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LURE OF THE LAND

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THE
LURE OF THE LAND

FARMING AFTER FIFTY

BY

HARVEY W. WILEY, M.D.

Formerly Chief Chemist of U. S. Dep't of Agriculture

Author of "Foods and their Adulterations,"

"1001 Tests," "Principles and Practice

of Agricultural Analysis," etc.

flliustratefc

NEW YORK

THE CENTURY CO.

1915

Copyright, 1912, 1915, by
THE CENTURY Co.

Published, January, 1915

To the memory of my
FATHER AND MOTHER

pioneers of the backwoods of South-
ern Indiana, who taught me the homely
duties of cultivating the fields they
rescued from the forest, reverence for
truth and to battle for the right, and
illustrated by their example the dignity
of labor in a hard environment, —
I dedicate this book.

CONTENTS

CHAPTBB PAGE

I THE LURE OF THE LAND 3

II AGRICULTURE A LEARNED PROFESSION .... 11

III THE BOOMERS AND THE BOOMEES . . '*• ... 18

IV THE BORN-ON-THE-FARM MYTH . . . . . . . 28

V THE DAIRY THE HOPE OF THE SMALL FARMER . 35

VI THE FARMER'S WIFE VERSUS THE DAIRY COW . 41

VII THE ORCHARD A RECREATION AND SOMETIMES A

SOURCE OF PROFIT 46

VIII HEALTH ON THE FARM 53

IX FARM LABOR V ... 61

X PROHIBITION FOR THE FARMER . . . . .' . . 69

XI IS THE SMALL FARMER TO DISAPPEAR? .... 78

XII THE PLACE OF THE FARMER IN THE SOCIAL

SCALE . .' .-•.-.. . . '. X . . ... . 86

XIII THE FARMER'S MARKET 92

XIV THE FARMER AND THE PARCEL POST . . . .100

XV BUSINESS METHODS IN FARMING 114

XVI FARM FINANCE ... . . ... ... • .119

XVII "BACK TO THE FARM!" 145

XVIII POWER ON THE FARM . . . ' . . ... . . .160

XIX AGRICULTURAL WASTES . . . ...... .167

XX THE GENESIS OF THE SOIL AND ITS POSSIBIL-
ITIES ...... . . 173

XXI WHAT IS BECOMING OF OUR SOILS? 208

XXII THE FERTILITY OF THE SOIL 226

XXIII DRY FARMING 237

XXIV THE FUNCTION OF WATER IN AGRICULTURE . . 244

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

XXV THE DECREASING MEAT SUPPLY 252

XXVI STATISTICS RELATING TO ANIMALS ON FARMS . 269
XXVII THE TRUE RELATION OF SCIENCE TO THE INDUS-
TRIES AND ARTS 274

XXVIII UNCLE SAM'S BIG COLLEGE 307

XXIX UNCLE SAM'S BIG FARM 324

XXX A TRIBUTE TO SQUANTO 340

INDEX 359

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

The Lure of the Land . . Frontispiece

FACING
PAGE

Senator Justin S. Morrill . .9

" The children will not get to college unless I should find a

chance to sell" ,,. . .... 16

I pulled up an acre of peach orchard and sowed alfalfa . . 16

Inconveniences of life 24

The hired man can never put a soul into a field . ... 33

Resting in the shade and watching other people work ... 33

The cradle has revolutionized the wheat industry ... . 41

W!hat would you think of the farmer to-day who would buy

a cradle for his wheat cutting? 41

Cut clover with a scythe instead of a mower 48

Mule harvester and thrasher 48

Unless cows are properly stabled and have pure water and

pure air they are subject to disease 57

The silo is a graceful structure and adds an element of

architectural beauty to the dairy buildings . ... . 64

Judged by the cow's taste, silage is almost an ideal food . . 64

I have seen her repeatedly chopping her own stove wood . . 69

She does the milking and churning 69

Churning butter .... . 84

Stacking the oat straw 84

"Orchard's where I'd ruther be" 88

The peach tree borer 88

Ravages of the San Jos6 scale 97

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING
PAGE

Spraying outfit and mixing platform 97

Thrashing hands 101

Just at that time farmers were offering from $1.50 to $2.00
for help in the corn harvest 116

I have all I can eat and wear. Why should I want more? . 116

Moving the thrashing outfit 137

Hauling water for the traction engine . "'. ~. * \ . 137

A giant chestnut, twenty -four feet in circumference — the
largest tree in Loudoun County .... - . ; -i i . 144

The forest 144

Spraying hops on a large scale 165

Spraying sugar beets . . ** ,iw •,» *; .-.!.;• .'U-./ < u . . . 180

Distributing poison bait for cut worms . . . . . ' . . 180

Larva of the cotton boll weevil . . ' :. .r> ,:' *;* '". . { . . 201

Adult cotton boll weevil . . .... . . . } . . . 201

Probably they are to die of cholera '. .'" . . . . . . 208

He thinks of the cattle feeding in the fertile fields . . . .208

View west of Chevy Chase, Maryland 213

Prof. E. W. Hilgard . . 228

Early experiments in reclaiming soil 245

Experiments with fertilizers on potatoes, Kentucky Experi-
ment Station. Potash is especially useful for potatoes . . 260

Hon G. B. Loring 281

Testing the size of the oats 288

The old farm-house 288

Hon. N. J. Coleman 309

James Wilson . ^ »v -T: - /;%t>; ^ 324

Jeremiah Rusk W > v? 341

A desert which might be irrigated 356

THE LURE OF THE LAND

Rura laudamus merit6 poetae
Rure floremus; dominoque laurum
Sole gaudentem necat oppidorum
Nubilus aer.

A. COULEIUS.

THE LURE OF THE LAND

THE LURE OF THE LANt)

IT is not my purpose to discuss problems of life in the
country for those whose incomes permit them to
follow any desire or whim that may possess them. The
lure of the land to which I refer is not that of the spec-
ulator ; nor of the miser, who would increase his landed
possessions as he would his gold; nor of the promoter,
whose desire for' the country is to lay it off in lots and
sell it to his fellows ; nor of the exploiter, who loves to
possess only that he may rob and degrade. From my
point of view I would set forth for the average man of
average means, who wishes to indulge the natural de-
sire for country life, the dangers and difficulties, as
well as the advantages and successes, of making his
home on the farm-
It is evident that those who live in the country must
earn a living,, but in doing this there is no need that
all of the beauties of rural life should be sacrificed until
it becomes a burden unbearable. It is not difficult to
understand how the youth brought up on a farm turns
his longing eyes towards the town. The conditions
of farm life, as a rule, are not such as to attract
or to hold the farmer's son or daughter. Life does not

3

4 THE LURE OF THE LAND

consist alone in watching the beautiful sunrise, in
strolling through a shady forest, or wandering by a bab-
bling brook. To the farmer's boy life means early
rising, hard and continuous labor, plain and often poorly
cooked food, hard beds, and an absence of all the oppor-
tunities which the youth so strongly desires. It is just
as natural for the farmer's boy to look towards the town
as it is for the town boy to look towards the country,
but these conflicting desires arise from different sources.

To the farmer's boy the town appeals as a means of
a career. The country appeals to the city boy as a
place of rest and quiet enjoyment. When you turn
your face towards the city you go to hard struggle, a
hard environment, to a life surrounded by temptations.
When you face the country, on the contrary, you look
to a life of repose, of quiet, not devoid of labor, but
with greater certainty of success and less ignominy
of failure. The one is an instinct to return to the nat-
ural life, the other is a desire to acquire the artificial
life. Each of them is logical, and each of these de-
sires must be reckoned with from the standpoint of
practical philosophy.

The point that I wish to make is this : When should
the city man yield to his desire to go to the country ?
I would not in any way seek to diminish the intensity
of this desire, but I think it wise to do something to
help control it and to set forth the facts of the case in
some way which may be beneficial to the man who
tires, as every good man should tire, of city life. The
number of those who are able to go to the country and
found large estates, build fine houses and drive fine
horses, is extremely limited. On the other hand, the
number of men in very moderate circumstances who
would love to yield to the longing for out-of-door life

THE LUEE OF THE LAND 5

is immensely large. Before indulging this desire, how-
ever, some practical points are worthy of consideration.

In the first place, the lure of the land, even in ma-
ture persons, is apt to lose its pull when brought up
against the hard conditions of country life. The per-
son who thinks of going to the country, therefore,
should be perfectly certain that he really wants to go.
It may be he is longing only for a vacation, and in this
case in a few weeks or months, or at most years, he will
tire of his vacation and desire to return to the old con-
ditions. It is most unfortunate, in a case like this, that
he should have so disposed of his fortune as to make it
practically impossible to get away from the country
with which he once was so enamored.

There is a large number of city men, — and it is
mostly among the men that this desire obtains, — who
have achieved respectable careers as teachers, as em-
ployees in business houses, as physicians, as lawyers, as
ministers, as business men, whose eyes are turning to-
wards the country. Should they yield to this tempta-
tion, or should they stay where they are making a re-
spectable living and deporting themselves as respectable
citizens? The answer to this question, of course, can-
not be a general one. It all depends. First of all, the
wife and daughters should be consulted. While the
husband and father may desire to go to the country, the
wife and daughter may not. The venture is certain to
be a failure unless all parties are agreed upon its de-
sirability. The titular head of the house, therefore,
should never lose his heart to the lure of the land until
he is certain that the wife and the daughter, and the son
too, for that matter, are of the same mind. A mere so-
journ of a week, or a month, as boarders at a farmhouse
is by no means sufficient to determine this point. Many

6 THE LURE OF THE LAND

a wreck has been the result of taking the family to the
country, and afterwards having part or all of it become
thoroughly dissatisfied. ' There are so many rough re-
alities in a life of this kind that it takes the poetry out
of the visions of joy, peace, contentment and success,
that arise in the minds of many.

There are thousands of people to-day, however, to
whom the question is one of immense importance. The
longer a man thinks about it, the more infatuated he
becomes with the idea. He must, therefore, lay aside
prejudice and desire, and look at the matter in the full
light of practicality. The landscape is apt to lose its
beauty after a few hours in the harvest field, and the
forest is valued only for its shade after ten hours' plow-
ing in the hot sun. The problems which are to be con-
sidered are many, and only a few can be presented in
this work. As one who knew all about farm life as a
boy and has had a pretty large experience with it as a
man, and who has returned to it in the late afternoon of
his life, I may perhaps be able, from my experience, to
say a few things that will be helpful.

My object is not to keep farmers' sons and daughters
at home, so much as it is to keep fathers and mothers
who have no business in the country from going there.
Better by far to stay in the city, where the environment
is known and where the niche into which you are thrust
is more or less adapted to hold you, than to come to
grief through a mistaken idea of what is necessary to
successful farming.

The difficulty of the problem is increased by reason
of the artificial life of the present time. Every day
the urban population seems to grow larger and the rural
population to diminish. It is a rare thing for an in-
telligent and ambitious farmer's boy to become a farmer,

THE LURE OF THE LAND 7

or for a well educated and brilliant girl to marry a
farmer, not because such things should not be, but be-
cause the expectation of success and happiness in life
is not at the present time in any particular way asso-
ciated with country life. Nor am I foolish enough to
suppose that the cities are going to be depopulated.
Much as that is to be desired, it is not likely to hap-
pen. On the other hand, we must calmly look forward
to an increasing density of the urban population and
a smaller percentage left in the country. While I try
to look at the matter from a philosophical point of view,
I realize the almost hopeless effort of trying to depopu-
late the city. I shall have something particular to say
upon that point further on. My purpose, therefore,
is not to change the existing order of things, but to try
to make the best of it.

Much is to be expected from changes in the studies
of our country schools. The ideas of country life im-
parted to the school children in the city should be no
longer colored nor painted. The truth should always be
told. It is well to imbue the city child with a love of ru-
ral life, but it would be wrong to imbue him with a love
of this kind and to leave him in ignorance of the hard
conditions which it imposes. I have had many appli-
cations from city boys to spend their summers with me
on the farm, and have had a little experience of that
kind. How quickly the glamour of the country wears
away from the city boy when he goes out to work in the
fields! The hard labor of the hot day soon removes
the last vestige of enthusiasm, and it takes a boy of
fine spirit and splendid mettle to stick to his job.

Again, the wickedness on the part of promoters in
seeking to sell to city people suburban properties should
be pointed out. As I read their advertisements I can-

8 THE LURE OF THE LAND

not help thinking, " How many suckers will bite at this
bait ! " As a rule, the most unhappy man you meet
is the so-called suburbanite. When you can see him
through the bundles he carries to and fro, you do not
always detect the countenance of the happy. The sub-
urbanite's family expects to live as people live in the
city. There must be servants to do the work, prepare
the food and sweep the floors, and the best of the city
market must be brought. No wonder the man who
goes back and forth to his business soon finds life a
burden !

While I agree that it is better for the individual to
have a country home, accessible by trolley or otherwise,
and still to do business in the city, his lot is not the
one which I am to portray. The man I have in view
is the one who not only goes to the country but, after in-
vesting his little hoard of a lifetime, expects to make
his living for the rest of his life from the farm on
which he is settled. My observation is that it is rare
for a man who has devoted his more active life to other
pursuits in the city, to become a successful farmer; I
mean by that to live from the products of his farm.
Thus at the very outset I may say to those who are suf-
fering from the disease which I call ruralitis, that the
expected living which is to come from a farm is to a
large extent visionary.

At the same time I would be sorry to see this love
of rural life less regnant than it is. Theoretically, my
idea of humanity would be a scattered population, all
of the productive industries taken out of the cities and
placed in the country to which they properly belong,
and the city left only as a place of exchange. Mean-
while, let us make the best of things as they are. The
suburban life should be encouraged because it has some

SENATOR JUSTIN S. MORRILL
Father of the Land Grant Colleges

THE LURE OF THE LAND 9

points of superiority. At least in the suburbs you can
have a house with the light and air of heaven all around
it, and if it is beautiful, as sometimes it may be, its
beauty will not be confined to the front door, as is the
case in the city. The suburbanite can have his yard
and his garden, even, though he may have to hire their
care. He has light and air, he has opportunity for his
children to place their feet upon the ground, and he
does not have a saloon at every corner of his yard. He
should be schooled beforehand, however, to bear the
burdens becomingly and to know that even in the sub-
urbs life is not one long dream of happiness.

But most of all I would speak for those who intend
to be real farmers, to live upon the farm and gain their
livelihood therefrom, — and by farm I do not mean sim-
ply fields of wheat and corn, but I mean orchards and
dairies and gardens and forests, in fact all the various
activities by means of which Mother Earth yields her
treasures of grain and fruit and flowers to her tenants.
Hard as the life is, full of unexpected difficulties, ac-
cidents and discouragements, one should not be always
deterred from trying it. And so I would speak the
truth about farm life and call attention to some of
its difficulties, and warn the man who feels the lure of
the land in his heart against possible disasters.

At the same time, I would extend the right hand of
fellowship to those who come. I would teach them the
philosophy of patience, the dignity of labor, the splen-
dor of producing something that is of real value and
not merely an exchanging of values with the hope of a
" commission," and instil into their minds the philos-
ophy of living as near to nature as possible. Then if
they follow the natural impulse, they will not suffer such
grievous disappointments, nor magnify disasters, nor

10 THE LURE OF THE LAND

falter in their faith in the midst of difficulties. They
will be able to build up, in the sunlight and the air of
heaven, a real home of comfort founded upon labor,
and of happiness and contentment of a purely natural
character.

II

AGRICULTURE A LEARNED PROFESSION

TO the city man, even if his boyhood was spent in
the country, farming is an unskilled profession.
In other words, anybody can be a farmer. If a farmer
should have a number of sons differing in mental ca-
pacity, he probably would take the one who had the
gift of speech for the purpose of making of him a
preacher or a lawyer, the one who believed in research
might be a scientist or a physician, while the one who
seemed to have no particular ability for anything would
be selected to stay upon the farm. If the facts of
farming were properly appreciated, quite a different
attitude w(5uld be manifested. The brightest and best
of the boys by all means should be kept upon the farm.
It is a fundamental error to suppose that farming is
neither a business nor a profession. It is a business
which requires the highest business talent, it is a pro-
fession which requires the best technical skill. It is
true that farming perhaps embraces a larger percentage
of unskilled men than any other profession, but that is
not the fault of farming itself. There is no other pro-
fession that requires such a variety of learning, such an
insight into nature, such skill of a technical kind in
order to be successful, as the profession of farming.
That this is recognized as a fact may be easily shown
by a few commonly recognized truths.

All over the world schools of agriculture are multi-
11

12 THE LURE OF THE LAND

plying. A hundred years ago there was no such thing
as an agricultural school, the agricultural experiment
station was unknown. A lot of facts had been ac-
cumulated by experience, but these facts were not cor-
related nor put into any kind of a systematic form or
shape. The man without brains, provided he had
hands and muscle, was considered the ideal farmer.
How much that has changed one needs only to look
around him to see !

That great statesman, Senator Morrill of Vermont,
was one of the first of our public men to realize the
importance of farming as a profession. During the
throes of the Civil War, when it was uncertain whether
or not the nation would survive, Senator Morrill took
the stand that he believed the nation would survive
and in its survival would depend upon its agriculture
for its wealth and progress. In 1862 he saw enacted
into law his bill introduced into Congress to establish
agricultural colleges in all the States. To this end
he provided that the United States grant a portion of
its public lands for this purpose. In the older States
there were no public lands, therefore he devised a
scheme of opening the vast domain of the West not only
to actual settlers, but also to preemption by the States.
A certain number of acres of land was set aside for
each State, in proportion to the number of representa-
tives and senators it had in Congress. Thus the old
States, such as New York and Massachusetts, would
have the same opportunity to have the benefit of this
great grant as the new States and territories where the
lands were situated.

When this proposal of Senator Morrill became a law,
very little was thought of its value and brilliant future.
The States themselves were slow to appreciate it. They

AGRICULTURE A LEARNED PROFESSION 13

came into possession of what was called land script,
that is, orders on the public domain in any locality
where preemption had not already taken place. As it
is possible to divide men into wise and foolish, so it
was soon possible to divide the States into wise and
foolish. Some of the States, notably New York, lo-
cated their land script and kept the land, which of
course has increased immensely in value. Others, and
among them my own State, Indiana, sold their orders
on the public domain at a fabulously low price. Indi-
ana had, in round numbers, nine hundred thousand acres
of public land assigned to it for purposes of agricul-
tural instruction, not excluding the mechanical arts and
military tactics. This vast amount of script was sold
for less than four hundred thousand dollars, in other
words less than fifty cents per acre. What a mine of
wealth the State would have possessed had it located its
lands and kept them for leasing purposes! Probably
to-day the annual income of the State from this source
would have been greater than the whole of the money
received for the sale of the land.

But in spite of the wastefulness with which these
grants were handled, the purpose for which they were
made has been realized. In every State and territory
of the Union to-day there is an agricultural school,
which also teaches the mechanical arts and military
tactics in harmony with the law of Congress, and these
schools are all endowed, partially or fully, by the pro-
ceeds of the land given under the Morrill act. In
some States the fund has been divided, so that there is
more than one college. This is the case especially in
some of the Southern States, where a college has been
established both for whites and blacks. It is difficult
to estimate to-day the total income in the interest of

14 THE LURE OF THE LAND

agriculture and technical education which arises from
the benefits of the Morrill act.

The States have also given additional sums for the
support of these institutions. Later additions were
made to the grants of funds from the public treasury
in the interest of agricultural education. Among the
first of these was the Hatch act, establishing particu-
larly agricultural experiment stations.

Wonderful as is this endowment, the greatest ever
given to education by any nation or at any period of
history, the progress of agricultural training has not
been limited alone to the colleges and experiment sta-
tions. Forty years ago the Farmers' Institute was
almost unknown. To-day hundreds of institutes are
held throughout the whole country, in which the data
relating to agricultural progress are presented and dis-
cussed. I well remember my first appearance at a
Farmers' Institute, now nearly forty years ago, as a
young teacher of agricultural chemistry. I was ex-
pected to tell the farmers something about the princi-
ples of fertility. It was an embarrassing situation to
me, having only lately come into this work and being
so little acquainted with all of its ramifications. For-
tunately for my reputation, my audience knew even
less than I. The terms " phosphorus/7 " potash " and
" nitrogen," were indeed Greek to the farmer as most
of them were Greek in their etymology. But at least
there was an awakening among them. It was the dawn
of a new era in Agriculture.

If we could only compare this primitive institute in
Indiana with one of its modern descendants, what a
contrast there would be! From my point of view the
institute was a great deal more of a school to me than
it was to the farmers who came. I realized then, at

AGRICULTURE A LEARNED PROFESSION 15

the beginning of my professional life, the magnificent
problem of agricultural science, and although I have
devoted much of my life to the study of that problem,
I realize to-day how utterly unsolved it still is.

Many years ago, when the scientific sun was just
rising on the general farmer, I tried to put some of
these ideas into rime. My purpose was to portray,
if possible, the ideas which were planted in the mind of
the old farmer when he first attended the Farmers' In-
stitute. These rimes run as follows :

FARMER JOHNSON RELATES HIS IMPRESSIONS OF
THE " INSTITOOT." 1

You seen the notice, William, of the meetin' up to town,
Of the farmers in the Institoot, they come from all aroun*.
There wuz Billy Woods from Haw Patch, and old Sam Mapes

from Hope,
And Peter Hughes and Barney Flinn and Tecumseh Sherman

Swope.

And half the town from Taylorsville, and you had orter seen
Judge Edgington a mixin' round amongst us playin' green.
And Lawyer Sims wuz also there, you see it seems ez how
He's up for the ligislatur and wants to lam to plow.

And the fellers from the College of Agricultur, they
Wuz thick ez lightning bugs in June and had a heap to say.
Ther wuz one they called a chemist, and he kind a seemed to

know
All that wuz in the air above and in the ground below.

He sed we needed nitergin, and showed us how the stuff
Wuz awful high and skeerce for crops, while in the air enough
Wuz found to make us 'tarnal rich if we could only git
Some cheap and sarten projeek of hitchin' on to hit.

He sed that peas and clover and other crops like them,
Wuz jist the stuff to do it and store it in the stem,

i " Songs of Official Agricultural Chemists," Washington, 1890.

16 THE LURE OF THE LAND

And the yearth is full of critters that eat this stuff you see,
And change it in a twinkle into ammoniee.

That arternoon the sheriff he as't us out to see
Some Jerseys in his pasturj the prof, he rode by me,
We crossed the crick at Haskell's and passed the clover field
Whar he hed wheat last summer with sich a bustin' yield.

The professor he wuz lookin' and when the field he spied,

" Them taters 're lookin' , splendid fur the time o' year," he

cried.
" Them ain't taters," said I, laffin' ; " why, professor, don't you

know
Thet 's the clover which you told us would give us sich a show1? "

Sence I come back from the Institoot it really appears
Thet potash, nitrate, phosphorus, wuz ringin' in my ears,
And, William, it seems purty tough thet you and Jim and me
Have went along so ign'rant of what we daily see.

Jist hauled manure out on the pints and plowed and hoed and

mowed,

And worked so hard for little pay, and never, never knowed
Thet clover, peas, and beans, and sich ez the chemist mentioned

there,
Hev the highly useful knack of suckin' niter from the air.

Having retired now for several years from address-
ing farmers' institutes, I would be almost afraid again
to attempt it, so wise and critical have the farmers be-
come on all the points relating to the scientific expo-
sition of the principles which underlie their profession.

Not only have the farmers' institutes done this won-
derful service, but they are not the only avenues of
progress. We have now throughout the country agri-
cultural trains passing rapidly from county to county,
carrying a corps of learned and practical men, with
coaches filled with exhibits and charts of instruction,
thus bringing to the very doors of the farmer who is

"THE CHILDREN WILL NOT GET TO COLLEGE UNLESS i SHOULD FIND

A CHANCE TO SELL*'

I PULLED UP AN ACRE OF PEACH ORCHARD AND SOWED ALFALFA

AGRICULTURE A LEARNED PROFESSION 17

unable to attend the agricultural college or visit the
experiment station, the best fruits of their activities.

Finally, there has come to the aid of the instruction
in agriculture the moving pictures, showing the varie-
ties of farm life and the methods of overcoming its
mechanical difficulties, illustrating the tillage of the
soil, the growth of the crops and the activities and pe-
culiarities of farm animals, the wonderful intelligence
and technique of the honey bee, and so on through the
list.

I doubt if there is any other branch of knowledge to-
day which has a larger endowment, more competent
corps of teachers, more enthusiastic pupils, than the
great university of agriculture, which exists in all of
the manifold forms which I have described throughout
the length and breadth of the land. The United States
is by no means the only country in which it is recog-
nized that farming is a learned profession. In Eu-
rope and in the islands and continents of the seas, and
even in Asia and Africa, the elucidation of the funda-
mental principles of agriculture is constantly carried
on. Professors and tutors and artists and mechanics
and photographers and illustrators are carrying this
new propaganda throughout the world.

Ill

THE BOOMERS AND THE BOOMEES

THE city man of small means who has acquired a
passion for the country is picked out as an easy
mark by the boomers who have attractive (on paper)
orchards, gardens and farms to sell. The " boom "
perhaps may take the form of a poultry campaign, and
some of the older readers may remember the epidemic
of " hen fever " that spread over the country forty or
fifty years ago.

There is the same principle underlying all exploita-
tions of this kind: first, the skilful and insidious play
upon the human desire, and the attractive and decep-
tive form in which that desire may be gratified. The
typical promoter is by no means devoid of intellect ; in
point of fact, he is shrewd, keen, intelligent and con-
scienceless. He is, above everything else, a profound
student of psychology. He knows to the uttermost
limit the moods and passions of man. He plays upon
them skilfully, as the virtuoso touches the keys of the
piano.

A story is told of an event which took place at a meet-
ing of the makers of automobiles. At this meeting
the various proprietors or manufacturers of the different
motor cars had the opportunity of freely advertising
their own special brands. One of the largest of the
makers, while on the floor, described the wonderful scope
of his business. He said, "You scarcely realize the

magnitude of the business which I represent, and per-

18

THE BOOMERS AND THE BOOMEES 19

haps a simple illustration will suffice. We make and
sell a complete car every two minutes." The manufac-
turer who followed him did not fail to take advantage
of the opening. He remarked, " The business of the
gentleman who preceded me is undoubtedly of great
magnitude, and well illustrated by what he said. The
business of the gentleman is, however, not nearly so
great as it ought to be. He should be ashamed of not
having improved all of his opportunities. He told us
that he made and sold a motor car every two minutes —
he should remember that a sucker is born every minute."
Unfortunately all of these suckers are not buying
motor cars. Hundreds and thousands of them are in-
vesting in orchards, in gardens and in lands. In the
past few years there has been a remarkable revival of
land speculation, and many thousands of the citizens
of our country have bought and paid for impossible or
inaccessible fields and gardens. Especially was this
illustrated in the fever which spread over the country
for purchasing the Florida everglades. These lands
were presented in such an attractive manner that it
was impossible to believe that any person investing in
them could fail to make a fortune, and that speedily.
Visions of orange trees and luscious grape fruits and
the less hardy lemon were dangled before the eyes of
the hypnotized investor, who could even scent the odor
of the flowers and see the glory of the wild orchids in
the nearby forests. In so far as the alligator and the
rattlesnake were concerned, they almost ceased to exist ;
but enough of them were left for the attractive pocket-
book and traveling bag. The salubrity of the climate
was painted in such colors as to make it no wonder that
Ponce de Leon sought for the waters of eternal youth in
this floral paradise.

20 THE LURE OF THE LAND

In point of fact, however, this beautiful country, so
artfully and ingeniously portrayed, was principally un-
der water, leading one of the members of Congress, in
referring to the matter in a speech upon the floor of
the house, to remark that it was " a shame to sell those
lands by the acre, they should be sold by the gallon."

Even the officials of the Department of Agriculture
were drawn into the controversy in a way not at all to
the credit of some of them. Publications telling the
truth about these lands were suppressed, and other pub-
lications, coloring gorgeously the attractiveness of the
everglades, were permitted to be distributed. The en-
gineer who had stuck to the truth and told it, was dis-
charged on a trumped up allegation of having misap-
propriated public funds. He was even prosecuted be-
fore the grand jury and indicted for this offense, only
to have the indictment quashed and to be restored to
his position when all the facts of the case were
known.

Old soldiers were especially invited to spend their
last days in a land where frost did not corrupt, nor mos-
quitoes break through and squeal. Impecunious clerks
in the departments were induced to invest their hard
earned dollars, which they so much needed for the
necessities of life, in these visionary dreams of agri-
cultural wealth.

My own name was used very extensively by the pro-
moters of these schemes, without my consent and against
my positive requests to the contrary, and it was neces-
sary even to threaten the users with legal proceedings
before my name was withdrawn.

~No less deceptive and insistent were the advertise-
ments of the wonderful profits to be made from orchards,
especially in the States of Washington, Oregon, Colo-

THE BOOMERS AND THE BOOMEES 21

rado, Idaho and Montana. Even the nearby Virginias
were exploited. Wonderful offers were made to intend-
ing investors : their orchards would be planted and cared
for for five years at a charge included in the purchase
price, and then all they would have to do would be to
live forever on the wonderful income which would be
secured. Stories of the realization of five hundred or
one thousand dollars per acre, or even more, were scat-
tered abroad to inflame the desire and obscure the judg-
ment of persons with small means.

The number of well intentioned persons who, having
accumulated a few thousand dollars, were led to sacri-
fice it all and to be brought to the door of starvation
in their old age, would be phenomenally large if all the
names of the victims could be collected. Unfortunately
those who have lost everything in ventures of this kind
are prone to keep the matter quiet, while an investor
who has made money announces it with trumpets from
the housetops.

The irrigable lands also are largely in the same cate-
gory. Every possible town site in the desert was pre-
empted by promoters who relied upon sales of the desert
lands to secure the funds for development. The re-
markable work which is being done in the reclamation
service, winning thousands of acres of land from the
desert to the garden, becomes the basis of a campaign
to induce intending investors to buy these irrigated
lands long before a drop of water is in sight. Even
where water was available, the conditions which pre-
vailed were so distorted as to lead to the investment
of the little all of the new farmer in a manner whereby
absolute failure was inevitable. It would be interest-
ing if the personal stories of these deceptions could be
widely distributed, but, as a rule, those who have suf-

22 THE LURE OF THE LAND

fered and become the innocent victims of these propa-
gandas of promotion, are unwilling to have their names
appear in print.

It is the old story of the gold mine over and over
again. Perhaps as long as humanity remains as it is,
the art of the deceiver will flourish. The same princi-
ple which permits huge fortunes to accumulate by the
sale of quack remedies and worthless nostrums, is the
one employed to separate the hard-earned money of the
people and pour it into the coffers of the wicked pro-
moter. It is one of the astounding facts of humanity
— to realize the truth of the fundamental principle of
Barnum's career, — namely, that the people love to be
humbugged. It is not quite so bad when this humbug-
gery extends simply to going to a show. And after all
Barnum was not so great a humbug as he claimed to be,
because he gave a really interesting and instructive
performance.

From the financial point of view, also, the victim
of the quack remedy is not so much to be pitied, because
it is only occasionally that he invests all he has in a
worthless remedy. Usually the promoter is wise
enough not to reduce him to penury, because that would
take him out of the ranks of his patrons. The wilder
the theory, it appears to me, the more devoted the con-
vert. Vagaries in politics, and especially in religion,
are quite as pronounced as those in medicine, and in
gold mines, and in submerged farms and non-existent
orchards.

This Satanic cult even goes to the extent of defraud-
ing the people in the matter of the foods they use.
Simple cereals, the c6st of which is perhaps not to ex-
ceed one and one-half cents a pound, are put up in at-
tractive packages under fine sounding names and sold

THE BOOMERS AND THE BOOMEES 23

to the consumer at profits of from 300 to 3,000 per
cent. All along the line of battle are found the camp
followers who exploit human credulity and weakness
and hypnotize and rob. We are hardly happy without
our daily deception in some form or other. Those who
have the love of agriculture, however, should be par-
ticularly on their guard against all such seductive al-
lurements. I can assure you all that there is no quick
road to wealth along the agricultural line. What lit-
tle you may be able to earn will come from much labor
and much sweating, not to count the worry and the dis-
appointment.

A man would hardly expect to gain a large living by
investing two or three thousand dollars. The average
income of an investment in this country is probably
not over five per cent, of the invested capital. One
thousand dollars, therefore, cannot be expected to earn
more than fifty dollars. If, however, you add to the
investment your own personal labor, the return should
be larger. The man who works in the field every work-
day for a year has close to two hundred and seventy-
five days of labor. That ought to be worth to him at
least two hundred and seventy-five dollars, and if he
has one thousand dollars invested in his farm he ought
to earn five per cent, on the investment and pay himself
almost three hundred dollars for his labor. In sober
consideration of the problem that is all that any one
may hope to have by investing one thousand dollars in
ordinary farm land. This income, too, means hard
work and careful attention.

AN ORCHARD EXPERIENCE IN COLORADO.

I am giving an experience in a Colorado orchard
mostly in the language of the college professor who left

24 THE LURE OF THE LAND

his position, attracted by the allurements of the orchard
business, to cast his fortunes two thousand miles away
from his former home in the new land of Eldorado. He
says : .

If I should give my experiences year by year I might seem
to be a "knocker." No one likes to appear in that light.
Many have done better than I, and, also, some have fared
worse.

It was very difficult for me to decide to buy because of high
prices of land. I held off for some two months and looked the
country over tolerably thoroughly and talked to all I met. I
believe that if we had had as few disastrous years as old timers
all declared had visited here within the twenty years before
our coming, we should have made good, even at prices then
prevailing. We bought twenty acres, paying approximately
$800 an acre for the portion, 7% acres, in bearing apple trees,
and $400 an acre for the 12% acres which was partly set with
young trees and in alfalfa and partly in prune trees.

We got the crop on the trees the summer we bought, that is,
the summer of 1905. It was a good crop and brought a fair
price. Since then we have had only two years as good. There
have been frosts and freezes in the spring, or wind and hail
in summer, or snow and hail and freezing weather in the fall
before we got the crop harvested.

In 1910 we sold the bearing apple orchard, 7% acres, for
$6500, and paid off our notes and had the 12% acres clear.
In 1909 we had a good peach year. Our orchard netted us
about $150 an acre that season. In the other years it has not
paid expenses. In the fall of 1912 I pulled up one acre of
peach trees and sowed the ground with alfalfa. I expect to
pull out one acre more this fall. That will leave me two acres
of peach trees.

The most disastrous year this valley ever saw was 1912. We
had bumper crops of both peaches and apples. But the sum-
mer was cool and showery and the peaches were late. I had
just begun picking when there came a snow storm. The snow
lay on the peaches for a day. The trees were already break-
ing with fruit. The additional weight broke many limbs, and
some trees were ruined. The snow was followed by frosts,

THE BOOMERS AND THE BOOMEES 25

which spoiled at night the peaches which had ripened during
the day. To cap the climax, the market was full and our
stuff brought no price. Most of the peaches were allowed to
fall to the ground. "We had about 4000 boxes go on to the
ground, and marketed only some 600 boxes.

I had spent money in the summer thinning peaches, buying
ladders and box stock and wrapping paper. All in the neigh-
borhood did the same. Many built packing sheds. The ap-
ple crop did not help much, for the country was stuffed with
apples and our stuff brought very low prices. The money for
fruit did not get to the grower until the following summer.

The winter of 1912-1913 was the severest since any govern-
ment record has been kept, and many peach trees were killed.
Some whole orchards were lost. Since that year many mort-
gages have been foreclosed. In the fall of 1912 I had to bor-
row $1000 on account of the freeze and low prices, and had to
mortgage the place. The cold winter of 1912-1913 froze the
peach trees, and so we had no peaches last season. I had some
300 boxes of fine apples on the young trees in the fall of 1913,
but the very day I had set to pick them there came the worst
hail storm I ever saw. In five minutes the crop was punk.

This spring looks good so far, but I have learned not to be
puffed up. I am not counting the money for the crop, nor
thinking of ways to spend it. When I get the money I'll have
it, and that's all there is to it. But in spite of all this we
have not suffered from hunger, though we fare mighty plainly.
I live on bread and milk most all the time. Luxuries we have
none, excepting the scenery. That can scarcely be excelled.

I never saw the apple orchards look finer than they have
this year, but "What shall the harvest be?" The year we
came here a banker in town told me he did not know of a
case of foreclosure of mortgage in this valley. Since 1912
there have been dozens of foreclosures, and there are more to
follow soon. Those who came here in early times — twenty
years ago — and got the land cheap and have their homes
clear and own good bearing apple orchards, are safe. They
can stand any number of bumps. We have some such neigh-
bors.

The people here are unusually well educated and well read
for farmers. There are many ex-school teachers, school super-
intendents, college graduates, hard-headed Germans and Quak-

26 THE LURE OF THE LAND

ers, and others from Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Massa-
chusetts, New York, and from all parts. After the read-
justment the country will recover. It is a good country but
over-boomed. People are now turning attention somewhat to
poultry, pigs, sheep, alfalfa, beets, et cetera. We were tree
crazy for a time, but are getting more sane.

Now is a good time to invest here. I know several bargains.
Never till last year did I advise any one to buy. Mr. W. H.
and wife visited us last summer. They live in Indianapolis.
I advised them to buy our place and they came near doing so.
If I had $5000 or $25,000, I would invest it here now. One
neighbor who has some 30 acres of nice orchard says it is still
worth $1000 an acre. They do not wish to sell.

Apple raising is not such a " gamble " as peach raising. By
building a store-house and putting the apples there as they are
picked, one can take time to pack and sell them. One can
learn something of market conditions. If the prices do not
warrant shipping them hold them for better prices, or let them
rot at home and save paying expenses of packing and ship-
ping.

I invested all I had and borrowed more. I am in debt. I
do not expect ever to get out. The children will not get to
college, unless I should find a chance to sell and go East and
buy a small place near a college town. We are cramped.
Sometimes I feel like running away and letting the place go,
but that would hardly do. I'd like more room. Could have
done better on a general farm. I understood that business;
this I had to learn. Prunes were of no account. I pulled out
the prunes and set apples. Poor lot of trees. Did no good,
not true to name. Had to graft and bud and reset and reset
and reset every spring.

I fear I cannot give you a true notion of things in a letter.
I might in a pamphlet ! It would take a week to tell you what
is needed to understand all. But it is surely true that the
booming has been overdone. Real estate agents are most to
blame, I think. They are good fellows to shun when buying
property out here.

It is true that occasionally a man invests in a gold
mine and makes a fortune. There is such a lucky thing

THE BOOMERS AND THE BOOMEES 27

as investing in land and making a fortune. This for-
tune, however, does not usually come the agricultural
way. You may acquire a piece of land where the future
city will stand ; you may get land at a cheap rate and
the development of tha country round about you will
rapidly increase its value ; coal oil or gas may be found
underneath, but these chances are much less common
now than formerly. Towns are pretty well located in
this country, railroad building is not very vigorously
pushed, new towns that amount to anything are rare;
and the man who places his hope of a fortune, when he
invests in land, in the development of a new town, is
hanging his future on a very fragile thread.

My advice to intending investors is to keep carefully
away from investing in any boom advertised scheme.
I would not say that they are all bad, but I never yet
have seen an advertisement of a land scheme that wasn't
grossly exaggerated. All the things that make for dif-
ficulty and labor are concealed, while the possibilities of
income are enormously distorted to gigantic propor-
tions. The best place to invest is a place that you
know. Don't go so far from your base as to lose your
line of supplies. Better get a poor piece of land nearby
where you know the market and the people, than to
take the risk of a very fertile piece of the same size
three thousand miles off. If I am to make my living
on sand, I would rather get a field on Long Island than
to have a section of sand in Florida. Oranges and
apples come with tribulation and much labor.

All is not gold that is yellow, and this is particularly
true of the citrus fruits. All is not silver that has a
sheen and this is particularly true of the gorgeously col-
ored apple. The stories of profit in agriculture should
be subjected to the corrections of rigid criticism.

IV

THE BORN-ON-THE-FARM MYTH

IT is a very common custom, especially with those
who seek political favors, to impress upon the elec-
tors the importance of the fact that the particular can-
didate in question was born on a farm. It certainly
is no disgrace to have been born upon a farm, nor is
there any excuse for boasting of it. In so far as the
child is concerned, the birthplace is peculiarly acci-
dental. Important as heredity is, the child has no
choice in the matter, he cannot choose either his father
or his mother. Important as environment is, the new
born child is equally the creature of fate, he cannot
choose whether he shall be born in a hovel or a palace.
This pleasing fiction, which is so sweet under the
tongue of the politician, is a mute tribute to the im-
portance of rural birth. As a means of political pre-
ferment it is harmless, and at most creates only a smile
in informed auditors. In some respects, however, being
born on a farm is a positive disadvantage. As a rule,
this is the case with the man who wants to be a farmer,
especially in his mature years. Old-fashioned farming
in this country has not much to boast of from a scien-
tific point of view. There was plenty of hard work,
quite enough getting up at four o'clock in the winter
morning to milk the cows, exposed during the night to
the inclemency of the season, quite enough of the un-
scientific methods of feeding the farm animals, which

"•&

28

THE BORN-ON-THE-FARM MYTH 29

was done without rime or reason, and quite enough of
the toleration of the inconveniences of life, which in
old-fashioned farm-houses undoubtedly reached their
maximum.

As a rule, I may say with certainty that the man who
was born on the farm and lived on the farm until man-
hood, and afterwards has pursued some other career
until the advent of the last period of life, suffers a dis-
tinct disadvantage and handicap from his early experi-
ences. The only hope of the new farmer who begins
his career of agriculture after the maturity of his years,
is in adopting the latest scientific methods of culture.
I cannot agree with the theory that successful farm-
ing in this country will come from extensive instead of
intensive culture. This theory, in effect, is that inten-
sive farming is expensive farming and extensive farm-
ing is economical farming. The first part of this state-
ment is undoubtedly true, but in the light of modern
progress in agriculture we must take exception to the
latter part of it. A more correct statement would be
as follows : " Intensive farming is expensive farming,
extensive farming is robbery."

The point which I want to bring out clearly is this,
that the man of to-day, born on a farm, who, at fifty or
sixty years of age, thinks of abandoning the profes-
sional career to which he has been devoted since man-
hood, by reason of his longing to return to the farm,
has had no real experience in scientific farming during
his boyhood. The chances are one hundred to one that
he was taught extensive farming, in other words agri-
cultural highway robbery.

Extensive farming means to cultivate as much as
possible and pay little attention to the feeding of the
fields. The extensive farmer would very probably take

SO THE LUKE OF THE LAND

all of his horses at the beginning of the plowing season
and keep them at the plow for twelve hours a day, and
feed them by turning them out to pasture at night.
Apparently he would be getting very economical serv-
ice; in reality he would be destroying his motive power.
For this reason the man born on the farm is likely to
begin his new farming career with the handicap of the
bad training he has already had.

Proud of the fact of his early experience, he will
doubtless proceed again to put it into practice. It was
a bad practice economically in the beginning. All the
fertility which Xature had stored up for thousands of
years, was at the disposal of the extensive farmer.
Usually he has succeeded, in from twenty-five to fifty
years, in exhausting all this accumulated supply. This
is instanced by the well known fact of the rapid de-
crease in fertility of the virgin soils of the country.
Whether they originally were wooded or prairie, the
same result is seen. Some of the deeper and more fer-
tile soils last longer, but the shallow and rolling soils
rapidly succumb. It is far better, therefore, while still
being proud of the birth on a farm, to forget all else
except that one fact in resuming agricultural activities.

