of study was parti-
cularly insistent. There is a widespread feeling expressed in many

MAKING THE SCHOOL SERVE THE HOME. DOMESTIC SCIENCE
LAHORATORY, ROCKVILLE HIGH SCHOOL

80

ways that the country schools do not adequately prepare for country life;
that they are simply city schools on a small scale and with poorer equip-
ment, removed out of the environment to which they are best adapted.
Suggestions which found many supporters had to do with the intro-
duction of classes in agriculture and nature study, in domestic science
and manual training and in the principles of business procedure. Such
courses have already been introduced into a number of the schools
in the county with success and the outlying districts where they are
more needed wish to share in their advantages. As one instance of this
feeling we may cite a meeting of the Goshen Farmers' Club at which
this question was discussed for nearly five hours. The hypothetical
proposition about which the discussion revolved was this: A certain
large sum of money is now raised by taxation in Montgomery County
for the support of the Maryland State Agriculture College. Is Mont-
gomery County getting the largest possible return for money spent in
this fashion or might the amount be more profitable used for the pur-
pose of teaching the principles of agriculture in the public schools?
The thirty representative farmers present finally put themselves on
record as in favor of certain propositions, namely, that the principles
of scientific agriculture by all means ought to be taught to country
children; that the proper medium for this is the public school system;
that, therefor, such courses ought to be established in every school
and finally that the money now raised for the support of the Agricul-
tural College would produce better results if used in that fashion. At
a meeting of the Montgomery Farmers' Club of Sandy Spring a similar
proposition received the general support of those present. This seems
to be the attitude of the progressive and thinking element among the
farmers throughout the county. They are ready to have the ordinary
branches of study supplemented by these special branches. As we
have already seen, the smaller schools are doing very little and in the
nature of the case can not do more to meet this demand.

These defects in the schools, which we have mentioned (for they un-
doubtedly are defects and serious ones), we are ready to assert are
inherent in a system of isolated one room schools. While the one-room
school remains it will always be open to such criticisms. This is a con-
dition which the school administration is helpless to cope with unless
public sentiment is ready to support them in a sweeping policy of re-
construction and reform. They recognize more clearly than most
that these things are true and that because of these things the schools
are not doing anywhere near all that they might be doing. One thing is
very obvious; in the present state of public enlightenment on the school
question which, being interpreted, . means in the present condition of
the school finances, it is quite impossible to completely remedy these

81

conditions. The school administration is to a very great extent de-
pendent upon the sentiment of the people, not only to furnish them
adequate funds but also to give them moral support. Neither of these
things have been forthcoming in sufficient quantities to permit any
very fundamental reconstruction.

The fact is that only two ways to remedy the conditions we have
mentioned seem open. One way would be to increase the present
number of schools, making each school at least a two-room graded
school equipped with all the best modern appliances; to double or treble
the remuneration offered the teachers, thus attracting to these schools
men and women thoroughly trained and highly efficient, and in addition
to provide specialists to teach the \'arious branches of agriculture,
domestic science, manual training, business, music and drawing in
each and every school. E\'en this would not completely remedy certain
defects and there are so many obstacles, both financial and otherwise,
in its way that such a policy could not be carried out.

The other way is the logical way out of the difficulty under existing
circumstances and offers the maximum of advantage with the minimum
of expenditure and waste. This is as rapidly as possible, to abolish
the cross-roads, one-room school with its one poorly paid teacher
struggling to teach thirty or more pupils in eight different grades
everything from the alphabet to higher mathematics, and consolidate
at convenient centers. Grades of high school rank could be added
to each such school and enough specialists provided to teach the various
courses that are at present necessarily omitted from the curriculum.
Public transportation could be provided for the pupils, thus doing away
with irregular attendance on account of bad weather and poor roads.
This policy, however, the people in those districts which suffer most
under the present system are not yet ready to endorse. The vote
among all the school patrons was two to one against consolidation with
public transportation of pupils.

It is not our present purpose to attempt to prepare a brief for consolida-
tion. That lies quite outside our province as Investigators. We would
simply point out that in a Consolidated School it is quite possible to
remedy the defects and meet the demands we have mentioned; to broaden
the curriculum, increase the number of grades and at the same time
raise the standard of teaching efficiency. Several thousand schools in
the United States are doing this to-day and doing it successfully. Nor
is the cost of this prohibitive, for the expense of maintaining such a
school is but little more than the expense of maintaining the various
smaller schools which it displaces, once the initial cost of building and
equi])ment is met. For example the Baltimore County Agricultural
High School, one of the finest and most complete schools of its kind

82

THE ONLY CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL IN THE COUNTY

in the country, provides just such a training as we have in mind and
couples with an extensive and varied service to the community as a
whole at a total cost per year of only $34 per pupil. The schools in
Montgomery County cost $40.55 per pupil. In the strictly rural schools
the cost is at least $30 and surely such a school as we have mentioned
would be worth $5 per pupil more.

The question of consolidation is a point on which there needs to be
much agitation and a long process of public education. We use the
term "education" advisedly. At the present time the question is
entirely misapprehended by the great many who oppose it. Many
advance the argument that public transportation of school children
would never be satisfactory because attended by such grave moral
dangers to the children or because the children would be continually
taking cold waiting for the wagon. We would hardly consider these
difficulties, if they are difficulties, as being insurmountable. Further-
more, we do not think that what is involved in the query was clearly
understood by the man who answered by saying: "I did not know
that the schools had a wagon in them to transfer the pupils to the dif-
ferent rooms" or by the one who wrote "No, the children are away
from home too long as it is", or, again, by the man who declared that
he did "not think it right for the school children to hang on the wagons
passing along the road."

Aside from such criticisms as these aimed fundamentally at the entire
"system" other interesting criticisms were made touching points more
easily dealt with. For example many asserted the chief weakness of

83

the schools to be in the hick of inteUigent cooperation on the part of
parents and trustees. They asserted that a teacher could not be ex-
pected to conduct a school to the entire satisfaction of a community
unless she had such cooperation from the patrons and the Board of
Trustees. Others pointed out defects in ventilation, or lighting, or sani-
tary conveniences, or expressed regret at the lack of proper play grounds,
recreational facilities and attractive surroundings. These things they
considered an important part of the school's equipment. Still others
very properly advocated the elimination of politics from the school
system. One wrote in language that deserves to become classic: "I
respectfully suggest that the school goes to Reno, secures a divorce from
politics and sees to it that politics gets a life sentence at hard labor."

Certain other important improvements were suggested, as for example
a compulsory school attendance law (which, as we have said, has just
been passed by the State Legislature to go into effect this fall) a more
uniform and careful grading of the schools to facilitate passage from
one school to another in case of removal; some system of moral training;
facilities for gi\ang proper attention to deficient and backward children.
These are all points deserving careful consideration.

The question as to whether the school could serve the community
other than as an ordinary day school for children was asked with the
possibility in mind of making the school something of a neighborhood
center ministering to the community as a whole, as well as dispensing
elementary knowledge to its youth. Many of the answers anticipated
this conception of the school's possible function. "Make it a social
and civic center" was frequently suggested. "Make it a place where
the school patrons may meet both formally and informally to discuss
needs of mutual interest and import." Few of the schools are at the
present time doing anything of this sort for their patrons but this is a
field possible of rather extensive development which would add materially
to the value of the school to a community.

By the fifth question "are the schools as they are now operated satis-
factorily progressive" we wanted to learn if the people felt that the school
administration had been making sufficiently substantial progress in adapt-
ing the schools to changing conditions and in keeping up with the modern
ideas of school administration, equipment and teaching methods. Of
course it was discovered that there are those who have no conception of
progress either of its nature or of its reason for being; who feel as one
expressed it "that we have the same old arithemetic, a geography dis-
cribing the same territories and the same methods of spelling, why should
the school be progressive?" Why indeed? " the school is good enough
as it is so let it be." For the most part,[however, the attitude of the
patrons was that progress is necessary and that the schools have been

84

making it to a satisfactory degree; that taking everything into account,
they are doing all that can reasonably be expected of them.

