An investigation was made about the sirnilarity between the distribution of tree-ring indices and that of climatic elements based on tree-ring data from 9 points in Shikoku. Principai component analysis and correlation analysis were applied to the tree-ring indices and the monthly climatic elements. As a result, the second component of tree-ring indices and the frst component of minirnum temperature in July show high correlation coefficients. So, for years in which the values of the score of second component of tree-ring indices were 1.0, comparisons were made between the distribution of tree-ring indices and minimum ternperatures in July. It becomes clear from the comparison that the distribution of tree-ring indices resembles that of mirrimum temperature in years when the score of the tree-ring indices is more than 1.4.

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People in rural community had lived according with traditional spintual ties, because they had been cornbined with community of production and life. But fatming has been given up and part-time farming has become predorninant due to the change of industrial structure since the post-war high economic growih period. Further, non-farmers have come into rural communities from urban centers during 1970's. Such srtuations are represented in Japanese as "KonJu-ka". Origmally, the term of "KonJu-ka" has been explamed as a phenomenon "that farmers and non farmers live together " As for the inhabitant s category, all inhabitants in rural community could be simply divided into 2 types: newcomers and established residents. However, it is necessary to categorize them to a more detailed types in the "Konju-ka" community today. And now, new kinds of social problems have been arising: confiicts of interests and relative lack of solidarity between newcomers and established residents in "Konju-ka" cornmunity. The aim of this paper is to make clear some of the characteristics of the inhabitants' behavior patterns in relation to the community, and to find the ways to harmonize the widely different inhabitants. The present author selected Okubo settlement, Iocated in the north-eastern part of Okayama city. This settlement is an agricultural community which has had excellent skius in producing greenhouse grapes and peaches. However, Tenjin housing complex was built in this district approximately 20 years ago and, as a result, this settlement became a housmg development type of "KonJu ka" community. In this situation, the community policy of Okayama city has been enforced since 1973 with mutual cooperation among the inhabitants, and the community house was established in 1975. He conducted a questionnake, and analyzed the inhabitants' behavior patterns in the rural community. The results are gained as folbws: 1. Newcomers and established residents can be classified by 20 years' residential history. The former breaks down to "rural non farrners" who have expenence of farmmg and "urban non-farmers" who have no experience of faiTning. The latter breaks down to "rural farrners" most of whom are full-tirne farmers, "urban farrners" who have regular work besides occasional faiming, and "rural non-farmers" who have experience of f arrning. 2. Newcomers have been fitting into the community through urban local contact and children's ties. Established residents, through a traditional local, blood, and occupational relations. Particulaiy, child-related ties play an important part in creating the harmony between newcomers and established residents. 3. While the agricultural community based on the traditional relations has been kept, the intercourse between newcomers and established residents has been promoted by the cornrnunity policy. If mutual understanding and toleration between traditional agricultural values and new urban values widely penetrale into the comrnunity, they will contribute to a desirable coexistence between newcomers and established residents.

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