" Book farming is deceptive and misleading, and the
book farmer is doomed to failure," The above state-
ment is both true and false. Book farming is apt to
exaggerate the good points and minimize the difficulties
of scientific agriculture. This is especially true of of-
ficial bulletins, both national and State. The law
should require that all failures should be 93 carefully
recorded as successes. A book on fanning which would
feature the failures as prominently as it did the suc-
cesses would not be a misleading book.

It must not be forgotten that the chances of the old

THE BORN-ON-THE-FARM MYTH 31

time farmer resuming his place on the farm are de-
cidedly bad. The doctrine of probabilities does not
work out in his favor. He is more likely to fail than to
succeed. He is, however, certain to fail if he relies
upon the old methods. His only hope is in the reason-
able application of the facts which the science of farm-
ing has developed. These fundamental facts were
never taught to the boy upon the farm of a quarter of
a century or a half century ago. What is tie funda-
mental facf of successful agriculture? It is this: the
soil is not dead, inert matter; it is a living organism,
it demands care and protection, above all it asks for
food, it has its idiosyncrasies. The successful farmer is
necessarily a psychologist He studies the mind of the
soil. No one can sit down and describe just what a
field is like. The fields are fitful as the maidens.
They may never be in the same mood two years follow-
ing. They will fancy this or that, as the passion may
seize them, but one thing they never forget and that is
to eat. It may be kainite to-day, it is likely to be fish
scrap to-morrow, but the field "wants what it wants
when it wants it."

Science shows the way. The farmer, however, can-
not be made by science alone. He must have the sense
of the real fanner. As Whitcomb Eiley puts it, he
must be able to divine, the " feel in the air."

From another point of view the early experience on
the farm is likely to be a handicap. As a rule it is
not always agreeable. The life of the old-fashioned
farmer's boy is a hard one. The man will perhaps
retain the feeling of the boy, that labor is a curse, es-
pecially farm labor. Above all things the intending
fanner of mature years must forget that labor ever
was a curse. He must feel that it is an opportunity

32 THE LURE OF THE LAND

and a joy and a blessing. His early experience on the
farm is not likely to help him along in that line. Of
course he begins his new labors from a new point of
view. His attitude towards the plow is quite different
from that of a boy ; but it* is hard to get over these
early impressions, and hence the intending farmer is
more than likely to look forward to a career of resting
in the shade and watching other people work. Rest
of course is not only physiological and necessary, and
delightful, but there can be no rest if there is no work,
and the modern farmer should not sit in the shade un-
til he has earned that right by becoming fatigued in the
sun.

But approached from the point of view of science,
the labor of the farm is a continued joy. It is a manip-
ulation of the laboratory which the real chemist does
not relegate to a helper, it is the touching of a canvas
by an artist's brush which cannot be left to an amateur.
The hired man can never put a soul into a field any
more than the hired painter can put a soul into a pic-
ture.

For these reasons the man who was born in the city,
and who by the great impress of heredity some time in
his life feels the lure of the land, has a good chance to
become a good farmer, perhaps as good as the boy who
was born upon the farm. I do not claim for a moment
that every man, even if born in the city, could be suc-
cessful on the farm. That is not reasonable. A lot
of people who were born in the city can never become
farmers, any more than boys born on the farm can be.
We must not forget the natural tact and ability, with-
out which none of us can ever succeed in anything, no
matter how patiently we try.

The point which I wish to accentuate is that when

ps

is

THE BORN-ON-THE-FARM MYTH 33

one goes at a plump age to till the soil, he must carry
with him 'the knowledge which science has taught and
the implements which the artizan has devised. The
old methods of farming to which he was accustomed
when a boy are as obsolete as the old implements of
agriculture. I remember well when the first machine
for cutting hay came into the community where I lived,
and a few years after when the first machine for reap-
ing wheat was introduced. I have seen myself and my
father and his helpers go into the field with cradles. I
remember his telling me what a wonderful thing the
cradle was as compared with the sickle of his boyhood
days. " The cradle," he says, " has revolutionized the
wheat industry and made it possible." So did the
sickle in its time. And yet, what would you think of
the farmer of to-day who, in starting out in his new
career, would buy a cradle for his wheat cutting instead
of a reaper and binder, or engine and thrasher, or would
cut clover with a scythe instead of a mower ? Improved
machinery has made extensive farming economical, but
it is just as easy to harvest a field of wheat that yields
thirty bushels per acre with the reaper and binder as it
is to harvest one that yields thirteen, and the economy
of the larger yield is readily appreciated.

It is a good heritage to have been born upon a farm,
but the farming of our boyhood days is a thing of the
past in so far as economy and fruitful farming are con-
cerned. This is the day of the food specialist. It is
not always the cheapest food that is the most economi-
cal. The idea that a field can be fed solely from its
own resources is preposterous. At least a part of the
crop must be taken off every year, and the resources of
the field are diminished to that extent.

To-day the farmer who farms without the economy of

34 THE LURE OF THE LAND

manure, without a knowledge of any deficiency in
plant food that his field has, without the knowledge that
the leguminous crops can increase the store of nitrogen,
without the knowledge that certain crops, such as the
leguminous, will not grow in an acid soil, without the
knowledge of the kind and quantity of so-called commer-
cial fertilizers he can buy, is a man who starts out on his
career with a certainty of defeat staring him in the
face.

To succeed to-day on the farm requires courage, in-
dustry, tact, knowledge, patience, enthusiasm and
brains. As S. E. Kiser says in his poem " Where
Brains Are Needed " :

" I claim it takes more brains to farm," said Ebenezer Brown,
u Than what it does to git ahead and make a splash in town ;
Why, I know six or seven chaps from this here neighborhood
Who went away to cities, where they 're busy makin' good.

"You take Chicago and New York — size up the big men

there —

The lawyer, doctor, merchant and the multimillionaire —
You '11 find they 've all been farmer boys, or lived in towns,

at least,
Where they could have a chance to learn the ways of bird

and beast.

" Now take these city chaps who come to cultivate the land —
I don't mean millionaires who farm for fun, you under-
stand —

But take the common city folks who try to farm, and say !
It's pitiful the way they try to make their farmin' pay.

" I 've saw a dozen of 'em fail ; I never seen one yet
Who managed to be prominent or not get into debt;
And so I claim a man may make an awful splash in town
And not have brains enough to farm," said Ebenezer Brown.

THE DAIRY THE HOPE OF THE SMALL FARMER

THE farmer who does not keep a cow lias failed to
appreciate one of the fundamentals of agricultu-
ral life. Not only is he to keep a cow, but she is to
be a healthy cow. She is to give the milk and butter
for the family, and especially for the child. If she be
afflicted with tuberculosis or lumpy jaw or any infec-
tious or repulsive disease, she is a great threat not only
to the grown members of the family, but especially to
the children. The skilled veterinarian as a rule is not
out of reach, and the examination of the farmer's cow
for disease should be as thorough and as patiently per-
formed as if the farmer himself were applying for a life
insurance policy. Indeed, that is what he is doing
when he calls in the veterinarian to tell him whether or
not the farm cow is diseased.

The cow should be a good one, not necessarily regis-
tered, but at least a grade of some established milk and
butter producing breed. The Jersey, the Guernsey, the
Alderney, the Holstein, the Swiss, and other breeds, are
notable for their large yield of dairy products. The
Jersey and the Guernsey, especially, are noted for the
high content of butter-fat which is found in their milk.
The Holstein produces a larger quantity of milk, but
with a less percentage, though an equal quantity, of
butter-fat.

The farm cow should be well groomed. She should

35

36 THE LURE OF THE LAND

not be permitted to become infected with her own filth,
as is too often the case. She is to be kept clean and
well curried, and especially is she to be well fed if a
maximum production of milk is to be obtained. The
small farm indeed must have two cows, calving at dif-
ferent periods, so that there is always milk and butter
to be had upon the farm. In fact, for the small farmer
who lives near a large city there is probably no safer
investment than to keep a few cows for milk-marketing
purposes.

ECONOMICAL FEEDING.

Even with the small farm the cows can be kept in
clean, dry lots and barns, and fed during the summer
months with the green products of the field. It is esti-
mated that one cow kept in a stall can be maintained
with one-third of the land which it would require if
she were turned out to pasture. Hence the farmer
with no more than seventy-five or one hundred acres
may keep from fifteen to twenty cows, and keep them
well. He can do this by growing the crops which
he feeds them instead of turning them out to pasture.
Unless cows that are kept up are properly s.tabled and
have pure water and pure air, as well as good food,
they are much more subject to disease than when they
run at large in the pasture. Therefore the small
farmer with a small herd must give extra care and
attention to the health of his cattle. He cannot afford
to let them go more than a year at a time without a
careful inspection by a competent veterinarian to de-
termine whether any of them is afflicted with incipient
tuberculosis or other contagious disease. It would be
fatal to a herd that is kept in the stable to have a single
individual thus afflicted. Only by vigilance of this

THE DAIRY THE HOPE OF THE SMALL FARMER 37

kind can the herd be kept in a state of health suitable
for the production of potable milk.

It is a crime of the worst character to sell milk from
an infected animal. It may go into a home where an
infant or young child is nourished by it, and the most
dreadful of all diseases, tuberculosis, may be conveyed
in this way from the cow to the human being. I am
aware that this theory is contested by authorities emi-
nent and worthy of consideration. Especially did the
great Dr. Eobert Koch combat the theory that bovine
tuberculosis is communicable to the human animal.
The weight of authority, however, supports the theory
of the possibility of communication. In such circum-
stances the only safeguard is to give the benefit of the
doubt to the consumer.

AIT OBJECT LESSOIT.

I have a near neighbor, a college graduate, who has
a small farm of one hundred acres and a small herd of
a little over a dozen cows. He is able to make a very
decent income from the proper scientific handling of
these animals. If he had to depend upon a pasture
alone to give them their green food in summer, it would
be difficult to sustain them in a proper condition for
the production of the maximum quantity of milk on a
farm of this area. In the soiling process the green
crops are harvested and fed to the cattle, and thus from
a small area a large quantity of fodder can be produced.
One of the earliest of the soiling crops is rye, and this
is followed by alfalfa, clover, and then later by cow-
peas, vetch and Indian corn, so that from early spring
until late autumn a continuous succession of green
crops is available. Good feeding is the first step in
getting good milk.

38 THE LURE OF THE LAND

THE! SILO.

The food of the dairy cow may partly be derived
from ensilage. There is much to be said in favor of
ensilage and but little against it. Judged by the cow's
taste, it is almost an ideal food. She eats it with avid-
ity. Indian corn is the common material of which en-
silage is made in this country. Green rye, cowpeas,
green clover and alfalfa and other so-called soiling
crops are occasionally used. The best period for har-
vesting ensilage corn is at the time the grain has just
become hard and the stalks and blades have not lost
their succulence. The cutter should be so adjusted as
to cut the material into pieces of small size. Erom a
quarter to half an inch in length makes an ideal en-
silage. Longer pieces even up to an inch may keep
very well. As the material is put into the silo, it must
be well distributed, evenly over the surface, and
tramped as close as possible. The heaviest man on the
place should go into the silo during the filling. If the
corn is over ripe the keeping qualities are improved by
sprinkling water over the shredded mass. The funda-
mental condition which is to be obtained within the
silo is that it should be air tight. Wherever there is
a leak, the silage will be spoiled. From a foot to
eighteen inches of the top of the silage is unfit for food.
The silo is usually built of wood staves. Hollow tiling
and concrete structures are now coming into vogue.

Two objections are made to the use of silage as food
for milk cows: The silage is said at times to give a
bad taste to the milk. In such cases the silage is either
of poor quality, or fed in too large quantities. The
acidity of silage is said to soften the teeth and thus
limit the period of the cow's usefulness. This also is

THE DAIRY THE HOPE OF THE SMALL FARMER 39

not likely to happen when the silage is of good quality.
Silage is not a complete food in itself. When made
from Indian corn its nitrogen content is low. It
should, therefore, be fed in connection with a rich nitrog-
enous food, such as bran, oil cake, clover or alfalfa.
When the ration is properly adjusted silage is the most
economical bulk food that can be had. The provident
farmer will not fail to fill his silo during the last days
of August or first half of September, even if he has not
put on the roof nor torn away the scaffolding used in its
erection. The silo is a graceful structure and when
artistically roofed and properly painted adds an element
of architectural beauty to the plain sheds of the dairy
buildings.

The dairy is a better bet for the beginning farmer
than the orchard. Its income is more prompt, and
while it may not be so great in spots, it is evenly dis-
tributed over the year. With a clean product from
healthy, well-kept animals, a good farmer near a good
market ought to be able to realize twenty cents a day
net on each animal he keeps. I mean that this is the
profit after paying for freight charges, maintenance and
service. A net income of three dollars a day in cash,
together with what the farmer can get off of his fields
for his own table, is quite an item in the prosperity and
comfort of a modest farm life.

Unlike the orchard, the dairy is not likely to be
overdone. Unlike the orchard also, the dairy is profit-
able in proportion as it is near a profitable market.
Fruit can be more safely transported over long dis-
tances than milk. To the near market fresh milk and
cream can be sold. For the distant market butter and
cheese are the merchantable products. The same note
of warning, however, must be sounded in respect to

40 THE LURE OF THE LAND

the dairy that has been voiced in regard to the vicissi-
tudes of orcharding. Success is by no means assured,
except when rigid principles of economy and efficiency
are adopted and followed. Personal attention, per-
sonal labor and personal pride and pleasure, are im-
portant factors in the problem. The man who does not
love the cow has no business with a dairy, any more than
a man who does not love a tree has with an orchard.

THE CRADLE HAS REVOLUTIONIZED THE WHEAT INDUSTRY

WHAT WOULD YOU THINK OF THE FARMER TO-DAY WHO WOULD BUY
A CRADLE FOR HIS WHEAT CUTTING?

VI

THE FARMER'S WIFE VERSUS THE DAIRY COW

THEEE years ago I was invited to address the State
Dairymen's Association of Vermont, at Burling-
ton. I had had opportunities of seeing some of the
Vermont farmers' houses and also the Vermont dairy
barns. I had been struck with the fact that more at-
tention, in some cases, was paid to the comfort and con-
venience of the dairy cows than to the comfort and
convenience of the farmer's wife and daughter. It
was a large, intelligent and fine-looking audience that
I faced on that cold day of January, with the thermom-
eter many degrees below zero. I thought this was an
opportunity to say a word in favor of the farmer's
wife, and I began my address with the following ques-
tion : " Why is it that so many Vermont dairymen
pay more attention to their cows than they do to their
wives ? " No one answered the question, and yet many
of them could have done so. Soon thereafter I re-
ceived a letter from the wife of a Vermont dairyman
thanking me for getting at the crux of the dairy ques-
tion.

Being in the dairy business myself in a small way,
I fully appreciate the necessity of care for the cow. I
have spent a good deal of money in getting concrete
floors and steel stanchions, where cows can be kept in
a cleanly and sanitary manner. I take pride in seeing
my cows clean, well fed, and protected from the in-

41

44 THE LURE OF THE LAND

advantages of oral hygiene. She has rarely been per-
mitted to consult a competent dentist. Among other
misfortunes which she has to bear, is an early tooth-
lessness. The agony which she suffers, the pain which
she endures, the discomfort which she encounters in
the early decay of her teeth, and the lack of surgical
attention at a proper time to save them or to remove
them, are parts of the hard environment which sur-
rounds her.

In most of the laws regulating labor the farmer and
his family are not included. I would be an earnest ad-
vocate of a law limiting the hours of labor of the farm-
er's wife. I would like to see a system of instruc-
tion, beginning in the agricultural schools and colleges
and gradually spreading to the farm, which would lead
the farmer to be more considerate of his wife. By
providing her with the proper conveniences for do-
ing her work, namely, a commodious, well-ventilated
kitchen, with running water, a proper sink in which
her dishes can be washed, a laundry equipped for easy
service, and other conveniences to mitigate the severity
of labor, which .the farmer could easily procure and
should procure first of all, he would lessen her hours
of application so that from four to six hours a day she
could have at her own disposal. Likewise in the
spring-house, the proper conveniences for keeping the
milk, for churning, for the easy application of sani-
tary measures, would not only make a better product
for the table, but would also' lessen the severity of the
labor.

ONE DAY OF REST.

Sunday, especially, should be made a holiday, and
cold meats should be part of the sabbatical observance.

THE FARMER'S WIFE VERSUS THE DAIRY COW 45

The church should not be beyond her reach. A clean
buggy from which the dirt and mud are carefully kept,
a nice horse with well preserved harness, and a be-
coming bonnet and gown, should be at her disposal to
attend the church and see the beauties of country life.
The first duty of the farmer should be to his wife and
family, in the way of making them comfortable.

If a system of farm credits can be devised, among
other things which should be regarded as a legal ex-
penditure in the borrowing of money, should be the
comfort and convenience of the house. We are told
that the chief danger to be guarded against in rural
credits is to see that the money which is raised by the
pledging of the farm property be applied for farm pur-
poses. What more worthy purpose on the farm could
be imagined than making the home comfortable! One
need not wonder that the mother, engaged in the duties
which I have described above, favors in every possible
way for her son a life as far removed from that which
she lives as possible. In the future of her daughter
what greater concern could she have than to see to it
that her own life be not duplicated in that of her child 1
Thus one of the great incentives for the leaving of the
farm would be removed if the home could be comfort-
able and the labor of the housewife lessened.

While I favor all the large measures which look to
the improvement of the condition of woman and her
participation in public affairs, while I am an advocate,
and have been for a third of a century, of equal rights
before the law for man and wife in every respect, I feel
that even a greater service to humanity could be se-
cured if industrial freedom and equality, as well as
political freedom and equality, could be secured for the
woman in the farmer's home.

yn

THE ORCHARD A RECREATION AND SOMETIMES A
SOURCE OF PROFIT

EVERY farmer worthy of the name would have
about him enough fruit trees to supply at least
the needs of his family for the year. It is well known
that there are many localities where the character of
the soil and the contour of the surface are peculiarly
favorable to orchard products. On the other hand,
there is hardly a farm in the United States which will
not produce some kind of orchard fruit in sufficient
abundance for family use. There are vicissitudes of
the weather which are obnoxious to all orchards, even
in the most favored localities, but a fruit tree which is
properly cultivated and properly nourished will have a
power of resistance which is quite phenomenal. In
this respect the tree and the human body are quite alike.
The well nourished body is very resistant to disease.
The well nourished tree is peculiarly resistant to the
vicissitudes of the environment to which it is exposed.
One broad principle should be laid down as the basis
of tree culture, namely, the tree should be nourished
in such a manner as to promote its vigorous growth in
the early part of the season. Plant food and cultiva-
tion should be so adjusted as to secure a complete hard-
ening of the new vegetation before the frosts of autumn
set in. It is a mistake to manure a fruit tree and
cultivate it and water it in such a manner as to have

it still green and growing when winter approaches. '

46

THE OECHARD A RECREATION AND A PROFIT 47
COMMON NEGLECT OF THE HOME ORCHARD.

I am well within the bounds of truth, perhaps, when
I say that the manuring of an orchard tree is an un-
usual activity of an ordinary farmer. Too often the
orchard is planted on a hillside unsuited for cultivation,
and the. trees are allowed to grow au naturelle from the
time of planting until their final decay. I have heen
through orchard after orchard on many farms where
the trees are kept only for home use, in which I found
neither cultivation, fertilization, pruning nor spraying.
The tree is left absolutely to grow wild and abandoned
to its own whims. Such fruit trees as these are un-
profitable. They usually simply take up space and
yield no crop. In many cases, however, these trees
yield moderate crops. I gathered from one of them an
apple fifteen inches in circumference and weighing one
pound and a half.

If, however, the tree is of good variety, it is not
advisable to cut it down, even if it be many years of
age. The sharp pruning hook in a skilled hand in a
few years will change this savage tree into a civilized
product. It will look as different as a man whose hair
and beard have not been cut for years who submits him-
self to the skill of the tonsorial artist. Proper cultiva-
tion and the application of food will do the rest, and
out of the abandoned old orchard a new and vigorous
orchard is easily produced.

CULTIVATION OF THE LOVE OF THE BEAUTIFUL.

There is another most excellent reason why the small
farmer should have a few trees of his own. To care
for a tree is in itself a higher education. It appeals
not only to the intellectual faculties and to the skill of

48 THE LUKE OF THE LAND

the forester, but it makes a still higher appeal, namely,
to his esthetic faculties. There is nothing more beauti-
ful than the bloom of the fruit tree, unless it be its
ripened fruit. A well kept fruit tree near the house
will be a strong factor in the ethical and esthetical edu-
cation of the child. Whitcomb Kiley's experience in
the apple orchard might be easily that of every farmer,
farmer's wife and farmer's child. It is not alone the
poet who can be " knee-deep in June."

Orchard 9s where I 'd ruther be —
Need n't fence it in f er me ! —

Jes the whole sky overhead,
And the whole airth underneath —
Sorto' so 's a man kin breathe

Like he ort, and kindo' has
Elbow room to keerlessly

Sprawl out len'thways on the grass
Where the shadder's thick and soft

As the kivvers on the bed
Mother fixes in the loft

Allus, when they 's company !

I do not know of any labor on the farm which is
possible of being made more productive of the cultiva-
tion of the finer feelings of the laborer than that which
is devoted to the care of a tree, and especially a fruit
tree.

THE ORCHARD A HELP TO HEALTH.

There is still another valuable point of view in favor
of the maintenance of a small farm orchard, namely, its
relations to health. Although raw fruits are unsuitable
for the early ages of life, they become very valuable
for children over five years of age and from that on to
the end of life. The judicious admixture of fruits
with the daily diet cannot fail to have, in practically

CUT CLOVER WITH A SCYTHE INSTEAD OF A MOWER

ilriiulr

MULE HARVESTER AND THRASHER

THE ORCHARD A RECREATION AND A PROFIT 49

all cases, a beneficial effect upon health, while at the
same time it administers to a praiseworthy taste. The
various physiological and nutritional aspects of fruit
are hardly to be discussed at the present time. As an
article of diet alone fruits are unbalanced, that is, they
do not afford all the elements of nutrition in the proper
proportion. They are particularly deficient in the ele-
ments which restore the waste and build the new tissues
of the muscles and other nitrogenous portions of the
body. They are rich in carbohydrates and organic
acids, important food products having most intimate
relations to health. The acid of the apple and other
fruits of that kind is malic. The acid of the orange
and other citrus fruits is citric; while the acid of
grapes is tartaric. All of these acids in their natural
habitat are capable of being burned in the body and
yielding energy, and finally producing carbon dioxid,
which, uniting with the bases of the foods, produces the
carbonates and bicarbonates so essential to the proper
maintenance of the alkalinity of the small intestine and
of the blood. Fruits, therefore, become a powerful
safeguard against the evils of acid intoxication. Thus
it becomes the duty of the farmer, in his relations to
the health of his family, to supply a sufficient amount
of fruit for the necessities and needs of the year.

It is far better, also, that he produce them himself
and thus gfet the benefit which the care of the orchard
confers, rather than to spend his hard earned money
in buying fruits of his neighbor. The orchard on the
farm, even if not a single bushel of fruit is sold, be-
comes a source of profit in the supplying of a highly
wholesome and in many respects indispensable diet.

I have already told of the dangers which attend
the efforts of the unskilled to engage in fruit grow-

50 THE LURE OF THE LAND

ing on a commercial scale. It is easily seen that if
everybody should go into fruit growing, the market
would soon be overstocked ; not only this, but also over-
stocked with a perishable article. For this reason com-
mercial fruit growing should be confined especially to
the favorable localities which nature has provided and
which the experience of man has discovered. On the
level prairies of Illinois and Nebraska it would be pos-
sible to establish great orchards, where large crops of
fruit could be produced; but to use land of this kind,
so particularly fitted by nature for the culture of the
cereal crops, for the purpose of increasing the fruit
supply, would be most unfortunate both from the pro-
gressive and the monetary point- of view. This, how-
ever, has no bearing at all on the main question, namely,
the keeping of a few fruit trees about every farmer's
house in the country.

A TEW FRUIT TREES WELL KEPT.

To bring about this desirable event, persistent and
continuous education and experiment must be used. It
is not difficult to get the farmer to plant trees — that
is easy; the difficult thing is to get him to plant the
right kind and to care for them. On the farm my ex-
perience has shown me that everything is sacrificed
to the standard crops. Even the farmer's garden,
where his wife is not able to do all the hoeing, runs to
weeds during the season of harvest. To secure a proper
orchard, even of a few trees, the farmer must make up
his mind that the attention to be given it must be given
it promptly. Even if there be no more than twenty-five
trees in the orchard, the necessity for pruning and
spraying and cultivating and fertilizing is just as great
as if there were twenty-five thousand.

THE ORCHARD A RECREATION AND A PROFIT 51

How easy it is for the fanner to pass by his apple
tree before the leaf bud is put out, and thus abandon
it to the ravages of the San Jose scale. The spray of
the lime sulphur solution before the leaf or bud begins
to unfold is a necessary precaution to avoid the depre-
dations of this almost universal pest. Then when the
bloom comes on the apple or peach tree the farmer is
busy with his corn and clover. He cannot take the
time to spray against the insect and the fungus. His
Bordeaux mixture is un-made or un-sprayed. He has
not prepared any lime sulphur with a little arsenic in
it to take its place. He has no machine, big or little,
for applying the spray. The result is neglect and a har-
vest of knotted, insect-stung, incipiently decayed fruit.

All of this is easily avoided if the spraying is at-
tended to in time. The farmer would be surprised to
know what a wealth of fruit he could produce from a
few well selected trees if he only would attend to them
when attention is demanded. The fruit tree is one
thing which will not brook neglect. It will not wait
on man, nor time, nor tide. It must have its needs
supplied when it needs them.

It cannot fail to be a rare pleasure to the farmer who
has properly cared for his tree, to stand by it in Sep-
tember when its fruit begins to redden and the glory
of the harvest is at its zenith, and gaze upon the well
pruned, the well cultivated tree, with its bending
branches of ripening fruit. One such view as this,
properly appreciated, more than pays for all the care
and trouble given to the tree during its growing season.

DAGGER OF OVER-PKOBUCTIOTT.

That there is some danger of over-production of
apples unless the rate of consumption can be increased

62 THE LURE OF THE LAND

is well set forth by Mr. C. J. Tyson, President of the
State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania. He
says:

(The Apple World, June, 1914.)

Hardly a week goes by but we read or hear of some one who
tells us that too many apple trees are being planted, and that
very soon apples will sell only at a loss, and the whole busi-
ness will go to the dogs.

Of course, we put up a good bluff and call these folks
" calamity howlers " and " pessimists," but down in our hearts
we know there is a lot of truth in what they say. Trees by the
million have been and are being planted. Hundreds of thou-
sands are coming to bearing age each year, and this number
will increase tremendously in the next five years.

Each season for several years past nature has so planned
that calamity of some kind, either frost, severe storm or
drouth, has visited several of the important apple growing
sections, and the crop has been cut down. This condition
may not continue; even the coming season may see a "bum-
per crop " throughout the whole country, then " what will be-
come of the apples ? "

It sounds bad, but it is not hopeless. Here is the solution.
Only a very small part of the population of our country is
eating apples. There are actually millions in our cities and
towns who do not have the " apple habit " ; who do not know
about apples. It is our duty, and should be our business, to
let them know. Some experiments in advertising have already
proven that a little publicity can greatly increase apple con-
sumption. Proper advertising will increase the consumption
of anything, and if the article has merit and the advertising
is judicious, it will pay, and pay handsomely.

VIII

HEALTH ON THE FARM

THE farmer should live longer than the urbanite.
Does he? The answer appears to be negative in
the case of some diseases. The farmer lives in the
open at least by day, should have access to fresh and
wholesome food and as a rule is not worried by cares
of business. Therefore, he should live longer than his
city cousin.

On the other hand, the farmer sleeps in poorly venti-
lated rooms, especially in winter, his food is often
largely composed of products he cannot sell. The
choice bits of the farm's products go to the city. The
farmer too often keeps for himself the specked apples
and small or injured potatoes. He is exposed to vio-
lent extremes of heat and cold. He shivers with cold
and is half baked before his open fireplace half a dozen
times a day. In hot weather he works at planting or
in the harvest field twelve to fourteen hours a day. He
eats hurriedly and does not as a rule get sufficient rest.
He is peculiarly prone to have typhoid fever, pneu-
monia and influenza. The cooking in his home is too
often of the greasy kind. He has " hot biscuits " once
and often three times a day. His meats in winter are
usually home cured, and, therefore, subject to all the
disasters that follow unskilled handling. I think I
may say without transgressing the truth, that the far-
mer has far poorer sanitary surroundings than the city
man. The farm springs or wells are likely to be pol-

53

54 THE LURE OF THE LAND

luted with the excrement of man and beast. The milk
which forms so large a part of the food of the young
rarely comes from a tuberculin tested cow. There is
no competent inspection of the meat-food animals
slaughtered for home use. In fact the farmers of this
country have put too much thought on the barn, the pig
pen and the dairy. They have reserved none of them
for such puerile problems as home and barn sanitation.
"No wonder then that so few centenarians are found
among our rural people. At best the average length of
human life in the United States is only forty-four years
and the members of the farmers' families are not doing
much to make it longer.

DISEASES THAT THRIVE IN THE COUNTRY.

There are certain diseases which seem to be peculiarly
attracted to rural districts.

Statistics as to the causes of the excessive mortality
in the country are not sufficiently reliable to draw any
general conclusions. There are some diseases on the
other hand which appear to be more frequent in the
city than in the country, but the extent of complete reg-
istration is not sufficiently general to warrant any
definite conclusions except from the states of Califor-
nia, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Mary-
land, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota and Mis-
souri. For instance, organic diseases of the heart are
more common in some states in the city than in the
country. This is true of California and Colorado,
while in Connecticut organic diseases of the heart are
more common in rural districts. In Indiana they are
about the same. In Kentucky the organic disease of
the heart is more common in the city, both among the
white and the colored population. In Maryland the

HEALTH ON THE FARM

55

same ratio prevails both among the white and colored
population. In Massachusetts, however, organic dis-
eases of the heart are more common in the rural popu-
lation. The same is true in Michigan and Minnesota,
while in Missouri the opposite condition obtains. Thus
from a general survey it may be said that there is not
much difference in the frequency of death from organic
diseases of the heart per 100,000 people in the country
or in the city.

While the data are not at all complete and to a cer-
tain extent not conclusive, it seems almost certain that
among the diseases mentioned below mortality is
greater in the country than in the city. It will be of
interest in the future to have a more careful study of
this point. In order that some of these comparative
data may be more easily illustrated they are presented
below in tabular form.

DEATH RATES PER 100,000 POPULATION IN CITIES
AND RURAL DISTRICTS

Disease

State

Rural

City

Typhoid

Colorado

37 0

19.1

tt

Maryland

43 7

30.6

it

Kentucky

49 0

34.0

Influenza

Minnesota

10.4

4.3

«

Michigan

24.8

7.7

(f

Connecticut

31.4

19.8

«

Indiana

21.2

12.0

n

Maine

28.7

13.6

Apoplexy

Connecticut

131.2

90.8

!Mental alienation

California

5.1

1.5

(t

Colorado

4.0

2.3

Cancer — Skin

Connecticut

4.1

2.1

These facts must be kept in mind when we speak,
as we generally do, of the country life as being con-

56 THE LURE OF THE LAND

ducive to health and longevity. Evidently this is not
always the case at the present time. On the other
hand, it is, I think, capable of demonstration that when
a perfect sanitation of the country is secured, as will
necessarily be the case in the near future, and when
proper attention is given to the sanitation and ventila-
tion of farmers' houses, the death rate from these dis-
eases will certainly be less than it is among the urban
population.

It is worth while to trace the causes which shorten
the farmer's life in greater detail.

One of the important threats to the health of the
farmer is his exposure to extremes of weather. When
the temperature is far below zero he must go about his
work. The stock must be fed and watered, the fuel
brought in and errands must be run to the town. If he
be in the dairy business he must rise hours l^efore the
dawn and drive many miles through snow and wind to
the depot. In like manner he is exposed to rain and
storm. While hot from working in the field a sudden
shower accompanied by hail may chill him to the bone.
Drenched with rain, far from home, it may be hours
before he can change his clothes. During seeding and
harvest his day's work extends to fourteen hours and his
short sleep does not give nature a chance to restore his
wasted tissue and remove fatigue. His bathing facili-
ties are either nil or restricted to a wash bowl or tub.
The old-fashioned farmer's life, — and the new fashion
in too many instances is no better, — affords abundant
opportunities to weaken vitality and strike at the citadel
of health. Those diseases which overexertion and un-
due exposure help along, si*ch as rheumatism and
pneumonia, are very common among the hard-working
farmers and their wives. Overstrain, long hours of

HEALTH ON THE FARM 67

labor, and exposure to the vicissitudes of weather favor
also the lodgment of the germ of tuberculosis in the
lungs or other parts of the body and encourage its speedy
and vigorous growth. The poorly ventilated sleeping-
rooms of the winter add a contribution to the breaking
down of the farmer's health. The cooking in many
farm houses is far from the best and this adds to the
tendency to acquire disease. The soggy bread, made
quickly from baking powder, in which the starch has
been only lightly changed, helps to increase dyspepsia
and its attendant evils. Denied the privileges of the
bathroom and toilet, he does not give proper attention
to the insistent needs of promptly disposing of the
wastes of the body.

The general disregard of the requirements of good
sanitation often leads to an infected water supply. The
spring is contaminated with the offal of pigs and chick-
ens. The well is polluted with surface drainage and
the cistern is foul with the debris of the roof. These
are the shadows which rest upon the neglected farm
house, the cabin of the tenant and the shack of the
laborer. In the city the health officer looks after the
water and food supply, certifies the milk and sees that
the garbage and ash man attend to the back yard. The
man with typhoid and the child with measles are segre-
gated. The dictates of sound sanitation are heeded.
The water is freed from typhoid germs by sand filtra-
tion. The people are instructed respecting the venti-
lation of the sleeping rooms. Reasonably effective safe-
guards protect the citizen from wandering diseases or
local epidemics. It is true, of course, that many coun-
try homes are properly safeguarded. It is likewise
true that many cities are poorly protected. I have
pictured only types which are commonly met. No

58 THE LURE OF THE LAND

wonder, therefore, that the farmer breaks down, long be-
fore his time. He is shaggy and gray at forty, shriv-
eled and wrinkled at fifty, stooped and trembling at
sixty, he has gone to his eternal rest at seventy.

But there is a bright side to the picture.

The farmer of the future will be the youngest man
of his years in the whole community. His step will be
resilient, his eyes bright and his joints flexible at an
age when he now is old. From the very nature of
things the man on the farm in the future should be the
healthiest of all human animals. He will have access
to pure, fresh, wholesome foods, which may be easily
well cooked. His hours of labor will be shortened, yet
made more efficient. His life in the open will give
vigor, endurance, and power to resist infection. He is
not likely to be tempted to indulge in alcoholic liquors.
He will learn in the near future that the use of tobacco
is wholly unnecessary, filthy, and reprehensible. He
lives nearer to nature than any other person and ought
to love nature better than any one else. Some day he
will have pure, clean water, free from sewage or surface
infection, to drink. He will go to bed early and rise
at daylight. He will see the sun rise as well as set.
His exercise will develop the physical man symmetric-
ally and thus give a healthy dwelling for a healthy mind.
Some day he will be wise enough to lose faith in quacks
and nostrums, advertised in newspapers and maga-
zines. The " Reuben " of the hoary " gold brick "
trick will " get wise " also to these vicious attempts to
utilize his gullibility in respect of alleged cures. The
itinerant peddlers of nostrums, cocaine and consump-
tion cures will discover a falling market and a better in-
formed customer. It is pathetic to think of the sick-
ness, suffering and death in rural districts that have

HEALTH ON THE FARM 59

come from a fatuous reliance on so-called patent medi-
cines. It is true the country doctor is not a specialist,
but he is a mentor, a guide and a healer of greater skill
than many a city physician. He is trustworthy and
effective in all ordinary diseases. He knows also where
to send his patient for removal of the appendix or any
capital operation involving a vital organ. The farmer
is not without the means of good medical service when
he needs it, but even in the case of a devoted family he
misses the helpful ministration of the trained nurse.

While certain diseases thus show a greater frequency
in some of the states in rural communities, upon the
whole the death rate from all causes is lower in the coun-
try than in the city in all the states reported by the cen-
sus except in 'New York.

The children on the farm are better nourished as a
rule than city children. They have more " whole
foods " from which the tissue building materials have
not been all removed. They have whole cereal products
which nourish especially the bones and the teeth. They
have at least plenty of skim milk containing practically
all the tissue building materials of the body. They
have fruits and vegetables which have not been dena-
tured in preparing them for the table. They live
largely out of doors and go barefoot and plunge daily
into the " old swimmin' hole."

The child in the country is at a greater disadvantage
than his father, if he falls ill. The country doctor is
certainly not a specialist in children's diseases. But a
consulting pediatrist may be easily called from the city
in emergencies. The country boy at least has good
teeth if he be taught the use of the brush. By reason
of the lime and phosphorus he has eaten, he is blessed
with strong, hard, resistant teeth, which with cleanliness

60 THE LURE OF THE LAND

and care may well abide with him during his threescore
years and twenty.

The farmer's girl is not so fortunately situated as the
farmer's boy. Through false and sometimes fatal mod-
esty on the part of her mother, she grows to puberty
utterly ignorant of her real nature. Alas ! too often a
chronic invalidism is the price of such criminal negli-
gence.

The time is not far distant when every farm will be
subjected to rigid sanitary provisions, such as are found
in the best of our cities. The police powers of the
State, in so far as sanitation is concerned, will be ex-
tended beyond the cities and into the rural communi-
ties.

The sick-bed of the country home will be guarded by
the same precautions for the protection of the well, as
are now found in the hospital and the well conducted
city residence.

Taking all the favorable and unfavorable points to-
gether it may confidently be predicted that the average
life of those who live in the country will soon greatly
exceed that of any urban population. I urge the
farmers of this country to give heed to the problems of
sanitation outlined above. Do not buy a motor car
until all your houses are clean and well ventilated.
Provide a place for your children to have their daily
bath. Put hot and cold water with bath and toilet in
your home, provide a septic tank to dispose of the
wastes of the house so no danger of infection may occur.
Your life, that is, your health, is your greatest wealth.
Don't scatter it like a spendthrift to the four winds of
ignorance, infection, bad food and bad cooking.

IX

FARM LABOR

THE great problem of farm life is not agricultural
credits nor rural banks, nor yet free markets and
capacious warehouses, but something that goes before
and ahead of all these, namely, the work on the farm.
It is indeed a small place that the farmer by himself
can till.

In spite of the rapid strides of women towards equal
rights with men, there is a natural ineptitude in the
sex to farm work, which will practically reserve that
kind of labor for the male sex. It is true that in the
very populous regions of the Old World the women do
a large share of the farm work. It may likewise be
true, as claimed by many students of evolution, that
among primitive peoples the women practically did all
the work, while the men did the fighting and the hunt-
ing and the loafing. I believe this condition is true
yet in many of the aboriginal tribes of this country.
Woman, in assuming again her position in the indus-
trial world, will hardly care to press her claims to the
extent of becoming the dominant factor in farm labor.
While I claim to be a progressive of the most pro-
nounced type, and especially have been for forty years
an advocate for equal rights of men and women at the
ballot box, I still confess to a slight prejudice in favor
of men doing the farm work. I have not been impressed
with the conditions of life which I myself have seen in

61

62 THE LURE OF THE LAND

older countries, where "women are mingled with men
in the fields and hitched with dogs to the carts.

Far be it from me to advocate a condition of affairs
in which one sex lives in idleness. There is plenty
indeed for women to do, and the idle woman, like the
idle man, is a constant threat to society. But the
farmer's wife and the farmer's daughter in my opinion
cannot be justly expected to join him in the work of
the fields. He may have sons who, after the age of
ten, would be of some use on holidays and vacations,
and after they are eighteen may give him three years
of full handed labor. The boy, however, soon becomes
a man in his own rights, and the farmer who depends
upon the labor of his sons alone, will in due course
come to the limit of his tether. Just as the manufac-
turer cannot do all of the manual work of the factory,
so the farmer who possesses from one hundred to one
thousand acres can do only a tithe of the work on the
farm.

LABOR FUNDAMENTAL.

The question of labor is fundamental. The one
striking fault of agricultural education at the present
time is its failure to train agricultural laborers. There
should be instruction in the country schools and the
city schools of a theoretical and practical nature in
farm labor. The idea has grown abroad that farm
labor is unskilled labor, and unfortunately to a large
extent this is true. Going into my corn field one day,
I noticed that the cultivators did not seem to be doing
a good piece of work. Upon examination I found that
none of the shares were scouring. The rust which had
come upon the plate during a period of rest was still
there, and instead of the plowshare turning the dirt

FARM LABOE 63

and showing a sheen of silver, it was simply pushing
its way through the soil, failing either to cover the
weeds by throwing the dirt, or to cut them by the keen-
ness of its blade. There were three two-horse culti-
vators operating in the field, and all were in a similar
condition. Apparently these unskilled laborers had
never been taught the fact that good plowing is only
possible when the plow scours. Their idea was to get
over the ground, and not to cultivate the corn. With
the aid of a jackknife, in a short time I had all the
plowshares bright and all of the plows doing excellent
work.

Not one of these men following the plows had ever
had a single word of instruction in regard to the char-
acter of farm labor. They knew nothing except the
length of the day and the magnitude of the stipend.
To them plowing was not tilling, but putting in the
time. They were not indolent, they worked long
enough hours, but their work was wholly inefficient.
This is not an extreme type. Many complain of the
indolence and laziness of farm laborers. My complaint
is their lack of knowledge and lack of spirit. This
fact, I think, is fundamental. The laborer who is
doing a good job takes a pride in his work. If he has
a good instrument which is working well, his task is
not wholly a burden. He sees in it the soul of the
artist, and takes a pride in perfecting it.

These same laborers of whom I spoke a while ago,
were taking no care at all in turning at the end of the
row. They allowed the horses to begin their turning
many feet before the end of the row was reached.
They were plowing up and tramping down many of the
young plants, so that the end of the field looked ragged
and disorderly. I called their attention to the neces-

64 THE LURE OF THE LAND

sity of driving straight out to the end of the row.
There was ample room to turn after that. By lifting
the plow a very little they could start back in a proper
position for the next row. The result was that in less
than two hours, not only was every plow doing good
work, but every driver was taking some pride in what
he was doing.

The cost of labor to the farmer is largely due to this
lack of knowledge and lack of spirit. How great a
saving it would be if each laborer had received instruc-
tions in the proper method of performing his task, and
had been shown the correct attitude to assume in rela-
tion to it! I have been surprised to see what a trans-
formation a few lessons in efficiency work. I have
seen a laborer with absolutely no interest in his work
become enamored with it, proud of it, and eager to
show the best that he could do. It is, I think, difficult
to find any one so sodden, so devoid of ambition, and
so indifferent as not to be amenable to some uplift from
proper instruction both as to method and as to purpose.

FARM LABOR SHOULD BE SKILLED.