Taking the county over it is undoubtedly true that the patrons are
not sufficiently impressed with their responsibility toward the school.
We have already remarked that the school provides a community, in
its present state of organization, with its one great opportunity to act
as a unit. In its religious life it is split up into denominations and
factions; in its struggle for economic advancement, its members are
working as individuals and not as a group. But the school is the pro-
perty of the whole community and practically its only opportunity for
concerted action. They have, however, almost uniformly failed to
grasp the full significance of this opportunity and have frequently
hampered the school administration sometimes by a total indifference,
sometimes by active criticism and opposition to progressive policies,
and always by not giving them sufficient funds to carry out their plans.
Several happy exceptions are to be recorded. The Sandy Spring
school was recently remodeled and the Woodside school was built with
a large degree of local help. These two schools are receiving the in-
telligent and able cooperation of their communities.

The situation as regards the attitude of the colored patrons is simpler.
Little needs to be said but that little may be said with emphasis. The
same opinions were uniformly expressed by intelligent and ignorant
alike, by preacher and layman, by teacher and patron. These all said
in substance "give us a longer school term; give us better school build-
ings and equipment; pay our teachers more nearly adequate salaries;
add to the curriculum courses in manual training and domestic science
and extend the course of study through the eighth grade." These
points, it will be seen, touch the real weaknesses of the colored
schools.

Three ways were suggested by which the schools might enter upon a
larger service for the colored population. These were: to conduct a
night school for those who had been compelled to leave school early; to
have classes in domestic science and industrial training out of school
hours for any of the patrons who felt the need of instruction along those
lines; and lastly to make of each school a social and civic center. As to
the progressiveness of the schools the opinion was about evenly
divided.

In general it must be said that the patrons of these schools display a
most commendable interest in their welfare and progress. As we have
said before in several instances they are helping to keep the schools
open two months beyond proscribed term. In other respects they are
for the most part ready to assist the teachers and respond gratefully to
their influence.

86

f$Lo

fi%S

5 *X iS S

£1

/7/<^

THE EVOLUTION OK A COUNTRY SCHOOL
86

The Education of Adults

It was hardly possible to include within the limits of a Survey such as
this any careful study of the question of the education of adults. It was
remarked in another connection that the number of illiterates in the
white population is exceedingly small, hardly 2% This is the only bit
of information we have which can be stated in anything approaching
statistical form. Many impressions, however, were formed as a result
of ten weeks spent interviewing hundreds of peo]:)le in all parts of the
county. These impressions are perhaps as reliable a source of informa-
tion on this point as figures would be.

The general educational level of the county is high. Various reasons
may be assigned for this: the excellence of the public school system,
the proximity of the City of Washington, the ready and constant com-
munication which all parts of the county have with the outside world.
The fact that the population is to so great an extent an American stock
with very slight foreign element is important here; the recent tide of
Southern European and Slavonic immigration has hardly touched this
county. The conditions here are favorable to the development of an
highly intelligent people and this is in the main what we find. Judging
by the literature in the homes, by the general conversation, by the
acquaintance with the problems of the day and other similar, objective
tests, it is abundantly evident that a large proportion of the population
are well-informed, cultured beyond the average for an agricultural sec-
tion, and, for the most part, reasonably modern and progressive.

The stability of the population and the tenacity with which they
naturally cling to their old ideas and traditions tend to make them a little
suspicious of innovation. A man who has been living here for less than
ten years is hardly thought of as a permanent resident yet; he is still a
"new comer." There is a deep-rooted feeling, not always expressed but
sufficiently understood, against any attempt on the part of such a "new
comer" to change the established order and custom. Many influences
are at work, however, to break down this prejudice. Economic pressure,
for one thing, is forcing the adoption of new methods in business and
agriculture. Social changes are erasing old lines. New ideas have
found expression in the schools. These are forces to which the entire
county most ultimately respond.

PRIVATE SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

There are a number of private and educational institutions in the
county but only two of them are of direct local importance, so our treat-
ment of them may be brief. The Rockville Academy has practically
the same course as the public schools, beginning with the sixth grade
and continuing through the High School. It has a faculty of two and an

87

enrollment of about 35 to 40. Its pupils are drawn from Rockville and
vicinity. There is also a Primary School conducted in Rockville with an
enrollment of about 20. The pupils here are all from Rockville. This
school is held in a private home, which is, however, very conveniently
arranged. The Academy has a well-equipped brick building with fine
grounds. It was first chartered over 100 years ago. In addition to
these two we may mention a Military School for boys which will be
opened in Poolesville this fall.

There are two Girls' Schools in the County, the Chevy Chase College
and the National Park Seminary at Forest Glen. These draw all their
patronage from outside the county. They have some effect upon the
social and educational life of their respective neighborhoods and furnish
employment for numbers of residents, but otherwise are not of local
importance. Each school has beautiful grounds and splendid buildings.

The Bliss Electrical School at Takoma Park offers a one-year course
in electrical engineering and kindred branches. It has two buildings
for class rooms and laboratories and several dormitories. None of its

MAP NO. II — LOCATION OF CHURCHES

students are from the county. The only other school in the county is a
denominational one — the Seventh Day 'Adventist Foreign Missionary
Seminary at Takoma Park. A few pupils from Takoma Park enter
this school for high school branches, but their number is never great.
The majority of the students come from other states to prepare for work
on the foreign mission fields.

RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS AND ACTIVITIES

There are in all in Montgomery County at the present time 135
churches in various conditions of health and activity. Of this number
95 are white churches and 40 are colored. It will be more convenient
to consider these two groups separately, treating the white churches first.

(a) Distribution

The total area of the county is 521 square miles and its total white
population is 22,847. If the churches were evenly distributed there
would be one white church to every b}4 square miles and to every 244
people. This ratio would provide more than adequate church facilities
for the entire county. As regards the various Election Districts the
distribution is quite uniform. There is no district without its fair
quota, and no point in the county more than five miles from some church.
As regards the distribution of the population, however, the churches are
not evenly distributed. Fifteen per-cent. of the population live in the
towns and villages and 85% live in the open country. Yet the country
claims only 55% of the churches. Many of the town churches must rely
for support upon the country, and many people in the country must look
to the towns for their church life.

(b) Denominational Classification, Membership and Growth

Eighty-six of the chiu"ches are Protestant and 9 are Roman Catholic.
The Protestant churches represent 15 different denominations. The
bulk of their strength, however, is divided between 5 denominations; 9
denominations have 3 churches or less. It is not our desire to emphasis
the division of these churches into denominations. We hope that the
day of denominational rivalry is passing and that all are coming to regard
the question of ability to serve a given community efficiently as the only
important question. On page VII, of the Appendix will be found a table
showing denominational strength with respect to number of churches,
membership, property, etc. Through the remainder of our discussion
no distinction will be made except between Protestant and Catholic.

The total membership of all churches is 9,701, of whom 6,994 are
Protestants and 2,707 Catholic. It is hardly possible to make a fair
comparison here since the Catholic churches count in their membership

all nicniljcrs of families whose heads are aftiliated wiLli the church.
Throughout this section, except where otherwise specified, only the Pro-
testant churches will he referred to. Of the total white ])opulation, a
little o\er 2(),()00 may be considered as Protestant or at least as non-
Catholic. This means that every Protestant church has, on the average,
a possible membership of 234. Just how well this possible field is culti-
vated may be inferred from the fact that the a\'erage membership of
each church is only 81. Hardly 35% of the population are in the
churches. This average membership includes a number of weak de-
nominations; 9 denominations with 15 churches average only 35 members
per church.

Sixty-two of the churches are growing; 3 are simply marking time;
16 are losing ground more or less rapidly; 5 are already on their death
beds. Ten other churches not included in the total have passed away
within recent years and must be numbered with the departed. Twenty-
eight percent of the churches still in existence are not growing. We
are accustomed to reading of rural communities that less than half of
their churches are growing. Even so, to find that one out of every four
churches has ceased to grow, or has not yet begun, might be considered
as raising a serious problem of church efficiency. The mortality rate
among humans is hardly as great as that among country churches.
This failure of the church to survive may mean that its methods of work
are defective and that it has been unable to adapt itself to changing
conditions or to meet the demands of rural life. Here, the fact that
the churches are really influencing only one-third of the population
and that more than a fourth of them are failing to hold their own, is in
part to be ex^Dlained in this way; but in larger part it seems to mean
that a certain proportion of the churches have been wrongly placed;
have been established where they have no legitimate opportunity for
growth, as the result, it may be, of some denominational rivalry or
neighborhood prejudice. A weeding out process has been going on —
a sort of natural selection. As a matter of fact the progress of the church
as a whole has been substantial. In 1906 (the year of the United States
Religious Census), the total membership of all white Protestant churches
was 5,456. Since that time the total population of the county has in-
creased less than 5% and outside of the Suburban Sections has actually
decreased. Yet the churches have made a growth in membership of
1,538, or 28.2%. This is as good a record as could be asked for. During
the last church year, 682 were added to the roll, 489 by confession or
confirmation, representing an addition of more than 10% of the previous
strength. All but 18 churches, or about 80% of the total number re-
ported additions; the average number per church was 8.

