Generally speaking, a farm consists of a plot of ground along with a house, a barn, and outbuildings. A the turn of the century, farming continued to compete with manufacturing in importance. By 1965, however, the majority of our population had been attracted to the cities and their outlying suburbs, where employment and conveniences were more plentiful and life seemed less rigorous.
Today, however, the farm is again luring many people back to live in the country or, when this is impractical, to visit it frequently and experience the compensations that country living has to offer.
One of the most interesting discoveries made in this survey of the American farmhouse is the many farmhouses, despite their present ample proportions, were initially small - then expanded out of necessity.