Farm labor is not unskilled labor by any means. It
is skilled labor of the highest type, that is, it should be.
In point of fact, however, it is now unskilled labor.
Any man who can work is supposed to be good enough
to work on a farm. More skill is required for farm
labor than in any other industry. The laborer, to be
efficient, must always be industrious and alive to the
problem which is presented to him, but he must be, to a
certain extent, a carpenter, a blacksmith and a me-
chanic. The machinery of farm implements to-day is
a complicated study. Every man who proposes to be-
come a farm laborer should have the rudiments of me-

.Photo by Harris & Ewing

THE SILO IS A GRACEFUL STRUCTURE AND ADDS AN ELEMENT OF

ARCHITECTURAL BEAUTY TO THE DAIRY BUILDINGS

Silo on Dr. Wiley's farm

Photo by Harris & Ewing

JUDGED BY THE COW's TASTE, SILAGE IS ALMOST AN IDEAL FOOD
Scene on Dr. Wiley's farm

FARM LABOR 65

chanics and the care of implements taught to him. He
thus takes a pride in his machinery.

Last autumn when it was time to tut the corn, as I
was going to the field I was amazed at discovering three
of my cultivators standing in the furrow. These were
one-horse cultivators used for the last cultivation, when
it was not possible to straddle the row. What had hap-
pened ? Before the cultivation of the field was finished
a rain storm had come on, and afterwards the work
was not resumed. The implements were left in the
furrow. Of course this was contrary to instructions,
and when I inquired about it the head farmer was as-
tonished to think that I made so much objection to this
disreputable practice. He said, " It was a custom
where I worked always to leave the implements in the
field." Yes, that is true. You can see it yet all over
this country, agricultural implements left exposed to
the vicissitudes of the season simply because the men
who use them have never been taught how to care for
them. Not only do I require all my agricultural im-
plements to be put under shelter, but further than this,
that they shall be cleaned and dusted before they are
put away. Moreover, the machines which are neces-
sarily left in the field while the work is going on, such
as harvesters, et cetera, are covered with a tarpaulin in
an approaching rain or when left over Sunday.

I have been amazed to see how quickly men who have
been taught to neglect machinery become interested in
caring for it and in taking a real pride therein. I
would say, then, that the first great problem in labor is
the lack of skill and interest in the laborer. But these
are not the only conditions of labor that I find are
difficult. I realize, I think, that the farm laborer is
underpaid. At the same time I believe that he is paid

66 THE LURE OF THE LAND

all he is worth, and even more in his present condition
of indifference and ineptitude.

I could better afford to pay a careful and enthusias-
tic laborer, who would see that his implements were
properly adjusted and cared for, $1.50 a day than I
could pay one, equally as strong and working equally
as long, of the usual type, $.75 a day. When I tell my
neighbor farmers that we pay too low hire for labor
they are horrified. They say that, as it is, they are con-
stantly driven to the utmost endeavors to raise money
to pay for farm labor, and yet the labor needs to be
done. The growing of crops ought to be done skil-
fully and carefully at far less expense than it is done
at the present time, indifferently and carelessly.

No laborer is fit for farm work who does not take a
lively interest in the work and its character, and when
he does that and when he is taught the skill that is nec-
essary, he can earn twice as much as he gets at the
present time and the farmer is no worse off in paying
him double the price.

REGARD FOR CONTRACT.

Another difficulty which the farmer has is lack of re-
gard of a laborer for his contract. Many laborers on
the farm are necessarily employed by the day, as it
would not be profitable to keep them over the lax sea-
son. There are two or three times during the busy
seasons of the farmer's year when he has to have excess
labor, and these are the times of planting, of harvesting
and of thrashing. As you look into the faces of the
extra help you realize the magnitude of this great prob-
lem. As these are strenuous days, it is customary and
proper to pay higher wages. I have noticed repeatedly,
however, that men whom I have employed by the month

FARM LABOR 67

throw up their jobs when a busy time comes around and
some one offers them a little higher price. This is due
to a numbing of the moral nature. Not only should
a farm laborer be taught skill and enthusiasm, but he
should be taught honor and duty.

During the present season, after I began to fill my
silo, one of the workers whom I had hired by the month
quit in the midst of the work. The alleged reason was
that the foreman had failed to pay him for a day's
work in June, when he claimed to have been present and
the records of the farm showed that he was absent. It
was evident that this was only an alleged reason. If he
had been dissatisfied with not having received his day's
wages for June, he would have protested long before.
The fact was, however, that just at that time the farmers
were offering from $1.50 to $2 a day for men to help
them with their corn harvest, and this was too much
of an attraction for the laborer who had hired to me
for the rest of the season by the month and had agreed
to stay up to the beginning of winter.

You can hardly blame the laboring man who looks
at it from his own peculiar point of view. In working
by the month he receives a little less than $1 a day ; by
throwing up his job and going to another he would get
nearly $2 a day. He forgets, however, that the extra
job lasts at the most two or three weeks, and then prob-
ably he is out of a job altogether. His reason did not
go as far as this, but only looked at the pay by day.

DUTY OF EMPLOYEE.

It is the duty of the employers to provide forms of
amusement and forgetfulness for the farm laborers.
There should be a place where he could spend an hour
by night, if he wants to, in billiards or other innocent

68 THE LURE OF THE LAND

games. There should be a playground where he could
take a part in sport. There should be a library where
he could read the current journals and literature, as
well as the permanent records in books. The farmers'
clubs should provide a " movie " for each community.
In fact, the farm laborer should be treated as a human
being, and not as a neglected agricultural implement.

In so far as that is concerned, I must say that the
good farmer, as a rule, is far more careful of his mow-
ing machine and his disc plow than he is of the welfare
of his farm laborer. The farm laborer lives in insani-
tary quarters, the bath is a luxury unknown to him.
In my part of the county there is no old swimming hole.
It is many miles to the Shenandoah or to Goose Creek.
He sleeps in beds that are not at all attractive to those
accustomed to cleanliness. He eats hastily and often
poorly cooked foods, and then he flies to the only source
of joy he knows, alcohol.

All of this terrible condition must be changed. It
cannot be done in a day nor a week; it can only be
done gradually. The boy whose destiny is to labor
must be taught its dignity. He must realize that he is
a human being and is to be cared for as other human
beings. He must be provided with decent quarters and
proper amusements, and then his life will not be simply
labor and intoxication. ~No wonder that all those who
can get away from farm labor seek to do so. There are
left only those without ambition or talent.

A new purpose must be imparted to the laborer, and
a new prospect of life and enjoyment spread out before
him. It is not so much an increase of wages as it is a
revision of environment. We should all endeavor to
bring about that day when, looking into the face of the
farm laborer, we see health, intelligence, enthusiasm.

X

PROHIBITION FOR THE FARMER

IN all the arguments which I have seen favoring pro-
hibition, I have never yet encountered a plea for
prohibition because of its value to agriculture. One
of the stock arguments against prohibition has been that
it will injure the farmer by contracting his markets for
rye, barley and maize. My experience has shown me
that one of the principal benefits which prohibition of-
fers is protection to the farmer. One of the most pa-
thetic sights which I have personally witnessed is that
of the man who works with becoming industry and vigor
during the week at hard labor on the farm, for small
wages, and on Saturday night invests the larger part of
his week's earnings in rotgut whiskey.

My farm in Virginia is in what is known as a dry
county. There is not a saloon within the borders of
Loudoun County, but in spite of the Webb law there
still remain the express company, and for aught I know
the parcels post. If one takes the trouble to go to
Bluemont, the terminus of the Washington and Old
Dominion electric railway, at the time of the arrival
of the last train on Saturday evening, he will find a
large assembly awaiting its coming. This assembly is
composed largely of agricultural laborers who have
finished their week's task and are now preparing to
enjoy themselves. When the express car comes in

there is a lively commotion. I don't know how many

69

70 THE LURE OF THE LAND

packages, for I have never had an opportunity to count
them, neatly put up in stiff cardboard, are disembarked
and eagerly claimed by the waiting consignees. The
maximum content of these packages is usually a gal-
lon, though smaller packages are sent to those who have
less thirst, smaller means, or better control of appe-
tite.

ADULTEEATED WHISKEY.

One of the worst features about this consignment of
intoxicating liquors is that it is exclusively, as far as
I have been able to observe, what is known as rectified
goods. The man at hard labor evidently wants nothing
but alcohol, and why should he pay four and five dol-
lars a gallon for it in the form of old, mellow whiskey,
when he can get a larger amount of intoxication out
of the cheaper, fabricated, artificially flavored substi-
tutes? From one to three or four dollars, according
to the number and size of the packages, is paid out by
the laboring man, while perhaps his wife and children
are living in squalor and want. A few years ago one
of these besotted victims, carrying his rifle, passed by
the cottage of a friend near my place, on the road to
call on an acquaintance near by. Soon thereafter there
was a sound of a shot, and the head of the house on
whom the drunken man had called lay dead in his yard.
This is only a type of the crimes which are committed
by those crazed with alcohol, who in their sober mo-
ments would be law-abiding and life-respecting citizens.

It is well known that intoxication has two opposite
effects upon its victims: One it makes merry, jovial
and companionable; another it makes sullen, morose
and dangerous. Possibly the character of the drink
also has something to do with the effect, and it does

PROHIBITION FOR THE FARMER 71

seem that those who are able and have the taste to use
only old and ripened intoxicating liquors are less
vicious and less dangerous under their influence than
those who patronize the artificial varieties.

CONTINUING EFFECT OF THE- JAG.

The effect upon the farm laborer of his Sunday jag
is most disastrous. All day Saturday he is uneasy
and inefficient in his work, as he thinks of the ap-
proaching hour when his raging thirst, so-called, will
be quenched. This is a most unfortunate figure of
speech. There is no quenching of a thirst ; there is the
igniting of a powder magazine. If thirst really ex-
isted, a cup of cold mountain water from the near by
spring would soon satisfy it. No, it is a craving of
the caged lion for liberty, of the starving man for food,
of the criminal for blood. It can be satisfied only by
the stimulus which brings surcease of sorrow, freedom
from the knowledge of fatigue, and a happy reckless-
ness which makes the world for a time look rosy and
attractive. Then the Sunday of drinking and carous-
ing, ending in drunkenness and debauchery, then a
Monday of sobering and recuperation, during which no
work can be done, then a Tuesday of lassitude and de-
pression, due to the reaction from the stimulus, and so
we come to the middle of the week before the farm la-
borer is himself again, only to work for a few days to
get means to repeat the debauchery from which he has
just recovered.

To this large class of people, brought up at hard
labor, often without education, or rather, often without
the ambition for education, these dull, long-suffering,
stupid wrecks of humanity, the weekly debauch brings
the only ray of hope and joy in their lives. Yet if it

72 THE LURE OF THE LAND

were impossible for them to secure the means where-
with this craving could be satisfied, this beastly ra-
pacity sated, it would not be long before the normal
state of existence would be restored. The craving for
alcoholic drinks of this kind is a habit, which, like
every other habit, may be broken, although it may
seem that life itself is hanging in the balance when an
attempt is made to overcome one so strong.

PROHIBITION TO BE EFFECTIVE MUST BE NATION WIDE.

In order, however, to secure immunity from this
curse, prohibition must be wider than the county or
the state. It must be nation wide, it must be world
wide. I have been long coming to this opinion. In
my earlier days I consoled myself with the thought that
I was not my brother's keeper. Further, I thought
that when a man had reached man's estate it was none
of my business what he ate or drank, what kind of
clothes he wore, what church he belonged to, what party
yoke he wore, or what business he engaged in. Not
being a teetotaler, I naturally resented any action which
would dictate to me what I should serve at a dinner
given my friends, or what I should eat or drink at a
dinner given me by my friends. Never having been a
user of intoxicating liquors of any kind between meals,
I thought that the table, like a man's house, was his
castle. I did not forget, however, the attitude of St.
Paul in regard to the eating of meat, when he said:
" If meat make my brother to offend I will eat no flesh
while the world standeth." And so slowly I have been
driven, like Mead at Gettysburg, to Cemetery Hill,
where I have taken my stand against the enemy.

To me it seems only a small sacrifice to make to give
up my wines at dinners for the sake of the benefit which

PROHIBITION FOR THE FARMER 73

will come to mankind. How glad I would be to-day
if I could look out upon the broad horizon and feel that
nowhere beneath the sun on this revolving planet did
there exist a business, the effect of which is to poison,
degrade and ruin humanity! I am not appalled by
the thought that prison cells will be empty and poor-
houses abolished, and poverty removed, as a result of
the destruction of a business which yields two hundred
and fifty million dollars a year of revenue, and employs
thousands of men in brewing, distilling, transporting
and selling distilled liquors.

COMMON DESIRE FOR! STIMTILANTS.

At the same time one should not quite forget the
universal liking of mankind for stimulants. There
might be some happy compromise in this matter, and
yet it is dangerous to compromise with the devil. He
is more than likely to get the better of you, while you
think you are winning your own point. The manufac-
turer of pure beer, — I mean by that a beverage made
of malted barley and hops, — and the manufacture and
sale of pure wine, — and I mean by that a beverage
made solely of the fermented juice of the grape, —
might still be permitted without great danger to hu-
manity. It is the distilled liquor which does the
damage, as a rule. If prohibition of all kinds of alco-
holic beverages is not possible at the present time, what
an inestimable blessing would be bestowed upon hu-
manity if the manufacture and sale of distilled bev-
erages were utterly abolished !

SOBRIETY A BENEFIT TO AGRICULTURE!.

The benefit to agriculture in such localities as those
in which I live would be immense, and the poverty and

74 THE LURE OF THE LAND

suffering which I so often see would be abolished, if
we could get rid of the distilled beverages at once.
There would be little danger of shipping enough pure
wine or pure beer to make any farm laborer spend the
whole of his week's wages and be unfit for work for a
third of the next week. I said to my foreman, who
had had experience with a number of week-end drunk-
ards, " When next you are hiring a hand, make par-
ticular inquiry if he uses distilled spirits in any form
or manner, and if he does, do not hire him to work on
my place." The railroads are now enforcing a rule
which forbids them to employ or keep in their employ
any man who frequents a saloon or uses intoxicating
beverages. The farm is as much in danger as the rail-
way train. It would have an excellent influence upon
agriculture in general if farmers would band together
and refuse to employ any laborer who is even partially
a drunkard. When those who drink intoxicating
liquors find that there are no avenues of employment
left open to them, there will be established an argument
for sobriety which is powerful and efficient.

I was greatly surprised, as well as delighted, a year
ago when the State of West Virginia, composed as it
is largely of a foreign population engaged in mining,
voted by a large majority for state-wide prohibition.
When I inquired of a citizen in regard to the matter,
saying I thought that the miners to a man would vote
against this amendment, he replied, " The miners al-
most to a man voted in favor of it." And when I said,
a Do they not use beer and wine ? " " Yes," he said,
" they do, and if these were the only things on sale in
the State they probably would have voted the other
way, but the miners themselves realized that the great-
est danger which threatened them was the use of dis-

PROHIBITION FOR THE FARMER 75

tilled beverages, and so they joined almost unanimously
in favoring state-wide prohibition." As I read the last
galley proofs of this book on this good twenty-third day
of September, 1914, the good news has come that Old
Virginia has voted for state-wide prohibition by nearly
40,000 majority ! God be praised !

SOUTH VS. NORTH.

I have often been asked why it is that prohibition is
more popular in the South than it is in the North, and
the reasons which I have heard are of the same char-
acter as those mentioned above. The negro is more
prone to become a victim of the alcohol habit than the
white man. As the beverages which are sold to the
negroes are the lowest and cheapest of their kind, made
of alcohol, coloring and flavoring materials, and desig-
nated as " nigger whiskey/7 the effects which are pro-
duced upon the colored man who drinks this material
are something fearful. He becomes more of a beast
than a human being, and the white people of the South
who do the voting, although many of them are users
to some degree of alcoholic beverages, have gladly voted
for prohibition in order to protect themselves and the
States from annihilation.

AN" ARGUMENT FOE EQUAL SUFFRAGE.

One argument in favor of conferring the suffrage
upon woman is that she will aid her brother in
establishing state-wide and nation-wide prohibition.
Whether this is so or not, I am unable to say. Sta-
tistics are unreliable. I would infer from all the
circumstances that the woman would be a prohibition-
ist, because she suffers more than her husband from his
drunkenness. Her love of him and of her children

76 THE LURE OF THE LAND

and of herself would lead her to the polls to vote for
prohibition.

It is true that there might he some little embarrass-
ment in diplomatic circles if the country were wholly
and really dry ; but the amenities of diplomacy, it seems
to me, would soon find some way to surmount this
vaunted objection to official prohibition. We rejoice
that we have a president and a cabinet who are alto-
gether sober and serious-minded, not one of whom is
addicted to the use of intoxicating beverages and many
of whom are strongly in favor of nation-wide prohibi-
tion. This at least is a mark of progress, and perhaps
I may yet live to be able to conduct my farm, and my
neighbors to do the same, without the curse of drunken-
ness brooding over us from Saturday night to Tuesday
morning.

THE HIRED HAND NOT WHOLLY TO BLAME.

What a glorious thing it would be for this country
if there was a Webb law which really forbade and pre-
vented the shipment of intoxicating liquors into dry
territory. Unfortunately under the present condi-
tions, if these packages are shipped to individuals and
not intended for sale, they are not contraband. It
would be difficult to compute the injury which is done
to this one county of Loudoun by the rotten intoxicants
that are shipped into it on Saturday night.

But somehow I can hardly find it in my heart to
blame the poor workman. Rather do I blame those
who make and ship this deadly poison, and our laws
and lawmakers who permit such a dreadful commerce.
If you look at it from the inside, there is not much in
the farm laborer's life. From sun to sun he is sup-
posed to be engaged in hard labor, with only an hour

PROHIBITION FOR THE FARMER 77

and a half intermission at noon. He has no stimulus
of literature, no enthusiasm of poetry, there are no
moving pictures, no plays. He doesn't get to go fish-
ing, nor hunting, nor to join in the local ball game,
if there be one. His life is a dreary round of unskilled
labor, performed with indifference. The only joy he
knows, perhaps, is the intoxication that comes with the
insidious alcohol, which brings also temporary forget-
fulness of poverty and fatigue.

XI

IS THE SMALL FARMER TO DISAPPEAR?

AS I have studied from time to time the practical
problems which present themselves to the farmer
above fifty, visions of disaster to the small farmer have
presented themselves. It is a question with me whether
the small farmer, — I mean by that the man with, say,
one hundred or one hundred and fifty acres of land,
— is going to be able to persist. In other words, I see
the indications of the establishment in the United
States, as it grows older, of certain class distinctions,
that have grown up, in so far as I know, in all the old
countries of the world. These signs may be deceptive,
but they are at least alarming.

The vision which is now before me is that of a pro-
prietary class, and practically a peasant class. I have
already described the farm laborer of Virginia, belong-
ing, as he does, to a class which is apparently without
ambition. The young man as he graduates to his ma-
jority passes at once to the position of a farm laborer,
and most surprisingly with no ambition to be anything
else. When I offered to my head farmer a proposition
to become interested in the output of the land, in other
words, to begin as a tenant, his answer to me was char-
acteristic. He said, " I have all I can eat and wear,
why should I want more ? "

THE LOEI> OF THE MANOR.

If farm labor is to become hereditary, it cannot fail
of producing a distinct type of citizen, which in all re-

78

IS THE SMALL FARMER TO DISAPPEAR? 79

spects is equivalent to the landless peasant type of the
old world. Of course the existence of a type like this
necessitates the existence of the lord of the manor, or
the proprietor. There is scarcely any kind of farm
labor except that which is known as " chores," which
cannot be more economically done on a large than a
small scale. The plains of the Virginia valleys could
easily be plowed by traction power if the fields were
made somewhat larger. Of course there are areas
where the ground is so stony, both in the Shenandoah
Valley and in the Loudoun Valley, that traction plow-
ing is out of the question, but these areas are compara-
tively small. On my own farm, as far as the arable
land is concerned, I imagine that four-fifths of it could
now be plowed by a traction engine, and a good part of
the rest might have the loose stones removed so as to
make such plowing practical. In the harvesting of the
crops, also, the self -loader and the hay fork are already
supplementing the reaper and binder in making the
harvest one of large dimensions and economically con-
ducted rather than the saving of a small crop by the old
hand methods. It is only the harvesting of Indian corn
which so far has barred the progress of improvement in
agricultural implements. The harvesting of the Indian
corn to-day is practically the same as that conducted a
hundred years ago. Either the corn is gathered after
drying upon the stalks in the fields, or the corn, while
still green, is cut and shocked and afterwards husked
by hand. I have just introduced on my farm a corn
harvester which cuts and binds the stalks into bundles
of convenient size. It apparently gives satisfaction
for corn drilled for ensilage, but is not so time-saving
when grown in hills for cultivation both ways.

The existence of improved machinery, especially of

80 THE LURE OF THE LAND

the traction plow, would also be economical in diminish-
ing the number of working horses and mules required.
I have made a somewhat accurate computation of the
cost of keeping a working horse or mule a year, and it
is not to be forgotten that the horse or mule must be fed
every day whether it works or is idle. The winter and
the needs of the farm permit the horse or the mule to
be idle almost, if not quite, half the time. The hay
and oats and Indian corn necessary to keep a working
animal in good condition cost not less than fifteen cents
a day for the entire year. In round numbers, then,
it costs from $55 to $60 to feed a working horse or mule
a year. This does not include the attention which is
given in the way of currying, carrying out the manure,
keeping the harness, et cetera. Two horses or mules
are necessary for every fifty acres under cultivation.
A man with one hundred acres, therefore, must keep
at least four working animals, and the cost of keeping
these animals is pretty close to $250 a year.

On the other hand, the traction engine eats only when
it works, and while it costs a great deal more per day,
the traction engine will probably not be employed over
forty or fifty days a year, hardly that long. So that
upon the whole, it becomes less expensive to use this
kind of labor than it does that of horses or mules.

THE ADVANCING PRICE OF LAND.

Again, I see in the advancing price of land greater
difficulties towards the acquirement of small hold-
ings. There is a distinct tendency, in my opinion, to
larger agricultural holdings, and that means the de-
velopment of the agricultural farm labor class, which
to my mind is greatly to be deplored. If we are to

IS THE SMALL FARMER TO DISAPPEAR? 81

have a democracy in this country, it should be a democ-
racy of equal rank and equal privileges, and not a de-
mocracy composed of different classes of democrats, as
is the case in England and even in France. In this
latter country, however, there is one supreme ad-
vantage, namely, the principle of small holdings is so
thoroughly established that there is little danger of its
being crowded out by the methods of extensive pro-
prietary farming.

I have already alluded to the fact that farm labor is
very poorly paid in the State of Virginia. This is
probably true of other States. The only excuse for
that, also, as I have already noted, is the fact that farm
labor is unskilled, and much of it does not deserve even
the wages that are paid. But the demand for increased
wages is insistent and must be dominant. The trades-
unions, while they have not invaded the farm laborers,
have sent their influence ahead. I do not know that it
is right to work a farm hand on the twenty-first of June
from twenty-two minutes past four, when the sun rises,
to seven-thirty, when it sets; but when you consider
that on the twenty-first of December this same farm
hand, perhaps hired by the year, works only about four
hours, — and that in feeding the farm animals, — you
can see that the labor question evens itself up, because
the farm laborer hired by the year is paid the same rate
in the winter as in the summer. If he didn't work
from twelve to fourteen hours a day in the summer, the
average day of the farm laborer would not be more than
six or seven hours.

The proprietor, therefore, must face the problem of
paying higher wages and securing shorter hours of
service. This spirit of recognizing the laboring man

82 THE LURE OF THE LAND

as a human being is not to be denied, and I would be
the last one to seek to deny it. But when this is done,
the farm laborer must become more efficient and do
better service while he is employed, or else proprietary
farming is also doomed.

ADVANTAGES OF LABOR SAVING MACHINERY.

The use of various kinds of machinery for lessening
the burden of labor has a two-fold advantage. In the
first place it cheapens the production of the crop, by
introducing economies into the cultivation and handling
and in the second place it has a salutary effect upon the
laborers themselves. I have noticed that the laboring
man, as a rule, on the farm works much more earnestly
and cheerfully in connection with some kind of ma-
chinery than he does when depending solely upon his
own exertions for the effect produced. The big farm,
therefore, with its reapers and binders, corn harvesters,
gang plows, traction engines, thrashing machines, and
ensilage cutters, becomes a kind of a social center, and
in fact is a village. This makes the farm laboring man
much more contented and much more efficient.

The human animal is gregarious even in his physical
exertions, and a group of men work better together
than scattered around at different points. When I have
five acres of potatoes to cultivate with the hoe, and have
five men to do the job, if I put them all abreast, each
one in his own row, they will hoe over a greater area and
do a better job than if they are split up one by one
and allowed no communication. Hence the proprietary
farmer who employs a dozen or more hands is certain
to have a more contented body of laboring men, more
cheerful and more efficient, than the small farmer who
hires a single individual who works by himself.

IS THE SMALL FARMER TO DISAPPEAR? 83

UNIVERSAL CONDITION" OF LANDLORD AND LABORER
DEPLORED.

Yet if, as a result of all these natural causes, this
country should drift into a nation of proprietary farm-
ers and farm laborers, it would be a matter of sincere
regret from the human standpoint. If our people are
to be wedded to the soil, how much better it would be
for everybody, it seems to me, save perhaps financially,
to have our lands broken up into small holdings of ten,
fifteen or twenty-five acres, so that each individual
workman might have a plot of land of his own and thus
the farm laborer become a small proprietor taking a
direct interest in his fields. There is no doubt of the
fact that it would be good for the fields, and I think
there is little doubt of the fact that it would be good
for the farm laborer.

The civic center might still be retained, as it is in
the European small village, and a group of farmers
could build their houses near together, as I have al-
ready suggested, and thus have the benefit of incipient
social service. This service might be very much ex-
tended. The country is now covered with intelligent
and educated men and women who are engaged in the
farm extension service. It would be an easy matter
for them to engage, also, in the extension of social serv-
ice to the farmers. A common meeting hall might be
provided, which would be a kind of a club-house, where
the farm magazines could be kept, agricultural litera-
ture distributed, and perhaps some simple games of ten-
nis or billiards indulged in. If these centers were so
situated as to be accessible to a large number of farmers,
the dreadful isolation of the farm life would be to this
degree remedied.

84 THE LURE OF THE LAND

I am not a prophet, although I see visions of the fu-
ture. But these visions are confused like the visions of
a dream. They are not clearly limned, and I see one
problem merging into another, and two conditions of
life coalescing; and the light of the vision is not in-
tense enough to see the final settlement of all these con-
flicting elements. My hope is that there may be devel-
oped in this country millions of land owners, so-called,
who have a personal interest in the body of land on
which they live, who care for it as they would care for
their horse or their child, who take a delight in the
fertility of the fields and know the methods of maintain-
ing it, who are not ambitious for high social or po-
litical preferment, but are ambitious to lead clean,
wholesome and useful lives of industry, and who, in
the association of their neighbors and friends, may no
longer be isolated, but may have, in enduring the toil
of the farmer, the privileges of social advancement and
association.

And yet this vision, which it seems to me would be
the ideal one of the future, is clouded with that other
mist of the landed proprietor, with his hundreds or
thousands of acres, with his huge machines for plowing
and cultivating and harvesting, living perhaps in a
palace, and surrounded with the huts of peasants, men
who have no interest whatever in the soil itself, but who
live simply to have enough to eat and something to
wear. There may be a few middlemen by means of
which these two conditions may partly coalesce, but
to my mind the tendency is either one way or the other.

Farming, then, will not only become a science but
a business, as clearly defined as manufacturing or dis-
tribution, and there will be farmer princes and cap-
tains of industry, as there are to-day in manufacturing,

IS THE SMALL FARMER TO DISAPPEAR? 85

distribution and banking. The man of fifty who goes
upon a farm will also be a man of wealth, and he will
not go upon the farm as a business proposition, but as
a luxury. The actual proprietor of the farm will be
born and bred to his trade, educated for it, enter it
when he is young and stick to it, if he succeeds, until
he dies. And yet this is the most serious question of
all: Does the future afford no promise for the farm
laborer ?

XII

THE PLACE OF THE FARMER IN THE SOCIAL SCALE

IT cannot be denied that there is a feeling, however
just or unjust it may be, that the farmer of the past,
and even of to-day, belongs to an inferior rank. This
feeling, of course, is not entertained by men and women
of culture and of broad views, but it is a common theme
exploited by the so-called wit and cartoonist. The
farmer is pictured, in the comic papers especially, as
the easy victim of the sharper and the faker. In point
of fact he is also the victim of the lightning rod seller,
the book seller and the nostrum purveyor.

The character of advertisements carried in farm
journals is not always of a kind to elevate, ennoble and
purify country life. The baldest schemes of curing all
diseases, of furnishing wonderful seeds, of securing in-
surance, of fabulous profits from certain crops, and
other means of taking advantage of the unwary and the
unsuspecting, are exploited to a greater degree in the
country, than even in the city. While it is probably
true that the farmer with his average intelligence ranks
well up in the scale of social existence, it is true also
that by his lack of experience of men and affairs he is
less prone to suspect and therefore more open to ap-
proach than his brother who has become used to the
wiles of the city.

THE FAEMEU EXPLOITED POLITICALLY.

The farmer has also been exploited as a class for
political purposes. Appeals are made directly to the

86

PLACE OF THE FARMER IN THE SOCIAL SCALE 87

farmer as a separate class of society. Laws are passed
presumably for his benefit, which are often for his in-
jury. It is a notorious fact that in a farming and
dairying community it is almost impossible to get rigid
laws covering the inspection and commerce in dairy
products. In some of the farming States where the
dairy industry is dominant, the legal standard for milk
is fixed at three per cent, of fat, whereas it is well
known that the average fat content of American milk is
not less than four per cent. Sanitary laws, looking
to the cleaning up of the dairies and the pig pens and
the stables in the country, and to a proper sanitation
of the water supply, looking to the control of typhoid
fever and other contagious and infectious diseases, are
not only difficult to enact in a country community, but
still more difficult to enforce.

The farmer is credited, moreover, with being a con-
servative, when in point of fact mere inertia is mis-
taken for conservatism. It is difficult to get a farming
community to vote for good roads, and I am not sur-
prised at this, because in the construction of good roads
such palpable frauds have been so frequently committed
upon the tax payer.

The farmer is also charged with packing the best
apples on top of the barrel, and putting the biggest
berries in the top layer of the box. These charges per-
haps do not lie with any greater pertinence against the
farmer than they do against those in other lines of
business practising similar kinds of deception.

THE THREAT OF SOCIAL CLASSIFICATION.

I look upon the attempt to classify American citi-
zens, by reason of occupational pursuits, into different
strata of social efficiency and honor, as extremely per-

88 THE LURE OF THE LAND

ilous, unwise, and threatening to the fundamental
principles of democracy. A man should not be classed
socially by reason of his employment. If there are to
be distinctions of a social character, they should rest
upon individual merit and accomplishment, and not
upon the accident of profession. The officers of the
army, whose business in time of war is to direct the
most efficient machine for killing human beings, rank
proverbially high socially. The farmers who follow
the plow and make the crops which lie at the very foun-
dation of national prosperity and growth, occupy a very
inferior position in the social order. Even the makers
of political platforms are not slow to single out occu-
pational classes in their bidding for votes. When it
comes to voting the farmer and the laboring man are
the real aristocrats, and the dangerous habit is growing
up of modifying legislation to suit the particular de-
mands of a class, such as the laborer or the farmer, with-
out reference to its intrinsic merit or ethical founda-
tion. This is not peculiar to the United States. Other
countries are troubled with agrarian agitation and the
passage of agrarian laws particularly for the protec-
tion and benefit of the farmer.

To my mind the farmer is an American citizen. He
is entitled to the same rights and privileges as every
other citizen. He is not entitled to any more. He
should not ask any more. The politician who wants to
give him more is not a statesman, but a demagogue.
The law which gives him more is not sound in its legis-
lative heart. It has the dry rot. It threatens to infect
the whole legal code. It is class legislation, which in
its very nature is vicious and in its enforcement calami-
tous. The political ambition of the farmer should be to
enjoy the rights of citizenship.

ORCHARD'S WHERE I'D RUTHER BE

Photo by U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

THE PEACH TREE BORER

PLACE OF THE FARMER IN THE SOCIAL SCALE 89

THE FARMER'S

The farmer, as is the case with every other realm of
human activity, has the right to organize for his own
betterment and for his own advancement, but this or-
ganization is not for the purpose of selfish interests, nor
should the good that comes from it be at the expense
of any other group of citizens. Agriculture can pros-
per only as all other industries prosper. To be sure,
it is the fundamental industry. The other industries
could not exist without agriculture, but it would be a
poor kind of a country in which agriculture was the
only industry. I believe that all groups of activities
are thus mutually interdependent, and no one of them
should be exploited at the expense of the welfare of any
other.

If the fundamental principle of the American gov-
ernment is correct, namely, that the citizen unit is
equal before the law in all parts of the country, then
these attempts at class segregation must be funda-
mentally in opposition to the organic principle on which
the nation is founded. The farmer of the present and
the future will therefore have power and influence in
proportion to his merit, his education, and his devotion
to the public service, and this is all the power and influ-
ence that any man should possess.

Personally I believe that agriculture is the funda-
mental profession, that it is one in which a man can
have greater opportunities for development, have
broader views of life and render more efficient service,
than in any other activity in which man engages. But
much depends upon the point of view. There may be
carried into agriculture the same selfish principles that
have made commerce synonymous with greed and Wall

90 THE LURE OF THE LAND

Street synonymous with robbery; but that is not the
kind of agriculture that I have in view. On the farm
alone a human unit can come into real communion with
nature. In the fields he sees illustrated better than
anywhere else the unalterable laws of nature working
for the benefit of humanity. In the forest he can sit
with the trees and God as his auditors and discourse
upon life as he can in no other environment. The ris-
ing of the sun inspires him, the gathering of the storm
awes him, the beauty of nature charms him, the joy of
life consoles him. I cannot get it out of my mind that
the natural must in all cases be superior to the artifi-
cial. I cannot escape from the belief that the man
who lives in closest touch with nature, other things being
equal, will be the best man and have the broadest view
of human life, human activity and human destiny.

THE FAEMEB, OF THE FUTURE.

The farmer of the future, if he develops in accord-
ance with the views which I have tried to express, will
be the leader of thought, the expounder of the true phi-
losophy, and the conserver of wholesome politics for the
nation. When I go on the East Side of New York
and look upon human life as it exists in those crowded
tenements, and upon human activity as it goes from the
dingy rooms of the tenement house to the seething heat
of the factory, without a glimpse of the sky or a patch
of green, I despair of the country. I cannot conceive
of this country prospering and growing and leading
nations when peopled by those who live in such an en-
vironment. On the contrary, when I go into the peace-
ful regions of country life and look upon the farmer
at the plow, or in the garden, or in the forest, when I
see nature springing into bounteous life in May and

PLACE OF THE FARMER IN THE SOCIAL SCALE 91

yielding an equally bounteous harvest in October, I
then have faith in the future.

This is one of the chief reasons why I would make
the country more attractive than the city, so that coun-
try life would be the ambition, the very highest ambi-
tion, of the American citizen. In such a condition of
affairs I see no danger to the institutions of our land.
On the contrary, I see those foundations which are
eternal and on which the permanent civil structure of
government can be erected. I see a land of peace, and
yet of positive action ; a land of plenty, and yet not one
of luxury ; a land of contentment, instead of a seething
mass of strikes, turmoils and emeutes. I see no one
class of our people arrayed against another, but all of
our people in one class, namely, patriotic citizens, each
in his way striving for the benefit of himself, his fam-
ily and his native country. I do not see the struggle of
one class against another to wrest the activities of the
government. I do not see a president elected because
he is a farmer, a lawyer, a laboring man, a minister
of the gospel, or a college professor. But I see a coun-
try where those who occupy the offices are the true serv-
ants of the people whom they serve, and who are ele-
vated to the positions they occupy solely upon indi-
vidual merit, and not by reason of class affiliation.
Such a condition as this is the one which we all should
strive to attain. To do this agriculture must be made
more attractive. The great cities must be to a certain
extent depopulated, and the people of our country must
live nearer to nature.

XIII

THE FARMER'S MARKET

IT is important that crops should be grown, and in a
profitable manner. The good farmer not only in-
creases from year to year the magnitude of his crop,
but leaves to his heir a more fertile field than he found.
Any system of agriculture, which leaves an impover-
ished field, is essentially immoral as well as unprofit-
able. A farmer not only needs food and clothing for
himself and family, but he of necessity must sell a cer-
tain portion of his products. Taxes are to be paid,
improvements made, articles not grown on the farm
purchased, and something put by for a rainy day.

Theoretically a farmer should sell those things which
do not carry off with them the fertility of the soil.
Ideal things to be sold are cotton, butter and sugar,
These agricultural products do not carry with them
any appreciable quantity of plant food. A farmer
might sell a million tons of sugar and not carry a ton
of plant food away from his farm. He can do almost
as well selling cotton and butter. On the other hand,
when he sells milk, wheat, Indian corn and hay, or
when he drives away from his farm flocks and herds,
he carries away large quantities of potash, phosphorus
and nitrogen. In other words he sells plant foods, and
these have to be restored to the soil in some form or
other.

It is not quite possible for farmers to sell only the

THE FARMER'S MARKET 93

ideal substances mentioned above. He necessarily
must dispose of other things, else the rest of the world
would starve. Therefore we must face with philo-
sophic resignation the yearly necessity of disposing of
the very cream of our fields. In doing this does the
farmer have a fair chance? I think the answer is em-
phatically "No."

The reasons of the disadvantages in which the farmer
finds himself are not hard to find. First is his pitiful
degree of isolation. When a farmer approaches the
market he goes out singly, as a soldier would by himself
to battle. The result is that he becomes the victim of
every organized form of greed. On the contrary, when
he buys anything, he buys of an organized industry,
which knows how to protect its product and secure the
highest price. The farmer's market, therefore, is tied
at both ends. The pitiable helplessness of the farmer
in the market ties his end of it* the organized fore-
sight of the market from which he buys, ties the other
end. The result of both of these restrictions is that
the farmer does not get a fair share of the money that is
expended finally for his products.

It is difficult, of course, to determine what the final
expenditure is ; in other words, what the consumer pays
for bread, meat, fruit, vegetables and clothing, the
things the farmer produces. Of one thing we may be
certain, and that is that the final price which is paid
is many times higher than what the farmer gets. !N~o
one complains of this condition of affairs. It costs
money to bring the farmer's products to the consumer's
home, and that cost, with a fair profit thereon, is a
legitimate tax upon the farmer's products, paid partly
by the consumer and contributed partly by the farmer.
Too many middlemen spoil the farmers' broth.

94 THE LUEE OF THE LAND

THE NECESSITY OF TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES.

I am not one of those who denounce the railway for
proper charges, nor 'the necessary middleman for rea-
sonable profits. When I send a bushel of flour from
my farm fifty miles away to Washington and pay
twelve cents freight, I do not consider that I am robbed ;
but when I pay the city transportation company seventy -
five cents to deliver that package at my house, I am
robbed, but the railroad is not the robber. If I offer
my goods for sale to a middle party and he charges me
six per cent, commission, if he gives me an honest deal
I do not consider that I have been defrauded. When
I sell my product to the buyer and he re-sells it the
next day at a profit of thirty per cent., I am robbed.
He makes more in a day out of my year's work than I
make in a year.

It is easy to state the conditions of trade, but it is
not by any means so easy to suggest a better way therein.
I can best illustrate by transactions which I have just
had. The small farmer is in no position to ship his
beef cattle to a market and take the chances of their
sale. He is not a large enough dealer to know how to
protect even his own interests, and the farmer with his
cattle on the market far from home is at the mercy of
the bidder.

The practice in my part of the country is as follows :
When the beef cattle are ready for the market you are
visited by a number of buyers. As they look over your
stock of cattle, they shoot it full of holes. This steer
is too slender in the flank, the next has a sway back, the
•third shows its ribs too plainly, and the fourth and fifth
have grave defects. In fact, the beautiful herd of cat-
tle that you so admired before the buyer came along,

THE FARMER'S MARKET 95

shrivels up in your sight so that you feel ashamed of
owning it before he gets through his criticisms. Of
course these criticisms are far from being true, but not
being an expert yourself, you do not know how to meet
them. He asks you a price and you name what you
think you should have and no more. He names, in re-
ply, a price fifteen or twenty per cent. less. You be-
come a helpless victim to his critical study of your
herd. You refuse his offer. Another buyer comes and
the same program is enacted. Even a third or fourth
may come. By this time you realize that you are help-
less. You must either take the chances of shipping
the cattle yourself and thus becoming a helpless victim
far from home, or of surrendering at discretion. You
will find so little difference in the various offers that
you are almost led to believe that the buyers are in a
trust and are leagued together for the purpose of forc-
ing the price down.

In the particular instance to which I refer, my steers
were of a very fine quality. They weighed even heavier
than I had anticipated, having an average weight of
1,315 pounds. In Chicago on the day that I sold my
cattle, steers of this weight were selling at from 8.75
to 9.25 cents a pound. A thousand miles east of Chi-
cago the market would naturally be higher. For in-
stance, in an untied market like that of wheat, where
the standard price is well known, the price per bushel
in Baltimore is from 4 to 6 cents higher than in Chi-
cago. On the twelfth of September, when I sold my
fat cattle, I should have received a higher price than
9 cents a pound. In point of fact, I sold one stee.r for
8 cents a pound and 32 for Y%o cents per pound. Of
course I have no means of knowing what profit the
broker made on these steers, but it seems perfectly cer-

96 THE LURE OF THE LAND

tain to me that, knowing the market and understanding
how to pull all the strings, he must have made from 4 to
26 dollars a head on each one of them. How I wish I
could have heard him when he came to sell them ! Those
very steers, so deformed, so spavined, so thin of shank
and sharp of back, blossomed out into fully rounded,
perfectly formed, top of the market cattle, when pre-
sented to the butcher at the shambles !

A more striking example was that of the sheep which
I disposed of on the same day. The buyer would not
buy the sheep outright, but said he would sell them for
me on commission. I had to pay for loading them on
the cars, and for this purpose had to keep two men a
whole day waiting for a car. In addition to that, how-
ever, I was charged at the rate of $40 a ton for hay that
was fed them in transit. Forty dollars a ton for hay
that I would gladly sell at the present market price for
$15 a ton, shows just about the difference between the
farmer's market when he buys and the farmer's market
when he sells. Of the sheep sold, 17 were lambs, for
which I got 6 cents a pound; 88 were yearling ewes in
fine condition, for which I got $4.50 a hundred pounds;
45 were old ewes, for which I got $3.12% a hundred
pounds. As a farmer, if I should go to the market and
buy the lamb chops, or the legs of mutton, from all ex-
cept the 45 old ewes, I would pay from 18 to 30 cents
a pound for the meat. These are conditions which are
intolerable, and yet which I do not know how to remedy.
You can imagine from this recital that sheep growing
for mutton purposes is not a very pronounced success. I
feel certain that my own experience is that of the great
majority of farmers. If the farmer by chance can get
in touch with the maker of the goods he buys, he has to
pay the local agent a commission.

Photo by U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

RAVAGES OF THE SAN JOSE SCALE
Lime-sulphur spraying outfit

Photo by U S. Dept. of Agriculture

SPRAYING OUTFIT AND MIXING PLATFORM

THE FARMER'S MARKET 97

WHAT PER CENT. DOES THE FARMER GET ?