It is not to be supposed that the entire membership of the churches

90

A otbru ot nrre.^teA Oevelope.meT-,t~

Pr~ote\to.rTit- Whi li' and Golored.- C^u.rc^es

6 C hurc /lej-
-Whi te-

V-0 Churche^,-
-Colored-

2 8 "/o

Not Grow

60 %
Not Qrowin

f

niAGRAM NO. VI

is an active membership. Many church rolls need pruning. But in
the lack of any more definite tests which could be applied it may be said
that something like 5% appear to have ceased their support of the church.

(c) The Church's Equipment for Service

The 86 Protestant- churches have 80 church buildings. These are of
all sorts, ranging from the large, many-roomed building equipped with
all modern conveniences to serve the community in manifold ways, down
to the little one-room structure, with bare interior, equipped with nothing
but a pulpit, some pews, a stove and a bell. Forty-four of these church
buildings are one-room. These and a considerable number of the others
were built with the one idea of the church as a place in which to hold a
preaching service. Hardly a fourth of the churches have rooms which
are well adapted for the use of their Sunday-schools. This statement
must be qualified. Many of the buildings are adequate for the needs
of the particular Sunday-schools which meet in them and according to
the conception of a Sunday-school which prevails in many churches.
But the modern Sunday-school as we conceive it requires more than a

91

small open auditoriuiii. One Church, the M. E. S. of Rockville, has
a special 12-room Sunday-school building erected three years ago at a
cost of $3,000. Its Sunday-school is thriving. Other buildings, put
up within recent years, have been planned with this need of separate class
rooms in mind. But the proportion of the total number is still very small.
The entire amount invested in church property for these 86 churches
is $364,757, an average of $4,395 per church. This is nearly three times
the amount invested in school property. All the churches together
have about 110 acres of ground; the average for the country churches is
about 2>^ acres per church. Twenty-eight of the church lots are fenced;
56 have good shade trees. In general the grounds of the country churches
receive poor care; lawns not well kept; grass and weeds around the
church uncut; trees un trimmed; whole appearance rather unkempt.
The town and village churches, for the most part, fare better. Thirty-one
churches have cemeteries adjoining them . Twenty-nine have parsonages .

(d) The Working Force

There are 44 ministers working regularly in the county, of whom 39
are Protestant and 5 Catholic. There are three churches, Friend and
Christian Science, which do not have regular paid ministers; eight other
churches are at the present time pastorless. The 39 Protestant minis-
ters are in charge of 75 churches. Fifteen are able to devote their entire
time to single churches; 13 have two churches each; 3 have three churches;
7 have four churches; 1 has five. Several have churches in adjoining
counties. Here we see the remnants of the old system of farming out
churches on circuits, which has always constituted the great weakness
of the country church. The circuit system means the lessening of the
efficiency of the church as a working force. Here the conditions are
better than in the majority of country communities, but they are still
far from ideal. He is an optimist indeed who hopes that the consolidated
church will come with the consolidated school; yet this would undoubt-
edly be the solution of many of the churches' most urgent problems.

Nineteen of the Protestant ministers live in towns, while twenty live
in small villages or the open country. All but ten live within the limits
of their respective parishes. But the man who has from two to five
churches has a large parish. Some of his churches must be without a
resident minister. In point of fact, 26 of the 75 churches over which
these men have charge have resident pastors, and 49 are without a
resident minister. Of course it will be said that many of these churches
are quite unable to support a minister on full time, which is quite true.
But again the answer is the same. Some sort of consolidation is neces-
sary before the church will be able to give the best service to the country
community.

92

(e) The Church's Service to the Community

(1) As a preaching centre: fifty churches have preaching service e very-
Sunday; 41 have service every other Sunday; 4 have service every fourth
Sunday. That is to say, this is the arrangement when they have service.
At the present time, there are 7 churches which have no service and
several others in which the service is not regular.

The average aggregate attendance at the Protestant Churches for a
single service is about 7,200. On any given Sunday there are present
in all the churches holding service on that day an average of 4,400 peo-
ple, or 13.4% of the entire population. Each Sunday sees 22% of the
Protestant population in the churches. While there is probably only
a small percent, of the population who do not attend church at all, there
is a comparatively large percent, who will not attend regularly. This
would vary somewhat in the different districts; it would be small in
Olney and Damascus, and large in Laytonsville, Clarksburg and Poto-
mac. About 38% of the normal church congregation are men.

(2) As an organized force: one of the most important forms of the
church's service to the community is that which it renders through
its organizations. Diagram No. VII indicates the equipment of the
Protestant churches in this respect. All but ten of the churches,
it will be noticed, have Sunday-schools; 53 have women's organizations
of some sort; 37 have Young People's organizations; five have organiza-
tions for men. Twenty-six out of 86 churches have no organizations
except a Sunday-school. First let us consider the Sunday-schools.

Seventy-seven is the total number of Protestant Sunday-schools in
the county. Fifty-eight of these are in session throughout the year; the
remainder suspend operations for three months or more of each year.
The Sunday-school like the public day school has education for its object.

the L-'nurch

^3

0,

r^'j'

li.

rcote^Ta-nT Churche^ - White-

ib Churc/ie^

76 6"n<Jai^ cScAoo/j Si VVom.nj

37 Youn.,

P«op/,

A

5

iXiey Or.j<in.jar,oT,^

DIAGRAM NO. VII
93

It differs from the latter only in its function, which is to teach religion
and morality. We have a right to expect the Sunday-school to perform
its special function as efficiently as the day school performs its own.
A comparison of the two at several points is interesting.

The total membership of all Sunday-schools is 5,537, an average of
72 to the school. Of this number approximately 3,600 are between the
ages of 5 and 20. The total white Protestant jjopulation between these
ages is about 6,750: 51% of this number are enrolled in the public schools,
46% in the Sunday-schools. The day schools, moreover, show a better
average attendance. The regular attendance here represents 35% of
the total number of school age and 67.3% of the enrollment. The attend-
ance upon the Sunday-schools represents only 53.8% of the enrollment
and 28.7% of the total. The total average attendance per Sunday is
3,360, 43.5 per school.

The 77 schools have 521 teachers (173 males and 348 females), about
seven teachers per school, and one teacher for every 10 pupils enrolled.
The public schools have 128 teachers (27 males and 101 females), one to
every 30 pupils. In the smaller class groups, other things equal, it ought
to be easier to hold the pupils and the Sunday-schools by this token
should show at least as high a proportionate attendance as the public
schools. At least a part of the explanation of this may be that only
five Sunday-schools in the county are making any attempt whatsoever
to train their teachers, that there are almost no organized departments
or classes, and that not a half-dozen schools are using graded lessons.
The teachers are conscientious Christian men and women who are giving
the best service of which they are capable. But before the Sunday-
school can hold its own as an educational institution these men and
women must also be given some special training. The art of teaching
may itself be taught. It has been said that the minister might better
take the farmer from his plow and put him in the jiulpit than give him
charge over a Sunday-school class without some special training. In the
former event, he would not be dealing with such i)lastic and impression-
able material. The Sunday-school is the strategic point in the church's
field of work but it is not receiving by any means the careful attention
that it should receive. It is quite as important to train the teachers
of the young as the preachers to the old.

Other organizations: there are 38 young peoj^le's organizations with
a total membership of 1,381. These societies meet for the most part
weekly. Forty-nine churches are without any form of organization for
their young people. Women's societies number 68 with a membership
of 1,525. These are chiefly of two sorts. Ladies' Aid Societies and
Mission Study Societies. Thirty-three churches are without any
women's organizations. But very little effort has been made to organize

94

Where fhe Children are-

loTo^l ropula.tto-n —

DIAGRAM NO. VIII

the men in the churches. There are 5 men's organizations with a mem-
bership of 82. Eighty-one churches have no organizations for their
men. There are also 5 other organizations with a membership of 127.
The total number of organizations of all sorts is 116, and the total mem-
bership is 3,302. Twenty-six churches have no organizations except the
Sunday-school while 20 have none of any kind.

It is a matter of surprise, in view of the usual method of conducting
the church finances, that there are thirty- three churches which are
able to survive without a woman's society to raise money. And in
fact few of the 33 are really flourishing financially. The really weak
point, however, is the absence of any organized effort to get and hold
the young people and the men. The church is here neglecting not only
an effective method of religious work but also an opportunity to teach
men the needed lesson of cooperation in all their affairs by helping them
to practice it in their church life.

(3) As a Social Centre: Unfortunately there is but little to be said
under this caption and it is one of those topics in connection with which
a lack of material is in itself the gravest indictment. The truth of the
matter is that the church as a whole is making but very little effort to
serve the community as a social centre. Not even the church feels
itself obligated to furnish recreation and social-life facilities for their
own sake. The greater part of the church's social activities are under-
taken for the sake of the money to be raised by them. We have spoken
before of the festive Strawberry and the Oyster, first aids to the budget.
When their ministrations have been mentioned and the annual picnic,

95

ONE OF THE BEST CHURCHES IN THE COUNTY

which we discussed in another connection, recalled, our list is nearly
exhausted. Not 15% of the churches have any other sort of social
activity. Of course churches vary, but in general their social life is at
rather a low ebb.

(f) The Community's Service to the Church

The aggregate annual budget for all Protestant churches is $88,519.
Thirty -five and three- tenths cents of each dollar of the church's money
is for the minister's salary. The total amount expended in salaries per
year is $31,247, and the average per minister is $842, the maximum being
$1,500 and the minimum $250. Each church expends an average of
$381 on its minister (for 25 churches in two denominations with 15
ministers the average is much higher; these two denominations pay an
average salary of $1,050: each church having as its average expenditure
$625). Very few of the ministers have any source of income other than
their salaries. Twenty-nine are furnished with parsonages.

Twenty-four cents of each dollar is contributed toward the various
benevolences of the church, practically all of it going to the estabhshed
Boards of the different denominations. Only two churches have any
system of local benevolences. Three and three-tenths cents is the cost of
maintaining the Sunday-schools, while the remaining 37.4 cents is re-

96

quired for the up-keep of the church property and other running expenses.
The average for benevolences per church is $259, for Sunday-school $36
and for other expenses $404. The average total annual budget per
church is $1,080. It has usually been concluded that the greater part
of the expenditures of the Country Churches is for the perpetuation
of their own denominational institutions. This in itself is of course a
very important form of service to society. There is, however, little
attempt to serve communities in any broad sense outside of denomina-
tional limits and independent of denominational agencies.

The 76 white schools with their total enrollment of 3,927 cost the
county nearly $100,000 for a year. Eighty-six white churches with a
total membership of 6,994 cost $88,500. Figuring on the basis of the
direct expenditure i)lus the interest on the amount invested in property,
as a rent equivalent, every day a school is actually opened for school
purposes the average cost is $8.00. Every day a church is actually in
use the average cost is $20.90. If the total cost of maintaining the
churches were equally distributed among all the members, and if the
Oyster and the Strawberry did not cooperate in raising the money,
the annual cost to each member would be $12.66.

Two churches in the county are endowed, sharing between them the
income from $74,830.

A RECTORY IN THE OPEN COUNTRY
97

(g) The Church's Program

To Whom It Ministers. The gravest criticism which we can make of
those churches of the county which minister to the farming population,
a criticism which we are repeatedly compelled to make, is that their ser-
vice is not a community service but a class service. The pastors of 38
such churches replied to the question, "What proportion of the adult
male members of your congregation are farm owmers; what proportion
are tenants?" One fourth replied that there were practically no tenants
in their churches. Thirty churches reported from 85 to 100% owners;
6 reported from 50 to 85% owners; 2 reported as many tenants as owners.
Moreover, these churches seemed satisfied that this should be the case;
that in only one out of every five churches should the proportion of
tenants to owoiers be as high as the proportion to the entire number of
farm operators in the county. Just why the church does not reach the
tenant farmer is a question difl&cult to answer. He is a less stable
element of the population than the owner; his term of occupancy is
relatively short; moreover, in this county, he is usually less prosperous,
the conditions of his life are harder and there is a smaller amount of
surplus energy to be turned into religious activity. Nevertheless it is
exceedingly unfortunate that a fourth of the farming population should
be so largely eliminated from the church's program.

How It Ministers. In the discussion of the Sunday-schools, attention
was called to the fact that the architecture of most of the churches is
such that they are very poorly adapted for Sunday-schools and similar

branches of church w^ork. The
churches have been planned and built
as auditoriums in which sermons may
be delivered. This is because the
emphasis of the religion which estab-
lished them has been and still is so
largely individual. The mission of the
church has not been conceived as a
social mission. This remains the great
reason why these churches have been
so slow in assuming their rightful places
as the centres of community life.

THE COLORED CHURCHES
(a) Distribution

The Colored Churches are not so

e\'enly distributed throughout the

county as are the white churches for

A GOOD I'ARsoN the rcason that the colored population

98

I he. L^hutrch and the /eop/e-

T't^ote.^to.yit Foou.lo.ti on

V/h'ite- Coloreci-

DIAGRAM NO. IX

itself is not so evenly distributed . The churches of course follow the distri-
bution of the population and most of them are in or near colored settlements.
There are 40 churches in all, one to every 231of the colored population.

(b) Denominational Classification, Membership and Growth

There are three denominations at work in the county, Baptist,
M. E. and A. M. E. Zion (Table No. 25, Appendix, page VII). The M. E.
Denomination has more than half of the churches. The total member-
ship of all churches is 1,981, only 21.2% of the population. The average
membership is 49.5. That is to say each church is reaching hardly more
than a fourth of its possible following.

At almost every point the colored churches are much more inefficient
than the white churches. Not only have they a smaller proportion of
their population enrolled in the churches but their efforts at progress
are in comparison feeble. In 1906 the approximate membership of all
colored churches was 1,786. In six years there has been a net increase of
195 or 10.8% as against 28.2% for the white churches. During the last
church year the total number of additions was 153, of which one denomi-
nation had 147. This was a gross increase for the year of 8.3%. Only
15 of the 40 churches are growing at the present time; 10 are stationary;
10 are steadily losing ground, while 5 are unmistakably dying. These
churches all cling to life with a remarkably tenacious grip. They almost
never make an end of dying; yet very few of them have anything like
robust health.

99

ONE OF THE BEST COLORED CHURCHES IN THE COUNTY

(c) The Equipment for Service

There are 37 church buildings valued at $37,260, the average value
being about $1,000. Thirty-two of these are one-room. Perhaps a fourth
of them are in reasonably good condition; the remainder are in various
stages of delapidation and decay. Several buildings, notably the M. E.
and the A. M. E. in Rockville are brick structures, better than many
of the white churches. All these churches, even more than those we ha\e
already discussed, are adapted for the preaching service only. Not
one of them is really convenient for the Sunday-schools.

(d) The Working Force

There are 18 ministers in charge of 38 churches. Two churches are at
present pastorless. Six of these men have each a single church; 7 have
two churches, 2 three churches and 3 four churches each. On the face
of it this seems like a fair record, but it looks better than it is, for with
two possible exceptions the churches which ha\e a man on full time are
in a poorer condition than many of those on circuits. Six of the minis-
ters live in towns; 12 live in the country or in villages. All but 3 live
within their parishes. A number of these men are exceptionally able
and well-cqui])i)cd men who are rendering valuable service.

100

(e) The Church's Service to the Community

As a preaching centre: 12 of the 40 churches have a service every Sun-
day; 24 have 2 services a month; 4 have one service a month. The total
attendance in all churches holding service on an average Sunday is a
little more than a thousand.