I do not believe that farmers are entitled to more
than they ought to have, but there is a huge gap in most
of the necessities of life between the farmer's selling
price and the consumer's paying price. Perhaps an
illustration which will be best understood is that of
milk. The farmer in my part of the community gets
about 14 cents a gallon for his summer milk, the rail-
way charges, perhaps, are not to exceed 2 cents a gallon.
Good milk sells at retail in the city of Washington for
40 cents, common milk for 36 cents and certified milk
at 80 cents a gallon. A simple computation will show
that the farmer who spends all of his time and his talent
in producing ordinary milk, gets 33 per cent, of the
price the consumer pays for his product. The capital
invested in a milk distributing plant is extremely small
as compared with the capital invested in a farm and
dairy. The milk distributor turns his money over every
day ; the farmer gets one profit for the year.

The picture indeed is dark, but there are some bright
spots in it. The farmer who sells wheat gets a much
larger part of the consumer's price than the farmer
who sells milk or cattle. In other words, the price of
flour is not by any means 70 per cent, higher than the
price of wheat, but this peculiar thing happens to the
farmers in my vicinity in regard to wheat. Loudoun
County, Virginia, is a great producer of wheat and
corn. As a rule the wheat is rushed into market soon
after it is thrashed, or within a short time thereafter.
As soon as the wheat crop is on the market there is al-
ways a very decided fall in prices. A tenant on one
of my farms last year sold his wheat for 84 cents a
bushel ; I kept my wheat, of no better quality, three or

98 THE LURE OF THE LAND

four months and sold it for $1.0 4= a bushel, 20 cents
more than my tenant received.

But this is not the most striking illustration of bad
management on the part of the farmer in handling his
markets. ]STot only do they sell their wheat, but they
sell it all, and before the next harvest begins they are
buying flour. I have repeatedly seen packages of flour
in the village having come as far as from Minnesota.
The miller at Bluemont tells me that in the spring he
orders wheat from the Northwest to grind to fill the
local demand. Thus, in the autumn almost all the
wheat in the country is shipped out, and in the spring
the necessary supplies for the farmers' uses are shipped
back. This catches the farmer coming and catches him
going.

THE FINAL RESULT.

The obvious conclusion from this brief statement of
the fundamentally wrong conditions of the market is
that in all matters controlled by trusts the farmer has
no show at all. Eor instance, the meat markets of this
country are in the hands of a few individuals and the
farmer sells his meat at a forced low price. On the
other hand, the wheat markets of the country are too
large to be controlled by a trust, and the farmer gets a
fair market price for his wheat.

It would hardly be fair to go into these details with-
out some suggestion of a constructive nature. The
most obvious fact, as I see it, is that the farmer will
never come into his full rights in the market until he is
thoroughly organized. I say this with a full knowledge
of the financial shipwrecks which usually attend any
ventures at cooperation, and yet successful cooperation
is the only way to meet successful organization.

THE FARMER'S MARKET 99

The neighborhood warehouse for any non-perishable
goods such as cereals, seems to me to be one avenue that
is open; but unfortunately such a warehouse would
only contain those things in the sale of which the farmer
suffers least. How shall the farmer control the mar-
ket for his live stock used for food purposes ? That is
the most difficult problem. The products of the farm
must go to the consumer. One possible way, if it could
be adopted, would be to have the farmers of a county
establish a market in the city where they could sell
directly to the consumer. I know the dangers of such
an undertaking, the difficulties of securing the proper
men, the dangers of financial stress and loss, the lack
of business sagacity which the representative of the
farmer might display, the opportunities for peculation
and theft, and in fact a whole array of difficulties which
can be easily stated and which are without doubt threat-
ening; but at least in such an organization there could
be a cold storage warehouse, and the farmer would not
be so completely under the thumb of the trust and the
manipulator.

XIV

THE FARMER AND THE PARCEL POST

ON" the Pennsylvania Railway en route from Phila-
delphia to Washington, on the twenty-second of
June, 1914, I fell into conversation with a gentleman
who owns a farm twelve miles from Fredericksburg,
Virginia. Gossiping about the various things con-
nected with farm life, I discovered that he had estab-
lished a small dairy. He told me he had been North
to examine various appliances looking to the shipment
of dairy products by parcel post. Living, as he does,
twelve miles from the railway station, the daily deliv-
ery of milk for consumption in Fredericksburg, Rich-
mond, or Washington, is a task of great magnitude.
The idea which was in his mind was that if he could
ship cream by parcel post, he might secure a profitable
market for his dairy products and at the same time
retain the skimmed milk for feeding to pigs and young
calves.

Experience has shown that the shipment of cream to
butter factories in the large cities — there are none
other in this part of the country — is altogether un-
profitable to the farmer. At the prices which are paid,
which at the best amount to about twenty-four or
twenty-five cents per pound of butter-fat, the farmer
cannot make expenses. It requires nearly twenty-five
pounds of milk to make one pound of butter-fat, and

this amounts to only a little over a cent a pound for

100

THE FARMER AND THE PARCEL POST 101

the milk. It is true that the skimmed milk is still
available for the farmer's use, but the price of skimmed
milk does not exceed, as a rule, a quarter of a cent a
pound. Thus, for twenty-five pounds of milk the
farmer at most could not get more than thirty cents.
A cow giving twenty-five pounds of milk will require
fully twenty cents' worth of food per day. Add to this
the care of the animal, interest on the investment, de-
preciation and charge of shipping, and the farmer
comes out in debt every day.

If, however, the farmer could secure, through the
parcel post, a clientele for his butter or his cream, he
would be able to pay expenses and even make a small
profit. The retail price of good creamery butter in
Washington averages about thirty-five cents the year
around. Creamery butter is only 82 per cent, butter-
fat. Twenty-five pounds of milk would make almost
one and a quarter pounds of butter, and this, at the
price mentioned above, would bring a gross income of
about forty-four cents for the twenty-five pounds of
milk, and still leave the food value of the milk for the
farmer's use.

Inquiring further as to what result had come from
his visit, he said that he had found a paper package
guaranteed to be acceptable to the parcel post, which
could be had in large quantities at a very cheap rate,
probably not over three or four cents for a gallon pack-
age. A gallon of cream, however, is too much to send
to any individual customer other than a restaurant or
a hotel. The maximum cream package for general use
among families would probably not hold over four
pounds. Cream properly chilled and sent promptly by
parcel post, and on arrival placed in cold storage, can
easily be kept two or even three days without pasteuriza-

102 THE LURE OF THE LAND

tion. If well pasteurized it might keep even longer
than this. In such conditions the sending of a package
of cream by parcel post to a family of somewhat large
size would be commercially practical.

The package of course would not be used again, and
that seems to be the unfortunate part of it. Even if
it were a permanent package, the return would
cost a great deal, because the initial price for the
first pound by the parcel post is quite high com-
pared with the prices for larger weights. In shipping
cream by parcel post, also, a very concentrated article
would be produced, known as double cream, containing
about forty per cent, of butter-fat. The production
of such cream with a good centrifugal separator is
easily accomplished. One pound of this kind of cream
would therefore be equal to two pounds of ordinary
twenty per cent, cream. The sending of butter, of
course, by parcel post is a much simpler proposition.
The package itself could be cheaper, and the keeping
quality of the product is such that a family could easily
take five pounds at a time and have practically fresh
butter every week. Even certified milk, in a suitable
container, might be sent by parcel post.

EAItLY SUCCESS NOT EXPECTEB.

The success of the parcel post as a means of com-
munication between producer and consumer cannot be
expected to be very brilliant at the start. There are
many incident problems which can only be worked out
in the light of practical experience. Postmaster Gen-
eral Burleson is very much in earnest in making the
parcel post an efficient means of communication be-
tween farmer and consumer. In this effort he should
have the undivided support of all citizens, except those

THE FARMER AND THE PARCEL POST 103

engaged as middlemen in the distribution of food
products.

The postmaster at Washington has hit upon a unique
plan for bringing to the notice of the consumers the
names of farmers who are willing to engage in the
parcel post business for agricultural products. To this
end the public library of Washington has been secured
as a means of publicity. There is posted in the public
library a list of farmers within the first and second
zones, that is, up to a distance of one hundred and fifty
miles, who are willing to come into contact with con-
sumers in the city of Washington in the shipment of
food products. Any intending consumer who wishes
to get in touch with farmers can get their names and
addresses in the public library.

The postmaster at Washington has also prepared a
circular to send to intending shippers, giving instruc-
tions to the farmers as to how the particular product in
question is to be prepared and packed for shipment.
Also, there is posted a list of manufacturers of packing
boxes and containers for the shipment of farm products
by parcel post, and this is also made available to the
farmers in order that they may secure the proper kind
of packages for their use. In addition to this, a
special delivery system has been devised, so that prod-
ucts which come into the city by morning shipments
may be distributed at once to the consumer, without
lying over for hours waiting for the ordinary delivery
to take place. In fact, the Postoffice Department has
done everything possible, in so far as knowledge of the
problem extends, to inaugurate a service which will be
of a practical character, and which promises to develop
into a system of mutual benefit to consumer and to
farmer.

104 THE LURE OF THE LAND

DIFFICULTIES TO BE OVERCOME.

It would be idle to minimize the difficulties which
have to be surmounted. The ordinary farmer has no
skill whatever in packing products for transportation.
The parcel post will therefore be flooded with articles
improperly packed which cannot be legally carried,
and which will be left at the depots of transmission
unshipped until the owners can call and take them
away. My own experience in transmitting food prod-
ucts by parcel post, before the present arrangement
referred to went into execution, illustrates this difficulty.
I desired to send some white clover honey produced near
my farm in Loudoun County to a friend in New York
City. It was comb-honey, well preserved, and was
packed as well as I knew how, so as to avoid damage
and leakage. It started on its journey from Bluemont,
Virginia, to ~New York City. When it reached Wash-
ington it was found that the honey had begun to leak
out. The package was withdrawn from the mails, and
I was notified that it could not be sent any further.
This is only a type of the difficulties of properly pre-
paring an article for shipment, by those unskilled in the
art of packing, which will have to be surmounted.

In the next place, the consumer will have to order
blindly. He will have no opportunity of inspecting
the products he purchases before they are bought.
This, however, is a difficulty which will be overcome
by natural causes. The farmer who ships imperfect
or improperly prepared food products will at once lose
his customers. Therefore it is self-preservation on his
part to ship only articles of good quality and in prime
condition. Both consignee and farmer must be helpful
and patient until normal working conditions are secured.

THE FARMER AND THE PARCEL POST 105

HELPFUL ADVICE, FROM THE POST OFFICE DEPART-
MENT.

A few quotations from the circulars sent out by the
Postoffice Department will more fully indicate the pur-
pose which is kept in view and the methods of success-
fully securing it. Under the caption "Producer and
Consumer to be Brought into Closer Touch/7 the Post-
office Department says:

The Postoffice Department desires to increase the usefulness
to the public of the Parcel Post by bringing the consumer and
producer in closer touch. Therefore it invites all farmers who
desire to sell and ship country produce by parcel post direct
to the consumer to send their names and addresses by mail to
"Postmaster, Washington, D. C., Produce List." Tell what
you have for sale. A postal card may be used for the pur-
pose. When a sufficient number of names are received they
will be printed and distributed to persons who would likely
make use of such lists. The Washington Public Library, Mount
Vernon Square, Washington, D. C., has announced its willing-
ness to cooperate with the farmers and producers in bringing
them in direct touch with the city consumers, and to this end
will receive and post on the bulletin board in the library the
prices at which farmers and others will sell their butter, eggs,
or other produce by parcel post.

It is also announced that parcels which weigh over
twenty pounds will be carried separately, outside of
mail bags, thus insuring more care and less damage to
other mail matter, should accident happen. The size
and weight of parcels are prescribed as follows :

Packages for the parcel post must not measure more than
72 inches in length and girth combined and must not weigh
more than 50 pounds when addressed to a person within the
first or second zones, or a distance of not more than about 150
miles. If the package to be shipped is to go more than 150
miles, or beyond the second zone, it must not weigh more than

106 THE LURE OF THE LAND

20 pounds. The postmaster or the mail carrier who will receive
your package for mailing, will give you any further informa-
tion you may desire about the rates and manner of packing
your parcels.

In the information sent to farmers the following im-
portant items are noted:

Preparation for Mailing. — Farmers intending to ship farm
products in considerable quantities should submit to the post-
master at their local post office for approval, a specimen parcel
showing the manner of packing. Parcels containing perishable
articles should be marked " PERISHABLE." Articles likely
to spoil within the time reasonably required for transportation
and delivery will not be accepted for mailing.

Butter, lard and perishable articles such as fish, fresh meats,
dressed fowls, vegetables, fruits, berries, and articles of a
similar nature which decay quickly, when so packed or wrapped
as to prevent damage to other mail matter, shall be accepted
for local delivery either at the office of mailing or on any rural
route starting therefrom. When inclosed in an inner cover
and a strong outer cover of wood, metal, heavy corrugated
pasteboard, or other suitable material, and wrapped so that
nothing can escape from the package, they will be accepted for
mailing to all offices to which in the ordinary course of mail
they can be sent without spoiling.

Butter, dressed fowls, vegetables, fruits and other perishable
articles in parcels weighing more than twenty pounds shall be
accepted for mailing to offices in the first and second zones
when suitably wrapped or inclosed and packed in crates, boxes
or other suitable containers having tight bottoms to prevent
the escape of anything from the package and so constructed as
properly to protect the contents. All such parcels to be trans-
ported outside of mail bags.

Vegetables and fruits which do not decay quickly will be ac-
cepted for mailing to any zone if packed so as to prevent dam-
age to other mail matter.

Eggs shall be accepted for local delivery when so packed in
a basket or other container as to prevent damage to other mail
matter.

Eggs shall be accepted for mailing regardless of distance

THE FARMER AND THE PARCEL POST 107

when each egg is wrapped separately and surrounded with ex-
celsior, cotton or other suitable material and packed in a strong
container made of double-face corrugated pasteboard, metal,
wood or other suitable material and wrapped so that nothing
can escape from the package. All such parcels should be
labeled " EGGS."

Eggs in parcels weighing more than twenty pounds shall be
accepted for mailing to offices in the first and second zones
when packed in crates, boxes, buckets or other containers
having tight bottoms to prevent the escape of anything from
the package and so constructed as properly to protect the
contents. Such packages to be marked "EGGS — THIS
SIDE UP," and to be transported outside of mail bags.

Mailable liquids, including preserves, in securely sealed glass
bottles or metal cans shall be accepted for mailing when packed
in strong boxes and surrounded with other suitable substance
to prevent contents from breaking. All such packages to be
marked " FRAGILE."

Pastes, salves, etc., not easily liquefiable, shall be accepted
for mailing when enclosed in water-tight containers and placed
in a strong pasteboard or wooden box.

Mailable hides and pelts shall be thoroughly wrapped to pre-
vent grease soaking through the packing and damaging other
mail matter.

Permissible Additions. — You may tie or otherwise securely
attach a letter in a sealed envelope to your parcel post package
if it bears the same address as the package, but the letter must
have on it the regular letter postage and the parcel must have
on it the proper amount of postage. It is better, however, to
mail your letter and parcel separately. You may place in the
parcel a printed circular describing the matter sent, and in-
close a printed or written bill for the articles in the parcel.
Any other written matter, however, will subject the whole pack-
age to the letter postage rate. In addition to the name and
address of the sender, which is required, it is permissible to
write or print on the covering of a parcel of fourth-class
matter, or on a tag or label attached thereto, the occupation of
the sender, and to indicate in a small space by means of marks,
letters, numbers, names or other brief description, the character
of the parcel, but ample space must be left for the full ad-
dress and for the necessary postage stamps. Inscriptions such

108 THE LURE OF THE LAND

as " Merry Christmas," " Please do not open until Christmas,"
" Happy New Year," " With best Wishes," and the like, may
be included inside or placed on the covering of the parcel in
such manner as not to interfere with the address.

Insurance. — Parcels on which the postage is fully prepaid
may be insured against loss in an amount not exceeding $25
on payment of a fee of 5 cents, and $50 on payment of a fee
of 10 cents. A return receipt will be furnished if desired.

Collection on Delivery. — You may send a package C. 0. D.
by parcel post by attaching an additional 10 cents in postage
on the package, provided the amount to be collected by the
post office on the package for you is not more than $100, and
provided also that the office which mails the package and the
one at which it is received are money order offices.

Time of Shipment. — Your postmaster or rural carrier can
inform you when is the best time to ship parcels so as to make
good connection and promptly reach the office they are ad-
dressed to. No delivery of parcels is made on Sundays unless
sent by special delivery.

Special Delivery. — Parcels which are fully postage paid will
be immediately delivered by the office they are addressed to on
an extra payment of 10 cents in postage stamps affixed.

The rates of transmission for the different zones are
prescribed as follows:

The rate of postage for parcel post packages is given in the
table here printed. The local rate is applicable to parcels of
farm products intended for delivery at the office of mailing, in-
cluding rural routes starting therefrom.

The rate of postage on fourth-class matter (which includes
farm produce) weighing not m,ore than four ounces is one cent
for each ounce or fraction of an ounce regardless of distance,
and on such matter in excess of four ounces in weight, the rate
is by the pound, as follows, the postage in all cases to be pre-
paid by postage stamps affixed:

ZONES

WEIGHT

b

1>
31

0
V3
00

s!

2d. 50 to
150 miles

3d. 150 to
300 miles

4th. 300 to
600 miles

5th. 600 to
1000 miles

6th. 1000 to I
1400 miles

7th. 1400 to 1
1800 miles

8th. All over 1
1800 miles

1 pounds

0.05

0.05

0.05

0.06

0.07

0.08

0.09

0.11

0.12

2 pounds . . .

.06

.06

.06

.08

.11

.14

.17

.21

.24

3 pounds

.06

.07

.07

.10

.15

.20

.25

.31

.36

4 pounds . . .

.07

.08

.08

.12

.19

.26

.33

.41

.48

5 pounds

.07

.09

.09

.14

.23

.32

.41

.51

.60

6 pounds

.08

.10

.10

.16

.27

.38

.49

.61

.72

7 pounds . . .

.08

.11

.11

.18

.31

.44

.57

.71

.84

8 pounds

.09

.12

.12

.20

.35

.50

.65

.81

.96

9 pounds

.09

.13

.13

.22

.39

.56

.73

.91

.08

10 pounds . . .

.10

.14

.14

.24

.43

.62

.81

1.01

.20

11 pounds . . .

.10

.15

.15

.26

.47

.68

.89

1.11

.32

12 pounds

.11

.16

.16

.28

.51

.74

.97

1.21

.44

13 pounds

.11

.17

.17

.30

.55

.80

1.05

1.31

.56

14 pounds . . .

.12

.18

.18

.32

.59

.86

.1.13

1.41

.68

15 pounds

.12

.19

.19

.34

.63

.92

1.21

1.51

.80

16 pounds

.13

.20

.20

.36

.67

.98

1.29

1.61

1.92

17 pounds

.13

.21

.21

.38

.71

1.04

1.37

1.71

2.04

18 pounds . . .

.14

.22

.22

.40

.75

1.10

1.45

1.81

2.16

19 pouuds

.14

.23

.23

.42

.79

1.16

1.53

1.91

2.28

20 pounds . . .

.15
.15

.24
25

.24
25

.44

.83

1.22

1.61

2.01

2.40

22 pounds . . .

!l6

!26

'.26

23 pounds

.16

.27

.27

24 pounds

.17

.28

.28

25 pounds . . .

.17

.29

.29

26 pounds

.18

.30

.30

27 pounds . . .

.18

.31

.31

28 pounds

.19

.32

.32

29 pounds
30 pounds . . .

.19

.20

.33
.34

.33
.34

Send your name and address

31 pounds

.20

.35

.35,

to the Postmaster, Washing-

32 pounds . . .
33 pounds

.21

.21

.36
.37

,36
.37

ton, D. C., if you want to sell

34 pounds
35 pounds . . .

.22
.22

.38
.39

.38
.39

your produce by Parcel Post,

36 pounds
37 pounds . . .

.23
.23

.40
.41

.40
.41

and tell what you have for

38 pounds
39 pounds

.24
.24

.42
.43

.42
.43

sale.

40 pounds

.25

.44

.44

41 pounds . . .

.25

.45

.45

Keep this Circular for ref-

42 pounds

.26

.46

.46

43 pounds

.26

.47

.47

erence.

44 pounds . . .

.27

.48

.48

45 pounds

.27

.49

.49

46 pounds

.28

.50

.50

47 pounds . . .

.28

.51

.51

48 pounds . . .

.29

.52

.52

49 pounds

.29

.53

.53

50 pounds . . .

.30

.54

.54

109

110 THE LURE OF THE LAND

The placards which have been posted in the public
library at Washington have attracted a great deal of
attention from visitors. The Postoffice Department
has also established relations with existing organiza-
tions in Washington whose purpose is the betterment
of household conditions. Particularly have they es-
tablished a system of cooperation with the Housekeep-
ers' Alliance of Washington. In regard to this
cooperation the Postoffice authorities make the follow-
ing statements:

It is realized that the method of shopping, by sending the
market basket direct to the farm, is to some extent experimental
with both the consumer and the farmer, and for this reason the
Housekeepers? Alliance of Washington has consented to co-
operate with the Washington Post Office to the extent of try-
ing out as many farmers as possible, with the view of deter-
ming the following points: First, whether the business meth-
ods of the farmers make it practicable to deal direct with the
producer; second, whether the method of packing, character
of produce and intelligence shown in mailing, meet the require-
ments of the city consumer; third, whether the transportation
service by the Post Office Department and the Washington Post
Office insures delivery of parcel post matter in fresh and satis-
factory condition.

In order to arrive at a fair determination of these matters
and to be able to render a practical service to the consumers
of Washington generally, the Housekeepers' Alliance desires
to have sent to Committee on Cooperation, Housekeepers' Al-
liance, P. 0. Box 476, Washington, D. C., by postal card or
letter, a specific report by any person in the city who has had
parcel post experience, answering the following questions:

(1) Name and address of farmer.

(2) Articles purchased and prices paid for them.

(3) Who (farmer or consumer) furnished the container
and how well were the products packed.

(4) Was the farmer's service prompt and satisfactory.

(5) In what condition did parcels arrive and how
promptly were they delivered by the post office.

THE FARMER AND THE PARCEL POST 111

(6) Remarks.

In order to cover as many sections of the country, as many
farmers, and as many separate shipments as possible, the
Housekeepers' Alliance will receive answers to the foregoing
questions from all who desire to thus cooperate with it.

The organization will collate this information and place the
results before the city consumer, as well as the farmer, for the
information and guidance of each.

Quotations by farmers for their products will continue to
be found posted on the bulletin board of the Public Library,
Mount Vernon Square in this city.

The purpose of this undertaking by the Post Office Depart-
ment, with the cooperation of public-spirited persons and in-
stitutions, is to bring the city consumer and country producer
together through the facilities offered by the parcel post. This
consists of a very simple proceeding. After you have written
to a farmer on this list, or any other farmer whose address you
have learned from some acquaintance, and have made arrange-
ments as to the price and payment for the articles you want to
buy, take a strong market basket with a cover or a double cor-
rugated paste-board mailing box, and send it to the farmer. If
it weighs a pound it will cost 5 cents to mail it to the farmer
empty ; if between two and three pounds, it will cost 7 cents to
mail. Double corrugated shipping boxes of various types can
be purchased very cheaply from paper stores and market sup-
ply houses in Washington.

When you have found a satisfactory farmer to deal with,
shopping by parcel post becomes a simple process of sending
your market basket to the farm with a letter telling what you
want. The cost of that process is just a little less than if you
got on a street car and rode down town and back, and just a
trifle more than if you ordered what you wanted over the tele-
phone. You can mail your empty basket at any drug-store pos-
tal station. The parcel post brings the filled basket to your
door. This simple process of sending an ordinary, strong,
market basket to the farm has been found to be entirely satis-
factory for shipping short distances — say fifty to one hun-
dred miles, several such baskets now going empty and returning
filled weekly through the Washington Post Office.

Housewives who want to deal with the farmers direct will
realize that sometimes they may not be able to make an entirely

112 THE LURE OF THE LAND

satisfactory arrangement the first trial any more than they may
find satisfactory the first city dealer they may try. Therefore,
it may be found advisable to select from this list, at random,
the names of three or four farmers to write to, and from the
replies pick out two or three of the more promising, give them
a trial, and report results to the Housekeepers' Alliance.

Remember that it is more economical to buy three or four
dozen eggs by parcel post than one or two dozen, because after
the first pound the postage will cost the farmer only 1 cent per
pound. When writing to the farmer for his prices, it is well to
tell him what the same articles are costing in the city market
at the time. This is advisable because some farmers have an
exaggerated idea as to the prices that city people are willing to
pay for fresh country produce, whereas, others are entirely
moderate and reasonable. It is also well to direct the farmers
to mail the basket so that it will arrive in this city in time for
delivery on the day desired. If intended for Sunday, it should
reach Washington not later than Saturday noon.

TOO EARLY TO PROPHESY.

It is of course too early to make any definite
prophecy regarding the outcome of this experimental
attempt to bring consumer and producer more closely
together. To my mind it is by far the most promising
effort which has ever been inaugurated. There is a
distinct advantage in having a powerful agent like the
Postoffice Department of the United States come as a
mediator between the two warring factions, namely,
consumer and producer. This is a kind of mediation
which gives promise of really helpful results. If the
Postoffice Department is only patient and persistent,
and if the consumer and farmer are earnest in their
desire to be brought into closer contact, and each will
do his utmost to make this contact agreeable and profit-
able, success cannot fail to crown the work. Already
a business of considerable magnitude is doing, and it
is growing every day.

THE FARMER AND THE PARCEL POST • 113

One fact, however, must be kept in view. The trans-
mission of very small articles, even by parcel post, is
necessarily more expensive from the initial outlay than
the transmission of large quantities of food products
by freight trains. The initial charge of five cents per
pound for the first pound in the package will always
be a drawback to any complete system of economy
where only pound packages are required. In other
words I may express my view in this manner, namely,
that the sending of a single pound by parcel post is not
destined to be a commercial success.

But the outlook is quite different where a minimum,
say, of five pounds is ordered by each consumer. The
initial pound pays five cents in the first and second
zones, and the subsequent pounds only a cent apiece.
A five-pound package may, therefore, come to the con-
sumer at a cost of transportation of nine cents, which
is less than two cents a pound. In addition to this
the package is delivered directly to the consumer, and
thus the charge which the local market man and the
local grocery man must always make for delivery is
avoided. When this is taken into consideration, I
think it may safely be said that the cost of delivery
by parcel post is not very much more than that of
the ordinary methods of commerce now in vogue, in the
purchase and delivery of small packages from local
stores. I am inclined to believe, therefore, that the
cost of transportation of food products by parcel post
is the least important factor of the problem.

The real difficulty is in the proper selection and pack-
ing of food products by the farmer in a way to please
the consumer. It will, therefore, be necessary to have
a campaign of education started among the farmers, in
order to teach them these fundamental principles.

XV

BUSINESS METHODS IN" FARMING

ONE of the most discouraging features of agricul-
ture, both from the side of the practical farmer
and from the point of view of the business man who
wishes to engage in farming, is the complicated system
of bookkeeping which every farm requires and which
practically no farmer ever uses. An apt illustration is
that of my own experience and that of my neighbors in
the growing of beef cattle. In the neighborhood where
my farm is located it is almost the universal custom of
every farmer to grow a few beef cattle for the market.
The region naturally comes to blue grass, which affords
an opportunity of preparing the cattle for market at a
minimum of actual expenditure for food. The farmer
in my neighborhood usually buys his cattle in the au-
tumn, gathered from the mountains of Southwestern
Virginia or Eastern Tennessee, or sent from Chicago.
These animals weigh from 600 to 900 pounds, and they
are expected to be ready for the market within about
ten months after their purchase in October or Novem-
ber of each year. These cattle are usually kept in the
open over the winter, and fed unshredded corn fodder
in the fields, together with a little Indian corn. They
gain nothing during the winter, usually lose in weight,
and are not particularly pleasing in their appearance
when they begin to shed their long hair after the rigors
of the season are over.

Along about the middle of April the grass is suffi-

114

BUSINESS METHODS IN FARMING 115

ciently grown so that they no longer have to be fed.
They are ready, usually, for the market from the end
of August to the first of October. Many farmers sup-
plement the grass feeding by beginning to feed the
immature Indian corn as soon as it is suitable for that
purpose, which is about the middle of August. The
corn is simply cut in the fields and scattered in the pas-
tures for the cattle to eat. These cattle usually take on
about 300 pounds in weight during the summer months,
so that they weigh from 1,000 to 1,200 pounds at the
time of sale. If the average cost is about $45 a head
in the autumn, they bring from $70 to $90, say an aver-
age of $80 a head, when sold.

It is the universal custom for the farmers to reckon
their profits on the actual difference between the pur-
chase and selling price. For instance, it is not unusual
to hear the farmers say that they made from $25 to $40
per head. In point of fact, if they should keep a rec-
ord of the interest on their money, faxes, attention, cost
of food and cost of pasture, the presumed profits would
dwindle to a very small sum or actually disappear.
In my own case, counting all of the expenses as above
indicated, I lost from $5 to $7 per head on two succes-
sive years and made from $10 to $15 profit in the
next succeeding years, due largely to an increase in
the price of fat cattle. Something, of course, should be
allowed for the value of the manure of cattle on pasture.
As this is widely scattered in the urine and feces of the
cattle, or collected under the trees where they chew their
cuds, it can be dismissed as of but little importance.
My observation shows me that the growing of beef cattle
under such conditions as those mentioned above is rather
an uncertain business in so far as real profit is con-
cerned.

116 THE LURE OF THE LAND

Perhaps there is no other business in this country in
which so little is known of its financial condition as that
of the ordinary farm. Often farmers may set down
the sums they pay out and those they receive, but the
number is not great. Bookkeeping is an exact science
and the average farmer does not understand its first
rudiments. He does not know how much it takes to
keep a horse a year nor the value of the food which has
prepared his hog for market. The household supplies,
clothing, and luxuries are not reckoned in the year's
balance sheets. He often does not know how much he
owes, and can give little help to the assessor who makes
a list of his possessions for taxation. The comparative
cost of the various crops he grows is an uncut page in
his book of knowledge. He only knows his father grew
these crops and they have come down to him as a part of
his heredity. In the public schools which he may have
attended for a few years, bookkeeping was no part of his
arithmetic. Yet what more interesting way of teach-
ing arithmetic than by the practice of the simple princi-
ples of keeping accounts? Inasmuch as a large ma-
jority of our farmers do not go beyond the " common
school," it would be the part of wisdom in our school
authorities to make this study one of chief importance.
It is useless to attempt to introduce on our farms the
principles of efficiency, so long as we are ignorant of the
fundamental data of the farm's expenses and receipts.
I have already attested to the desirability of the pay-
ment of all bills by check. I assume that on the stub
of each check is entered the purpose of the payment.
In the case of bills at stores and elsewhere the receipted
payment should be attached to the canceled check when
it is received from the bank. The farmer in all cases
when he wishes to look up a past transaction will find

JUST AT THAT TIME FARMERS WERE OFFERING FROM $1.50 TO $2.00
FOR HELP IN THE CORN HARVEST

ft t

I HAVE ALL I CAN EAT AND WEAR. WHY SHOULD I WANT MORE?

BUSINESS METHODS IN FARMING 117

the most important data on record on the stub, the re-
turned check and the payments he has made for labor
and how much has gone to each man, what proportion
of his outlay has gone for repairs, upkeep and improve-
ments; in short, in the absence of any other record he
will be able to get a fair summary of his financial stand-
ing from his check book. In addition to this he should
always make out a duplicate of his deposit check, stat-
ing in each item its source and details of the payment.
Thus both his income and outgo are at hand for com-
parison. But the home consumption, and the general
cost of housing and keeping will, of course, fail of rec-
ord in the check book. This fault might be avoided by
a supplementary record of the amount of the home-
grown food and other supplies used in the home. The
farmer who keeps even such simple accounts as those
outlined, gets a hold on his business, takes a greater
pride therein, and ends by being prosperous and use-
ful. I always feel like saying to a farmer who keeps
this useful record, " You are on the road to prosperity,
soon you will be out of debt and you will take an in-
creasing pleasure and pride in your business."

In further detail I urge every farmer who reads these
lines to make at least one experiment. If you have a
field of which the area is known — do you know of any
farmer who does n't guess at the size of his field ? —
keep just one accurate account of one crop. Suppose
it is wheat. Compute for one year the following
data:

A. Value of land per acre and interest at 6 per cent.

B. Taxes.

C. Fertilizer (commercial), amount used and cost,
including hauling and drilling.

D. Loads and cost of manure at 50 cents per load.

118 THE LURE OF THE LAND

E. Days of team and men, plowing, harrowing, roll-
ing and planting at $4 per day for team and man.

F. Bushels and cost of seed.

G. Cost of planting.
H. Cost of harvesting.

I. Cost of hauling, thrashing and sacking.

J. Cost of delivery to market.

K. Value of wheat sold.

L. Profit — or loss.

The farmer will be surprised at the value of the
knowledge which such an account will give him. He
will be encouraged to apply this system to all his crops
and for every year. He will learn where his losses are
and how to stop them. He will know where his profits
come from and how to increase them.

XVI

FARM FINANCE

THE farmer must not only be a scientific man and
a skilled artisan, but lie must also have some fun-
damental notions, and sound ones at that, concerning
finance. It is extremely easy for the farmer to go
into debt, especially if his farm is not mortgaged. The
country store or the village merchant will give a farmer
unlimited credit as long as his farm is unencumbered.
But this question is a pertinent one, namely, Should
the farmer go into debt ?

This can be properly answered both affirmatively
and negatively. The farmer is justified in going into
debt when by so doing he can secure the necessary funds
either for the payment for his farm or its equipment.
A reasonable indebtedness, at a low rate of interest, is
justifiable for expenditures of this kind. On the other
hand, a farmer cannot go into debt with safety for the
expenses of fine clothing, riding horses, carriages, auto-
mobiles, flying machines, and the unknown and untried
schemes of every description with which he is beset.

I go even so far as to say that it is not justifiable for
a farmer to go into debt for a melodeon or a piano or a
pianola, and certainly not for unknown and unproved
pieces of farm machinery, nor for books that are sold
by instalment, nor for new kinds of lightning rods, nor

for any kind of a bunco proposition of any description.

119

120 THE LURE OF THE LAND

The fanner is too often regarded as an easy mark for
the man who has bizarre things to sell. Before he
knows it the farmer may have become deeply involved
for articles which are of no practical value, which do
nothing to increase his farming facilities, and which
upon the whole may be regarded simply as waste ma-
terials. Debts incurred for such purposes as these are
indeed a threat to the stability of the farmer's credit
and prosperity.

In the purchase of land where the purchaser has not
the funds for cash payment, it seems to me there is no
distinction between giving the mortgage to the original
owner or in giving it to somebody else and paying the
original owner in cash. This is true only where the
rates of interest in the two cases are the same. Land
being the most stable of possessions, should be able to
bear a debt at the lowest rates of interest. In point of
fact, however, the rates of interest on money loaned on
farms are usually higher than on money loaned on real
estate securities in cities. Why this is so I cannot im-
agine, unless it be that many farmers are proverbially
slow pay and it is not always possible to convert a farm
mortgage into cash when the cash is badly wanted.

PAY ALL BILLS BY CHECK.

I have already mentioned that where it is possible to
have access to a bank which is reliable, the farmer
should keep his moneys on deposit and pay all his bills
by check. Not only is the paying of all bills by check
almost the simplest form of bookkeeping on the farm,
as a simple entry on the stub will be a sufficient guide
to review the character of the expenses, but the carry-
ing of loose money about in the pockets, or keeping it
about the house, has two distinctly unfavorable fea-

FARM FINANCE 121

tures. In the first place, if the money be carried on
the person it may be easily lost. In the second place,
if it is hoarded in the house it is an attractive mark
for the burglar. Burglars do not " burgle " in the
dark, at least not usually. If they are the right sort
of burglars and know their business, they do not go
after a prize unless they know its magnitude and the
place where it is to be found. Hence it follows that if
the farmer keeps no money about his house, in so far
as that is concerned there is no attraction in that house
for the thief. For convenience, for systematic keeping
of the accounts, and for economy, it is well that the
farmer's money be kept in the bank.

IS IT BENEFICIAL TO BE IN DEBT ?

It often has been said that to be in debt is an in-
centive to greater exertion. Perhaps this may be true,
but it is a kind of incentive that should not be neces-
sary on the farm. The love of nature, the joy of out-
door life, the pleasure of producing something valuable,
the duty of providing food and clothing for the family,
and the science of taking care of the fields, ought to be
sufficient inducement to any farmer without being
driven by the sting of debt. It is true, in many cases
of negligence and unthriftiness, that the farmer who
receives money which should be applied upon a debt,
will not pay it, but will start a little banking account
of his own, put it in his pocket or spend it for some
pleasure or amusement. This is a most unfortunate
habit, however, and should not be encouraged.

The small farmer at the best does not have a very
large capital invested. If his farm has cost him $7,500,
his implements and live stock and other permanent in-
vestments will bring the sum up to probably $10,000,

122 THE LUEE OF THE LAND

but not more. Ten thousand dollars loaned on gilt edge
securities may bring an income of $500 a year. If the
farmer so manipulates his agricultural work, with suffi-
cient direction and industry, he may be well satisfied
if he secures from the farm in which $10,000
is invested, an annual net money return of $500. I
imagine that there are very few farmers, except in spe-
cial cases, who get as large a return as this, even when
not allowing anything for their own work.

The farmer's finance, then, is not on a large scale;
but that is no reason why it should not be sound or
why the farmer should not have fundamentally sound
ideas of what investments mean and what interests and
dividends indicate. For this reason the farmer should
first investigate the condition of his neighborhood bank.
He should know the character and standing of the offi-
cers and directors thereof, and whether or not it is en-
gaged in any wild-catting schemes. If the bank is a
private one, as these small banks often are, it may be
very difficult to get the information which will give him
what he wants to know on the above questions.

COOPEflRATION IN BOEHOWING.

The farmer can secure better terms for the money
he borrows if he can cooperate with his neighbors. In
doing this we see the foundations for cooperative rural
credits. This system of furnishing money to the far-
mer is quite prominent in many European countries.
A commission of wide-awake men, members of Con-
gress and others, was sent to Europe in 1913 to study
the system of rural credits there found. This commit-
tee brought back most valuable information, and the
suggestions which it has made have become the basis
of a bill which is now pending in the Congress of the

FARM FINANCE 123

United States to establish a system of rural credits un-
der national supervision.

A banking system which is inspected and approved
by the officials of the United States would certainly be
an improvement on the private banking system to which
the farmer heretofore has had access. In a system of
this kind all land of a community becomes pledged for
the debts of the members of the union. Thus the se-
curity which is given is of the best quality, and the
rates of interest thereon can be of the lowest. If first-
class city property and securities can be pledged at a
bank for 4% or 5 per cent, interest, there is no reason
why the associated securities of a rural community
may not secure an equal benefit. Too often the rates
charged farmers for borrowed money have been exorbi-
tant. In many localities they have reached eight or
even ten per cent. Only the most happy combination
of events can render the borrowing of money by a
farmer at this interest profitable.

THE LONG-TIME NOTE.

One of the principal points connected with a system
of rural credits is the long-time note. In the city a
merchant who needs money, usually with the aid of the
name of another responsible citizen, may go to the
bank and borrow money on call or for 30, 60 or 90 days,
at a very low rate of interest. The bank soon receives
this money again and it is kept in continual circula-
tion. If the rural banks are to be established in the
near future, under authority of Congress, and handle
the funds of the community in a manner whereby it is
possible to give long-time notes, it will be of immense
benefit to the farmer. For instance, in the purchase
of a farm by a man capable and industrious and honest.

124 THE LURE OF THE LAND

who expects to pay a large part of the purchase price
from the proceeds of the farm, it is necessary that many
years elapse before the whole of the purchase price can
be realized from the products of the farm. Here is the
ideal place for a long-time note at low interest. Such
notes may run five or even ten years, if they do not
represent too large a portion of the purchase price.
A system of credits of this kind can also be properly
coupled with a sinking fund, namely, that the farmer
not only pays the interest annually or semi-annually,
but also a small portion of the principal, thus gradually
reducing his indebtedness and the amount of interest
he has to pay.

POSSIBLE RATE OF INTEREST.

With a somewhat long experience in farm life, I am
fully convinced that there are very few farms in this
country so well conducted that they could successfully
pay a rate of interest above 6 per cent., and with the
very best farms for security that rate ought to be cut
down to 5 or 4% per cent, for long-time notes secured
by mortgage on the land itself. Naturally a bank that
had a lot of long-time paper would have to be most con-
servatively conducted. Its deposits subject to check
would have to be strictly controlled, so that it would be
possible at all times to secure the money for the pay-
ment of individual checks. Greater stability is secured
in these cases by the depositor placing his money in the
bank subject to order at a future date. In other words.
a certain percentage of the farmer's deposits might be
subject to immediate check, but any large portion of
them should be subject to check only on notice of one,
three or five months. Thus all danger of having a run
upon the bank would be avoided and the officials would

FARM FINANCE 125

have ample time, in the case of having a large part of
their deposits invested in long-term notes, to secure the
amounts necessary to meet the time demands.

EUEAL CREDITS.

The details of a system of rural credits can be worked
out in this country only after a few years of experi-
ence with banks in actual operation. It would be im-
possible for any financier, no matter how keen his in-
sight might be, to foresee all the problems which will
come in connection with supervised rural banks. The
problem, however, is not one that is insolvable. Nat-
urally supervision of the expenditures of the money
secured from the banks on long-time rural credit notes
must be in the hands of the banks themselves. From
each one who borrows a written statement of the pur-
poses to which the money is to be devoted should be se-
cured, and the bank officials should see that the money
is expended strictly in harmony with the purposes for
which it was borrowed. Otherwise it might be possible
for borrowers from the bank to keep it in continual
trouble.

This would be most easily done if the money secured
on the loan were spent for the unnecessary or frivolous
purposes which were mentioned above.

I do not believe that farmers should be encouraged to
go into debt. The best farmer is the one who owes
nothing and still has money in the bank. But I do
believe that for the purchase and proper equipment of
the farm in all the respects which I have mentioned
it is advisable, permissible and necessary, for the farmer
to go into debt. Debts of this kind, however, will be
like debts of honor, and there is little possibility of loss
to rural banks which extend all the courtesies possible

126 THE LURE OF THE LAND

to the farming communities in their neighborhoods,
and for as long a time as may be necessary to work out
the returns and repay loans.

PROPOSED LEGISLATION BESPEC^TING FARM CEEDITS.

Extensive studies have been made of the systems of
farm credits in vogue in European countries, especially
in Germany. The commission authorized by Congress
to make these studies was composed of two United
States Senators, one member of the House of Repre-
sentatives, and three citizens, the personnel being Sen-
ator Duncan U. Fletcher, Chairman, Representative
Ralph W. Moss, Vice Chairman, Senator Thomas P.
Gore, Mr. Harvie Jordan, Mr. John Lee Coulter, Secre-
tary, Mr. Kenyon L, Butterfield, President of the Mas-
sachusetts Agricultural College, and Mr. Clarence J.
Owens, Secretary of the Southern Commercial Con-
gress. A full report was made by this commission to
the Congress of the United States, and published as
Senate Document No. 380, 63d Congress, 2d Session.