As an organized force: 38 of the churches have Sunday-schools, of
which 28 are in session through the year; ten are in session from 6 to 9
months. The total membership of these schools is 1,402, and the total
average attendance is 991. This is an average membership and attend-
ance per school of 37 and 26 respectively. There are in all 164 teachers,
one to every 6 pupils in regular attendance.

There are 15 Young People's organizations with a membership of
418, 7 women's societies with a membership of 370, 3 organizations
for men with a membership of 33 and 2 other organizations with a mem-
bership of 75. This makes a total of 37 organizations with an aggregate
membership of 896. Twenty-five churches have no organization for
Young People, 43 have none for women, 38 have none for men. Eigh-
teen have no organizations at all except the Sunday-school.

As a Social Centre. The colored church appears to occupy a larger
place socially in the lives of its members than does the white church.
The great majority of the churches have some regular social feature.
The relation between the church, the school and the lodge is usually a
close one; close as their respective
buildings which are frequently built
upon the same lot. Most of the en-
tertainments held have the same
financial significance as in the white
churches; but their social significance
is also great.

(f) The Community's Service to

the Church

The annual budgets of the churches
total $10,867, an average of about $272
per church. Of this amount, $6,560
is for salaries. The average salary is
$364.45; the maximum is $748 and
the minimum $50. If the total ex-
penditure were equally distributed
among the members it would amount
to $5.48 per year. The annual ex-
penditure on the colored schools is
$11,393.62. Figuring in the same

101

AN HUMBLE COLORED CHURCH

manner as with the budgets of the white churches and schools, the
colored schools cost $2.86 each per day in use and the colored churches,
$5.54.

RELIGIOUS STATUS

In its general religious status Montgomery County is above the
average. Church facilities are more than ample. On the side of the
people it should be said that they support their churches generously.
While only about a third of the population are on the church rolls as
members, there is little or no antagonism to religion or to the church.
The churches are sympathetically regarded.

The church as an institution enjoys better than ordinarily good health.
There is, however, as yet no large vision of a social ministry for the
church. There is very slight contact with the practical daily problems
of the people and very little attempt to serve them aside from the usual
churchly ministrations. Denominational lines are still closely main-
tained, in many instances to the decided detriment both of church and
people.

To the candid observer it would seem that the religious life of the
county lacks \'irility. It is one thing to be sympathetic toward the
church and quite another thing to be aggressively religious in every day
life. It is in this lack of definite contact between religion and life that
Montgomery County is weakest. This can be remedied best by the
reconstruction of church work along such lines that the churches which
are not needed shall be eliminated and the churches that remain made
definite community centers, aiming to serve their people in ever>'thing
that effects their prosperity and w^ell-being.

The chart " Facing the Church Problem " (opposite page) calls attention
to certain elements in this condition. The church is here showTi to be
weakest at the very point at which society is weakest. It is obvious
that there is a great field here in which the church may work. It has a
logical place to fill in the lives of these communities. It is equally
obvious that the force is potentially adequate to the task, but the churches
lack the machinery for their greatest work and they lack also the motive
and vision.

SUGGESTIONS CONCERNING ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

By the Hon. Willet M. Hays

Assistant Secretary, United States Department of Agriculture

Montgomery County, though one of our oldest counties, needs develop-
ment along economic lines. The very commendable movement for the
improvement of its several hundred miles of dirt road and the macadamiz-
ing of its leading roads should be encouraged by everybody. It needs

102

FACING THE
CHURCH PROBLEM

THE FIELD

13,146 people not in the churches.

6 out of 13 districts w///^^/// adequate social
organization for any class.

13 out of 13 districts without adequate
social organization for the tenant and
labo7ing classes.

THE FORCE

86 churches —1 to every 233 of the total
white Protestant population.

THE FACTS

28% of the churches are not growing.

29% have ?io organizations of a?iy sort
(except S. S.)

57% have no organizations for young
people.

94% have no organizations for men.

85% are making no effort to serve their
communities as social centres.

DIAGRAM NO. X.
103

more trolley lines extending out from Washington, one between the B. &
O. Railway and the river, and more than one in the eastern and northern
l)arls of the county.

Some areas of good soil now slowly producing crops of timlier should
be converted into arable fields while some abandoned hillsides should be
reforested. The acreage of apj^les and other orchard trees should be
much, yet conser\ati\'ely, extended. In many places rich bottom lands
and seepy hillsides should be tile drained. The farms should in many
cases be somewhat reorganized so as to have rotation fields in definite
four, five, and six year cropping series. More attention should be paid
to securing the best available varieties of corn, wheat, apples, and other
crops and to making improvements through seed selection. Cow testing
associations, cooperative breeding of cattle, horses, sheep and swine
should be developed and the up-grading of live stock of the county should
be attended to with more intelligence and greater care. The systems
in vogue in the best orchard regions, in culti\ating, fertilizing and spray-
ing the orchards, most of which are yet new, should be energetically
introduced.

The farmers of the entire county should follow the example of the
farmers in the region of Olney and Sandy Spring, by organizing farmers'
clubs and granges in the different parts of the county, also a district
country life league in each district and a county federation with repre-
sentatives from the \'arious farmers' organizations should be es-
tablished to consider the interests of the oi)en country of the entire
county.

Under the leadership of the farmers the start at consolidating the rural
schools, as at Sandy Spring, Brookeville and other places, with a teacher
of agriculture and a teacher of home economics should be extended to
the entire county. Fifteen or twenty consolidated rural school centres
would provide vital centres for farmers' social and economic or-
ganizations as well as for high schools which teach farming and home
making. Such instruction in agriculture as that now provided in the
Sandy Spring and Brookeville schools, if extended to the entire county,
would rapidly educate the young generation to make more of the farms
and farm homes of the entire county. If all the county could be made
as producti\'e as are the farms in the vicinity of Sandy Spring and
Brookeville, the total production of the county would be greatly increased
and a more splendid country life developed. The plan of having a
county farm bureau with an expert farm demonstrator and advisor,
which is now so rapidly extending into the counties of the United States,
will be of great benefit to Montgomery County. Such an office would
be of assistance in bringing about better rotation of crops, the more in-
telligent use of fertilizers, the improvement of live stock, the choice of

104

better varieties of field crops and other plants, and in lietter methods of
cultivation and farm management generally.

A County Y. M. C. A. Secretary, such as the International Committee
is placing in many counties throughout the United States would be a
great aid in assisting the boys and young men of the county. Such an
officer could help not only in preparing the young people for their church
life but also in developing the recreational and social life of the entire
county, and would greatly reflect on production by leading to better
farming.

Many more of the farm youths of the county should attend agricultural
colleges, mainly to return and be the leading farmers, but in part to
return and help to build up a system of local and agricultural high schools
and country life educational, social, and economic organizations for the
entire county. Likewise many more farm girls should attend schools
which prepare girls for the farm home, for teaching home making in
the consolidated rural school, and for leadership in the rural community.
The splendid blood of the white population of Montgomery County,
its good soil and its superb market facilities present possibilities for a
wonderful country life community. If the entire county could be so
improved as to average as well as the best communities in the eastern
part of the county, the claim could be made that Montgomery County
is fast becoming the model country life county of the United States.
The City of Washington and the governments of the state and of the
nation can well afford to encourage both the suburban and rural parts
of Montgomery County to become models as places for family homes
for that portion of the people with best heredity, who, by multiplying
more rapidly than the average can dominate the blood of the future
nation. Montgomery County will continue to be proud of the strong
people it sends into the city because upon its farms will continue to
remain a portion of the best blood of America. Its splendid home and
social life are the best agencies for building up its system of economic
production. But the homes need to be better supplemented by the
consolidated and rural high schools, by more clubs, granges, and farmers
district leagues, welded into a county federation by a county Y. M. C. A.,
a county Y. W. C. A., and a bureau of county farm experts. The
opportunities for doing team work and securing national and state
recognition and help in building up the farms, the homes and country
life generally, are not excelled by any county in the country. Mont-
gomery county, like every other county must double its product, because
double the nation's population must be fed, and the above suggestions
have a large relation to how to bring this about.