In considering the whole question of rural credits
for the benefit of agriculture, the commission made the
following statement:

In considering this question the commission has attempted to
define, in the first place, the needs of the American farming
population in a financial sense. As noted above, a careful
consideration of this point has resulted in its defining these
needs as being two in number, as follows :

First. The farmer's capital requirements, by which is meant
the need of the farmer for large sums of money to be used in
aiding to pay the purchase price of the farm, in improving his
farm, such as erecting new farm buildings, draining, irrigating
or clearing, or in equipping the farm so as to bring his opera-
tions to the highest state of efficiency.

The money needed for these purposes must be in the shape of

FARM FINANCE 127

a more or less permanent investment, or in the shape of loans
extending over such a long period of time that they can be
gradually reduced and paid off out of the increased earnings
derived from the improvements made or the equipment added
by the farmer with the proceeds of such loans. ,This is gen-
erally referred to as long-term or land-mortgage credit.

Second. The farmer's temporary or annually recurring re-
quirements, by which is meant the money needed by him to
finance his operations during the time that the crops are being
produced. These temporary requirements recur every year and
embrace the financial needs of the farmer for the purpose of
preparing the land, sowing and cultivating the crops, and
harvesting the same. This is generally referred to as personal
or short-term credit. But the short-term credit of the farmer
should be distinguished from the short-term credit of the mer-
chant or manufacturer. The merchant requires banking ac-
commodation for 30, 60 or 90 days, during which period he
can dispose of the stock acquired and repay the loan ; in con-
trast, the farmer may require short-term credit extending from
the time the crops are planted until they are harvested, and this
may be fixed approximately at from 90 days to 1 year. After
the crops are harvested and stored in a barn, elevator, or ware-
house, the need of agricultural banking is largely removed, as
the financial handling of the crops so stored then comes under
the province of commercial banking.

The questions, therefore, to be considered resolve themselves
into the methods of furnishing for the farmer long-term, or
land-mortgage, credit and short-term, or personal, credit. For
convenience in discussing these two systems of credit, long-term,
or land-mortgage, credit will be hereafter referred to as mort-
gage credit, because such credit must necessarily be based on
the security of the land owned by the farmer and because such
mortgage credit must for convenience be again subdivided into
long term mortgage credit and short-term mortgage credit, as
will be hereinafter shown. Short-term credit, or personal
credit, as above defined, will be hereinafter referred to as per-
sonal credit.

In the opinion of this commission these two general classes
of credit must be largely segregated, although the two systems
will naturally touch at many points. Further, in the judgment
of this commission, the development of a system of farm land

128 THE LURE OF THE LAND

banks is the most important and the primary step to be taken
in order to improve our agricultural-credit conditions. It
naturally and necessarily precedes the development of personal
credit. This history of European systems has shown that the
land-mortgage banks preceded the personal-credit banks. In
this country it is urgently necessary to create a land-mortgage
security which will be entirely liquid by reason of having a
ready market, which will run for a long time, which can be
paid off in small annual or semiannual instalments, and
which will enable the land-owning farmer to use most ad-
vantageously his best banking asset, land, as the basis of credit.

In this part of the report the problems of mortgage credit
will be first considered, since definite recommendations have
already been carefully prepared suggesting important national
legislation. The problems of personal credit will follow in a
separate section of the report to be submitted at an early date.

In discussing the bearing of the experience of the European
countries upon this question, special reference may be made to
Germany as an illustration, since both systems of credit have
attained very great efficiency in that Empire and remarkable
results to the farmer have been secured, doubtless to a large
extent as a result of the growth of agricultural credit. If
space permitted, this comparison could be extended to other
countries which were visited by the commission to good ad-
vantage, but probably additional and extended comparisons
would make this report too voluminous.

In considering the conditions in Germany, as applying to
the conditions in the United States, the essential points of
difference between the two countries should always be borne in
mind. In size the German Empire is about equal to the area
of the State of Texas after cutting off from Texas an area as
large as the State of Alabama. In population the German
Empire contains about 68,000,000 people, or more than two-
thirds of the population of the whole United States. In in-
tensive farming the Germans are far ahead of our own farm-
ing population, and the average production in Germany has
increased greatly, while our average yield per acre has increased
but slowly. In Germany the population in a given district is
largely homogeneous, and the individual is, so to speak, attached
to the soil, the same farms continuing in the same families for
generations. In this country such a condition is seldom found.

FARM FINANCE 129

In Germany, on account of the limited supply of land and the
large population, and on account of the known productivity of
each piece of land, the value of that land is easily ascertained
and varies within very slight limits. In this country the varia-
tions in value are very great. In Germany the average farm
is about 20 acres; in this country the average farm is 138
acres. In Germany the credit and resources of the individual
in a community are known to practically every other individual
in that community; in this country no such accurate informa-
tion is obtainable. In Germany the small farmer, his wife, and
children all do manual work on the farm, in this country such
a condition is rare. In Germany the people have been trained
to a supervision and control of their operation by strict gov-
ernment regulations, which would not be favored in this coun-
try.

LONG-TIME MORTGAGE.

In every system of rural credits a special emphasis
must be laid upon the long-time mortgage or long-time
credit as distinguished from short-term or short mort-
gages, which are usually the securities in ordinary mu-
nicipal banking. This system of mortgage credit the
commission found has existed in Europe since the
reign of Frederick the Great, and has been especially
developed in Germany, and in the German states in
Prussia. The fundamental principle of land-mortgage
bonds in vogue in these localities is the issue of bonds
which are based on the total value or security of many
pieces of real estate, instead of on individual holdings.

This principle may well be illustrated as follows:
At the present time, if four farmers living on adjoining
farms desire to secure mortgages for any purpose what-
ever on their land, each one acts independently of all
the others. In the collective system above referred to
the mortgage would be laid upon the whole of this
property for the benefit of the residents thereon, on
terms agreed upon by these residents. It is easy to see

130 THE LURE OF THE LAND

that an extensive mortgage of this kind would be re-
garded as a better security than an individual mort-
gage, and it is for this reason that the rate of interest
of the mortgage might be considerably lower. This
form of mortgage is indeed an agricultural cooperation,
and is a very primitive form of association among
farmers which they can all easily understand and readily
take part in.

LONG-TIME LOANS.

In general it is found that all loans that exceed five
years in term are classified as long-term loans. The
principal of these loans is not made repayable all at
once, but in small annual or semi-annual payments.
This latter method of re-payment is generally known
as amortization. The issue of land mortgage bonds of
this kind, connected with this method of amortization
payments, is the distinctive feature of European long-
term mortgage credit. In the opinion of the commis-
sion this feature should be incorporated in any system
of rural credits authorized by Congress for the general
benefit of agricultural borrowers of the country. Nat-
urally under this system the duration of the loan is de-
termined by the rate of partial payments on the amorti-
zation scheme. The commission gives the following
example :

If 4 per cent, bonds are selling at par and the bank
charges thirty-five one-hundredths of 1 per cent, for adminis-
tration, then an amortization rate of fifty one-hundredths of 1
per cent, will extinguish the debt in 54^/2 years; that is to say,
the borrower will pay the bank a rate of 4.85 per cent, on the
sum borrowed for 54% years. The bank divides this payment
into three parts; 4 per cent, goes to pay the interest due on
the collateral trust bond which the bank issued to secure the
money which was loaned to the farmer; fifty one-hundredths

FARM FINANCE 131

of 1 per cent, is applied toward the payment of the principal,
and the bank receives thirty-five one-hundredths of 1 per cent
for expenses and profits. If the bond sells below par, either
the farmer must pay a commission to the bank or the discount
must be met by the bank from its administration fund; on the
other hand, if the bonds sell above par, the premium may go
to the borrower or to the institution in the form of profit.
Generally speaking, the interest rate to the borrower is deter-
mined by the market value of the bank's collateral trust bonds,
generally referred to as land-mortgage bonds, the rate to the
borrower rising as the bond falls below par, and lowering as it
advances above par.

If the rate for amortization is higher than fifty one-
hundredths of 1 per cent., the loan will necessarily be extin-
guished in a shorter period than 54V2 years.

A limitation as to time is usually fixed by law as well as
to the rate which the bank may charge for administration.
In actual operation in Europe the time limitation varies in
general from 30 to 60 years, and the charge for administration
varies from fifteen one-hundredths of 1 per cent, in a purely
mutual association of borrowers to thirty-five one-hundredths
of 1 per cent, in joint-stock banks. The French law allows
a margin of sixty one-hundredths of 1 per cent., as does the
recent Spanish law. This charge is computed on the principal
sum remaining unpaid, and in long-time loans it is therefore a
constantly decreasing charge to the borrower.

These rates of payment for interest, amortization, and
administration are definitely fixed in the terms of the mort-
gage and can not be changed by the bank. The borrower,
however, is always given the right to discharge his obligations
at any interest period after a fixed time. This period is com-
monly designated in Europe as 10 years. This right is a
double protection to the borrower. First, it protects the
debtor against any demand for payment of his entire debt or
an increase in the annual interest charges; second, the pro-
vision for repayment at pleasure gives the borrower complete
protection against a general fall in interest rates. This will
be a very important feature to American debtors, since the
tendency in the United States will be toward lower interest
rates for farmers. Under such a contract a borrower could
safely assume a liability maturing regularly over a long period

132 THE LURE OF THE LAND

of time, because if interest rates were to fall he could borrow
money elsewhere at the lower rate of interest, discharge his
obligation, and thus secure the advantages of a cheaper rate
on money.

BUBAL CBEDITS FBEE FBOM TAXATION.

The commission further points out that in order to
make these long-time bonds as cheap to the farmer as
possible, it is of prime significance to make them free
of taxation. I have long been of the opinion that the
system of double taxation which is so largely practised
in this country is fundamentally, morally and ethically
wrong. For instance, if a farmer borrows money on a
mortgage, he has to continue to pay his tax on the land
which secures the mortgage. At the same time the
person who holds the mortgage is taxed upon the mort-
gage itself, which is naturally another tax upon the
land, as the rate of interest must be high enough to
pay the man who loans the money a reasonable interest
and also to enable him to pay the tax upon his holdings.

The commission therefore strongly urges that these
long-time mortgages at low rates be specifically ex-
empted from taxation both by state and national au-
thorities. They quote President Taft to the effect that
farmers are paying higher interest rates than any other
class of business men, and refer to the fact that in the
Middle West, where land values range from $100 up-
ward per acre, if the land be mortgaged for 50 per cent,
of its value, and if the mortgage is taxed, the debtor
owner is investing $50 per acre and paying interest on
$50 per acre. He is also paying directly the tax on the
land and paying indirectly the tax on the mortgage,
which is essentially what I have pointed out above.
The commission, continuing, says:

FARM FINANCE 133

Under these conditions — rising land values and cumulative
taxation — the land is slowly but surely passing away from
resident ownership to landlord ownership. Farm tenancy is
undeniably on the increase.

Attention is called to the fact that without some mod-
ification of our present laws of taxation, the substitu-
tion of the European system of land mortgage will ma-
terially increase the possibilities of taxing fictitious
values. The lender creditor does not receive the ob-
ligation of the borrower debtor, who issues his obliga-
tion, namely, the mortgage to a bank, and this bank
in turn issues a second obligation, the collateral trust
bond or land-mortgage bond, to the real creditor, the
man who invests his money. If all these values are
taxed, the land, the mortgage, and the bond, we will have
increased the burden of taxation, which, under present
conditions, rests so heavily on the owners of mortgaged
real estate.

DIFFICULTIES BY REASON OF STATE SOVEREIGNTY.

The commission also calls attention to a difficulty
which will arise in the institution of a system of long-
term mortgages of an agricultural character in this
country by reason of our double sovereignty. Not only
are taxes laid by the nation in this country under vari-
ous forms, such as customs and internal revenue taxes,
taxes on manufactured products and incomes, but also
we have a system of wholly independent taxation in
the States, based on the theory of the absolute sov-
ereignty of the State. The State, however, delegates
its authority largely to the counties, so that special
taxes for special purposes may be laid in the counties
for school, road and other purposes, to be levied and
spent within the county. This multiple system of tax-

134 THE LUKE OF THE LAND

ation by independent sovereignties will of course re-
quire a special form of guaranty of land titles to secure
the lender of the money from any possible loss.

It is therefore important, in order to secure these
long-term mortgages at the lowest rate of interest, that
the various States should undertake some form of guar-
anty of the title, so that the borrower may have no doubt
whatever respecting the legality of the title on which
his money is placed. If it is the purpose of the na-
tional and state governments to promote agricultural
credits, then it is proper for them to do so in every
reasonable way, and the guaranty of the title would re-
move one of the objections which so many people have
to lending money on real estate.

It is recognized, by reason of this multiple form of
government, that in any system of rural credits which
may be proposed by Congress the sovereignty of the
State must receive direct recognition, and that in no
case would any set of banks in any one State be permit-
ted to operate in the lending of money on collateral or
other mortgages in other States. There would there-
fore be as many separate units of rural credits as there
are separate States. In the large States it is also ad-
visable that the areas of operation of the rural banks
should be still further restricted. In other words, in
the large States two or more areas can be fixed by the
legislature to which the rural bank system of credits
is confined. The more densely populated a community
is, and the more restricted its area, the more workable
will be the system of long-time rural mortgages. For
this reason the area of the State will be the largest
possible unit which could be made available for the pro-
tection of a general mortgage note. This plan of rural
credits promises a lower rate of interest on farm loans.

FARM FINANCE 135

STABILITY OF THE SYSTEM.

If a system of mortgage rural banks be established,
and an act of Congress, supplemented by an act of the
state legislatures, strictly limits the field of its opera-
tions, there should be no possibility under such estab-
lishments of wrecking the bank or of its going into the
hands of a receiver.

The resources should also bear a definite ratio to the
liabilities, and by a large percentage thereof, and the
method of checking, by reason of state and national
examiners, should be such as to detect any weak spots
and strengthen them before they have become danger-
ous to the system.

The commission also calls attention to the fact that
it is not necessary that the capital and surplus of the
mortgage bank should be entirely invested in these long-
time mortgages, but they may be invested in other
shorter term securities. The resources of the bank
may be, under proper restrictions, safely advanced from
time to time in short-term loans at a higher rate of in-
terest. The issue of collateral trust bonds secured by
large areas of mortgaged territory is a slow process.
Pending the completion of such issues, there could be
no objection to the investment of the resources of the
bank in shorter term notes properly secured. For this
reason the land-mortgage bond, based upon the land-
mortgage security itself, which can be sold in the open
market and thus converted into liquid currency, is an
important feature of the operation of banks of this
kind. A certain proportion of the capital of these
banks, under proper restrictions, should be reserved
for just such purposes. In other words, the long-time
mortgages themselves may be converted into temporary

136 THE LURE OF THE LAND

currency by means of the sale of the land-mortgage
bonds.

TYPE OF BAJTK.

The type of the institution which shall be the bank-
ing unit has also been the subject of careful investiga-
tion. In Europe the original corporation was simply
a mutual association of farmers in which the borrowers
assumed an unlimited mutual liability. A member of
this association owning real estate could mortgage his
lands and was given the amount of his mortgage in
bonds, based on the collective value of all the lands of
the members of the association. He would then sell
these bonds to any customer he might be able to find
individually, and thus convert his mortgage into money.
The association of farmers simply issued bonds against
the collective security, which was the whole of their
lands, and delivered these bonds to the borrower in ex-
change for his mortgage. It did not necessarily give
any assistance to the borrower in either selling the
bonds or keeping their value up in the market after the
sale.

Following this primitive system joint-stock banks
were established, and these banks had particularly for
their function to become a selling agency, to dispose of
the bonds issued to the individual mortgagor to a better
advantage than he possibly could by going into the mar-
ket himself. Thus these joint-stock banks, secured as
they were by the general mortgage on the lands of the
whole association, were able to supply the individual
borrower with the money which he wanted, and they
stood, of course, in a position to repurchase these bonds
whenever they saw fit, thus reducing their liabilities.
The amount of bonds in proportion to the mortgaged

MOVING THE THRASHING OUTFIT

HAULING WATER FOR THE TRACTION ENGINE

FAEH FINANCE 137

capital was kept strictly within the limits of safety,
and this would give a complete guaranty to the sound-
ness of the issue.

The commission recommends as a bank best suited
to the people of this country an institution with a foun-
dation share capital limited to loans on agricultural
real estate within a circumscribed area. The minimum
capital should not be less than $10,000, with compul-
sory increase, either by accumulation of surplus funds
or sale of capital stock in proportion to the increase in
the volume of its business.

Also, in the judgment of the commission, any legis-
lation providing for the establishment of land mort-
gage banks should authorize the establishment of co-
operative as well as private joint-stock institutions.
Any attempt to force all of our rural banking institu-
tions into one rigid form would probably fail. In these
cooperative or private stock banking institutions there
should be no difference in the methods of doing busi-
ness, the only difference being in the form of organiza-
tion.

STATE AID TO RURAL *CREDIT.

The question of state aid to rural banking systems
is one of great significance. In this country there has
been a persistent opposition to the aiding of any bank-
ing system by the nation or the State. Nevertheless,
the country has been honeycombed with state banks,'
and in former years with most disastrous effects in some
of the States. The State will have a greater interest
in a banking system in which it has a financial interest
than it can have in any other way. Therefore, as a
means of security and conservatism of administration,
it seems advisable that the nation or the States should
extend some financial aid to the banking system.

138 THE LURE OF THE LAND

In Europe the rural banks are often helped by the
State. In Austria, in fact, the mortgage banks are
strictly state or provincial institutions whose bonds are
guaranteed by the State or province chartering the
banks. In France, the State gives a subsidy of $2,000,-
000 to the Credit Foncier, and also gives it a monop-
oly of the long-term mortgage business. The rest of
the capital, however, of the Credit Foncier has been
raised by the sale of its stock, and in all of the essen-
tial principles of its administration it corresponds to
the ordinary banking system of the United States, with
the difference that certain special privileges are granted
to the Credit Foncier by the State in order to aid more
readily these long-time investments.

The Commission finds that in every instance in Eu-
rope where government capital has been granted to es-
tablish mortgage credit, the results have been favorable
to the agricultural interests of that nation, but it is
their opinion that such aid should not be extended in
the United States. With a farm property the value of
which is computed at $40,000,000,000, and is rapidly
increasing in value, the commission is of the opinion
that this value is as stable as the foundations of our
Government and is sufficient to attract capital in ample
volume to improve and cultivate its area without sub-
vention from our Treasury.

DIFFICULTIES ARISING FROM SPAR.SENESS OF
POPULATION.

I, of course, do not like to inject any personal opinion
against the consensus of so wise a body of men as that
composing this rural commission. However, I call at-
tention to the fact that our agricultural population is
much more segregated than in Germany. It will be

FARM FINANCE 139

much more difficult to get them together and imbue them
with a common purpose. The idea of pooling the total
value of the land in a community would be most shock-
ing to our rural centers. As a result, any legislation
looking to the establishment of such a system of banks
would take root but slowly. It is important, however,
that some such system be speedily established for eco-
nomic reasons to the farmer. In my opinion the es-
tablishment of this system would go on much more
rapidly if at first some guaranty could be attached,
either of the nation or of the States. When the system
is fully understood by our people and its value appre-
ciated, then State and national aid may be withdrawn
without damage.

CONCLUSIONS OF THE COMMISSION.

1 Without going further into the discussion of the vari-
ous details of the proposed banking system, I shall con-
tent myself with giving the conclusions of the commis-
sion in regard to this most interesting matter :

Day by day we are using the power of the whole people to
do more cheaply or more efficiently some duty which had hith-
erto been performed by the individual. In agriculture we have
been a pioneer people, actively engaged in taking possession of
the surface of a great empire. Our farmers have been en-
gaged in the hard labor of improving their farms, building
school-houses and churches, and constructing bridges and roads
for the public welfare. Science has but recently informed us
that the fertility of our soils must be maintained and where
depleted must be restored. We all know that our herds of
meat-bearing animals must be increased.

While it may be said that these duties pertain particularly
to the individual farmers, it can be answered in reply that farm-
ers have not been able to accumulate sufficient free capital to
meet the present situation. Our population has grown more
rapidly than our agriculture has been able to expand on a scien-

140 THE LURE OF THE LAND

tific basis. It has been possible for our railroads and other
highly organized industries to look forward to the future and
estimate the rapidly growing demands of the public on their
services. And yet, in many directions, we can see that our
population has outrun the ability of our public-service corpora-
tions to serve them efficiently.

Agriculture has been the one great national industry which
has been without organization and has been absolutely helpless
before the wonderful growth of our Nation. Therefore, the
financing of our farms has become a national problem. The
savings of the Nation must flow out to the farms in order to put
agriculture on a proper basis as compared with other organized
industries. This can only be done by wise and patriotic legis-
lation. Farm securities must be honored by Nation, by State,
and by individual. Fortunately everybody will profit by such
cooperation. The investor — from the smallest creditor to the
largest capitalist — can purchase a security which has been
thoroughly investigated by a bank under strict Government
inspection, and which in addition is guaranteed by the capital
of the bank. He has secured a bond which is practically as
safe as a security can be. The owner of the property has been
equally accommodated, since he can readily secure a loan on
his property up to 50 per cent, of its value. The general pub-
lic will be greatly benefited, because the cost of living will al-
ways be predicated upon the great law of supply of foodstuffs
produced from the earth, and the volume consumed by the peo-
ple who inhabit the earth.

There should be no hesitation, therefore, in enacting legisla-
tion which will give land-mortgage bonds — which are the basis
of all true long-term rural credit — that favorable position
which is always accorded State and Federal bonds, for both are
based on the public wealth and are issued to strengthen and to
perpetuate our Nation.

In closing this section of its report the commission desires to
refer to the fact that the commercial world has had constructed
for it a magnificent system of commercial banks ; the frugal la-
borers and savers of the cities have their system of savings
banks and building and loan associations, and the great corpo-
rations have their trust companies. All of these and other sim-
ilar financial institutions assist in the financing of the agricul-
tural industry to some extent, but none of them is adequate or

I

FARM FINANCE 141

can be made adequate to supply this special need without a sac-
rifice to their present field of endeavor. The commission rec-
ognizes that too great ease in borrowing should not be encour-
aged, since this might result in an unreasonable increase in farm
debt. On the other hand, it should not be forgotten that under
the present system tenancy continues to increase and farmers
have outstanding obligations easily exceeding two billions of
dollars secured by mortgages on their farms, much of which
was negotiated under very unfavorable circumstances and with
very high rates of interest. It is believed that under the plans
which have been formulated herein, and which are intended to
be supplementary to the existing system, tenancy may be de-
creased, the needs of farmers be taken care of, and at the same
time the outstanding obligations may be refunded on much
more favorable terms and gradually reduced by the regular
payment of small annual instalments impossible under the
general system now found in this country.

As carrying out the conclusions reached by this commission
in its efforts to formulate a plan for the creation of land-mort-
gage banks, a form of bill has been drafted, which is attached
to this report as a part thereof, and which is respectfully rec-
ommended to the consideration of Congress as an outline of
legislation providing adequate facilities for meeting the needs
of the farmers for long-term or land-mortgage credit.

As a result of its deliberations and of the hearings
before the various committees, the Commission sug-
gested a form of a bill to be considered by the Congress
of the United States entitled

A bill to provide for the establishment, operation, and
supervision of a national farm-land bank system in the United
States of America, for the creation of depositaries for pos-
tal savings and other public funds, and for other purposes.

Various efforts have been made to secure the consid-
eration of this bill at the present session of Congress.
Other matters, however, of public interest, and espe-
cially the debates on the repeal of the free toll clause in
the operation of the Panama Canal and the time spent

142 THE LURE OF THE LAND

in the discussion of more efficient methods of controlling
trust operations, have convinced the leaders of the dom-
inant party that there will be no time left for the con-
sideration of this bill during the present session.

That such an act, however, as has been outlined
above and the title of which is given, will become a law
in the near future, there is little doubt. Inasmuch as
the proposed legislation will probably be radically
changed before it becomes a law, it would be a useless
consumption of space to given even an outline of it. The
commission has gone over the whole subject most care-
fully, and has tried to safeguard not only the interests
of the farmers themselves, but also of the banking sys-
tem as a whole, in the various provisions of the bill.
One important Section is No. 18, which provides:

That every national farm-land bank incorporated under the
terms of this act and the capital stock and surplus therein and
the income derived therefrom and the mortgages and deeds of
trust (and the notes and bonds secured thereby) held by said
bank and the national land-bank bonds issued by the same shall
be exempt from Federal, State, and local taxation, except in
respect to taxes upon real estate.

RESTRICTION ON THE USE OF BORROWED MONEY.

Another important provision, which has already been
referred to in the preceding discussion, is found as a
part of Section 16. In this Section it is provided that:

Every national farm-land bank shall have the following
specific powers:

To make loans upon farm lands anywhere within the State
in which such national farm-land bank is operated: Provided,

(1) That such loans are made for not more than thirty-five
years.

(2) That such loans are secured by a first mortgage or first
deed of trust on farm lands.

FAEM FINANCE 143

(3) That such loans shall be made for any of the following
purposes :

(a) To complete the purchase of the agricultural lands mort-
gaged.

(b) To improve and equip such lands for agricultural pur-
poses.

(c) To pay and discharge debts secured by mortgages or
deeds of trust on said lands.

(4) That such loans do not exceed fifty per centum in
amount in the case of improved farm lands, and do not exceed
forty per centum in amount in other cases, of the value of the
said lands; to be determined by an appraisal, as provided in
this act.

(5) That every such farm-land loan contain a mandatory
provision for the amortization of such loan, or reduction of
the same by annual or semi-annual payments on account of
principal: Provided, That the loan extends over a period ex-
ceeding five years.

(6) That every such loan may be paid off in whole or in part
by the borrower, in accordance with rules to be prescribed by
the commissioner of farm-land banks, at any interest period,
after such loan has continued for five years, by the payment of
the whole or a part of such loan, with interest to such date,
after crediting the amortization payments on the same as and
when they were made.

In a final review of this most interesting subject I
may say that, as a result of the investigations which
have been made by the United States commission and
the wise recommendations which they have made in re-
gard to the matter, the whole system of rural credits
in this country may soon be placed upon an entirely
new basis. In this transformation not only will the
farmer be able to get his money at a lower rate and for
a longer time, but he will be supervised in the applica-
tion of it for the specific purposes for which it was ob-
tained. Meanwhile the borrower, on account of the
increased value and stability of the security, will be
perfectly content to let his money go at a lower rate

144 THE LURE OF THE LAND

of interest in the feeling of absolute certainty that there
is no possibility of his ever losing any part of it. Both
borrower and lender will thus be benefited, and agri-
cultural prosperity will be promoted and increased.

A GIANT CHESTNUT, TWENTY- FOUR FEET IN CIRCUMFERENCE THE

LARGEST TREE IN LOUDOUN COUNTY

"The chestnut not only produces a large quantity of oil, but also a large quantity

of starch "

THE FOREST
In the forest he can stand with the trees and God as his auditors "

XVII

"BACK TO THE FARM! "

MY father told me (and I often heard him tell other
boys in the country where I was brought up, for
the purpose of inducing them to stay at home and not
go to the city), the following story: " A farmer with
three sons was asked what he purposed to make of them.
He replied : ' John is the brightest of my boys, the
most industrious, anxious to work, and quick to learn.
I am going to make a farmer of him. Sam would
rather talk than work, and is fond of telling all he
knows and much that he imagines. I am going to
make a lawyer of him. Thomas is the laziest one of
all my boys. In fact, he is so lazy that he never gets
into any trouble of any kind. I am going to make a
preacher of him.' '

This story may be a little hard on the other profes-
sions, but it illustrates the contention which will some
day be acknowledged by the whole country, namely, that
farming requires the greatest industry, the keenest in-
tellect, and the best training of all of the professions.

One of the most striking features of the last census
is the record of decreasing population in agricultural
centers and increasing population in the great cities.
The tide of settlement which for many years had been
flowing toward the unoccupied lands of the country
has now turned, and is flowing toward the large cities.
The result is of course easily foreseen. The number

145

146 THE LUKE OF THE LAND

of consumers of food products is constantly growing
greater, the number of producers smaller. This is not
necessarily a cause for alarm. Fortunately there have
been established in this country a number of agricul-
tural colleges and experiment-stations in which the prin-
ciples of scientific agriculture are taught. Methods of
checking the depletion of the soil and of recovering
exhausted fields have now been well developed and
are practically enforced. Moreover, improvements in
farm machinery have rendered the labor of the farmer
more productive. I believe it may be said with a fair
degree of accuracy that a day's skilled labor on the
farm at the present time produces twice as much food
as it did fifty years ago, and although the country dis-
tricts have been to a certain extent depopulated and the
cities overpopulated, the supply of the products of the
soil in the way of food and clothing has more than kept
pace with the increase in population. Yet the curious
condition has arisen that while the consumer in the city
pays a great deal more for what he eats and wears than
he did a few decades ago, the farmer in the country
gets little, if any, more for his products.

The result of this condition of affairs is that while
in many respects the cost of living on the farm has been
increased through the desire of the farmer to give a
better education to his children and to be the possessor
of more of the luxuries of life, he has not been secur-
ing a corresponding increase in his income. More-
over, the price of farm labor has greatly increased. In
the old days a good hand would work on the farm by
the year for twelve or thirteen dollars a month and his
board. This, too, meant real work; for the farm-hand
was expected to be up early in the morning, to help feed
and care for the stock, and perhaps help with the milk-

"BACK TO THE FARM! " 147

ing; and with only short intermissions for meals, his
work went on till dark, no matter how long the day.
I am not an advocate for such long hours of labor; I
am only stating conditions as they formerly existed.
This was the condition of affairs that has led Abe Mar-
tin, the Hoosier philosopher, to say, " Twelve dollars
a month an' no picture-shows makes Jack leave the
farm." At the present time the laborer is not expected
to begin work until seven o'clock, and he has an inter-
mission of an hour at noon, and " knocks off " at six.
At the same time he is not satisfied with seventy-five
cents or a dollar a day, but must have a dollar and a
quarter for ordinary labor, while at harvest and corn-
gathering his wages rise to two dollars or more a day.
Paying cash for labor is a burden to the farmer which
is well-nigh intolerable; and yet if he does his own
work, he must either have a very small farm or a very-
large family of boys and girls, who, moreover, are likely
to leave him as they approach their majority. It is
not strange, therefore, that the cry, " Back to the
farm ! " fails to appeal to the boy and the man in the
city.

WHY THE BOY LEAVES THE FAUM.

Why does the boy — not the lazy boy, but the boy
of industrious habits — leave the farm in the first place ?
Because of his desire for a greater opportunity. He
sees in the city a greater future for himself than he can
possibly expect on the farm, and he will continue to go
just as long as city life offers greater chances for suc-
cess and a happier existence. Have we ever studied
the psychology of the farmer's boy who has seriously
considered his own future? These musings are doubt-
less very much alike. I remember my own mental at-

148 THE LURE OF THE LAND

titude. I was born near the Ohio Biver, and could
hear the whistle and see the smoke of the passing boats.
When I lay under the wide-spreading beech-tree dur-
ing my midday rest, I did not dream of a future on the
farm. My thoughts followed the southward-moving
steamboat down to the Mississippi, down past Memphis
and Vicksburg, down to the cane-fields of Louisiana, to
New Orleans and the gulf. My ambition was some
day to get a passage on one of those boats and seek my
career and my fortune in the South. Other boys on
the farm have similar dreams.

What, then, are we to do to stop the flowing of the
best blood of the farm to the city? The answer, it
seems to me, is a simple one: make the farm a more
productive place than the city, and its prospects for a
career more certain. It is true that it is useless to
hold up to the future farmer dreams of wealth such as
that which is acquired on Wall Street, though it will
be easy to show that Wall Street wealth is not the re-
sult of productive industry, but is the gleaning and
reaping from the wealth of others. It is speculative
wealth, a form of acquirement which will some day be
forbidden by law. On the contrary, there can be held
up to the intending farmer of the future a wealth of
independence, of joy, and of productive industry which,
joined with a fair monetary reward, should be, and
probably will be, more alluring than the city life of to-
day. It is useless to preach to the boy of the dangers
of temptation. He is willing to take his chances, be-
cause his neighbor and playmate has gone to the city
and is earning more money in some modest employment
than he could ever dream of earning on the farm. A
salary of even fifty dollars a month attracts him might-
ily, and when he thinks of the possibility of getting as

" BACK TO THE FARM! " 149

much as a hundred dollars a month, it is a promise of
opulence. In addition to this, he has the city lights,
the city streets, the city amusements, and the stimulus
of companions, all of which appeal to a boy, and all of
which are natural desires.

MAKE FARM LIFE ATTRACTIVE.

The simple fact remains, however, that life in the
country is the normal life. The man who does not
touch the fresh-turned sod, make his way through the
forest, follow the plow in the field, or gather the cattle
at night, it seems to me, is missing the charm of ex-
istence. The glories of country life have hitherto ex-
isted only in song and story; but at present there are
movements in various parts of the world to make it
attractive. There are numerous magazines and news-
papers devoted to rural life, and not only papers which
teach practical agriculture, the care of registered stock,
the growing of fowls, etc., but newspapers and periodi-
cals devoted to the pleasures of the country and the in-
spiration of country life. Communities are forming,
with clubs and associations, which offer to the persons
living in the country many of the advantages of life in
the city. Country life is becoming less isolated and
more communal. People are beginning to understand
that it is not well to build the house and the barn in the
middle of a large farm, but rather on the corner ad-
joining a neighbor's house and barn. In fact, every
four farmers might form a little community of them-
selves by building their farm-houses in adjoining cor-
ners. In this way, even if the weather were stormy,
there could be society in the evening, and the neighbors
could come together and discuss affairs of common in-
terest.

150 THE LURE OF THE LAND

The church and the school-house are also becoming
places of social enjoyment. In one or two places clubs
have been formed and houses erected where the farmers
can gather as they do in a city club, and these are
equipped with a library, a gymnasium, billiard-tables,
and a swimming-pool. One of the curses of country
life is muddy and impassable roads. Good roads are
now being built throughout the country, and these will
do much toward making country life attractive, because
they mean ease of access and more intimate association,
as well as economic advantages.

The electric trolley is carrying the city into the coun-
try, and making it possible for those who have business
in the city to live in the country and have a little farm
or garden of their own. The wise managers of great
factories are now going into the country and building
their factories in the midst of estates. One of the
largest factories in Massachusetts has grown up where
every employee has an acre or more of land on which
vegetables and other foods are grown. They have an
agricultural fair every year which rivals the county
fair in the wealth of its exhibits, all of which are grown
by the employees. This is indeed bringing the city
into the country. Another Massachusetts corporation
with many thousand employees makes the following
statement in its recent circular:

Instead of setting the factory in the midst of a thickly pop-
ulated community, the Company chose a spot near the seashore,
in a beautiful rolling country, where in a tract of three hun-
dred acres there would be ample opportunity for the develop-
ment of advanced ideas. Among other things the officials felt
that as far as possible the employees should own their homes
and from the beginning they have stood ready to facilitate
this object so far as they were able without going into the real
estate business, or making heads of families feel that the re-

" BACK TO THE FARM! " 151

tention of their homes may be affected in any way by their
continuance in the Company's employ.

ISTo one can doubt the stimulating effect of such a
community upon all the farms and all the farmers in
its vicinity.

Every such settlement of the country not only bene-
fits the laborers and employees of the factory, but also
stimulates and encourages the enterprising farmer.
When man in his wisdom has spread over the surface
of the land somewhat more evenly than at the present
time, there will no longer be isolated spots, producing
melancholia and even insanity in their lonely inhabi-
tants. The city is not a place of production, but only
of exchange, and the wise city of the future will not in-
vite factories of a productive nature, but will exclude
them. Unfortunately the great rivalry between cities
to-day is not so much for the welfare of their individual
citizens, the education of their people, wise and eco-
nomic nutrition, libraries and museums, but simply
for population. The classification of cities for legal
and other purposes is made solely on the basis of their
total population. Thus by act of the legislature we
have cities of the first class and cities of the second
class in which the division is made on the basis of the
number of inhabitants. The keen rivalry among cities
to lead in the number of their population is well known.
One may cite, for instance, the competition between
Minneapolis and St. Paul, between Philadelphia
and Chicago, and just now between St. Louis and
Boston. Even New York aspires in the near future
to rival London not in the kind and character of its
people, but in numbers alone. So far as can be
seen, this sort of rivalry is destined long to continue.
Even in the capital of the country a movement is on

152 THE LUKE OF THE LAND

foot to encourage the establishment of factories, hoping
thus to attract a greater number of people! Washing-
ton at least should be the one city where the productive
factory is unknown.

As I have said in another chapter, the house of the
farmer is now being improved in such a way as to make
him as comfortable as if he lived in the city. The con-
veniences of bath and lavatory are now being installed
in many farm-houses, and the sewage therefrom is
handled in a scientific manner, thus improving sanitary
conditions and making life more comfortable and dis-
ease less imminent.

I am now building on my farm a double tenement
house for the hands I hire by the year and their fam-
ilies. So far as I know these houses for the hands are
the only ones in the neighborhood in which are found
hot and cold water, bathrooms and water closets. The
materials and workmanship of the house are of the best.
Perhaps other farmers may see the humanity and sani-
tation of a septic tank.

MAKE FABMING PEOFITABLE.

All of this, however, is not sufficient to keep people
in the country. The pursuit of agriculture must be-
come more profitable if the country is to reach its full
fruition. Scientific agriculture will help, but to bring
the consumer and the farmer into more intimate con-
tact is most important of all. This will surely be ac-
complished by establishing factories in rural districts,
where farmers can sell direct to the employees of the
works. At the present prices for commodities which
the farmer must buy, he cannot expect to be financially
successful with wheat at a dollar a bushel and fat beeves
at seven dollars a hundred pounds.

"BACK TO THE FARM! " 153

Let me repeat what I have said elsewhere in this
book and give a bill of particulars. I am a fairly good
farmer, born and bred on a farm, and I direct (un-
fortunately in absentia most of the time) a reasonably
good farm. My tenant sold wheat of the crop of last
summer as low as eighty-four cents a bushel within one
hundred miles of Baltimore, which is a great wheat
market. The cost of transportation to Baltimore is a
little over six cents a bushel, so that the price in Balti-
more at the time was ninety cents. This wheat was
grown on land fertilized with so-called commercial fer-
tilizer, and a careful record of all the expenditures, with
all reasonable charges against the land, interest on the
investment, taxes, etc., left only a very small profit.

Again, I bought stock cattle the last of November,
1910, at $46.50 a head. I kept them for about a year,
and sold them for $61.00 a head. If I allow only five
cents a day for the feed and care of these animals, I come
out of the transaction with a loss of more than three
dollars a head. These fat cattle weighed almost exactly
1200 pounds, and were sold at the railway station three
miles from the farm at the rate of $5.30 per hundred-
weight. If I, after long experience of practical farm-
ing and long study of scientific farming, am scarcely
able, or not able, to make farming pay one hundred
miles from Baltimore and only sixty miles from Wash-
ington, are others likely to succeed better ? Yes, I may
answer, if those others spend their days upon the farm,
take part in its labors, and personally direct all of its
affairs.

These are not theoretical conjectures, but figures
from actual experience. A like bill of particulars could
be given for every article grown on the farm, where
labor is all paid for and a correct account kept of all

154 THE LURE OF THE LAND

just charges. The reason the farmer thinks he is mak-
ing money when he is doing work like this is because
he pays himself nothing, does not charge himself rent,
takes no account of interest on the land or of the ex-
penses of its maintenance. He thinks he is making
twenty dollars on every steer that he fattens and sells,
or fifty cents on every bushel of wheat he grows, when
in point of fact he is probably running in debt on both
counts.

THE MIDDLEMAN USEFUL*

I am not in sympathy with the theory that the mid-
dleman is unnecessary. I do not see how I, as a farmer
in Loudoun County, Virginia, can take my products
to New York and sell them direct to the consumer. I
do not believe that the railways of the country are eat-
ing up the farmers' profits. In this country, under the
present method of distribution, the railway is the salva-
tion of agriculture. Without the railway, the cost of
bringing food commodities to the great cities would be
immensely increased, and the price paid to the farmer
would correspondingly diminish, while the price paid
by the consumer would correspondingly increase.
Moreover, trade in food products could not be carried on
without the wholesaler and the retailer. They are, like
the railway, necessary to distribution. But in farming
as in logic we do not want too much undistributed
middle.

The true problem to be solved is the regulation of
these avenues of transportation and methods of distri-
bution, not their suppression. It might be well to ask,
though, if there are not too many railways, too many
brokers and wholesale and retail merchants. In other
words, one of the principal problems relating to country

"BACK TO THE FARM! " 155

life is undoubtedly that which is connected with the
transportation and distribution of agricultural products.
Extreme difficulty will attend the solution of this prob-
lem. The trades, as they are now established, are very
jealous of any control or restrictive legislation. A mere
suggestion that there might be some economic interest
between producer and consumer is met with a chorus
of protests from interested parties. Petitions have al-
ready been laid before the President of the United
States, asking him to muzzle any public official who
indicates that there may be a necessity of reform in this
direction.

THE SPIEJT OF COMMERCIALISM.

It is astonishing how short-sighted some people are
in economic matters. Let me give an instance. In
Washington the school authorities have authorized the
establishment of a lunch-counter in one of the public
high schools where wholesome and hot lunches may be
served at a few cents each. This is intended specially
for the poorer pupils who cannot bring good lunches
from home, but is also intended for those who are well-
to-do, on the theory that the hot lunch is better than
the cold one. In the Washington papers of December
sixth, there is an account of a protest against this ar-
rangement, which has been numerously signed by the
business men of the neighborhood of the school, because
it interferes with the profits of the grocers and res-
taurants in the vicinity !

It is this spirit of selfish commercialism which seems
to me to stand in the way of a betterment of conditions.
I do not claim that the farmer is not actuated by just
as keen a selfishness. As a rule, the farmer, I think,
would not hesitate to get a higher price, even if the ulti-

156 THE LURE OF THE LAND

mate consumer had to pay more. But the problem is
not of this character ; it is predicated on two indisputa-
ble facts: first, that the farmer is at present getting
too little for what he produces, and, second, that the
consumer is paying too much for what he consumes.
Somebody or something in between must be eliminated ;
not the system, but some of its members or practices.

A practice has grown up in the army, and is prob-
ably legalized, whereby the families of officers are per-
mitted to secure from the government stores their food,
clothing, and coal. In talking recently with the wife
of an army-officer I found that the prices paid by her
for these necessities of life are very much lower than
those paid by citizens to the merchants of the town.
Naturally the trade objects to this distribution of the
necessities of life to the families of officers, but it goes
on. Objection may be made to this that it is not good
business. It may be thought that the supplies fur-
nished to officers7 families at the cheap rate mentioned
are really paid for by the taxpayers of the country.
Of course it is true that the food of the army is thus
paid for; but the supplies which are furnished to the
officers' families are furnished at cost, and do not im-
pose any burden of any kind on the taxpayers. The
army is compelled to have its commissaries and its
quartermasters with their clerks, storehouses, etc., and
the distribution of supplies to the families of officers is
thus made without additional cost to the Government.