105

RECOMMENDATIONS CONCERNING EDUCA-
TIONAL CONDITIONS

By Mr. A. C. Monahan

Assistant in Rural Education, Inilecl States Bureau of Education

Organization and Supervision

The management of the schools of Montgomery County, as in all
Maryland counties is centralized in the hands of one board of education.
Such a system is known as the ''county system" of organization and is
probably the most efficient and economical of all systems for rural schools
in the United States. Only four other States are so organized. Under
this system is provided the best opportunities to promote the educational
interests of the entire county. Under no other form of organization
has such rapid development taken place in rural school affairs, except
under the township organization as found in New England and in a few
other States. The township system, however, has proven especially
efficient only in thickly settled sections. Any system to be effective
must have at the head of its school affairs a board of education composed
of capable persons who will perform their duties for the best interests
of the schools and the communities regardless of the demands of poHtical
party affiliations. The Montgomery County board is unquestionably
composed of capable men and in the management of school affairs it
seems to be free from political influence.

The school system of the county is weak in the amount of supervision
given the teacher in her work both in managing the school and in teach-
ing. Expert supervision is given by but one person — the county super-
intendent— and he must divide his time between work as an agent of
the county board in the management of the school affairs of the county
and as a supervisor of the teachers and their work. The county in-
cludes approximately 521 square miles of territory with 106 separate
school buildings distributed quite evenly over the entire county. There
are 162 teachers. Under such conditions little personal supervision is
possible. The school year is approximately 180 days in length, the
school being in session 5>^ hours per day, or a total of 990 hours in the
entire year. If the county superintendent could spend this entire 990
hours in the schools while classes were reciting, he could give but 9
hours to each building during the entire year and but 6 hours to each
teacher. In actual practice he cannot probably devote more than one-
half of his time to visiting schools and part of this time is consumed in
driving from one school to another.

Contrast this condition with the amount of supervision in the city of
Baltimore. In 1910, there were 58 supervisory officers devoting half

106

A VILLAGE HIGH SCHOOL

or more than half of their time to supervising the work of the 1,778
teachers employed. And the city was criticised in "The Report of the
Commission Appointed to Study the System of Education in the Public
Schools of Baltimore" because the supervision was considered by the
experts who made the study, inadequate in amount! Baltimore had
but one such supervisor for every 32 teachers while the average for the
18 largest cities in the United States that year was 1 for every 19 teachers.
It is on account of this supervision in city systems that the great pro-
gress has been made in city schools, and for the lack of it that the country
schools have failed to keep pace. In every business enterprise but
public education it is recognized that to obtain the best results super-
vision from bottom to top is essential.

With the present number and distribution of schools Montgomery
County should employ at least 3 assistant superintendents who would
devote their entire time to supervising the work of the teachers. This
would give 1 to every 35 schools, or 1 to every 54 teachers. The amount
of supervision would still be inadequate but would be a vast improvement
over the present amount. These assistants should be under the direct
authority of the county superintendent. Each should be assigned a
definite part of the county so that they would come to know their schools
and their patrons, and could acquire close, definite information relative

107

to thrir district not only as regards educational aflairs, but all interests
of the community. It is only when in possession of such knowledge
that it is possible for the supervisors to so direct the schools and their
work that they would fill more nearly the place which the country schools
should occupy in their communities.

The Course of Study

The curriculum of the schools of Montgomery County includes little
but the common branches which have been taught in country and city
schools for the past decade. A readjustment is desirable so that the
studies pursued would he more closely correlated with the life and in-
terests of the community. More time and attention should be given
to instruction in elementary agriculture, domestic science, manual
training, music and drawing, and the common branches should be taught
in terms of these subjects. It is realized, of course, that the ordinary
country teacher herself can not do much to bring about this readjustment
on account of lack of training and lack of information relative to how the
readjustment may be effected. The county superintendent alone, with
the manifold duties thrust upon him, can do but little. Such read-
justment and redirection of the work of the schools can be accomplished
satisfactorily only by a county superintendent assisted by several super-
vising officers working under his authority and direction who can direct
and aid the teachers in the introduction of work in these newer subjects
and in establishing the proper balance and relationship between them
and the older subjects. The problem is greater than the mere addition
of new studies to the curriculum. Under present conditions the average
teacher in the one-teacher country school conducts about 26 recitations
per day of approximately 12 minutes in length. There is_no time for
additional classes. The newer subjects must be taught by means of and
through other subjects already in the curriculum in place of useless
portions now included. Such being the case, the necessity of expert
supervision is made all the greater.

Number of Schools

The number of schools contained in the county from the standpoint
of efficiency and economy is too great. There are 69 elementary schools
for white children or one for every 7}4 square miles of territory. This
means that if the schools were symmetrically distributed no part of the
county would be more than 2 miles from a school, 90% of the territory
would be within 1}4 miles and 42% within 1 mile. If the number of
schools for white children should be decreased to 35, there would be one
school for every 15 square miles. If the schools should be located at the
centre of squares 15 square miles in area, or less than 4 miles on a side,

lOS

DOMESTIC SCIENCE LABORATORY OF THE BROOKEVILLE HIGH SCHOOL

one-fifth of the territory would be within 1 mile of the school, four-fifths
within 2 miles, and the furthest point would be but 2.8 miles from the
building. By a proper arrangement taking into consideration the geo-
graphical features of the country and the location of the population,
the 35 schools could be so placed that approximately 95% of the school
children would live within 2 miles of a school and at least 60% within 1
mile. Under such conditions transportation at public expense would be
necessary only on exceptional days, as the children would be within
walking distance. While it might not be possible to extend the area
for each school to 15 square miles, there are many sections where con-
solidation with transportation of pupils at public expense is entirely
practicable and where the school might ser\'e an area of 25 square miles.
Decreasing the number of schools would not lessen the number of
teachers in the county to any great extent as the number of pupils to
each teacher under present conditions is high. It would, however,
increase the size of each school to two or three teacher schools with
enough pupils to permit a classification in such a way that the efficiency
of the teaching would be doubled or trebled. It would allow also
adequate expert supervision at a comparati\'ely small cost and would
decrease the cost of maintenance appreciably. It would mean a much
more efficient school service at about the present outlay.
. On the whole the white schools of Montgomery County may be said
to rank high in the excellency of their work in comparison with other
county systems. The same may be said about the negro schools,
although they are relatively inefficient as compared to the white schools
of the county, and are poorly housed, equipped, and supported. It is

109

probably true that the county is expending upon the negro schools an
amount as great as is paid by the negro population in direct taxes. It
is becoming a recognized principle of economy however, that the re-
sponsibility of a city, county, or state to its people or to any part of them
for the best interests of all the people in the political unit can not be
measured in terms of the direct taxes paid.

The criticism made relative to the lack on supervision and to the over-
abundance of small schools would apply equally as well to the larger
number of counties in the majority of states in the Union. From the
2,000 inquiries made during the recent survey of the county a general
appreciation of these two needs seems to exist.

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS

In closing this sur\Ty of Montgomery County it is fitting that we
state, in a few strong paragraphs, what are the main needs of the county
as a whole. It is not a needy county, as compared with others. Its
resources are many; and its situation so near to a market — so near also
to one of the great capitals of intellectual life in the world, the city
of Washington, puts the county in a favored relation to many others
throughout the country. But it is a very representative cpunty for all
that. The weaknesses which rob the American farmer of his best in-
heritance are all here. The new order of rural life has not come, to
most of the county. A rural civilization is not there so strong as to
resist that of the city.

First, there is need of organized cooperation among farmers. The
business of the farmer is done too much by the city man, or by business
men who thrive on the farmers' inattention to their own affairs. There
should be cooperative banks or trust comjianies at which a farmer might
borrow money at less than four per cent. These will come only when
farmers organize on the cooperative principle, for the purpose of placing
their own security on the market. Capital is willing to go into the
country at three and a half per-cent. but the farmer must handle his
own banking, in order to secure for himself and other farmers this ad-
vantage. The Reiffeissen Bank system is commended for study by
farmers, as a good model of the farmers' bank.

When such low rates of interest are secured, as the security offered
in farm land will justify, then the farmer's son will be able to buy a
farm in the county, and the community will not lose its own best
blood, by reason of the impossibility of buying farms.

The same ])rinciple applies to the manufacture of farm products.
This should be in the hands of farmers. Milk should in every community
be made into butter, so far as is of advantage. The remainder should
be sold to the city buyers. This can only be done by combinations of

110

farmers. The cooperative principle is the right one for this purpose.
Farmers do not work well together in joint stock companies, but they
do cooperate well, in associations in which the votes are man-votes, not
share-votes. The farmers of the county ought to undertake with
thoroughness the study of cooperation, and, not content with anything
less than economic combination, they ought to organize in the vital
processes by which they get their living. Only thus can they keep
their income high enough to be satisfactory. And if it is not satisfactory,
the country will lose and the city will gain, to the advantage of no one.

Second, the negroes of the county are the least satisfactory section
of the population. It may be assumed that they will be a permanent
part of the county's people, for decades to come. The trouble seems to
be that the negroes are not able to "go it alone." They are in need of
the collective attention of the white people of the county. Their schools
should be reconstructed, on the principle of teaching them to work.
Better buildings and adequate equipment should be provided for this
purpose. A clear determination of the authorities of the county to use
the schools for industrial training of the negro children would advance
the whole problem a long way.

The state of the negroes has a very direct effect upon the economic
and on the moral welfare of the whites. In planning therefore, for the
prosperity and for the general good of the county, the people of the
county ought to devote energetic attention to the industrial betterment
of the Negro. He may be compared to a man morally and economically
sick. The hospital for his disease is a school where he will learn in early
years to work. It pays to put money into such a hospital.

UNDEVELOPED RESOURCES
111

Our third recomniendation is as to the churches. It is to the effect
that there are churches enough. The county is more than adequately
churched. Let us not rejoice at the organization of any more, but
rather let us turn to the improvement and furnishing of these we have.
The Survey shows that they are very inadequately equipped for their
work. They need Sunday-school rooms, a class-room for each great
division of the members of the congregation, who may be taught, and
need to be taught, the message and the truths of the Bible. The one-
cell church should be built into a beehive of religious work. Not only
preaching, but teaching and social meeting and dinners and Farmers'
Clubs, and Organized Bible Classes have need of a place in the church,
that they can call their own. Every interest of the community, indeed,
ought to have a welcome in the church building, that it may there be
tested and discussed in the spirit of the Master, and shaped to be a
part of his Kingdom.

Especially is there need of a policy of recreation among the churches,
that is larger than the present petty chaffering of sales and suppers, for
the funds of the Ladies' Societies. The women of the churches are
doing well, against all opposition, but they have little except opposition
from the men of the churches.

Two motives impel the churches to take a hand in the recreation of
the community. It will help in solving the labor problem. For the
farm laborer goes to the city too often simply because he has no social
enjoyment in the country. Moreover, it will do more to solve the pro-
blem of rural morality than any other measure that can be taken. The
godly people of the community see this for their own children. They
take charge of their play, in order to control their moral training. They
would find that all the children of the community will respond in the
same way. Supervised and well provided recreation will do more
for training the citizens of the future than any other effort or ex-
penditure.

Our fourth and final recommendation has to do with community
organization. Attention has been called to the over-multiplication of
schools and churches, a condition which offends against both economy
and eflficiency. In general the survey has made it abundantly clear that
in almost every community in the county there is a distinct lack of con-
centration of interests and activities. With one exception there is no
community in the county which has developed for itself any very exten-
sive o])})ortunities of concerted action. A community should possess
individuality, a sense of its own unity. At almost every point country
life is too diffuse. Its energies are scattered and consequently fail of
their most advantageous use. In the finest meaning of the term a com-
munity is not a casual association of a number of people about a school

112

and a church and a store and a home and a public road. It is a unified
group building for itself these various institutions in the spirit and
practice of cooperation.

In this county the country communities are not individual; they are
distinctly dividual. They come apart into well-defined sections, cor-
responding to their various activities. There are unfortunate and
artificial divisions between educational, religious, commercial and social
activities, and between parts or strata of the same neighborhoods. In
fact, they are hardly communities at all — they are voting districts.

If a map could be made locating every church, school and store with
a line drawn from each home to the particular church, school and store
with which it had connection, this lack of centralization would be very
clear. A condition would be depicted which could best be described as
"scrambled." In a community so organized there is constant duplica-
tion of effort along many lines and the resultant waste is very great.
Prosperity in greatest measure will only come to these communities when
each effort of the scientific farmer to make many grains of wheat grow
where but one grew before is supplemented by the effort of the scientific
community builder to make but one store, church or school grow where
many grew before.

Our proposal is a definite one. We will state it as a theory, conscious
that local conditions will necessitate modification at various points when
applied to a particular community. Montgomery County would divide
itself naturally into from twenty to twenty-five communities within which
all the people could easily be grouped about some common centre.
There would then be no family in the county more than a few miles from
one such point. Here all neighborhood activities should centre. Here
there would be a community church, a community consolidated school,
a community store and all needed community enterprises. In coming
years farmers will inevitably adopt the principle of cooperation in their
banking and farm business. The value of this is becoming continually
clearer. There should be a common point in each community for the
carrying on of such community efforts. The social and the recreational
life will also centre here. If such a diagram as we mentioned above were
then made, the result would look less like a dish of spaghetti and more
like a circle with its radii leading from every home to the common center.

The effect of this plan of organization upon the working efficiency of
the community could not help but be tremendous. There would be a
gain in social solidarity, in compactness and simplicity of social machin-
ery and in directness and definiteness of effort.

This is not an impossible ideal. In this very county there is one
community which has developed this form of organization beyond the
experimental stage.

113

APPENDIX

TABLE NO. 1. — HOW THE TOTAL VALUE OF FARM PROPERTY IS

DISTRIBUTED

Land $12,678,278

Land in 1900 9,491,930

Buildings 5,163,580

Buildings in 1900 3,525,170

Implements and machinery 733,843

Implements and machinery in 1900 576,010

Domestic animals, poultry, etc 2,282,768

Domestic animals, poultry, etc., in 1900 1,486,558

Per Cent, of Value of all Property In:

Land 60.8

Buildings _ 24.8

Implements and machinery 3.5

Domestic animals, poultry, etc 10.9

Average Values (Number of all farms, 2,442):

All property per farm $8,542

Land and buildings per farm 7,306

Equipment and stock 1,236

TABLE NO. 2. — HOW THE LAND IS HELD. SIZE OF FARMS

Size of Farms

19 acres or less.
20-49 acres. . . .
50-99 " . . . .
100-174 " . . . .
175-259 " . . . .
260-499 " . . . .
500-999 " . . . .

Per Cent, of

Per Cent, of

All Farms

All Farms

Operated by Operated by

White

Colored

Farmers

Farmers

17.67%

69.3%

13.4%

16.0%

18.2%

6.6%

24.46%

5.4%

13.23%,

1.7%

11.61%,

.9%

1.33%

0.0%

TABLE NO. 3. — HOW THE LAND IS HELD. KIND OF TENURE

Per Cent, of All Farms
Operated by

White Colored

Owners 68.7% 71.3%

Owner and tenant .1% .6%

Part owner 5.8% 7.4%

Tenants 21.7% 19.4%

Unclassified 3.7% 1.3%

TABLE NO. 4. — THE AGE OF FARMERS

Per Cent, of Per Cent, of

Age Total Number Total Number
White Farmers Colored Farmers

24 years and less 3.2% . 6%

25-34 years 15.8%, 11.5%

35-44 years 24.3%, 16.1%

45-54 years 23.6%, 26.2%,

55-64 years 18.8% 24.7%,

65 years and over 13.6% 21.5%

I

TABLE NO. 5. — VALUE OF LIVE STOCK ON THE FARMS
Cattle:

Total number 17,872

Dairy cows 10,322

Other cows 1,014

Value $573,188

Horses 10,830

Value $1,379,313

Mules 268

Value $32,291

Swine 16,633

Value $119,331

Sheep 11,529

Value $55,316

The holdings in poultry and bees were reported as follows:

Number of poultry of all kinds 172,321

Value ^112,901

Number of colonies of bees 1,865

Value $6,349

TABLE NO. 6. — YIELD AND ACREAGE OF PRINCIPAL CROPS

Crop

Corn

Oats

Wheat

Rye

Potatoes

Tobacco

Hay and forage.

Acres

Yield

39,278

1,380,249 bushels

1,169

22,276 "

45,112

769,289 "

3,549

40,661 "

2,398

193,783 "

587

534,314 lbs.