Mayor Shank of Indianapolis, acting without author-
ity of law and spending not a penny of the citizens'
money, has sold some of the necessities of life in the
open market of that city at a price considerably below
that charged in the public markets. He made a spe-
cialty of potatoes and turkeys for Thanksgiving, and

" BACK TO THE FAEM! " 157

sold directly to the people of the city in this crude way
at a greatly reduced cost. Of course no profit was
made on this transaction, but the consumer was brought
nearer to the producer. To this, objection may be
made that Mayor Shank's action is not " good business."
No, it is true it is not business in the ordinary sense of
the word; that is, Mayor Shank did not go into this
venture for the sake of making money. May not this
experiment, however, show what might well be accom-
plished by governmental control of socialistic activities ?
The recent report of the Postmaster-General shows that
the calendar year has closed with profit, and that all
the money which the Government expended in carry-
ing the mail has been refunded by those who pay for
stamps. This, perhaps, is not " business," but is there
any one who wishes to take the post-office department
out of the hands of the Government and to put it into
competitive trade ?

May I suggest that although this is rank socialism,
it may be the one solution of the problem. The State
now carries our letters and newspapers, and I doubt if
any combination of men who would desire to secure
control of this transportation could influence the peo-
ple of the country to take this away from the State
and give it back to competitive business. Can any
valid reason be presented in opposition to the State's
taking charge of the telephone, the telegraph, and the
express companies in the same manner? If this is
considered to be a legitimate function of the State, has
not Mayor Shank shown a way to cheapen existence ?

I said that I did not see how any fair argument could
be presented against such a scheme. On further re-
flection, I find that there is one. Control by the State
naturally would occupy the services of only a portion

158 THE LURE OF THE LAND

of those who are now engaged in business of this kind.
There would therefore be a considerable number of
people, now engaged in the competitive distribution of
food products, who would be left without employment
and driven to seek other means of living. This might
be hard on other over-crowded occupations. But there
is one occupation which is not over-crowded, that of
skilful labor for the fields. It is not so much the high
price which the farmer has to pay for his labor as it is
the difficulty of getting any at all. In wheat-harvest
and corn-harvest it is almost impossible to get men to
work on the farm, and those who are available are men
who are not skilled and whose services, even at much
more moderate prices, would be expensive.

BETAKDING EFFECT OF LOW WAGES.

But the question may be asked, How can you expect
people to go back to the farm while farm wages are so
low? A man would prefer to remain in the city in
trade which does pay. The .question is, Do these
trades really pay ? Is the man who works in the city
for two dollars and a half a day as well off at the end
of the year as the man who works on the farm for
eighteen dollars a month and his board, or for even less
with his board and lodging? In my opinion the man
who works on the farm and has his board and lodging
provided, as a great many farm-laborers do, even at the
small wage of fifty or sixty cents a day, is better off
at the end of the year, and his children have been better
fed, than the man who works in the city for two dol-
lars and a half a day. The difference lies in the social
advantages and the educational facilities which the city
man has, and not in the amount of money which he
puts into the savings-bank. If we could provide the

" BACK TO THE FARM! " 159

laborer in the country with the same social and educa-
tional life which we provide the laborer in the city, at
the end of the year the country man would be distinctly
ahead. If the movement to bring the city back to the
country succeeds, an opening, it seems to me, would
be made for the employment of those who might be left
without an occupation if " nationalism," rather than
" socialism," were extended to the distribution of the
necessities of life.

There may be other and better ways of correcting
the evils which undoubtedly exist. The above is only
a suggestion of ways that have already been tried, and
with success. When people come back from the city
to the farm, as I picture the farm in the future, it will
not be to lead a life of dreary labor, but rather to en-
gage in an occupation which will command intelligence
and the best business capacity. The problems of bi-
ology, for instance, which farm life presents are of un-
dying interest.

When the city comes back to the country, it will come
with culture, with intelligence, and with knowledge.
The science and art of agriculture, drafting into its
service, as it is doing at the present time, every other
science, will so increase productivity that no Malthus
nor Sir William Crookes will ever rise again and
prophesy starvation for humanity. While the needs
of the human mouth remain constant, the skill of hu-
man hands, and their ability to produce, are becoming
greater and greater. As a rule there are two hands to
each mouth, and these hands in the far future, as far as
philosophy dares look, will be able to supply the wants
of the mouth.

XVIII

POWER ON THE FARM

MANY years ago, in an interview with Mr. Rene
Bache, I suggested the possibility of the farmer
availing himself of the wind as a convenient source of
energy for various purposes, including lighting, heat-
ing, and the driving of small farm machinery. This
interview was published by Mr. Bache, copied in a
great many newspapers, and evidently created a great
interest in the matter. Beyond, however, an academic
interest, very little was done towards putting this idea
into execution. I believe that it was first in England
that it was put into practical effect, and within a year
or two a few wind-mills have been erected in this coun-
try with the same purpose in view.

The idea is a simple one, namely, that as wind is
one of the most widely distributed sources of power,
any method by means of which it can be harnessed and
made uniformly available must of necessity offer to the
farmer some advantage over any other form of power
which can be utilized, whether of steam, gasoline, or
of an animal source. The necessary conditions for
success, as I set forth in my original paper, were the
proper construction of a wind-mill of sufficient capacity
to develop two or three horse-power of electricity, com-
bined with a cheap and inexpensive storage battery
capable of storing the power during the periods of
windy weather, so that it could be utilized in periods

160

POWER ON THE FARM 161

of calm. It is evident that any system of lighting
ahout the farm or barn, or of cooking or heating, which
would be useless when the wind was not blowing, would
not be of practical application.

AMOUNT OF ENERGY AVAILABLE.

A moment's consideration, of the problems involved
will show that they are not insolvable. In the first
place, the amount of energy which is exerted by the
moving currents of air is so great as to be almost im-
measurable. If only a small fragment of the total
energy of moving air could be utilized, it would sup-
plant every other known source of power. When you
consider that a wind-mill of only eighteen feet in di-
ameter will drive a dynamo of very considerable size,
and in addition to furnishing the working requirement
store up any desired quantity of force in a storage bat-
tery, you can readily appreciate the enormous energy
of the moving air currents. Particularly appealing to
the man of some means who desires to go on a farm
is this idea of harnessing the power of the air. It is
simple, clean, inexpensive, requires little attention or
regulation, and is utilizable in many different ways.

There is no source of energy so mobile as electricity.
Now that the scientific world has come to the conclusion
that electricity is the fundamental constituent of the
atom, it lies at the very basis of all power and energy.
The electric force is easily applied to transportation,
the driving of machinery, to the production of heat, and
to the production of light. Thus it has the elements
of universal application. The perfection of the elec-
tric engine and storage battery has made possible the
driving of carriages and even of carriers of freight,
the electric railway trains, both in the city and on

162 THE LURE OF THE LAND

standard lines, and the general adaptation of the elec-
tric force to all forms of power development. It is
therefore the ideal source of power to which the farmer
would turn for the varied needs of his farm and farm-
house.

It is true that the mechanical development of this
idea is still in its infancy. Many failures are doubt-
less to be chronicled before it is perfected. Neverthe-
less, there are already on the market types of electric
turbines which have been successful in operation and
have given great satisfaction. The matter has already
been taken up by at least one agricultural experiment
station, namely, that of North Dakota, and a Bulletin,
namely, No. 105, has been issued by this station on the
subject of Wind-mill Electric Lighting and Power.
Some of the points covered by this Bulletin are the fol-
lowing :

Since electrical energy can be made available to
the farmer of average means for little or nothing, after
the plant is once installed, the farm will become a place
of social relaxation and will serve as a summer resort
as well as a place of business. It will be possible to
have an abundance of light throughout the house. Elec-
tricity can be made to do the pumping to supply water
for the heating tank or for any other place; electric
fans would lessen the extreme warmth of the summer,
for there is nothing more comfortable for the men and
women who have been toiling all day in the summer
heat than the cool, refreshing breeze of an electric
fan.

In the creamery, a motor could easily be arranged
to run the cream separator, churn, butter worker and
the milk tester. Electricity also could be used to pas-

POWER ON THE FARM 163

teurize the milk, manufacture ice and freeze the ice
cream.

Probably the housewife would next consider the
laundry equipment the most important. There is no
other source of energy so adapted to laundry work as is
electricity. The drudgery of the wash-day is done
away with when one is not compelled to turn a washing
machine.

Electricity on the farm not only lessens the drudg-
ery for poor old mother, but helps every individual and
department. Think of the number of fires which occur
every year, because some lantern happened to be tipped
over in the barn. Too often lanterns are hung on un-
reliable nails in places where, if a horse should happen
to upset one, the result would be the burning of the
barn. There is but one solution of this problem; that
is the use of electricity, and motors can be used in the
barn for running the clipper, feed elevator or the milk-
ing machine. Electricity might still be used for vari-
ous other important duties upon the farm, such as
cleaning grain, in the shop for running the forge, drill
press, emery wheel, grindstone, turning lathe, trip ham-
mer, for electric welding, and for vulcanizing automo-
bile tires.

DARIUS GREEN AND PROFESSOR LANGLEiY.

At least one consideration should be kept in view,
namely, that a source of power which is so universal
and so inexhaustible as that of moving air currents,
ought not to be neglected. The farmer now regards
the air only as a carrier of moisture, and sometimes of
storm and tornado. He looks upon moving air with
some suspicion, because at the present time it causes
him apparently more damage than good. But this is

164 THE LURE OF THE LAND

because the air has not been conquered. A few years
ago the possibility of flying through the air was looked
upon as a mere vision. " Darius Green and his flying
machine " were held up for the amusement of the rising
generation rather than its instruction. Even as late as
the time of Professor Langley, the great scientist who
seriously devoted himself to the problem of flying
through the air, scientific and practical men looked
upon it as a mere vagary of the imagination. Now
the air has been conquered in so far as navigation is
concerned. While the dangers are still imminent, the
thing itself has been accomplished.

The true conquest of the air, however, is not by the
balloon, nor the aeroplane; it is in harnessing the air
to do the will of the people. When the mechanical
difficulties have been surmounted, as human ingenuity
can readily accomplish, and when the methods of man-
ufacture have been so perfected as to bring the machines
within the power of the ordinary well-to-do farmer, we
may expect to see great changes and great benefits.
Already steam and gasoline and coal oil are to some ex-
tent supplementing the ox, the horse and the mule as
a means of farm labor, and especially of farm traction.
When we view the victories which electricity has won
as a moving agent in cities and on suburban lines of
railway, and in the conquest of the roads by the motor
car, we are not wise to place any limit to what it may
accomplish on the farm. It is not a prophecy; it is
only a statement of the thing which is certainly about
to be, to look only a few years ahead and see the electric
turbine a part of every farm equipment as much as a
mowing machine and a gang plow are to-day.

In the Electrical Review of August 8, 1913, London,
is an account of an electrical turbine system estab-

POWEK ON THE FARM 165

lished near Adelaide, Australia, which at that time had
been in continuous operation for two years with com-
plete success. The wind wheel in this installation is
18 feet in diameter, placed on a tower 60 feet high.
The generator is of 2% kilowatt capacity. The stor-
age battery consists of 54 cells of 324 Amp, hour
capacity at the 3 hour rate. The total number of lamps
connected with this installation is over one hundred of
varying candle power and the actual average output
amounts to about 3 kilowatts per night. The plant is
also used to operate three flat irons, one radiator, one
electric motor driving a cream separator, some fans
and for occasionally charging the battery of an electric
motor car. The expense consisted of the use of about
30 gallons of distilled water every twelve months for
keeping the battery full and the adjustment of the
grease cups once per month. At the end of two years
there was no sign whatever of wear or tear on the plant
or the battery. The average wind velocity in the vi-
cinity for the year was 8.8 miles per hour. In the
operation of a corn planter a check wire is used which
extends entirely across the field. It is not at all im-
probable that a movable wire which would convey elec-
trical power to a plow or a mowing machine, could be
similarly installed so that the current from the electric
turbine, directly or through the large storage battery,
might well be conveyed to one of the moving agricul-
tural implements described.

It may seem somewhat visionary to prophesy the
day when harvesting and plowing will be accomplished
by the force of the wind ; but it is not a visionary idea,
it is entirely within the realm of possibility. The
farmer at least should have no fear of the increasing
scarcity of wood and the increasing cost of coal. He

166 THE LURE OF THE LAND

need not even depend upon the water power, which, in
the dry season of the - summer, often fails. The wind
is always with him, and is an inexhaustible source of
the energy to drive the machines of his farm, and to
heat and light his house.

In this country a beginning has been made. One
electric turbine has been in successful operation on
Long Island for more than a year. The problems of
the control of the mill with varying velocities of the
wind have been solved. A suitable storage battery has
been provided. A factory at Lewiston, New York, has
been acquired and is in operation. The idea, however,
is so new that it has not had a great vogue. A few
more successful plants in different parts of the country
are needed as object lessons. Electricity bids fair to
be as useful and convenient to the farmer as it has
proved to be to the man in town.

XIX

AGRICULTURAL WASTES

THE Department of Agriculture from time to time
publishes bulletins showing agricultural wastes
and losses. Typical among these are the bulletins re-
lating to losses produced by insects, including the boll
weevil, and to animal diseases of all kinds. Other
great agricultural losses are produced either by exces-
sive or deficient rainfall or very extreme vicissitudes of
temperature. It appears from a cursory study of this
class of literature that the yields of agricultural crops
are materially lessened by these losses of various kinds.
In other words, the common crops of the country are
not so wholly dependent as one might suppose upon the
fertility of the soil and methods of culture, but are
largely determined by accidents, diseases, epidemics, in-
fections and vicissitudes of the weather.

MAGNITUDE OF LOSSES.

The comparison of the average yield of the principal
crops of the United States, from year to year and by
periods of five or ten years, indicates that the magnitude
of these losses must be pretty nearly uniform. To be
sure, there are seasonal variations of considerable im-
portance from year to year, which decrease or increase
production, but these causes are chiefly due to the
weather and not to the other losses to which I have re-
ferred. In the fruit business, especially, the unsea-

167

168 THE LURE OF THE LAND

sonal frosts, precipitation or drought make wonder-
ful differences in crop production, so much so that even
under the best conditions of culture and protection the
apple and the peach crops can only be counted on cer-
tainly about three out of five seasons in any particular
locality. The citrus crops are more uniform, how-
ever, in their production, but when an injury comes to
them by reason of cold weather it is more profound
and enduring than with apples and peaches. Witness
the freezes in Florida some twenty years ago and in
California during the winter of 1912-1913 ! Actual
damage to trees, amounting even to complete destruc-
tion, are not unusual on such occasions, whereas the
apple tree and the peach tree are very rarely killed by
cold weather. The worst that usually happens to them
is the destruction of a single crop, which usually is due
to an inopportune frost after budding or flowering.
The magnitude of these losses on the whole is very
great, so great, indeed, that we are led to believe that
if agriculture was subject to no vicissitudes of the kind
mentioned, the over production would be so enormous
as to render the practice of agriculture practically hope-
less from a profit returning basis.

BAVAGKES OF HOG CHOLERA.

The losses in live stock also are tremendously large.
According to the United States Department of Agricul-
ture, Farmers' Bulletin No. 590, April 23, 1914, more
than seven million hogs were lost by disease during the
previous year, the value of which to the farmer was
$73,000,000. Ninety per cent, of this loss was due to
hog cholera. It is estimated that had this loss not
occurred, 800,000,000 additional pounds of dressed
meat and lard would have been available. This would

AGRICULTURAL WASTES 169

have given to every family in the United States about
forty additional pounds of pork products. It is readily
seen that the injection of such an immensely increased
quantity of pork products on the market must of neces-
sity have produced a very great decrease in price, so
that the farmer probably received as much for the por-
tion of hogs that remained, if not more, than he would
have received if all of them had lived. This season
(1914) the hog cholera made its first appearance for
many years in my neighborhood. To date I have lost
thirty-six shoats, mostly pure bred Tamworths, out of
forty. Many of my neighbors have been still more
unfortunate.

In spite of all the work which has been done by the
Department of Agriculture and the States towards se-
curing immunity from hog cholera, it is stated that the
loss in the Northern States in 1913 was greater than
in previous years, while in the South it was somewhat
less. Evidently no success of any notable character
has attended the expensive efforts which have been
made to secure immunity from this disease. Never-
theless the appropriations for the production of anti-
hog-cholera serum are made most abundantly both by
the federal government and the States, a far larger
sum being devoted to that purpose by the government,
and in many of the States, than is directed towards
saving the lives of infants throughout the country.

The same bulletin gives the information that the
losses of cattle by disease during the preceding year
amounted to 1,737,000 head, of a total value of $68,-
611,000. This includes the losses from exposure as
well as from disease. About half of the losses of cattle
were due to exposure and about half to disease. In
regard to sheep, also, it is stated that the total losses

170 THE LURE OF THE LAND

during the year were 2,224,000 head, of a total value
of $5,581,000. Nearly all the losses of sheep are due
to exposure. The total loss of the meat producing ani-
mals due to exposure and disease during the year is
estimated to he, in round numbers, $150,000,000. The
losses of horses and mules also show approximately
523,000 head, valued at $59,100,000.

While these terrible losses do not seem to diminish
the total profits of agriculture to any notable degree,
they fall with crushing force upon the farmer who is
the victim. They also place a heavy burden on the
consumer. Even if the farmer secures no notable gain
in the money value of a bumper crop, he becomes
thereby a benefactor to the country. If there could be
some workable plan evolved to cover the loss to the in-
dividual farmer, the wastes mentioned would not
menace so seriously agricultural prosperity. If the
nation and state could lay a light tax on those articles
most subject to destruction for the benefit of those who
suffer the losses, less suffering would ensue. If A loses
100 hogs by cholera and thus increases the value of the
hogs of his neighbors, it seems to me they should share
some of their profits with him. They have made their
extra money out of his misfortunes. If A, however, by
his own providence could avoid the loss, which would
otherwise be due to his own negligence, he would not
deserve compensation. When a great flood devastates
the Mississippi Delta, driving thousands from their
homes and destroying houses, fences and stock, or when
a prosperous city like Dayton is submerged and bat-
tered, the sympathy of the world is aroused. When
drought lays waste great areas in India, the purses of
the world are open. When an earthquake destroys a
city, aid is offered on every side. When fire consumes

AGRICULTURAL WASTES 171

a town, the neighboring cities come to the rescue. A
great humanitarian association of a purely voluntary
character, the Eed Cross, is always equipped to succor
suffering humanity, dazed by fire or flood or decimated
by the Eed Dragon of war. The Congress of the
United States has voted millions to relieve the victims
of disasters of fire, flood and seismic spasms. I wonder
what James Buchanan, vetoer of agricultural extension
aid, would say to these national gifts and philanthro-
pies ? In the face of great disaster and its consequent
suffering, we do not wait to consult the constitution. I
do not see why the State or the nation, in lieu of these
spasmodic gifts to the victims of unavoidable catas-
trophes, might not institute some form of insurance
which would provide automatic and speedy relief. On
the other hand, the farmer, as well as every other bene-
ficiary of an insurance of any kind, must be held strictly
accountable for his own negligence and indifference.
Any system of public or private compensation that
would repress industry, dim foresight, or paralyze pre-
caution, would work harm and not good.

These vicissitudes of fortune which I have enumer-
ated, however, do greater damage by the little but per-
sistent wastes which they produce, than do the great
cataclysms that overwhelm a restricted area and arouse
a world-wide benevolence.

The ravages of insects, the unequal distribution of
rain, premature or delayed frosts, the peach borer, local
accidents and diseases, the black rust and the blight, are
the principal wastes from which the farmer suffers.
These are not considered of a character to command
attention, excite sympathy, demand remedial legisla-
tion, or call for help from the Red Cross.

The time will never come when the fields will yield

172 THE LURE OF THE LAND

their maximum output, untouched by storm or stress.
It is the part of wisdom, therefore, to recognize these
misfortunes and to minimize their results by some sys-
tem of equal distribution of their burdens.

Some system of insurance against hog cholera, tuber-
culosis, black leg, lumpy jaw, glanders, foot and mouth
disease, and similar epidemic and contagious diseases
should be devised. As these diseases, because of the
danger of interstate infection, are national in character,
the insurance should be of the same kind. The burden
on the individual farmer is too great. An epidemic
among his farm animals often means financial ruin.
~No system of corporate insurance would be different
from that already in vogue. There are 55,000,000
cattle in the United States. A national tax of one dol-
lar per head would nearly pay for all losses. There
are 60,000,000 hogs in the United States. A tax of
one dollar would nearly compensate the owners for the
destruction by hog cholera.

XX

THE GENESIS OF THE SOIL AND ITS POSSIBILITIES

THE ordinary, intelligent farmer may be very suc-
cessful, understand thoroughly the principles of
agriculture and the methods of applying them, without
being a specialist in geology or chemistry. At the same
time he is interested in a general way in the genesis
of the soil, how it has arisen, what is its constitution,
and other scientific facts connected with it. An at-
tempt to present some of the principal facts and theories
in connection with soil evolution, without going into the
refinement of the sciences or details and illustrations,
may be pardoned. Such an attempt I made in an ad-
dress before the National Geographic Society, in the
winter of 1911 and 1912: With the permission of the
editors of the National Geographic Magazine, Wash-
ington, D. C., the address is given below :

THE GENESIS OF THE EARTH.

" One of the oft-repeated theories concerning the ori-
gin of our earth is that at a remote period all the matter
of which the earth consists at present was a part of
the incandescent gas which filled the space now assigned
to our solar system. As the cooling of this mass of
gas progressed vortex rings were formed of gaseous
matter. These on further cooling broke and rolled to-
gether, forming the sun, the planets, and the satellites

of our present system. The next condition of the in-

173

174 THE LURE OF THE LAND

candescent gas was incandescent liquid, which came in
due season as time rolled by. Finally, by the further
process of cooling, a crust was formed upon the surface
of these liquids which was the beginning of the solid
surface of the earth. This crust would naturally be
of the same composition as the liquid matter from
which it was formed — practically homogeneous in
character and consisting of the mineral matters only
which could exist in a solid state at that temperature.
" Whether the above theory relating to the life history
of the planet up to the formation of igneous rock is
true or not is of little consequence in so far as the
genesis of the soil is concerned. It is certain that
the mineral parts of soil are derived from rocks. We
may not know how these rocks originated.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE SOIL.

" In speaking of the soils of the United States, I
would like to trace briefly their evolution from this
primeval crust, which was the first ice formed on this
globe. What have been some of the more active forces
which have broken up this congealed mineral matter and
brought it into the present condition in which we see
the surface of our globe? First of all the action of
water, which is and has been one of the chief disinte-
grating agents upon the earth's surface. At the time
the first crust was formed over the surface of the earth
all the water which now exists must evidently have
been above the earth's surface in the form of steam.
As the cooling slowly progressed this steam tended to
condense in the form of clouds and finally water.
Thus the original rain falling upon the hot surface of
the earth was at once converted again into steam, but
not until it had started a certain solvent action. Water

GENESIS OF THE SOIL AND ITS POSSIBILITIES 175

has been termed the universal solvent, and it is not
difficult to see how active it must have been at the time
of which I speak. The sudden cooling of the surface
at the spot where a drop of water struck would tend
to crack it, the hot water would dissolve quickly any
of the substances soluble therein, and this continual
bombardment of boiling water must have had a tre-
mendous effect in disintegrating the original crust
formed over the earth's surface. As the earth contin-
ued to cool and diminish in size, the original surface
wrinkled and formed hills and valleys. The continual
descent of water would finally permit some of it to
remain in the liquid state upon the earth's surface, and
this coursing down the valleys continued the disinte-
gration, both by solution and attrition. The original
mineral matters were thus brought into a form of solu-
tion or suspension, and, seeking their natural chemical
affinities, began to form from the first igneous rocks,
the first sedimentary rocks. These are the rocks which
we now see in strata, underlying the greater part of the
earth's surface. All these stratified rocks must have
been laid down under the water, and thus we are con-
vinced that the surface of the earth during the long
period of the formation of the soil must have been alter-
nately above and below the surface of the water collected
upon the globe.

" When organic life came upon the earth's surface a
new disintegrating force was introduced. Organic life,
even in its smallest forms, such as bacteria, acts with
vigor in decomposing rocks. The larger forms, which
produce rootlets, help this disintegrating process along.
These roots find their way into crevices of the rocks,
and tend to split them open and to admit water below
their surface. Certain bacteria also tend to oxidize

176 THE LURE OF THE LAND

the nitrogen of the air and form nitric acid, known
under the common name of aqua fortis, which has a
vigorous solvent action on many kinds of rock. Car-
bonic acid arising from the burning organic matter and
from the lungs of animals and preexisting as a mineral
substance also played an important part in rock decay.
" In the process of further cooling, ice was formed,
and this also tended to have a disintegrating influence.
Water in passing into ice increases in volume, and this
tends to break and disintegrate many bodies. Rock
saturated with water thus tends to break up when the
water becomes ice. During the period of the ice age
when large glaciers moved over much of the earth's sur-
face, the crushing and grinding effects of the ice had
much to do with disintegrating the rock. The vast
areas of glacial drift which form the soil of many of our
Central Western States are evidences of the gigantic
scale on which these ice mills of the gods slowly ground
the stones of the earth into soil. When the soil is
formed by the decay of rocks without the transporting
action of water or ice being active, the soils are said
to be formed in situ. When the products of soil dis-
integration are carried by water and deposited along
the banks of the streams or at their mouths, the soil is
called alluvial. When products of rock disintegration
are carried by moving ice and deposited therefrom, they
are called glacial drift. When they are carried by
wind, as is often the case, they are called seolian soils.
The above are some of the varieties of soils as deter-
mined by their method of formation. Soils are also
classified in regard to their chemical characters; as,
for instance, when formed from the decay of carbonate
of lime, they are called limestone soils. When arising
from the disintegration of granite, they are called

GENESIS OF THE SOIL AND ITS POSSIBILITIES 177

granitic soils. When formed chiefly from particles of
silex, they are called sandy soils. When consisting
mostly of silicate of alumina, they are called clay soils,
and so on."

In addition to the above description there are several
points relating to the classification and nature of soils
which will prove of value and interest to the general
reader. These additional data are compiled chiefly
from my work on Agricultural Chemistry.1

" The weathering of rocks and their gradual disinte-
gration into the mineral bases of the soil is by many
considered to be largely influenced by the freezing and
thawing which are incidental to the change of seasons.
This is a plausible theory. The effect of freezing is
produced, as has already been intimated, by the expan-
sion which takes place when water reaches a tempera'
ture only a few degrees above the freezing point. As
the water is cooled to this point there is a gradual con-
traction of volume. At 4° centigrade, which is nearly
40° Fahrenheit, this contraction in the volume of
water, as it is further proved, stops, and an expansion
in volume takes place at lower temperatures. When
the water is crystallized into ice the maximum of ex-
pansion is secured. This crystallization, which seem-
ingly is produced by forces of a very minute character,
nevertheless goes on with almost irresistible force.
The strongest vessels are easily rent asunder by this
expansive force of freezing water. The well-known
phenomenon of bursting water pipes in cold weather is
an illustration of this herculean force. Apparently
man can construct no container strong enough to re-
sist it.

i " Principles and Practice of Agricultural Analysis," Second
Edition, Volume I. Chemical Publishing Co., Easton, Pa.

178 THE LURE OF THE LAND

ROCKS DIFFER IN SPEED OF WEATHERING.

" It is also a matter of observation that certain kinds
of rocks are much more sensitive to weathering than
others. In the selection of permanent building stones
the property of rocks to withstand weathering is ex-
tremely important. The breaking down of building
stones is usually ascribed to the freezing and thawing
process. Those stones which permit the freest entry
of moisture, thus storing up water which, when frozen,
expands, are as a rule those that most rapidly give way.
The action of freezing and thawing, however, has been
perhaps somewhat over-rated. In warm or even tropi-
cal climates, where these agents are never active in the
disintegration of rocks, some of the deepest and best
weathered soils are produced. In point of fact, a long
hard winter, where there is no thawing at all, tends
to preserve the rocks from decay rather than to favor it.

" There are many facts which have been observed by
geologists confirming the idea that a warm climates,
especially if it be a wet one, is more favorable to rock
decay than a cold climate. The progress of decay,
therefore, is distinctly affected by latitude. Extensive
investigations carried on along the Atlantic side of the
country show wide differences in the rate of decay in
the same kind of rocks in different latitudes. In gen-
eral, the progress of decay is more marked toward the
south. The same fact is observed in the great interior
valleys of the country; at least, everywhere except in
the arid and semi-arid regions. Wherever there is a
deficiency of water the processes of decay have been
arrested. Where the rock strata have been displaced
from a horizontal position the progress of decay has
been more rapid. This is easily understood. The

GENESIS OF THE SOIL AND ITS POSSIBILITIES 179

percolation of water is more easy as the displacement
approaches a vertical position.

" A most remarkable example of this is seen in the
rocks of North Carolina. A kind of rock known as
trap is found in layers called dikes in the Newark
system of rocks in that State. These dikes have been
so completely displaced from the horizontal position
they at first occupied as to have an almost vertical dip.
The edges thus exposed vary from a few feet to nearly
one hundred feet in thickness. The trap rock in those
localities is composed almost exclusively of the mineral
dolerite, which is so hard and elastic in a fresh state
as to ring like a piece of metal when struck with a
hammer. In building a railroad through this region
these dikes were in some places uncovered to a depth
of forty feet and more. At this depth they were found
completely decomposed and with no indications of hav-
ing reached the lower limit of disintegration. The
original hard bluish dolerite has been transformed into
a yellowish clay-like mass that can be molded in the
fingers and cut like putty. Similar geological forma-
tions in New Jersey and further north do not exhibit
anything like so great a degree of decomposition, thus
illustrating in a marked degree the fact that freezing
weather for a part of the year is a protection against
rock decay. The ice of winter at least protects the
rocks from surface infiltration, although it cannot stop
the subterranean solution which must go on continu-
ously.

" Other things being equal, therefore, it appears that
as the region of winter frost is passed the decay of the
rocks has been more rapid, because water, the chief
disintegrating force, acts more constantly. Decay of
rocks at the poles must be very slow.

180 THE LURE OF THE LAND

THE ROLE OF WATEE, IN SOIL MAKING.

" Attention has also been called to the solvent action
of water. It is well to consider in this respect the fact
that pure water is not, as a rule, so good a solvent as
impure. Water especially which contains carbon di-
oxid in solution, or traces of organic acids, or traces of
phosphoric and nitric acids, acts much more vigorously
on many rock materials than pure water could possibly
do. The water of springs and wells is not pure. It
contains in solution mineral matters and often a trace
of organic matter. The organic matter comes from
contact with vegetable matter and other organic ma-
terials near the surface of the earth. The mineral
matter is derived from the solvent action of the water
and its contents on the soil and rocks.

" The expression ' hard ' or i soft ' applied to water
indicates that it has much or little carbonate of lime
and magnesia or sulfates of the same bases in solution.
Water containing much carbonate of lime (or lime and
magnesia) in solution is usually more or less charged
with carbon dioxid. When boiled this gas is driven
off and the carbonates precipitated. This kind of hard-
ness is called temporary. When surface and spring
waters are collected into streams and rivers they still
contain in solution the greater part of the mineral mat-
ters which they at first carried.

" When waters have more than 600 parts of mineral
matter per million they are not deemed suitable for
drinking waters. Mineral waters, so called, are those
which carry large quantities of mineral matter, or
which contain certain comparatively rare mineral sub-
stances which are valued for their medicinal effects.

" The analysis of spring, well, or river waters will

Photo by U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

SPRAYING SUGAR BEETS

Photo by U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

DISTRIBUTING POISON BAIT FOR CUT WORMS

GENESIS OF THE SOIL AND ITS POSSIBILITIES 181

always give some indication of the character of the
rocks and soils over or through which they have passed.
The vast quantities of mineral matters carried into
oceans and seas are gradually deposited as the water is
evaporated. If, however, these matters be very solu-
ble, such as common salt, sulfate of magnesia, etc., they
are found in concentrated solutions as is seen in sea
waters. In small bodies of waters, such as inland seas,
which have no outlet, this concentration may proceed
to a much greater extent than in the ocean. As an in-
stance of this, it may be noted that the waters of the
Dead Sea and Great Salt Lake are impregnated to a
far greater degree with soluble salts than the water of
the ocean. The solvent action of water on rocks is
greatly increased by the traces of organic (or carbonic)
acids which it may contain. When surface water
comes in contact with vegetable matter it may become
partially charged with the organic acids which the
growing vegetables may contain or decaying vegetable
matter produce. Such acids coming in contact with
limestone under pressure will set free carbon dioxid.
Water charged with carbon dioxid acts vigorously as
a solvent on limestone and some other mineral aggre-
gates. If such waters penetrate deeply below the sur-
face of the earth their activity as solvents may be
greatly increased by the higher temperature to which
they are subjected. Hence, all these forces combine to
disintegrate the rocks, and through such agencies vast
deposits of original and secondary rocks have been com-
pletely decomposed. The decay of nitrogenous matters
gives rise to nitric acid which also adds to the disinte-
grating power of percolating waters. The gradual
passing of the firm rock into an arable soil is beauti-
fully shown in the illustration.

182 THE LURE OF THE LAND

SANDY AND CLAY SOILS.

?' Hilgard has called attention to the fact that soils
formed with a small supply of water as in the arid
regions have a distinctive sandy character, while those
formed under the influence of an abundant supply of
water contain more clay. In the decay of rocks, there-
fore, a dry climate has a distinctly retarding effect on
the kaolinization of feldspathic rocks. The soils
formed in situ on the Atlantic border are therefore
chiefly clay loams, while on the Pacific border they
contain a larger quantity of sand.

" The preliminary condition to the growth of vegeta-
tion is the formation of soil, but once started, vegeta-
tion aids greatly in the decomposition of rocks. Some
forms of vegetation, as the lichens, have apparently
the faculty of growing on the bare surface of rocks,
but the higher orders of plants require at least a little
soil. Vegetation acts as a rock disintegrant by shading
the surface and thus rendering the action of water
more effective, by mechanically separating the rock
particles by means of its penetrating roots and by the
positive action of the root juices. The rootlets of
plants in contact with limestone or marble dissolve
large portions of these substances, and while their ac-
tion on more refractory rocks is slower, it must be of
considerable importance. It is evident that the sol-
vent action of the acids of living plants is confined
almost exclusively to the particles of rocks proximate
to points of exudation. The organic matter intro-
duced into the soil by vegetation also promotes decay
still further, both directly and by the formation of
acids of the humic series. This matter also furnishes
a considerable portion of carbon dioxid which is

GENESIS OF THE SOIL AND ITS POSSIBILITIES 183
carried by the water and assists in its solvent action.

THE BOLE OF EARTH WORMS.

" Of animal organisms those most active in the forma-
tion of soil are earth-worms. The work of earth-worms
in soil forming has been exhaustively studied by Dar-
win. The worms not only modify the soil by bringing
to the surface portions of the subsoil, but also influence
its physical state by making it more porous and pul-
verulent. According to Darwin, the intestinal content
of worms has an acid reaction, and this has an effect
on those portions of the soil passing through their ali-
mentary canal. The acids, which are formed in the
upper part of the digestive canal, are neutralized by
the carbonate of lime secreted by the calciferous glands
of the worms, thus neutralizing the free acid and chang-
ing the reaction to alkaline in the lower part of the
canal.

" The worms further modify the composition of the
soil by drawing leaves and other organic matter into
their holes, and leaving therein a portion of such mat-
ter which is gradually converted into humus. Darwin
estimates that about eleven tons of organic matter per
acre are annually added to the soil in regions where
worms abound. A considerable portion of the am-
monia in the soil at any given time may also be due to
the action of worms, as much as 0.18 per cent, of this
substance having been found in their excrement. It is
probable that nearly the whole of the vegetable matter in
the soil passes sooner or later through the alimentary
canals of these ceaseless soil builders, and is converted
into the form of humus. Finally the bodies of the
worms serve to increase the quantity of the organic mat-
ter in the soil.

184 THE LURE OF THE LAND

THE BOLE OF BACTERIA.

" The intimate relations which have been found to
subsist between certain minute organisms and the chem-
ical reactions which take place in the soil is a sufficient
excuse for noting the effect of other similar organisms
in the formation of soils.

" In addition to the usual forces active in decompos-
ing rocks Miintz has described the effects of a nitrifying
bacillus contributing to the same purpose.

" According to him the bare rock usually furnishes a
purely mineral environment where organisms cannot be
developed unless they are able to draw their nourish-
ment directly from the air. Some nitrifying organ-
isms belong to this class. It has been shown that these
bodies can be developed by absorbing from the ambient
atmosphere carbonate of ammonia and vapors of alco-
hol, the presence of which has been observed in the air.
According to the observations of Winogradsky, they
assimilate even the carbon of the carbon dioxid just as
the parts of plants which contain chlorophyl. Thus
even on the denuded rocks of high mountains the con-
ditions for the development of all these inferior organ-
isms exist. In examining the particles produced by
attrition, it is easily established that they are uniformly
covered by a layer of organic matter evidently formed
by microscopic vegetation. Thus we see, in the very
first products of attrition, appearing upon the rocky
particles the characteristic element of vegetable soil,
viz., humus, the proportion of which increases rapidly
with the products of dis aggregation collected at the foot
of declivities until finally they become covered with
chlorophyliferous plants.

" In a similar manner the presence of nitrifying or-

GENESIS OF THE SOIL AND ITS POSSIBILITIES 185

ganisms has been noted upon rocky particles from high
altitudes received in sterilized tubes, and where these
are sown in an appropriate environment they soon pro-
duce colonies. The naked rocks of the Alps, the
Pyrenees, the Auvergnes and the Vosges, comprise min-
eralogical types of the most varied nature, viz., granite,
porphyry, gneiss, mica-schist, volcanic rocks and lime-
stones and all these have shown themselves to be
covered with the nitrifying ferment. It is known that
below a certain temperature these organisms are not
active; their action upon the rock is, therefore, limited
to the summer period. During the cold season their
life is suspended, but they do not perish, inasmuch as
they have been found living and ready to resume all
their activity after an indefinite sleep on the ice of the
glaciers where the temperature is never elevated above
zero.

" The nitrifying ferment is exercised on a much
larger scale in the normal conditions of the lower levels
where the rock is covered with earth. This activity is
not limited to the mass of rock, but is continued upon the
fragments of the most diverse size scattered through
the soil and it helps to gradually reduce them to a
state of fine particles. The action of these fer-
ments is therefore a phenomenon of the widest exten-
sion.

" The action of these microorganisms, according to
Miintz, is not confined to the surface, but extends to
the most interior particles of the rocky mass. Where,
however, there is nothing of a nitrogenous nature to
nitrify such an organism must live in a state of sus-
pended animation unless it is able to act on the nitrogen
of the air.

" When the extreme minuteness of these phenomena

186 THE LURE OF THE LAND

is considered there may be a tendency to despise their
importance, but their continuity and their generality
in the opinion of Miintz place them among the geo-
logical causes to which the crust of the earth owes a
part of its actual physiognomy and which particularly
have contributed to the formation of the deposits of the
comminuted elements constituting arable soil.

" Brauner calls attention to the danger of overesti-
mating the activity of nitrifying organisms in effecting
the decay of rocks due to their inability to live at great
depths. As is well known they diminish in abundance
as the depth below the surface increases and disappear,
or at least are inactive, at depths of from three to six
feet. Brauner says that in these cases the statements
of specialists are the only safe reliance and the finding
of bacteria in rocks by any one not a specialist is to be
regarded with suspicion. Only those who have worked
in bacteriology can fully appreciate the difficulties to
be enumerated and the precautions to be taken in deal-
ing with those organisms in order to prevent being mis-
led by faulty manipulation.

THE ROLE OF OXYGEN.

" The air itself takes an active part in rock decay.
Wherever rocks are exposed to decay, there air is found
or, at least, the active principle of air, viz., oxygen.
The air as a gas not only penetrates to a great depth
in the earth, but is also carried to much greater depths
by water which always holds a greater or less quantity
of air in solution. The oxygen of the air is thus
brought into intimate contact with the disintegrating
materials and is present in a condition to assist wher-
ever possible in the decomposing processes.

" The oxygen acts vigorously on the lower oxids of

GENESIS OF THE SOIL AND ITS POSSIBILITIES 187

iron, converting them into peroxids, and thus tends to
produce decay.

" There are other constituents of rocks which oxygen
attacks and thus helps to their final "breaking up. It is
true that, as a rule, the constituents of rocks are already
oxidized to nearly as high a degree as possible, and on
these constituents of course the air would have no ef-
fect. But on others, especially when helped by water
with the other substances it carries in solution, the air
may greatly aid in the work of destruction.

" In a general view, the action of the air in soil forma-
tion may be regarded as of secondary importance, and
to depend chiefly on the oxidation of the lower to the
higher basic forms. These processes, while they seem
of little value, have, nevertheless, been of considerable
importance in the production of that residue of rock
disintegration which constitutes the soil.

THE SOIL MORE THAN" MINERAL.

" But for agricultural purposes the soil consists of
more than decayed mineral matter. By the decay of
organic matter there is introduced into the soil the ele-
ment, humus, which is one of its principal character-
istics from an agricultural point of view. The soil is
filled with millions of organisms of a lower form, with-
out whose activity the growing of crops would be im-
possible. The soil, therefore, not only contains the
mineral matters which are necessary to sustain the life
of plants, but also those organic elements without which
these mineral matters would not be available for plant
growth. The three principal mineral foods of plants
are potash, phosphoric acid, and nitrogen. Lime, mag-
nesia, iron, and many other mineral substances are also
found in plants, but these are not absolutely essential

188 THE LURE OF THE LAND

to plant growth. If, however, either nitrogen, potash,
or phosphoric acid be entirely removed from the en-
vironment, it is impossible to produce a matured plant.
The great bulk of the material of which plants are
composed is not drawn, however, from the soil, but is
taken from the air and water. Great as have been the
chemical achievements of man, no chemist has yet
arisen whose skill can be compared to that of the plant
itself. Any chemist who to-day, with all the appliances
which science has placed at his disposal, could make
by synthesis the various organic compounds of which
plants are principally composed would rival the fame
of Berzelius, Liebig, Hoffman, Berthelot, Gibbs, or
Curie. Thus the soil must be regarded as that part of
plant life which furnishes the physical support for the
growing plant, supplies it with the mineral foods essen-
tial to its growth and maturity, and favors best those
conditions which enable the plant cell to elaborate the
organic matters of which the matured plant is chiefly
composed.

CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS.

" While there is an infinite variety of detail in the
character of the soils of the United States as regards
physical qualities and chemical composition, they may
be classed into three great divisions as regards their
origin, and this classification in a measure also classi-
fies them as to physical qualities.

" First are the drift soils of the North, occupying the
principal portion of the States lying north of the Ohio
and east of the Missouri Eiver. It is a theory of geolo-
gists that in a previous age of the earth the northern
hemisphere had a very much colder climate than now;
that ice in the form of glaciers covered all the more

GE1STESIS OF THE SOIL AND ITS POSSIBILITIES 189

northern latitudes and extended down into these por-
tions of the United States already indicated, producing
important effects on the topography of the country.
When the ice melted the finely ground rock powder was
left, the glacial drift of to-day. This drift, sometimes
forming but a thin layer over the underlying rock,
sometimes forming a very thick layer, is made up of
the mingled materials brought from various geological
formations lying to the north of the place where they
are now found. The soils of this drift are usually
gravelly, often stony, of variable fertility, embracing
alike the noted fertile soils of Ohio and of western
New York and the most barren portions of New Eng-
land. As a whole, these soils grow more productive
as we travel southward and westward from New Eng-
land and western New York. As a whole they are
durable. When over-cropped and worn out even, as
often occurs, they readily recuperate, with rest, by the
slow disintegration of the mingled materials of which
they are composed.

" According to geologists, the southern limit of this
drift-soil extends across Long Island, crossing New
Jersey at its upper third; thence across the State of
Pennsylvania, entering it and leaving it about midway,
entering Ohio near where the Ohio River strikes the
State, passing southwesterly, leaving the State near the
Ohio River, following along the southern borders of
Indiana in or near the southern tier of counties, not
crossing the river at all unless it be for a very small
region, where the three States of Indiana, Illinois and
Kentucky come together ; thence westward, crossing the
Mississippi above its junction with the Ohio ; then west-
war dly and a little northerly across the State of Mis-
souri, keeping south of the Missouri River, leaving the

190 THE LURE OF THE LAND

State at about Cass or Bates County, and entering
Kansas in perhaps Miami County, thence northwesterly,
crossing the Kansas River in Riley County, entering
Nebraska at or near Jefferson County; crossing the
Platte probably at Polk County; thence northwesterly
to Holt County. West of the Mississippi River these
boundaries are ill-defined, and in all of the Western
States there are large areas where the soil is so modi-
fied by other influences that agriculturally its drift
character is almost wholly lost.

" The second great class of soils occupies the undu-
lating parts of the country lying south of the drift.
They have been made by the decomposition of the
rocks which have occupied their present position. The
natural action of water, air, and the gases which they
contain, along with varying temperature, tends to dis-
integrate the rocks. Even the hardest will weather
in the course of time. Some decompose rapidly, others
more slowly, but all in such a climate as ours ulti-
mately will be reduced to a soil. The immediate sur-
face disintegrates more rapidly in a cold climate, where
frost aids the process, but ultimate chemical decompo-
sition goes on more readily in a warm climate than in
a cold one, particularly if it have abundant rains. If
a region is fertile and the climate favorable, so 'that
there is an abundant vegetation on the surface, which
produces carbonic acid and other solvent products by
its decay, the decomposition goes on more rapidly be-
neath. If the underlying rocks are of limestone, then
large quantities of the lime are dissolved, and if the
limestones are impure, containing much insoluble mat-
ter, the solution of the soluble carbonate of lime leaves
a soil composed largely of the insoluble remains. Such
soils are often of extraordinary fertility, illustrious ex-

GENESIS OF THE SOIL AND ITS POSSIBILITIES 191

amples of which are seen in the so-called blue-grass
regions of Kentucky. These soils are well known by
reason of their great natural fertility.

" Throughout the Southern States, on the slopes and
the uplands, we have a great variety of soils produced
by the chemical and the mechanical disintegration of
rocks, possessing every variety of character, both as
regards chemical fertility and physical texture. Some
of them, particularly when produced from certain sand-
stones, are poor and easily exhausted, and when ex-
hausted do not recuperate readily, of which we have
examples in some of the more barren land flanking
several of the chains of the Appalachian system.
Others possess great power for rapid recuperation, as,
for example, the blue-grass region of Kentucky, where
the calcareous portions of the soil rapidly disintegrate
or are changed by chemical action, and where there is
an abundant source of the elements of fertility in the
rocks themselves. The state geologist of Kentucky
gives interesting illustrations of this power. Certain
areas inclosed within the region already described as
being occupied by drift have been modified by these
same influences. Professor Whitney, former state
geologist of Iowa, states that some of the fertile prairie
soils of that State — those where the soil is of almost
impalpable fineness — have been produced by the slow
solution of beds of limestone which formerly occupied
their places. In the course of ages, under the influence
already spoken of, the insoluble limestone has been dis-
solved, the solution borne away to the ocean in the
rivers, and the small percentage of insoluble residue is
left, forming the thick prairie soil of the region, which
has since become blackened by the decay of abundant
vegetation produced upon it. From the nature of the

192 THE LURE OF THE LAND

case we have a very great variety of soils belonging to
this class.

" The third class includes all of the alluvial soils
formed by deposition from rivers and streams, of which
we have such abundant examples about the mouth of
the Mississippi. They constitute all the bottom lands
of the West, and indeed of the whole country. They
also are found in places, particularly in the West,
occupying the beds of ancient lakes, a notable example
of which is found in the fertile soils of Dakota, popu-
larly known as the Red River region. Here was an an-
cient lake of very great size, known to geologists as Lake
Agassiz, extending southward of Lake Traverse, on Red
River, widening northward and extending on both sides
of the river, perhaps fifty-five or sixty miles wide ; there
its bed leaves the country, expanding to much greater
width northward in Manitoba. This tract is exceed-
ingly level, the soil of varying depth, very fine, black
with the decomposition of vegetable matter, and very
fertile. As we proceed westward soils belonging to this
class contain less and less vegetable matter, although
not necessarily less fertile, until in the valleys of Cali-
fornia we have in places soils of great fertility which
contain very little vegetable matter (humus). The
amount of vegetable matter coloring the soil black
depends very largely on the temperature, climate and
on the amount of water. There is little of such matter
in a dry region or in a region subject to periodical
droughts, and yet such a soil may be very fertile in the
mineral constituents necessary for grain, and in sea-
sons, with sufficient rain or by irrigation, very large
crops may be grown.

" These three classes of soils run into each other by
insensible gradations. The classification is given as

GENESIS OF THE SOIL AND ITS POSSIBILITIES 193

merely a general one. We may say in a general way
that corn flourishes best on soils of the third class, and
that it probably is mostly produced there, and wheat
on the first and the third classes, more probably being
produced on the first class. But individual soils of the
second class are even more fertile than those found in
either the first or the third.

" A notable example of the soils of the second class
is found on the table-lands of eastern Oregon and
Washington; the underlying rock is volcanic, which by
its decomposition has given rise to a soil of very great
fertility and of easy tillage. The experience of the
Old World with volcanic soils about the Mediterranean
and in the Rhine region, some of which soils have vine-
yards of great age upon them, indicates that these soils
of eastern Oregon and Washington will retain their
fertility for a great period, and it is probable will ulti-
mately support a dense population and produce a great
variety of agricultural products. This area is now
rapidly gaining as a wheat region. Barley and oats
grow well, and are of most excellent quality, but the
climate is unfavorable to Indian corn."

FURTHER, DETAILS OF CLASSIFICATION.

I have given above some of the general principles
of the classification of soils, but not in sufficient detail
for the information of the farmer seeking knowledge
on this important question. In regard to their method
of deposition soils are divided into five classes:

1. Those which are formed from the decomposition
of crystalline or sedimentary rocks or of unconsolidated
sedimentary material in situ.

2. Those which have been moved by water from the
place of their original formation and deposited by sub-

194 THE LURE OF THE LAND

sidence (bottom lands, alluvial soils, lacustrine deposits,
etc.).

3. Those which have been deposited as debris from
moving masses of ice (glacial drift).

4. Soils formed from volcanic ashes or from ma-
terials moved by the wind and deposited in low places
or in hills or ridges.

5. Those formed chiefly from the decay of vegetable
matter (tule, peat, etc.).

The importance of a more extended notice of this
class of soils for analytical purposes is emphasized by
their large extent in the United States.

AT/R-AT.T SOILS.

Chiefly through the researches of Hilgard attention
has been called to the true character of these soils
which are found throughout a large part of the western
United States and which are known by the common
name of alkali. The following description of the origin
of these soils is compiled chiefly from Hilgard's papers
on this subject. Wherever the rain-fall is scanty, and
especially where the rains do not come at any one time
with sufficient force to thoroughly saturate the soil
and carry down through the subsoil and off through
the drainage waters the alkali contained therein, favor-
able conditions exist for the production of the alkaline
soil mentioned above. The peculiar characteristic of
this soil is the efflorescence which occurs upon its sur-
face and which is due to the raising of soluble salts in
the soil by the water rising through capillary attraction
and evaporating from the surface, leaving the salts as
an efflorescence.

Soils which contain a large amount of alkali are
usually very rich in mineral plant food, and if the ex-

GENESIS OF THE SOIL AND ITS POSSIBILITIES 195

cess of soluble salts could be removed, these lands under
favorable conditions of moisture and temperature would
produce large crops.

The formation of the alkali may be briefly described
as follows: By the decomposition of the native rocks,
certain salts soluble in water are formed. These salts
in the present matter are chiefly sodium and potassium
sulfates, chlorids and carbonates. The salts of potash
together with those of lime are more tenaciously held
by the soil than the soluble salts of soda, and the re-
sult of this natural affinity of the soil for soluble potash,
lime and magnesian salts is seen in the formation at
the surface of the earth, by the process of evaporation
above described, of a crust of alkaline material which
is chiefly composed of the soluble salts of soda. In
countries which have a sufficient amount of rainfall,
these soluble salts are carried away either by the sur-
face drainage or by the percolation of water through
the soil, and the sodium chlorid is accumulated in this
way in the waters of the ocean. But where a sufficient
amount of rain-fall does not occur, these soluble salts
carried down by each shower only to a certain depth
rise again on the evaporation of the water, reinforced
by any additional soluble material which may be found
in the soil itself. The three most important ingre-
dients of the alkali of the lands referred to are sodium
chlorid, sulfate, and carbonate. When the latter salt,
namely, sodium carbonate, is present in predominant
quantity, it gives rise to what is popularly known as
black alkali. This black color is due to the dark col-
ored solution which sodium carbonate makes with the
organic matters or humus of the soil. The black
alkali is far more injurious to growing vegetation than
the white alkali composed chiefly of sodium sulfate and

196 THE LURE OF THE LAND

chlorid. Its presence in very small quantity is suf-
ficient to prevent vegetation.

TREATMENT OF BLACK ALKALI.

This black alkali has been very successfully treated
by Hilgard by the application of gypsum which react-
ing with the sodium carbonate produces calcium car-
bonate and sodium sulfate, thus converting the black
into the white alkali and adding an ingredient in the
shape of lime carbonate to stiff soils which tends to
make them more pulverulent and easy of tillage.

This method of treatment, however, as can be easily
seen, is only palliative, the whole amount of the alka-
line substances being still left in the soil, only in a less
injurious form.

The only perfect remedy for alkaline soils, as has
been pointed out by Hilgard, is in the introduction of
underdrainage in connection with irrigation. The
partial irrigation of alkaline soils, affording enough
moisture to carry the alkali down to and perhaps par-
tially through the subsoil, can produce only a tempo-
rary alleviation of the difficulties produced by the alkali.
Subsequent evaporation may indeed increase the amount
of surface incrustation. For this reason in many cases
the practice of irrigation without underdrainage may
completely ruin an otherwise fertile soil by slowly in-
creasing the amount of alkali therein by the total amount
of the alkaline material added in the waters of irriga-
tion and brought to the surface by the evaporation of
the temporarily deeper percolation of the water.

As Hilgard has pointed out, if a soil can be practically
freed from alkali by underdrainage connected with a
thorough saturation by irrigation, it may be centuries
before the alkali will accumulate in that soil again

GENESIS OF THE SOIL AND ITS POSSIBILITIES 197

when ordinary irrigation only is practised. It may
thus become possible to reclaim large extents of alka-
line soil little by little by treating them with an excess
of irrigation water in connection with thorough under-
drainage.

ADOBE SOILS.

In many parts of the arid regions of this country
which can be recovered for agricultural purposes by ir-
rigation the soil has peculiar characteristics.

The name adobe as commonly used applies to both
the sun-dried bricks of the arid regions of the West and
Southwest, and to the materials of which they are com-
posed. The material is described by Russell as a fine
grained porous earth, varying in color through many
shades of gray and yellow, which crumbles between the
fingers, and separates most readily in a vertical direc-
tion. The coherency of the material is so great that
vertical scarps will stand for many years without form-
ing a noticeable talus.

The area over which adobe forms a large part of the
surface has not been accurately mapped, but enough
is known to indicate that it is essentially co-extensive
with the more arid portions of this country. In a very
general way it may be considered as being limited to
the region in which the mean annual rain-fall is less
than twenty inches. It forms the surface over large
portions of Colorado, "New Mexico, western Texas,
Arizona, southern California, Nevada, Utah, southern
Oregon, southern Idaho, and Wyoming. Adobe occurs
also in Mexico and may there reach a greater develop-
ment than in the United States, but observations con-
cerning it south of the Rio Grande are wanting.

In the United States it occurs from near the sea-

198 THE LUKE OF THE LAND

level in Arizona, and even below the sea-level in south-
ern California, up to an elevation of at least 6,000 or
8,000 feet, along the eastern border of the Bocky Moun-
tains, and in the elevated valleys of New Mexico, Colo-
rado, and Wyoming. It occupies depressions of all
sizes up to valleys having an area of hundreds of square
miles. Although occurring throughout the arid re-
gion, it can be studied to best advantage in the drain-
less and lakeless basins in Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.

PEAT SOILS.

The heavy soils whose origin has been described are
essentially of a mineral nature. The quantity of or-
ganic matter in such soils may vary from a mere trace
to a few per cent, but they never lose their mineral
characteristics. When a soil on the other hand is com-
posed almost exclusively of vegetable mold it belongs
to quite another type. Such soils are called tule, peat
or muck. In this country there are thousands of acres
of peat or muck soils; the largest contiguous deposits
being found in southern Florida. The origin of these
soils is easily understood. Whenever rank vegetation
grows in such a location as to secure for the organic
matter formed a slow decay, there is a tendency to the
accumulation of vegetable mold in shallow water or on
marshy ground and where other conditions are favor-
able to such accumulations. In Florida the peaty soils
have been accumulated about the margins of lakes.
During the rainy season the marshes bordering these
are partly covered with water, but the vegetation is
very luxuriant. The water protects the vegetable mat-
ter from being destroyed by fire. It therefore accumu-
lates from year to year and is gradually compacted into
quite a uniform mass of vegetable mold.

GENESIS OF THE SOIL AND ITS POSSIBILITIES 199

The ultimate composition of the mold is illustrated
in the following table which shows the character of the
layers at one, two and three feet in depth :

Depth Carbon Hydrogen Nitrogen Vegetable matter

and moisture
% % % %

1 foot.... 57.67 4.48 2.24 90.60

2 feet.... 47.07 5.15 1.40 72.00

3 feet.... 8.52 0.53 0.31 15.00

In this sample, the mold was only three feet deep,
resting on pure sand. As the bottom of the de-
posit is approached the admixture of sand becomes
greater and the percentage of organic matter less.

No reliable estimate of the time which has been re-
quired to form these deposits can be given, but in the
Okeechobee region in Florida the deposit of vegetable
mold in some places exceeds ten feet in depth.

The purest vegetable or peat soils contain only small
quantities of potash and phosphoric acid, and espe-
cially is this true of the Florida deposits which have
been formed of vegetable growth containing very little
mineral matter.

It is not at all probable that the flora now growing
on any particular area of virgin peat contains all the
plants that have contributed to its formation. The
principal vegetable growths now going to make up the
peat soils of Florida are the following:

Common names.

Saw grass Fern brake

Yellow pond lily Mallow

Maiden cane grass Broom sedge

Alligator Wampee Arrow Weed

Sedge

The above are only the plants growing in the great-

200 THE LURE OF THE LAND

est profusion and do not include all which are now con-
tributing to increase the store of vegetable debris.

NATURE. OF HUMUS.

The active principle of vegetable mold is called
humus, a term used to designate in general the products
of the decomposition of vegetable matter as they are
found in soils. In peat and vegetable soils is found a
mixture of humus with undecomposed or partially de-
composed vegetation.

According to Kostyschoff vegetable matter decays un-
der the influence of molds and bacteria. Molds alone
produce the dark colored matters which give soils rich
in vegetable matter, their color. One chief character-
istic of humus is its richness in nitrogen. Black Russian
soil contains from 4 to 6.65 per cent, of nitrogen. This
soil is estimated to contain 60,000,000 organisms per
gram and much of the nitrogen which it holds must be
in the form of proteid derivatives. The first develop-
ment in decaying vegetable matter is of bacteria and
there is a tendency of the decaying matter to become
acid. This causes the death of the bacteria and the
ammonia produced thereby neutralizes the acid. The
various kinds of mold grow when the reaction becomes
neutral. Afterwards the bacteria and the molds de-
velop together. This statement of Kostyschoff is not a
very satisfactory explanation of even our limited knowl-
edge of the decomposition of organic matters in the
soil. Ammonia and ammonia salts are formed not by
the decay of some forms of bacteria but by the activi-
ties of other forms. It has been found that in nitri-
fication there are three distinct forms of bacteria con-
cerned in the final products of ammonia, nitrites, and
nitrates. Humus always contains easily decomposable

Photo by U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

LARVA OF THE COTTON BOLL WEEVIL

Photo by U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

ADULT COTTON BOLL WEEVIL

GENESIS OF THE SOIL AND ITS POSSIBILITIES 201

matter and consequently the rate of decay in similar
conditions at any observed periods is nearly the same.
In humus which is produced above the water-level
Kostyschoff states that all trace of the vegetable struc-
ture is destroyed by the leaves being gnawed and passed
through the bodies of caterpillars and wire-worms.
Under the water-level the vegetable structure is pre-
served and peat results. The decay of humus is most
rapid in drained and open soils. For this reason the
presence of clay in a soil promotes the accumulation of
humus. Inferior organisms are the means of diffus-
ing organic matter through the soil. The mycelia of
fungi grow on a dead root for instance, ramify later-
ally and thus carry organic matter outward and suc-
ceeding organisms extend this action and the soil be-
comes darkened in proportion. Humic acid in black
soil is almost exclusively in combination with lime.

A more common view of the difference between the
formation of humus above and below the water-level is
that above the water-level there is a very free access of
air and even the harder parts of the leaf skeleton can
be oxidized through the agency of bacteria, while under
the water-level there is a very limited supply of air
and this oxidation cannot proceed as rapidly. The
harder parts of the leaf skeleton are preserved, and
from the freer access of air humus is oxidized more
readily in drained and open soils, and accumulates in
clay soils where there is less circulation of air.

The quantity of humus in the soils of arid regions
is by no means so great as in those of abundant rain-
fall.

Few of the upland arid soils of the Pacific Coast con-
tain over A per cent, of humus, that is the " matiere
noire " of Grandeau. This difference according to Hil-

202 THE LURE OF THE LAND

gard is of importance because the humus of the soil is
the chief repository of one of the most costly of the
plant foods, viz., nitrogen.

It must not be inferred however that such soils are
very deficient in nitrogenous food since it appears that
the humus of the arid soil has a higher percentage of
nitrogen than that found in soils with abundant water
supply.

The real composition of humus is a matter which has
never been definitely determined. Composed as it is
of many different but closely related substances it has
been difficult to isolate and determine them.

At the present time we can only regard the various
forms of humus bodies as mixtures of many substances
mostly of an acid nature, and resulting from a gradual
decomposition of organic matter under conditions which
partially exclude free access of oxygen.

Whether humus takes any direct part in the nutri-
tion of green plants is not definitely known. De Saus-
sure held that soluble humus was assimilated directly
by vegetables and this is probably the case with those
plants, such as mushrooms, which are devoid of chloro-
phyl.

Liebig held that humic acid is not absorbed by plants
and that as such it does not form a part of their food.
Humic acid being of a colloidal nature is not well suited
to engage in the translations which take place so readily
with crystalline bodies in solution and which readily
change their location under the stress of osmotic pres-
sure.

Petermann found however that such bodies could be
dialyzed in certain circumstances and he succeeded in
passing through membranes highly nitrogenized organic
matter of an amber color.

GENESIS OF THE SOIL AND ITS POSSIBILITIES 203

I have found that sugar canes grown in peat soils
contained a quantity of dark colored organic matter in
their sap which persisted even in the raw sugar made
therefrom.

I further found that the quantity of amid nitrogen
in oats was greatly increased when grown on peaty soil.

The chief functions of humus appear to be to mod-
ify the physical conditions of the soil with reference to
texture, moisture, absorption of heat and mineral mat-
ters useful to plants and especially to hold in suitable
form for progressive nitrification the partially decayed
nitrogenous principles of vegetable matters.

SOIL AND SUBSOIL.

Many subdivisions have been made of the above va-
rieties of soil, but they have little value for practical
purposes. For convenience in description for agricul-
tural purposes, the soil, however, is further divided
into soil and subsoil. In this sense the soil comprises
that portion of the surface of the ground, usually from
four to nine inches deep, containing most of the organic
remains of plants and animals and in which air circu-
lates more or less freely for the proper humification of
the organic matter, which usually gives a darker color to
the soil than to the subsoil. The subsoil proper lies
below this, and has usually more characteristic prop-
erties, especially in respect of color and texture, as it has
been less influenced by artificial conditions of cultiva-
tion and the remains of vegetation.

The subsoil extends to an indefinite depth and is
limited usually by deposits of undecomposed or partly
decomposed rock matter, or by layers of clay, sand or
gravel.

Hilgard regards as subsoil whatever lies beneath the

204 THE LURE OF THE LAND

line of change of color, or below the minimum depth
of six inches. But should the change of color occur
at a greater depth than 12 inches, the soil specimen
should nevertheless be removed to the depth of 12
inches only, which is the limit of ordinary tillage ; then
another specimen from that depth down to the line of
change, and then the subsoil specimens beneath that
line. The depth to which the last should extend will
depend upon circumstances. It is always desirable to
know what constitutes the foundation of a soil to the
depth of three feet at least, since the question of drain-
age, resistance to drought, etc., will depend essentially
upon the nature of the substratum.

It is evident that no rigid definition of the differ-
ence between soil and subsoil can be made as the one
gradually merges into the other. In general it may be
said from the practical point of view that the soil is
that part of the surface of the field extending to a depth
of nine inches or to the depth turned by good plowing
and the subsoil the layer of nine inches in depth im-
mediately underneath the soil.

The Bureau of Soils, of the Department of Agricul-
ture, has undertaken a re-classification and naming of
types of soils on a vast scale. The number of such dif-
ferent types which have already been described is prob-
ably more than a thousand. This detail of classifica-
tion is wholly unwarranted from a scientific stand-
point, since it gives certain geographic names of locali-
ties in great numbers to a soil of practically a single
type. Only the utmost confusion can result from an
attempt to make permanent such finely drawn differ-
ences as are found to exist among soils of this kind.
The classification which has been given in the preced-
ing descriptions is entirely sufficient for both practical

GENESIS OF THE SOIL AND ITS POSSIBILITIES 205

and scientific purposes. It is unfortunate that such
great prolixity of names for slight variations has come
into vogue.

VARIETY OF CROPS.

Within the borders of the United States is grown
every agricultural crop known to the world. Our soil
produces immense quantities of the cereals; of fiber
plants, including especially cotton and flax; of sugar-
producing plants, including sugar cane, sugar beets,
sorghum, and maple trees; all kinds of vegetables and
fruits; medicinal plants of great variety; forest prod-
ucts of all kinds, and spices and condiments of every
description.

WILL OUR SOILS PRODUCE ENOUGH FOR FUTURE
GENERATIONS ?

There is one question which constantly presents it-
self to the mind of the political economist, namely, Is
the rate of increase in population to be diminished, or,
if continued, will the food supply be exhausted in the
near or remote future ? In looking for answers to these
questions, political economists must consult scientific
agriculture. In the application of the principles of
agriculture to science is found the only safe response.
It is certain that under the fostering care of this coun-
try and with wise and well directed engineering, many
millions of acres of rich land can be procured for agri-
cultural purposes through irrigation. Science teaches
us in many other ways the methods of making the farm,
to a certain extent, independent of the variations in
rainfall. The true principles of conserving moisture
for the purpose of crop production, and of utilizing to
the best advantage the excess of precipitation, are now

206 THE LURE OF THE LAND

well known and are daily taught to our people. Sci-
entific forestry is increasing the number of trees and
bringing large areas into tree culture which before were
only featureless plains. What the effect of tree plant-
ing will be upon the climate is not known with cer-
tainty, but the general impression is that the more
abundant the growth of trees, the more readily is mois-
ture preserved for agricultural purposes, while the in-
tensity and extent of floods are diminished.

The true principles of fertilization are annually in-
creasing the average product of the older farm lands of
the community. The principles of cattle feeding are
introducing important economies into the utilization of
farm products. We have no reason to think that the
average wheat crop, for instance, in the United States
may not increase in the amount grown per acre. An
increase of a bushel and a half per acre will give, in
round numbers, an increase of sixty million bushels to
the crop. The scientific farmer can readily double and
treble his crop, and so, without increasing the acreage,
supply double or treble the amount of wheat. The
same principle is true of other crops. The future soil
fertility will increase, not diminish. The average out-
put of each acre will grow. While the capacity of the
mouth to consume remains constant through all centu-
ries, the capacity of the hands to furnish food is con-
stantly increasing. In most cases there are two hands
to one mouth. We need not fear, therefore, a period
of world starvation due to the exhaustion of the food-
producing capacity of the soil. If universal hunger
does come, it will not be from this cause. It may be
— I would not' deny it — that the final fate of man on
earth is starvation or freezing, but the remote future
at which such calamities can occur makes their event

GENESIS OF THE SOIL AND ITS POSSIBILITIES 207

for practical purposes infinitely removed. We are now
feeding, within the boundaries of the United States,
nearly one hundred million people. When in a hun-
dred years from now we are feeding two hundred mil-
lion people, the quantity of food per head will he no
less abundant than at present. In those days now so
near at hand agriculture will be more a science and
more an art. The fields will all be gardens, and the
forests sources of income without destruction. The
life of man will be full of amenities which are now
denied the tiller of the soil, and the true aristocracy of
the earth will be composed of those in direct touch with
earth herself.

XXI

WHAT IS BECOMING OF OUR SOILS?

IT is well known to every student of statistical his-
tory, and to every practical farmer who has had ac-
cess at some time or other to what is known as virgin
soils, that the natural fertility of a soil rapidly disap-
pears under the methods of American agriculture which
have heen chiefly in vogue. If one of the theories of
the Department of Agriculture is true, namely, that
poverty of soil is due to the decay of the organic mat-
ter of previous crops leaving poisonous bodies behind,
then the virgin soils of this country ought to be at a
maximum of poverty when they are first cultivated.
If they be of the forest, they have in them the remains
of unnumbered years of forest decay. If they be
prairie, they have the remains of unnumbered years of
root and grass decay. Theoretically, therefore, if the
above-mentioned theory is correct they should have
reached the minimum of production. On the contrary,
such soils always have the maximum of production. It
is difficult to keep a crop from growing after the forest
has been removed or the prairie sod has been turned.
The agriculture of the past has been chiefly the ex-
ploitation of these stores of natural fertility.

It is pertinent to ask, how has this depression of soil
fertility, as shown in the diminishing crop production,
been secured ? There are three principal methods
which are patent: first, the natural fertility of the soil

208

Photo by U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

PROBABLY THEY ARE TO DIE OF CHOLERA

HE THINKS OF THE CATTLE FEEDING IN THE FERTILE FIELDS
"The loss of cattle amounted to 1,737,000 heads"

WHAT IS BECOMING OF OUR SOILS? 209

has been removed with the crops. Every harvest takes
from the field a certain quantity of its blood. There
is carried away with the crop, no matter what it is,
more or less of the vital principles on which the growth
of vegetation, that is, of future crops, depends. There
are removed with the crops certain quantities of phos-
phoric acid, potash, nitrogen and lime. The ingre-
dients removed which are principally of value are the
first three named. It follows that there must be a
gradual impoverishment of the soil, no matter how rich
it may have been originally, if this drain continues in-
definitely.

NATURE AVOIDS BANKRUPTCY.

It is true that there is present in most soils large
quantities of phosphoric acid and potash, which, if they
could be unlocked in the proportions in which they are
needed, might supply the wants of the crop for a hun-
dred or even a thousand years. The greater part of
this material, however, is locked up wisely by nature,
so that spendthrift man cannot break the bank. If na-
ture had made all its treasures of plant food readily
available, starvation would long since have overtaken
humanity. It is the nature of man to exploit the soil
to the last degree, hence it was a wise invention of
nature to make the soil self -protective.

There is a certain limit to what we can get out of
the soil. Beyond that it holds its treasures with a firm
grip and refuses to part with them. Long years of ex-
perience at the Rothamsted Station have shown that the
yield of wheat on properly cultivated soil, which will
produce from thirty to thirty-five bushels per acre, rap-
idly declines when crop after crop of wheat and straw
are removed from the field and nothing is returned. In

210 THE LURE OF THE LAND

the course of fifteen or twenty years of such treatment
it is found that the annual average production of that
field is reduced to about thirteen bushels per acre, and
it is not possible by successive crops to reduce it any
further. In other words, nature holds back from the
avaricious hand of man all stores of plant food beyond
that necessary to produce a minimum crop. Thus na-
ture safeguards the future from the rapacity of the
present.

This experimental demonstration at Eothamsted has
been verified by the natural results of American agri-
culture. The virgin fields of our country, suited to
the production of wheat, yielded at first from twenty-
five to thirty-five bushels of wheat per acre. ISTow that
yield has been cut down to about thirteen or fourteen
bushels per acre, and beyond this, apart from seasonal
variations, we cannot go. Thus it is evident that up to
a certain minimum limit the fertility of the soil is car-
ried off by successive crops when nothing is returned.

This latter condition is typified by many of the
fields of this country at the present time. The vast
areas that produce wheat and corn have never received
any fertilizer up to within the past quarter of a century,
and it may be said, even to-day, that in so far as the one
hundred millions of acres devoted to corn culture are
concerned, a very small percentage of this area is ever
fertilized either from the stable or from the factory.
This, then, is the road of exit which a large part of the
soil fertility has taken.

LOSS BY DRAINAGE AND EROSION.

A second factor in the loss of soil fertility is seen in
the drainage waters of the country. When the surface
of the soil was covered by forests and by prairie, the

WHAT IS BECOMING OF OUR SOILS? 211

protection afforded secured freedom from very great
losses by drainage; but when these protective covers
were removed, the water which fell upon the soil was
not held back by the mechanical effects of the roots and
the trees and the grasses, but either flowed off of the
surface or rapidly sunk into the soil. While the in-
crease of loss from this source over that of natural
drainage under cover has not been great, it should not
be lost sight of in accounting for the depreciation of
soil fertility.

Perhaps the greatest of the losses in soil fertility, es-
pecially in rolling lands of a texture which does not
hold well together, is that which is produced by erosion.
In many large areas of the United States the soils are
so easily washed that even on gently rolling lands it is
almost impossible to hold them in place. As you pass
down the Southern Railway, you will see on either side
thousands of acres of terraced fields. I mean by this
that the planting is done on contour lines, so as to
keep the rows as nearly as possible level, while an em-
bankment is thrown up so that the water during a
shower cannot break over. It is only in this way that
the land can be plowed and cultivated without wash-
ing. Here we find an extreme type of liability to loss.
There are probably no soils except those which are more
or less level which do not suffer somewhat from erosion
of this kind.

RECLAMATION OF WASHED SOILS.

Twenty years ago I wrote a part of a Bulletin, is-
sued by the Department of Agriculture, on Washed
Soils: How to Prevent and Reclaim Them. In this
Bulletin the following statements are found:

" The denudation, or washing, of lands on the

212 THE LURE OF THE LAND

higher levels of the earth's surface is a process which
no human precaution can wholly prevent. It has been
one of the most important forces and factors in the geo-
logical changes which have so greatly modified the sur-
face of the earth. The present surface of the largest
portion of the United States is made up of this ' sedi-
mentary ' or ' drift ? material which has been moved
from the place where it was formed through the disin-
tegration and decay of the old crystalline rocks, by wa-
ter, wind, or moving ice, and which has accumulated
to a depth of hundreds or thousands of feet over nearly
the entire surface of the country. It is estimated that
the general surface of the land in the area of the crys-
talline rocks of the Piedmont Plateau has been low-
ered at least 2,000 feet by this continual washing. This
vast amount of material has been slowly removed and
deposited elsewhere by the very same agents which we
are contending with to-day in our gullied fields; for
this denudation, or erosion, is still going on, as it has
been for ages past.

" As a rule this denudation is exceedingly slow and
the general level of large tracts of country is not low-
ered more than an inch or two in a hundred years.
Where the change is as slow as this it is undoubtedly
of benefit to the human race, as in the course of time it
must carry off the soil which has been used over and
over again for vegetation and expose fresh material
to the roots of plants. With this slow change the nat-
ural forces are amply sufficient for the decay of the
subsoil and for the conversion of this freshly exposed
material into a good soil. When the rate of denuda-
tion is excessive, however, and more rapid than the
natural decay of the subsoil material which is exposed,
it may work serious injury to agricultural lands.

VIEW WEST OF CHEVY CHASE, MARYLAND

The fresh granite rock is shown passing upward into material more and more decom-
posed until it becomes sufficiently pulverized and soluble to support plant life. The
roots showing in the upper part of the picture formerly penetrated the decomposed rock,
but have been exposed through grading operations

WHAT IS BECOMING OF OUR SOILS? 213

"Along the banks of the Ohio River and in very
many portions of the South hundreds of fields that were
once covered with sturdy forests of oak, maple, walnut,
and pine, and which hore under cultivation, after being
, cleared of the natural growth, large crops of wheat,
maize, tobacco, and cotton, may now be seen furrowed
with gullies as with the wrinkles of age, and abandoned
to brush and briers.

" A surface layer of good agricultural soil 6 inches
deep resulting from the slow and gradual disintegra-
tion and decay of rocks and accumulation of humus
may have required hundreds of years for its natural
formation, and yet it is liable to be washed away in a
single storm.

" This excessive erosion, or washing, of lands may be
prevented, and the already gullied fields may be recov-
ered, and steep slopes of loose material may be held and
prevented from washing :

" (1) By chemical means, in the application of
manures and fertilizers and in the accumulation of
organic matter, which change the texture of the soil
and make it more porous and more absorbent of water,
so that there is less to run off over the surface.

" (2) By means of cultivation and underdrainage,
which prevent erosion by distributing the surface flow
over the ground and increase the amount carried off
by underdrainage.

"(3) By reforestation, or the planting of trees,
which act mechanically to prevent washing.

" (4) By grass and similar vegetation, which bind
the soil grains and prevent their washing away.

" The erosion of a soil is caused by the wearing of
the rain and snow waters which can not penetrate into
the soil fast enough to be carried away by underdrain-

214 THE LURE OF THE LAND

age, and which, by reason of the slope or contour of the
land, run off over the surface, carrying along particles
of sand and clay. When this water accumulates in a
depression in the field the force of the torrent may be
sufficient to cut out a great gully in a short space of
time.

" The extent of washing to which the soil is exposed
depends upon the quantity of rainfall in a given time,
the slope or contour of the surface, the texture of the
soil, the vegetative covering of the surface, and the kind
and condition of cultivation. A soil composed chiefly
of moderately coarse grains of sand, and having good
under drain age, will absorb the heaviest rainfall without
much danger of surface erosion. A sandy-clay soil,
on the other hand, into which the water can not perco-
late with anything like the rapidity of the precipita-
tion, will be washed and gullied by the torrent of water
which must flow over the surface.

CHEMICAL RELATIONS OF THE SOIL TO SURFACE WASHING.

" It has been repeatedly shown by experiments and
by the experiences of farmers that a soil, as a rule,
absorbs water more readily as the content of organic
matter and of humus increases. Surface erosion can,
therefore, be largely prevented by such a system of
cultivation and cropping as will introduce as large a
quantity of organic matter into the soil as possible. A
very old method of recovering washed and gullied lands
is to place straw in the furrows while plowing, the
straw not only acting mechanically to hold the soil in
place and prevent surface erosion, but also in a very
efficient way to increase the quantity of humus, thus
making the soil hold large quantities of water which
otherwise would have passed off over the surface. In

WHAT IS BECOMING OF OUR SOILS? 215

this simple way fields which have been badly washed
and gullied and entirely abandoned may be recovered
and made highly productive.

" The most important thing in the recovery of waste
fields is the incorporation of organic matter of some
kind in the soil; pea vines, stubble, briers, or leaves
from the forest may be used as a source of the organic
matter. The straw from one acre of land which has
been recovered, as mentioned above, will be sufficient
to start the recovery of another acre, even if this be
deeply furrowed with gullies. Where enough organic
matter can be used as a surface dressing, this layer
helps greatly to retain water and to make the under-
lying soil more absorbent.

" As soon as a sufficient supply of humus has been
accumulated and the lands are brought up to an ade-
quate condition of fertility, clover or grass should be
seeded, if the land is at all suited to these crops, or rye,
oats, or field peas should be sown to help hold the sur-
face. Little by little, but more rapidly than would
be expected from the forbidding aspect of the field, the
land can be reclaimed again and made productive
through the accumulation of humus and organic matter.
A soil containing a fair quantity of humus will wash
less readily than one nearly destitute of this mat-
ter.

" A soil containing a fair supply of lime is much
less liable to wash than one similarly situated and ex-
posed which is deficient in lime. The reason of this
is that clays which are deficient in lime, when once
brought into suspension by moving waters, will remain
in suspension and keep the water turbid for a long
time. Clays which are heavily impregnated with lime
salts, on the other hand, are in a flocculated state, the

216 THE LUKE OF THE LAND

fine grains of clay being held together and in contact
with the larger grains of sand. This flocculated mass
quickly settles and is originally not so easily disturbed
and carried off by moving water. A field treated with
an abundance of lime is thus less easily washed by
heavy rains. The results of investigations by Schulze,
Schloesing, and Hilgard have shown in a most emphatic
way the beneficial changes which take place, especially
in stiff clay soils, by the application of lime.

EFFECT OF LIME ON PHYSICAL CONDITION.

" The change in the physical condition of the soil
which is produced by the lime, and which is likewise
produced by a number of other chemicals ordinarily
used in commercial fertilizers, is another important
factor worthy of consideration. A stiff clay soil is
practically impervious to the penetration of surface
water when it is delivered in such torrents as we are
liable to have in our summer storms. A well-limed
soil, on the contrary, although it may contain as much
clay but in which the particles are flocculated or drawn
together, is much more pervious to water, and the
amount of water which the soil will carry down through
under-drainage is increased, and the excess which has
to flow off over the surface is diminished. The surface
washing of cultivated fields, especially those which are
naturally deficient in lime, can be greatly diminished,
therefore, by the free application of this substance to
them.

"A number of the ordinary fertilizing materials
have an important effect upon the texture of soils and
upon the permeability of soils to water, but few sys-
tematic investigations have been carried on in this line
and not much, except of local importance, has been

WHAT IS BECOMING OF OUR SOILS? 217

definitely settled by experiments or by the experiences
of farmers."

Thus, by the removal of crops for which no restitu-
tion has been made, by the leaching of the soil and
dissolving the soluble salts therefrom, and by the ero-
sion and translation of the soil into localities where it
can no longer be reached by the plow, millions of acres
of once fertile soil have been reduced to a pitiable
degree of poverty. As long as new land was available
to the American farmer, he gave little attention to the
problem of conserving soil fertility and the various
means of restoring it. It was far cheaper for him to
abandon his worn-out fields and journey to new regions
where the land was still virgin and contained all the
accumulated fertility of the ages.

THE: NEGLECT AND INDIFFERENCE OF THE FARMER.

Fortunately for American agriculture that day has
passed, and we now are face to face with the problem
of increasing soil fertility since there is no great pos-
sibility of increasing the area of arable land. What
are the means by which this restoration can be made?
They are perfectly simple. First of all, stop the
sources of depletion. Feed your field at least as much
as you take from it. Second, stop the useless leaching.
This can be done by proper cover crops and deep plow-
ing, which will hold the soil water and prevent it from
leaching. Third, stop erosion. This is largely a me-
chanical process at first, but must be supplemented by
a series of grasses or reforestations, which will pro-
tect from further waste.

It was my good fortune to be active in a practical
application of some of these principles while still a
young man, and before the ideas of scientific agricul-

218 THE LURE OF THE LAND

ture had become commonly distributed. My father's
farm was in the hills near the Ohio River. The land
was originally very fertile. It was underlaid with
lime-stone and covered with a growth of maple, walnut,
and poplar (tulip) trees. The walnuts and the poplars
grew to great size and were the worst enemies of the
intending farmer. They were valueless for lumber, of
which there was already a surplus of supply, and hence
thousands of these magnificent trees were deadened,
cut down and burned, to get them out of the way of
the plow. Soon after signs of danger were manifested.
Deep gullies were cut in the hillside. These were
filled in and washed over and plowed out from year to
year, until finally all of the surface soil was gone.
The sub-soil was much less fertile and even more prone
to wash. Consequently, in a few years, not more than
fifteen or twenty at most, a great number of the cleared
fields were reduced to poverty and the crops fell to a
minimum.

EARLY EXPERIMENT IN REFORESTATION.

Directly in front of the house was a hillside which
had been so worn by erosion that it was no longer
plowed. It was left as a bad spot on the landscape,
which offended the eye and indicated an unscientific
method of agriculture. So much of the soil had been
washed off that even grass would not grow on what was
left. Only briers and a few weeds could survive.
Knowing nothing of the principles of scientific forestry,
I got my father's permission to re-forest this area.
There were only about two acres of it, but it was suf-
ficient for an experiment. I planted several hundred
young locust trees, of which there was an abundant
supply in the country, as carefully as I could along the

WHAT IS BECOMING OF OUR SOILS? 219

better and richer portions of the remaining soil. For-
tunately a hundred or more of these lived and began
to grow vigorously. Soon other plants began to come
up from the roots, and in the course of a few years
the whole surface was covered by a beautiful growth
of young locusts. ~Now, after the lapse of more than
forty years, this abandoned hillside is not only a beau-
tiful spot in the landscape, but also supplies fence posts
for the whole farm and yields a larger income accord-
ing to its area than any other portion of the farm. A
considerable part of it has also been naturally seeded
to maple.

If the farmers' boys throughout the United States
on all farms where erosion has played its game would
undertake a reforestation in this direction, incal-
culable benefit would be derived therefrom. But it is
not necessary to abandon the cultivation of such eroded
areas. The contour system of cropping will usually
save them for use. It is true, it requires some labor
to lay out the lines of level and build the little embank-
ments. This, however, can be very well done by the
plow. A considerable part of the area is unavoidably
wasted for arable purposes, as the embankments cannot
be plowed up. But on the whole it pays either to re-
forest these denuded areas or to cultivate them on the
contour principle. This process is now in use in parts
of the country, and decided progress has been made in
recovering the soil from the effects of erosion and pro-
tecting it against further injury.

QUANTITY OF SOIL CARRIED.

It is of course impossible to do more than estimate
the quantities of soil which are carried from the sur-
face of the fields and forests and emptied into the

220 THE LURE OF THE LAND

running streams. Attempts have been made to esti-
mate the quantities of silt carried in some of the great
rivers. The Geological Survey has made a number of
estimates of this kind, and has come to the conclusion
that the quantity of silt carried by the Hudson Eiver
is 240,000 tons a year; by the Susquehanna, 240,000
tons ; by the Koanoke, 3,000,000 tons ; by the Alabama,
3,000,000 tons; by the Tennessee, 11,000,000 tons; and
by the Missouri, 176,000,000 tons.

In the Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture
for 1913, Mr. Davis gives an estimate of the losses
which occur to agriculture from erosion of the soils.
He says:

It has been estimated that the Mississippi River, which
drains over one-third of the area of the United States, delivers
to the Gulf of Mexico from 370 to 680 million tons of sus-
pended material yearly. Accepting the lower figure and as-
suming a lower rate for the rest of the United States (500
million tons), the total amount of soil material carried to the
seas amounts to 870 million tons a year. Assuming that one-
half of this is unnecessary waste, there is an annual loss of
over 400 million tons of soil material. This means a prevent-
able waste yearly of more material than was removed in dig-
ging the Panama Canal. But this is only part of the story,
for only a small portion of the soil brought down from the
hills is carried to the mouths of the rivers. What proportion
it is impossible to estimate. . . .