25,906

30,094 tons

TABLE NO. 7. — FARM EXPENSES

Labor Farms reporting 1,707

Cash expended $476,863

Rent and board furnished 175,632

Feed Farms reporting 1,169

Amount expended $159,082

Fertilizer Farms reporting 1,781

Amount expended $221,306

TABLE NO. 8.— DISTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC ROADS

District

Macadamized and
Ordinary Pikes
State County Turnpikes Total
Built Built Toll-road ~

Laytonsville 3

Olney 1

Damascus

Clarksburg 4

Gaithersburg

Darnestown

Barnesville

Poolesville

Rockville

Potomac

Bethesda

Colesville

.80
.295

.875
.735
3.00

4.67

Wheaton.

.435
1.83

.'33'
2.435

4^59'
2.45
7.65
4.50
12.57
8.50

9

75

375

1.295 9.83 14.125 25.25

99.04

5 Total

Grand

Stone

Dirt

Total

4.235

56.55

60.55

12.875

61.875

74.75

60.50

60.50

5.205

65.795

71.00

3.17

51.29

58.58

3.00

59.25

62.25

4.59

57.45

62.00

2.45

76.30

78.75

12.32

50.43

62.75

4.50

44.75

49.25

12.57

37.18

49.75

8.875

45.375

54.25

25.25

60.25

85.50

829.88

II

TABLE NO. 15. — CLASSIFICATION OF SECRET FRATERNAL
ORGANIZATIONS BY DISTRICTS

Total

Districl Number Member-

of Lodges ship

Laytonsville 1 60

Clarksburg 2 90

Poolesville 2 55

Rockville 3 247

Colesville 3 172

Darnestown 1 25

Bethesda 2 80

Olney 3 128

Gaithersburg 5 402

Potomac 1 [58

Barnesville

Wheaton 1 82

Damascus 5 345

Totals 29 1,744

TABLE NO. 16. — CLASSIFICATION OF OPEN FRATERNAL
ORGANIZATIONS BY KIND

Number of Total Average

Kind of Organization Local Member- Attend-

Organizations ship ance

Farmers' Clubs 2 28 50

Card Clubs 4 84 71

Social 4 100 80

Literary 5 99 70

Temperance 1 40 35

Scientific 4 48 35

Book 1 25

Mutual Improvement 5 139 90

Citizens' Improvement 8 237 114

Athletic Association 3

Others 3 169 25*

Total 40 969 580

♦IncUidiiiK 1 without stated nieetinRS.

V

TABLE NO. 17. — CLASSIFICATION OF OPEN FRATERNAL
ORGANIZATIONS BY DISTRICTS

Number of Total Average

District Local Member- Attend-

Organizations ship ance

Laytonsville 4 79 58*

Clarksburg

Poolesville 3 52 40

Rockvllle 4 202 43t

Colesville 2 54 60

Darnestown 1 18 12

Bethesda 8 238 109

Olney 2 33 36

Gaithersburg 2|

Potomac

Barnesville

Wheaton 15 295 217

Damascus

Totals 40 969 580

It is recognized that societies of this sort are often very evanescent. This is especially true of
card clubs and social clubs; they come, flourish for a while and then vanish. Traces were found
of crockinole clubs, flinch clubs and other similar clubs which had prospered in their day, but
were now defunct. Consequently, it is almost unavoidable that such a list as is given above should
err either in omission or inclusion. However, it is considered reasonably correct and complete.

TABLE NO. 18. — ENROLLMENT OF WHITE SCHOOLS BY GRADES-
WINTER TERM, 1911-1912

(In Schools Without High School Work:)

Grade 1 829

Grade 2 429

Grade 3 514

Grade 4 541

High school, all grades 269

Grade 5 461

Grade 6 403

Grade 7 296

Grade 8 40

TABLE NO. 19. — ENROLLMENT OF COLORED SCHOOLS BY GRADES-
WINTER TERM, 1911-1912

Grade 1 804

Grade 2 2.54

Grade 3 303

Grade 4 223

Grade 5 112

Grade 6 39

Grade 7 9

TABLE NO. 20 — THE TEACHING OF SPECIAL SUBJECTS IN THE

WHITE SCHOOLS

Not At All Little Medium Much

Nature study 48 20 4 4

Elementary agriculture 57 13 4 2

Domestic science 68 4 0 4

Manual training 71 1 3 1

Music 52 19 4 1

Drawing 50 22 4 0

The figures refer to the number of schools in which these studies are taught

TABLE NO. 21. — THE TEACHING OF SPECIAL SUBJECTS IN THE
COLORED SCHOOLS

Not At All Little Medium Much

Nature study 20

Elementary agriculture 24

Domestic science 21

Manual training 19

Music 13

Drawing 12

(The figures refer to the number of schools.)

♦Including 1 without stated meetings,
t Including 2 without stated meetings,
i Without definite membership or stated meetings.

VI

8

2

0

4

2

0

7

2

0

8

2

1

14

3

0

18

0

0

Illllllllllllllll

1 1012 01235 2870 '

TABLE NO. 22. — HOW $1 OF THE SCHOOL'S MONEY IS SPENT

Teacliers' salaries .52 (i cents

New biiikiings, repairs, furniture 19. 7

Indebtedness and interest 6.5 "

Books and stationery 5.2

Rent, fuel, incidental and sanitary expenses 5.1 "

Supervision and office expenses 2.8

Miscellaneous expenses 8. 1

100 <)

TABLE NO. 23. — THE ITEMS OF EXPENSE IN SCHOOL BUDGET

White Schools:

Apparatus, new buildings and repairs $23,270.55

Fuel, sanitary and incidental expenses 5,220.25

Teachers' salaries 50,381 .64

Total $99,771 . .59

Colored Schools:

Teachers' salaries |.5,852 . 09

Repairs, fuel and incidental expenses 2,595 . 39

Total $8,448.08

TABLE NO. 24. — WHERE $1 OF SCHOOL'S MONEY COMES FROM

County school tax 39 . 4 cents

State school tax 22. 3

Free school fund and academic fund 2.9 "

Free book fund 3.4

Colored industrial fund 1.2

High school fund 5.4

Loans 24. 0 ;|

Other sources 1.4

100.0

TABLE NO. 25. — DENOMINATIONAL STRENGTH

Pres. U. S. I

M. E

Prot. Epis. .

Baptist

M. E. S

M. P

Pres. U. S. .
7th D. Adv.

Friends

Xn

Luth

F. M

Prim. Bapt.

Xn. So

Cath

Churches

Build-

Ministers

Membership Value of

mgs

Property

9

8

6

815 $67,500

17

16

6

1,346 45,000

16

16

11

1,043 106,400

8

8

2

570 36.309

17

, 17

7

1,769 65.348

4

4

2

372 10,400

2

2

1

113 16,300

2

1

0

406

2

2

0

291 6,500

2

2

1

80 9,000

1

1

1

40 3.000

2

2

1

79 1,000

3

3

2

63 3,500

1

0

0

7

9

9

5

2,707

Colored

Churches

7

7

4

209 2,660

24

23

9

1,467 28,700

9

7

5

305 5,900

Baptist

M. E

A. M. E

TABLE NO. 26. —THE COST OF THE CHURCH AND THE COST OF THE

SCHOOL

Protestant White Churches and Schools:

Total amount invested in property

Interest on this investment at 6%

Total cost of maintenance

Total number days in use per year — aggregate

Actual cost per day in use, per church or school

Cost per day — rent equivalent of interest on property. . .

Total cost per day in use, per church or school

Colored Churches and Schools:

Total amount invested in property

Interest on this investment at (>%

Total cost of maintenance

Total number days in use per year — aggregate

Actual cost per day in use, per church or school

Cost per day — rent equivalent of interest on property.

Total cost per day in use, per church or school

Churches

Schools

5364,757.00

$155,0,50.00

21.885.42

9,303.00

06.245 . 00*

10(>.940 . 67

4,216 days

14,288 days

15.71

7.48

5.19

.67

20.90

8.15

$37,260.00

$10,7.50.00

2,235.60

645.00

8.1,50.00*

11,393.62

1,875 days

4,200 days

4.35

2.71

1.19

.15

5.54

2.86

♦Benevolences excl.

VII

Redfield Brothers. Inc
New York