Some idea of the extent of this loss may be gained from the
fact that the National Conservation Conference in 1909 re-
ported nearly eleven million acres of abandoned farm land
in the United States, most of it damaged and over one-third
or about four million acres actually destroyed by erosion. At
an average original value of $10, the loss amounts to $40,000,-
000. The loss from non-production is probably as much
yearly. Added to this the losses to navigation and water
power and the expense of keeping open channels will almost
double the amount, so that annually the United States is suf-

WHAT IS BECOMING OF OUR SOILS? 221

fering the loss of seventy-five to one hundred million dollars
through the agency of erosion.

FACTORS DETERMINING EROSION".

A remarkable study of soil erosion has been made
by the late Dr. W. J. McGee, who was an expert in
charge of soil water investigations of the Bureau of
Soils. According to McGee' s conclusions the amount
of erosion which takes place in any locality is deter-
mined by a number of factors. First of all the quan-
tity of precipitation is an important factor, but not
quite so important as the exaggerations of precipita-
tion. A rainfall of forty inches a year which is dis-
tributed evenly throughout every month, being a little
over three inches per month, and this distributed evenly
throughout the month, might produce no erosion at all ;
while, on the other hand, a rainfall of fifteen inches
a year which should come all at once, or within a short
period, would produce very decided erosive effects.

Aside from the amount and distribution of the rain-
fall, the contour of the land and the texture of the soil
are important controlling factors. In land that is
practically level erosion is reduced to a minimum; the
more hilly the land, the greater the erosion, other things
being equal. A soil that is tenacious, contains plenty
of lime, and at the same time porous, is least subject
to erosion ; while a soil that is sandy, devoid of humus,
and containing little lime, is most prone to erosion.

McGee calls attention to the amount of precipitation
in the United States. In the mainland of the United
States, exclusive of Alaska and the insular possessions,
the mean annual rainfall, as shown by the reports of
the Weather Bureau, averages about thirty inches. The
total quantity of water precipitated amounts to 215,-

222 THE LURE OF THE LAND

000,000 cubic feet. It is estimated that this is equiv-
alent in volume to ten Mississippi Rivers running con-
stantly.

FRUIT OB NUT BEARING TREES IN REFORESTATION.

Professor J. Russell Smith, of the University of
Pennsylvania, who has made a careful study of soil
erosion in this and other countries, is of the opinion
that of all the means proposed for controlling soil ero-
sion, including the terracing of the fields, deep plowing,
pasture, grass crops, et cetera, the most important and
effective is reforestation of some kind. The growing
of ordinary forest trees, which are valuable only for
their timber, postpones to so remote a date any income
that the ordinary farmer is slow to consider the merits
of the proposition.

As I have already pointed out, there are certain
kinds of trees, like the locust, which will be available
for fencing in perhaps fifteen or twenty years. Lum-
ber trees, however, such as the tulip or poplar tree,
and the oak, require even a longer period before the
beginning of their harvest. Other kinds of lumber
trees, such as the pine, require still longer time. Pro-
fessor Smith is of the opinion, therefore, that the re-
forestation should be accomplished by the means of
crop-producing trees. Among these first of all is the
fruit tree. The orchard, however, is hardly possible on
land already denuded and in which erosion takes place
on the smallest provocation. There is not much of the
eroded soil of the United States which can be planted
to the tree which Professor Smith considers to be the
king of all crops, namely, the date tree.

He recommends as a suitable covering for soil sub-
ject to erosion what he calls tree forage. He finds

WHAT IS BECOMING OF OUR SOILS? 223;

forage tree crops are extensively cultivated in Europe,
Africa and Hawaii. The carob and mesquite bean lie
regards as a substitute for bran and corn meal, and the
yields of these crops are, according to Professor Smith,
" almost staggering in their significance." He states
that mesquite forests on rough, untilled and untillable
land are producing from four to ten tons of beans per
acre and the bean meal sells at $25 a ton. Among the
trees which are available for this kind of a crop he calls
the hdney locust in the East a counterpart of the mes-
quite in the West.

The utilization of oak and hickory trees for the pro-
duction of mast, that is, acorns and nuts, well suited
to the fattening of pork, has been known since this
country has been settled. In addition to these the
beech tree of Kentucky and southern Indiana is a
fine mast-producing tree. It requires, however, from
twenty to fifty years to produce an oak, hickory or
beech tree of sufficient size to produce enough nuts for
commercial purposes. In addition to these Professor
Smith suggests the fig and the mulberry trees.

THE PECAN TREE.

The most promising of the trees suggested as tree
crops are the pecan, the walnut, the almond, the filbert
and the hazelnut. The chestnut not only produces a
considerable quantity of oil, but also a large quantity
of starch, so that the chestnut is almost a bread-pro-
ducing nut. This form of tree crop is to be recom-
mended especially because it produces its fruit within
a few years. If the cultivated chestnut be grafted
onto the native stalks, paying crops can be expected in
from three to five years. Just at this moment, how-
ever, there is a threatening pest which bids fair to

224 THE LURE OF THE LAND

destroy the chestnut groves of the United States,
namely, the chestnut blight, which, taking its origin in
the northeast, has already reached northern Virginia.

It is possible that the artificial planting of many of
these valuable trees, especially the leguminous vari-
eties, such as the locust, might be interspersed with the
terracing of the surface so that the two might work to-
gether for holding the soils. The locust enriches the
soil where it grows by increasing its store of nitrogen.
The new embankment of the terrace might, therefore,
be planted with rows of locust trees, which permit
cultivated crops to be grown close up to their trunks.

All of these methods of restraining the action of
water naturally tend to hold the water in the locality
where it falls, and thus to increase the amount avail-
able as soil moisture for crop growth. It would of
course be disastrous if water could be so held that it
never would percolate. The soluble materials which
come from the decay of rocks in the form of alkaline
compounds would so increase, if there were no under-
drainage, as to produce everywhere in the course of
many years that condition which is called alkaline, and
which in excess is so fatal to plant growth. It appears,
therefore, that among the various methods which have
been recommended for the control of soil erosion, espe-
cial attention should be paid to reforestation in gen-
eral or to reforestation with crop-producing trees in
particular.

But this is not sufficient. Restitution must be made
for the robbery of the past. If the land has been re-
duced to the very lowest degree of penury, it is neces-
sary to purchase, in order to begin its restoration,
additional quantities of phosphoric acid, potash and
nitrogen. .With this purchase of plant foods a new

WHAT IS BECOMING OF OUR SOILS? 225

growth of crops can be instituted, and with a judicious
addition of lime, clover and other leguminous crops
can be made to grow and thus furnish one of the most
expensive of the elements of the fertilizing materials,
namely, nitrogen, in a state suitable for plant life.
There is no reason, therefore, to despair of agriculture
because of the improper method by which it has been
conducted in the past years. Every person who en-
gages in that honorable profession at the present time
should be imbued with the idea that he has come into
the presence of wrongs which are to be righted. Resti-
tution must be made. The land must be respected.
It must be restored to its pristine fertility.

XXII

THE FERTILITY OF THE SOIL

rilHEEE is no problem of greater importance to the
A prospective farmer than the fertility of the soil.
The idea conveyed by the above expression is extremely
indefinite to most persons. It is generally known that
the crops vary from year to year and from field to field.
The causes of this variation are well known in many
respects. They are largely seasonal. The amount
and distribution of the rainfall, the amount and dis-
tribution of heat, and the amount and distribution of
light, are very potent factors in vegetable growth. If
the farmer could have available three inches of water
per month for the growing months of May, June, July
and August, he would need only a foot of rainfall to
produce a magnificent crop. Unfortunately for the
farmer, he does not control the natural distribution of
water. In this respect the irrigation farmer has a
great advantage, and thus the magnitude of the crop
under irrigation can be foretold with a great deal of cer-
tainty.

WHAT IS FERTILITY?

Aside from the seasonal variations of water, heat
and light, there are other causes which control the mag-
nitude of the crop. These causes are grouped together
under the term " fertility." To describe fertility in a
single phrase is rather difficult, but not impossible.

226

THE FERTILITY OF THE SOIL 227

From my point of view fertility, seasonal variations
eliminated, is the measure of the ability of the soil to
feed a growing crop. This ability rests upon two fun-
damental conditions: First, porosity of the soil, by
means of which the roots can go out after their food;
and second, the amount of food available.

It is well known that plants live chiefly on inorganic
materials, consisting mostly of compounds of potassium,
phosphorus and nitrogen. There are, indeed, other es-
sential food elements, such as lime, iron, magnesia, et
cetera, but as a rule these, with the exception of lime,
are always present in much greater quantity than is
needed in tillable soils. The compounds of phosphorus,
potash and nitrogen, may be locked up in such a way
as to be inaccessible for the food requirements of the
plant. The usual form of the phosphorus compound in
the soil is its union with lime, forming phosphate of
lime. Phosphate of lime in its natural state is quite
insoluble in the soil waters, and hence the mere pres-
ence of phosphoric acid in combination with lime is not
always a proper guarantee for a supply for the growing
plant.

The same is true of potash, and to a less degree of
nitrogen. Many nitrogenous compounds exist in the
soil in an undecomposed, organic state, in which condi-
tion they are useless as plant foods. These nitroge-
nous compounds must be broken down under the influ-
ence of bacterial action, and the nitrogen converted into
nitric acid by a series of ferments which are capable of
producing nitric acid from the organic matters con-
taining the nitrogen. It is only in the form of nitric
acid that nitrogen reaches its full measure of ability
in the nourishing of plants. The potassium may exist
in the soil as one of the components of granite or

228 THE LURE OF THE LAND

feldspar, and in this condition be wholly inaccessible
for food purposes. These compounds must be broken
down and the potash liberated before its maximum of
utility is obtainable. Potash is especially useful in
growing root crops such as potatoes, and in many soils,
such as the blue grass region of Kentucky, adds greatly
to the yield of Indian corn.

IMPORTANCE OF HUMUS.

Another thing which a fertile soil requires is a lot
of decaying organic matter, known as humus. In the
decay of organic matter not only is nitric acid formed
from the protein which is present in the material, but
also the salts of potash and phosphoric acid which are
present in the organic materials are set free in a form
suitable for plant nutrition. In addition to this, the
presence of the decaying organic matter known as humus
profoundly modifies the physical condition of the soil,
rendering it more porous, more retentive of moisture,
and more easily cultivated.

To supplement any deficiency in plant foods, manures
and fertilizers are to be freely used. The common un-
derstanding of the difference between these bodies is
that a manure is something produced on the farm,
principally by the farm animals, while a fertilizer is a
manufactured article sent from the centers of manu-
facture for the use of farmers. High-grade fertilizers
containing 4 or 5 per cent, of potash, 2 to 4 per cent,
of nitrogen-bearing materials, and 8 to 12 per cent, of
available phosphoric acid, are applied to soils in large
quantities in order to furnish materials for vigorous
plant growth. The fertility of the soil, therefore, is
simply its feeding ability. The difference between a
poor soil in this respect and a rich one is that which is

PROF. E. W. HILGARD
Dean of Agricultural chemists in the United States

THE FERTILITY OF THE SOIL 229

found between the larder of poverty and the larder of
wealth. It is not even a question of age. Some of the
old fields on my farm are not too poor to grow luxuriant
oats on which a carelessly tossed hat finds a safe resting
place. This is the simple statement of facts established
by experience and investigation of the ages, and es-
pecially of modern scientific discoveries.

THE BUKEATT OF SOILS.

[Various collateral theories have been urged in regard
to soil fertility by many different investigators. The
Bureau of Soils, of the Department of Agriculture,
some twenty years ago advanced the theory *hat all soils
without distinction contain an abundant quantity of
plant foods, and the soil solution must necessarily be-
come saturated with these constituents to the same de-
gree of concentration in all soils, irrespective of the
amounts of phosphoric acid and potash there may be
present. In speaking of this theory Mr. Alfred Daniel
Hall, of the Eothamsted Experimental Station, makes
the following observation:

Little as this view would seem to square with our experi-
ence of the effects of phosphatic and potassic fertilizers on par-
ticular soils, the theory of a soil solution of constant composi-
tion must be valid if the conditions existing in the soil are
such as postulated.

This theory of soil fertility is not accepted by soil
specialists such as King, Hilgard, Hall, Hopkins, nor
by any great number of agricultural chemists.

In addition to the above theory the Bureau of Soils
has advanced the theory that lack of fertility in the
soil is due largely to the residual toxic substances which
are left in the soil from previous growth, and hence

230 THE LURE OF THE LAND

that a neutralization of these toxic substances by proper
antidotes is sufficient to restore the soil to its pristine
fertility. This theory of the Bureau of Soils has not
gained a much wider vogue than the original one in re-
gard to the sufficiency of all soils to supply the phos-
phoric acid and potash necessary for growth. This
theory was also experimentally tested by Hall, and as
a result of the investigations in both lines of study the
following conclusions were drawn:

(1) The composition of the natural soil solution as regards
phosphoric acid and potash is not constant, but varies signif-
icantly in accord with the composition of the soil and its past
manurial history.

(2) Within wide limits the rate of growth of a plant
varies with the concentration of the nutritive solution, irre-
spective of the total amount of plant food available.

(3) When other conditions, such as the supply of nitrogen,
water, and air, are equal, the growth of the crop will be de-
termined by the concentration of the soil solution in phos-
phoric acid and potash which, in its turn, is determined by the
amount of these substances in the soil, their state of combina-
tion, and the fertilizer supplied.

(4) On normal cultivated soils the growth of crops like
wheat and barley, even when repeated for 60 years in succes-
sion, does not leave behind in the soil specific toxic substances
which have an injurious effect upon the growth of the same or
other plants in that soil.

The net result of these investigations is to restore the
earlier theory of the direct nutrition of the plant by fertiliz-
ers. The composition of the soil solution which determines the
growth of the plant is dependent upon the amount and the
mode of combination of the phosphoric acid and potash in the
soil, both of which are affected by the fertilizer supply,
though to what extent is not yet determinable.

It is evident that the consensus of scientific opinion
supports the results of Mr. Hall's investigations, and
therefore any failure of a soil to produce a crop, aside

THE FERTILITY OF THE SOIL 231

from seasonal variations, must still be regarded to de-
pend solely upon its physical state and upon the quan-
tity of plant foods which the soil contains available for
nutritive purposes. Thus the common practice, which
has been so justified by experience, of heavily manur-
ing the soils and adding the special forms of commer-
cial fertilizers necessary to supply any deficiency, is
the only method by means of which abundant crops can
be produced in imperfect soils.

HUMUS AS A MEASURE OF FERTILITY.

The indeterminate position of the Bureau of Soils
regarding soil fertility is still further illustrated by a
recent publication under date of May 6, 1914, in which,
in tabular form, are given the yields on soils varying in
their percentage of humus. In North Carolina, where
the percentage of humus in the soil is given as 1% per
cent., the yield of corn in bushels per acre is given as
20. In Virginia, with the humus content of the soil
2% per cent., the yield is given at 30 bushels. In
Ohio and Illinois, with a humus content of 5 per cent,
in the soil, the yield is given at from 45 to 50 bushels.

There are two or three uncertain factors in regard
to this case. First, there are no extensive data com-
piled by the Census Office of the yields of corn classi-
fied as to the content of humus in the soils. In the
second place, the content of humus in a soil is due
largely to its fertility, and the fertility is not due pri-
marily to the content of humus. The puzzling non-
sequential reasoning of the officials is accentuated by
the following statement : " The striking correlation
between the per cent, of vegetable matter in the soil
and the yield of corn in these areas investigated is an-
other strong link in the chain of evidence that organic

232 THE LUKE OF THE LAND

or vegetable matter in the soil is the most effective fac-
tor in soil fertility." The answer to this is that a most
luxuriant crop can be grown in pure sand with mineral
fertilizers and not a trace of humus.

The changing attitudes of the Bureau of Soils on
soil fertility are represented as follows: A. All soils
have sufficient plant food for the production of crops
indefinitely. B. The fertility of the soil is affected by
toxic principles left in the soil from previous crops. C.
The fertility of the soil depends chiefly upon its physi-
cal state, and the function of applied fertilizers is not
one of nutrition, but one of modification of physical
character. D. The fertility of the soil depends chiefly
upon the amount of vegetable matter it contains.

It is to be hoped that in the near future the Bureau
of Soils will reach the conclusion which is now held by
all prominent scientific investigators in the world,
namely, that the fertility of the soil is dependent upon
its ability to feed the crop. All factors which affect
that ability are factors in soil fertility.

INCREASING- NITROGENOUS FERTILIZERS.

In regard to the nitrogenous constituents of the soil,
however, happily a discovery has been made which
means much to scientific agriculture, namely, the fact
that a certain family of plants, the leguminous family,
of which the pea, the bean, clover and locust trees,
are types, has the remarkable faculty of assimilating
atmospheric nitrogen and converting it into nitric acid
in a form suitable for plant nutrition. This remark-
able phenomenon is due to the fact of bacterial action.
The nitrifying bacteria live in connection with the
plant itself, being parasites upon the plant roots, and
in this symbiotic activity seem capable of directly oxi-

THE FERTILITY OF THE SOIL 233

dizing atmospheric nitrogen and thus increasing in the
soil the stores of available nitrogenous foods for plants.
This discovery, so important to agriculture, is all
the more to be prized because in the purchase of com-
mercial fertilizers those containing available nitrogen
are the highest priced. The cost of phosphoric acid
and potash is comparatively low when considered in
connection with the cost of nitric acid or nitrate of soda,
the form in which, as Chile saltpeter, the available
nitrogen of commercial fertilizers is chiefly furnished.
The farmer who wishes, therefore, to increase the fer-
tility of his soils, may well begin on this theory, namely,
the great majority of soils of the United States are es-
sentially acid, being composed largely of silica or silicic
acid. Further, when soils have been long in cultiva-
tion their acidity undoubtedly increases, due to the de-
velopment of acids from the decay of organic matter
and the removal of bases from the soil for the purposes
of plant growth.

BENEFITS OF LIMB.

These old acid soils no longer are capable of produc-
ing leguminous crops, but when they are treated with
lime they again, under proper conditions, grow abun-
dant crops of clover, alfalfa, cowpeas, and other legu-
minous plants. By plowing these crops under when
near maturity, not only is an abundance of available
nitrogen returned to the soil, but also large quantities
of humus, which improve the physical condition of the
fields. The farmer thus needs only to buy the cheaper
potash and phosphoric acid salts in order to restore his
fields to the maximum of fertility. It may be possible
to find supplies of potash in the United States. All
other kinds of fertilizer we have.

234 THE LURE OF THE LAND

A NEW DISCOVERY BUT NOT A NEW IDEA.

The discovery of the value of the leguminous crops
as fertilizers, and the method especially by means of
which their fertilizing properties are made possible, is
supposed to be of modern origin. This is true in so far
as the activity of certain nitrifying organisms which
have a symbiotic life with the legumes themselves is
concerned. The underlying idea, however, is fully set
forth by John Taylor, who almost a hundred years ago
published an agricultural journal under the name of
Arator (the plowman). John Taylor was a resi-
dent of Caroline County, Virginia, and a hundred
years ago was president of the Agricultural Society of
Virginia. In these essays, which appeared in the
sixty-four numbers of the Araior, some of the funda-
mental principles of scientific agriculture as they are
understood to-day were first set forth. In one of his
essays Mr. Taylor says:

Land in America affords little pleasure or profit, and ap-
pears in a progress of continually affording less. Virginia is
in rapid decline; land in New York formerly producing
twenty bushels to the acre now produces ten. Little profit can
be found in the present mode of agriculture of this country;
and I apprehend it to be a fact that it affords a bare subsist-
ence. Virginia is the southern limit of my inquiries, because
agriculture had there already arrived to its lowest state of deg-
radation. The land owners in this State are, with few ex-
ceptions, in low circumstances; the inferior rank of them
wretched in the extreme. Decline has pervaded all the States.

These conclusions, if true, are awfully threatening to the
liberty and prosperity of a country whose hostage for both
is agriculture. An order of men earning a bare subsistence,
in low circumstances, and whose inferior rank is wretched in
the extreme, cannot possibly constitute a moral force adequate
to either object. It is therefore highly important to the agri-

THE FERTILITY OF THE SOIL 235

cultural class to ascertain whether it is true that agriculture
is in a decline. . . .

The terrible facts that the strongest chord which vibrates in
the heart of man cannot tie our people to the natal spot, that
they view it with horror, and flee from it to new climes with
joy, determine our agricultural progress to be a progress of
emigration and not of improvement, and leads to an ultimate
recoil from this exhausted resource of an exhausted country.

EARLY RECOGNITION OF THE VALUE OF CLOVER.

Mr. Taylor continues to discuss, in other numbers of
the Arator, the true source of nitrogen for the farmer :

We must restore to the earth its vegetable matter before it
can restore to us its bountiful crops. Facts demonstrate that
by the use of vegetables we may collect manure from the at-
mosphere with a rapidity and in an abundance far exceeding
that of which we have robbed the earth. To draw from the
atmosphere the greatest quantity of manure to check the loss
the earth sustains from evaporation during the process of
shade, to give the manure the most lasting form, and to de-
posit it in the most beneficial manner, are primary objects of
the "inclosing system." The best agent known for effecting
the three first is red clover. Its growth is rapid; its quantity
exceeds the product of any other grass; it throws up a suc-
cession of stems in the same summer, and these stems are more
solid and lasting than those of other grasses. These successive
growths constitute so many distinct drafts from the great
treasure of atmospherical manure in one year. While these
drafts are repeated the clover is daily securing the treasure
in a form able long to elude the robber, evaporation, whom
it also opposes by shade. To the extracting from the atmos-
phere the greatest quantity of manure and elaborating it into
a lasting form the most suddenly of any vegetable cover,
clover lays for wheat are indebted for their fame. The tap
root of the clover also advances the intention of the "inclos-
ing system" in several respects. By piercing the earth to a
considerable depth apertures or pores are created for imbib-
ing; and sinking deeper, a greater quantity of atmospherical
manure, so well defended by the shade of the top, and the

236 THE LURE OF THE LAND

friability thus communicated to the soil affords a most happy
facility to the plow for turning its vast bed of vegetable
matter.

Auxiliaries to clover powerfully accelerate its growth. The
peculiar property of clover to be improved by a top-dressing
of gypsum is another striking circumstance of its affinity to
the system of fertilizing land by its own covers. As its
growth is vastly increased by this top-dressing, it furnishes
reason to believe that the effect flows from a disposition com-
municated by the gypsum to the clover for imbibing atmos-
pherical food in its external parts, and so much as it thus
gains affords to the earth a double benefit. In some lands
clover will not live; recourse must therefore be had to other
measures of improving the land to endow it with a capacity to
produce it, and substitutes for clover should be sought out by
experience among the individuals of the vegetable world.

These prophetic extracts from the writings of John
Taylor are taken from the Arator for 1810, and I am
indebted to Dr. John E. Page, of the University of
Virginia, for having had my attention called to this
most important matter. The extracts which I have
published are found in the paper presented by Dr. Page
to a Convention of agriculturists on January 29, 1883,
at Washington. This Convention was called by George
B. Loring, the Commissioner of Agriculture, and is the
parent of the splendid organization of the agricultural
and mechanical colleges and experiment stations of the
country which now wield so great a force for the im-
provement of agriculture.

XXIII

DRY FARMING

A SERIOUS problem affects the farmers of this
country, not only on that fringe which separates
the arid from the wet portions of the community, but
also as it affects the farmers who live in the so-called
wet zone. I have now had five seasons' experience on
my farm in Virginia. The first season was an ideal
one respecting the distribution of the rainfall in the
spring and summer. There was neither a drought nor
an excess of rainfall at any part of the growing period.
I had an encouraging success in growing crops which
are peculiarly susceptible to the effects of drought, my
first oat crop averaging 57' bushels to the acre, which
was a revelation to the farmers of my vicinity, who were
used to securing only from 20 to 30 bushels of oats per
acre. The Indian corn crop was also most excellent,
yielding a larger return than any crop that has been
grown since.

During the last four years there has been an ex-
cessively dry May. This unseasonal dry weather has
shortened every single grass crop, with the one excep-
tion of alfalfa. As I have grown alfalfa only one year
in the five, I haven't had much benefit from this excep-
tion. Clover and timothy have been almost entire
failures, not averaging on my farm over three-fourths

of a ton per acre. The wheat has been uniformly

237

238 THE LURE OF THE LAND

shortened in its growth, and thus made somewhat diffi-
cult of harvest. The heads have also been very short
and not well filled.

This present season, 1914, May started with a prom-
ise of the most wonderful clover and wheat crop that
had ever been seen. From the fifth of May until the
thirteenth of June there was hardly sufficient rain to
lay the dust. The contrast was made greater by the
fact that the spring had been excessively wet, and much
of the plowing had been done when the ground was too
wet for that purpose. The result was cloddy fields.
Indian corn planted after the twentieth of May in many
cases failed to germinate. The wheat was suddenly
cut short in its growth but nevertheless yielded a boun-
tiful harvest. The clover, which promised a phenom-
enal yield, was cut down to less than a ton per acre,
and the pastures, which should be green at this season,
were dry and brown.

This condition of affairs, as I have said, has been
encountered in four seasons out of five. The problem
of dry farming, therefore, is one which is peculiarly
important to the farmer situated, as I am, in a region
of usually abundant rains, but which is subject at some
period of the growing season every year to injury by
drought.

FIRST OFFICIAL EXPERIMENT IN DRY FARMING.

The subject of dry farming has received a consider-
able degree of attention from the Department of Agri-
culture. Crops of considerable magnitude have been
grown on areas which a few years ago were supposed
only to afford foliage in the early part of the year. I
recall in this connection the first experiment made by
the Department of Agriculture, in so far as I know, in

DRY FARMING 239

the principles of dry farming. During the seasons
from 1885 to 1902 I was in charge of experiments in
the production of sugar and syrups from sorghum, sugar
cane and sugar beets, in various parts of the United
States. A model factory for the production of sugar
.from sorghum was erected at Medicine Lodge, Kan-
sas. This was in the midst of the season of lean years
in that State, where whole townships in the western
portion of the states were depopulated by reason of a
series of years of little rain.

Sorghum is a dry farming crop. I have called it,
and I think appropriately, the camel among cereals.
Its first growth is slow and precarious. When once,
however, its root system is developed, it will grow and
thrive where Indian corn will wilt and shrivel. The
sorghum for the experimental work was grown upon
the farm of Eli Benedict, adjoining Medicine Lodge,
Kansas. In the winter of 1888 the field which was to
be seeded to sorghum, about thirty acres, was plowed
and subsoiled. In this way it was made to hold prac-
tically all the rain that fell during the winter and
spring. There was almost no run-off from this field.
The summer of 1889 proved to be an excessively dry
one, as its predecessor had been. Indian corn in the
vicinity of Medicine Lodge was almost a complete fail-
ure. The sorghum, however, which was planted in
this field grew apace and made a splendid crop.

The practice which I have just described is the fun-
damental principle of dry farming. The Department
of Agriculture thus may be regarded as having made
the first practical experiment in dry farming on record.
This system of preparing a deep seed bed which will
hold all of the moisture that falls, and of keeping the
surface of it well mulched and stirred by frequent

240 THE LURE OF THE LAND

plowing to prevent evaporation, is- the fundamental
principle of all the dry farming that is carried on in
the United States to-day. I am convinced that the
farmers of Virginia and other places similarly situated
must act in accordance with this principle.

DIFFICULTIES OF DRY FARMING.

In the soils of Virginia, especially those in Loudoun
County, the difficulties of dry farming are indeed very
great, hut not insurmountable. These lands have been
in cultivation, many of them, more than two hundred
years. Loudoun County was the first settlement in
Virginia after Jamestown. Its superb virgin soil at-
tracted the attention of the early immigrants, and there-
fore it was quickly settled. At the time of the Amer-
ican Revolution, Loudoun County was the most popu-
lous county of Virginia. It contained, in round num-
bers, nineteen thousand inhabitants ; at the present time
its population is only a little over twenty-one thousand.

The system of agriculture in vogue in Loudoun
County has been that generally practised throughout
the United States, namely, shallow plowing and con-
tinued cultivation in such crops as corn, wheat, oats
and timothy. All of these crops take valuable nourish-
ment from the soil and yield practically nothing in re-
turn. The result is easily predicted. Underneath
the surface which has been stirred by the plow is a firm,
almost impervious, clay sub-soil. In addition to this it
is very thickly studded with small and large rocks,
which interfere seriously with sub-soil operations. Yet
I feel perfectly certain that this crust must be broken
through so as to deepen the seed bed if we are to escape
the vicissitudes of the drought which is almost certain
to visit this part of the State during the growing season.

DRY FARMING 241

I have tried various methods of inaugurating dry
farming in Loudoun County. The common sub-soil
plow which follows the ordinary field plow is hardly
sufficient to secure the purpose in view. It is so easily
thrown out by a stone, and so difficult to insert except
when the land is really too wet to plow, as to make its
general application problematical. I have now experi-
mented with a deep tilling plow made of a double disc
of steel, one disc following the other. I have gone far
enough with this work to believe that if taken at the
proper time and consistence, just when the land has
been thoroughly wet to a great depth and is just dry
enough to plow, but not too dry, this double disc will
penetrate the clay sub-soil and produce a seed bed to a
depth of from fifteen to sixteen inches. If this could
be accomplished, the Virginia farmer would be able
to snap his fingers at the annual dry spell which he ex-
periences. What is true of Loudoun County is true of
the whole area of the United States where the rainfall
is supposed to be sufficiently abundant to produce a
crop.

The deepening of the tillable soil in the manner de-
scribed will also be of imense advantage in times of
excessive rain. The storage capacity of the soil is
vastly increased, and the run-off in a heavy, rainy sea-
son thereby diminished. The result will be fewer and
less disastrous floods, and moister, less hardened fields.

THE FALLING WATEB LEVEL.

In this connection the late Dr. McGee has made in-
teresting studies relating to the water line of the soils
of this country. According to his investigations the
water line of the soil is receding, that is, one has to dig
further to find water now than he did fifty or one hun-

242 THE LURE OF THE LAND

dred years ago. This continued lowering of the water
line is laid mainly to the deforestation of the country.
If, this be true, the water line may be raised again by
reforestation of those denuded areas which are unsuit-
able for cultivation. Naturally the danger of a drought
which will injure the crop is increased in proportion
as the water line is lowered, thus rendering capillary
moisture inaccessible to the growth of plants.

The farmer, therefore, who is able to afford it, should
institute experiments looking to his greater independ-
ence of the vicissitudes of the season. It is well known
that the amount and distribution of the rainfall is one
of the dominant features in the variation of crop yields.
Vast areas of our country are ruined agriculturally
every year by persistent drought. This is particularly
true of those States which border on the arid regions,
as Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and the Dako-
tas. There is scarcely a year that some very large
area of this region is not practically rendered worthless
by persistent drought.

It may be that the evils of deforestation have been
somewhat accentuated, but I do believe that it is
the universal experience of all persons who have lived
in a wooded country that there is a greater uniformity
in the moisture of the soils of the forest than ever has
been noticed in the soils of the field. Whether or not
Dr. McGee was right in supposing that there is a re-
cession of the water line in the soil, makes little differ-
ence from a practical point of view. To restore pristine
conditions by reforestation would mean the overturn of
the work which our fathers did in clearing the fields of
their forests. Moreover, the benefit which reforesta-
tion could offer would be an extremely slow one, and a
great many years would have to elapse before it could

DRY FARMING 243

bear its full fruition. On the other hand, the farmer
may at once begin to prepare a deeper seed bed, and
thus secure the same purpose in an entirely different
way. Deep plowing, sub-soiling, and keeping the sur-
face of the field in perfect tilth, in my opinion are the
great forces which tend to nullify the effects of the un-
equal distribution of the rainfall.

XXIV

THE FUNCTION OF WATER IN AGRICULTURE

I'"N December, 1894, I accepted an invitation to ad-
dress a convention of irrigation farmers at Fresno,
California, on some matter connected with agriculture.
It occurred to me that the most appropriate theme
which I could discuss before such a convention was the
function of water in agriculture. I therefore prepared
an address in which I considered water in its various
aspects relating to the farmer. I propose to give in a
brief space some of the more important points covered
in that address.

Few farmers realize the dominant influence of water
as a factor in agriculture. When we look at agricul-
ture from a strictly scientific point of view, without
reference to its economy, the soil becomes a very sec-
ondary consideration. The skilled chemist can pro-
duce a synthetic soil from sand, carbonate of lime, salts
of potash, artificial humus, nitric acid, phosphate of
lime and other ingredients, in which plants will grow
luxuriantly and to complete maturity. The farmer
can also create a synthetic atmosphere, as is done in the
building of the so-called hothouse. The farmer fur-
ther can produce a synthetic precipitation by adding the
water to the growing crop directly.

The creation of an artificial climate, however, over
a large area is beyond the scope of human endeavor.
Dn the contrary, a soil which is practically infertile,

244

1 1

il

s!

11

« I

THE FUNCTION OF WATER IN AGRICULTURE 245

incapable of producing a crop, may be restored over
wide areas to a condition of great fertility. In other
words, it may be made to feed the growing plant. Thus
while artificial climate, irrespective of water supply,
must of necessity be confined to the narrowest areas,
a soil may be practically reconstructed over large areas
and economically utilized for the growing of crops.

In all places where irrigation is possible such soils
may be made independent altogether of natural precipi-
tation. The quantity of water required for a growing
crop is enormous. We are familiar with the rapidity
with which the hot sun can dry a field, but the quantity
of water which the sun may take from the soil is by no
means so great as that which is exuded from the foliage
of the plant at the period of its most rapid growth.
Computations of the quantities of water which are thus
evaporated into the air from the leaves of plants are
necessarily largely estimations. Enough is known,
however, to make it certain that a rapidly growing crop
at the period of its greatest exuberance is a much more
potent factor in drying the soil than the sun's rays.

PLANT FOOD IN SOLUTION".

The plant food exists in a soil of ordinary content
of moisture in a state of solution in the soil moisture.
The particles of moisture are extremely small, but that
doesn't prevent them from becoming saturated with the
soluble materials of the soil if there are enough of them
in the soil to produce this saturation. The droplet thus
saturated is beyond the ken of the eye, but possibly
might be seen with a powerful microscope. As the
quantity of water in the soil diminishes, the quantity
of plant food in solution is decreased. In other words,
by evaporation of the particles of water the contents

246 THE LURE OF THE LAND

which they held in solution are solidified and deposited.

That soil is fertile in which there are sufficient quan-
tities of plant foods to properly saturate the soil par-
ticles, and thus permit of the translation of the inor-
ganic constituents of the particles of water to the living
fluids of the plant and their elaboration into new forms
of growth. The maximum fertility of the soil, other
things being equal, will be found in such a distribution
of the water content as to maintain always a normal
saturation of the water particles with the soluble con-
stituents of the soil. I mean by normal, that quantity
which will afford the rootlets of the plant the maximum
of food which they demand. In the growing crop,
therefore, damage is produced whenever the quantity
of soluble materials in the soil, due to the amount of
water present, is too small, as in the case of drought, or
too large, as in the case of flood, to properly nourish the
plant.

We have this year seen a remarkable illustration of
the mass action of seasonal factors in the production
of a record-breaking crop. The data which are avail-
able at the time of this writing, end of June, 1914,
seem to indicate the greatest yield of wheat, both in
actual quantity and in amount per acre, that this coun-
try has ever known. This increased production can-
not be in any way attributed to an increased fertility
of the soil. In point of fact, as has before been pointed
out, the soil fertility is probably decreasing as a whole,
instead of increasing, in the country at large.

RESPECTIVE WEIGHTS OF WATER AND CROP.

The only other factor which can be considered is the
season itself. That means the amount of rainfall, its
distribution, the quantity of heat registered from the

THE FUNCTION OF WATER IN AGRICULTURE 247

sun and its distribution, and the periods of low tem-
perature and their distribution. Thus the bumper crop
of wheat which we are now harvesting is due chiefly to
seasonal influences over which the fanner has no con-
trol. Among these the water factor plays a dominant
part. Water, therefore, is charged with a great agri-
cultural duty. The failure of the water to perform its
normal functions, either through a deficiency or an ex-
cess of supply, affects most profoundly the total yield.
Thus among the factors of environment the most im-
portant to be considered is water itself.

Dr. McGee, shortly before his untimely death, pub-
lished a most interesting article, in which he developed
along many lines this idea of the agricultural duty of
water. From Dr. McGee's paper we learn the per-
centages of water in various types of soil which are
most favorable to crop production. The optimum of
moisture ranges from 4 to 45 per cent., and in some
vegetable soils the optimum percentage of moisture is
even higher. If the depth of the soil under cultivation
is represented by a foot, the quantity of water per acre
to this depth should average about 2,000 tons. The
average quantity of water required per acre for the pro-
duction of a good crop is about 6,000 tons per year.

In general it may be said that under favorable con-
ditions of the natural distribution of water, the weight
of crop produced is about one one-thousandth of the
amount of water used in its production. In other
words, a pound of wheat and straw in natural propor-
tions requires about one thousand pounds of water for
its production. On the other hand, including the soil to
a depth of one foot, under favorable conditions of mois-
ture and other elements of the environment, a pound of
soil produces about 1/333 of its weight of a crop. In

248 THE LURE OF THE LAND

other words, a pound of maize, grain, blade and stalk
in natural proportions, would require about 333 pounds
of soil for its production. We would hardly think in
looking at a loaf of bread weighing one pound and a
half that almost 1,000 pounds of rainfall and 333
pounds of soil were necessary for its production.

In general it is found that taking soils as a whole,
the reduction of their water content to about 8 per cent,
would practically inhibit plant growth. It is some-
times almost a marvel that a plant can live at all dur-
ing periods of drought, when as far as the eye is con-
cerned no trace of moisture can be detected in the first
few inches of the soil of the field. It is not an unusual
thing, however, to see a crop revived and again placed
in vigorous growth after an abundant rain, which ap-
parently was beyond hope before the rain descended.

In irrigated regions it has been possible to measure
very accurately the amount of water necessary for the
production of a crop, where the water is applied as
wanted, great economics are secured, and these measure-
ments confirm the statement above given. Measure-
ments made in Idaho with various crops have shown the
following ratio:

1 pound of alfalfa requires 432 pounds of water.

1 pound of beans requires 153 pounds of water.

1 pound of beets requires 91 pounds of water.
1 pound of Indian corn requires 136 pounds of water.

1 pound of oats requires 91 pounds of water.

1 pound of potatoes requires 46 pounds of water.

1 pound of wheat requires 66 pounds of water.

Professor King found by measurements made in
Wisconsin with a controlled water supply that, on an
average, 446 pounds of water were required to produce
a pound of dry crop. This is a little higher than

THE FUNCTION OF WATER IN AGRICULTURE 249

the estimates made for the irrigated regions in Idaho.
These data, however, are sufficient to show not only the
dominating influence of water in crop production, but
the enormous quantity of it required. They also show
that where the precipitation is about equally distributed
over the entire year with a rainfall of approximately
40 inches, only about one-third of the precipitation on
a field of growing grain is used.

THE WEIGHT OF THE SOIL TO THE ACBE AND AVEBAGK0

*

RAINFALL.

Very many determinations have been made of the
specific gravity of the soil. When this is ascertained
it is easy to calculate the weight of the soil per acre
to any given depth. Ordinary soil is about 2^/2 times
heavier than water, and the weight of soil, one foot
deep, over an acre of land is approximately 2,000 tons.
The amount of water, therefore, necessary to produce
a crop is many times heavier than the weight of the soil
to the ( depth of one foot in which the crop grows.

Over the so-called humid region of the United States
the mean rainfall is about four feet. The mean rain-
fall over the States in the regions bordering the arid
area of the United States is about thirty inches. The
mean rainfall in the semi-arid regions of the United
States is about twelve inches ; while the mean rainfall
for the driest portions of the United States varies from
nothing at all to about six or seven inches.

Of the total amount of water that falls on the sur-
face of the soil, about one-third reaches the sea. A
small quantity of the water is worked up into organic
union with growing crops, or in the crystallization of
minerals, or else sinks so deep into the earth as to escape
any further measurement. All the rest of the rainfall,

250 THE LURE OF THE LAND'

except the two parts mentioned, is thrown back into the
air by evaporation. In other words, considerably more
than one-half of all the water that falls on the surface
of the earth is returned to the air in gaseous form. It
is the part of the water that runs off into the sea that
produces the erosion of the soil, to which attention has
already been called.

Often the expression is heard that the seasons are
changing, that some portions of the country are becom-
ing drier and some portions wetter. The data on which
such assumptions are based are wholly untrustworthy,
or at least too fragmentary to warrant any general
credence. One of the reasons, which has been most
frequently assigned for changing seasons in so far
as rainfall is concerned, is the deforestation of the
country, which has proceeded at such alarming strides
in the past. On this point the scientific men are at
variance. The greater majority of them believe that
the cutting of the forest tends to excessive precipitation
or excessive drought. In other words, without dimin-
ishing the total quantity of rain the distribution of it
is greatly disturbed, so as to permit of the excesses just
mentioned.

On the other hand, many scientific men who have in-
vestigated these points are of the opinion that there
are not enough reliable data at hand to draw any posi-
tive inferences regarding changes of climate due to re-
forestation. Nevertheless I think it is the general be-
lief, based upon observation and upon theoretical rea-
sons, that the wooded country is more apt to have an
even distribution of its water supply through the year
than one which has been deforested. In this connec-
tion, however, it should not be forgotten that vast re-
gions of the United States have not been in forest at

THE FUNCTION OF WATER IN AGRICULTURE 251

all within the memory of recorded history, and the dis-
tribution of the rainfall in these treeless areas seems
to be in no wise dependent upon the fact that they had
no forests within their borders.

Apparently the escape of forest soil moisture into the
air by evaporation is retarded. On the other hand vast
quantities are given off from the foliage of the trees.
The planting of trees on all areas not suited to the plow
is to be encouraged. Fields that lend themselves
readily to tillage had better be kept for that purpose.

XXV

THE DECREASING MEAT SUPPLY

ONE of the great problems which future scientific
agriculture will be called upon to solve is the de-
creasing meat supply. There seems to be no question,
so far as statistics are concerned, that the increase of
the population in the United States is more rapid than
the increase in the number of meat animals on the
farms. This is especially true of beef cattle, and to a
less extent is also true of swine and sheep.

There are two methods of attacking a problem of
this kind: One is the adoption of a modified vege-
tarian diet; and second, the increase in the number of
animals which supply meat. In my opinion the path
of wisdom traverses both of these territories of nutri-
tion. There is little question in my mind of the fact
that well-to-do urban people eat too much meat. When
we sit down to a fashionable dinner we not only have
oysters and soup, but also fish, a roast, poultry or game,
and usually patties of some kind containing meat, and
in general a diet, the nutritive portions of which are
furnished chiefly from animal sources.

DIMINISH THE MEAT DIET.

For dietetic reasons, and that means also for health
reasons, the great variety of products of animal origin
furnished at the ordinary well-to-do dinner should be
restricted. Aside from milk, butter and eggs, which

252

THE DECREASING MEAT SUPPLY 253

are not generally looked upon as animal diet and yet in
fact are of that class, one kind of meat at a meal is
quite sufficient. I might even go further than this and
say one kind of meat at one meal a day. For instance,
if eggs be provided for breakfast, and that is the meal
at which they are usually eaten, no other meat product
is advisable, unless it be a mere sliver of bacon for con-
dimental purposes. The luncheon is best without any
animal product at all except milk and butter or cheese.
Luncheon, for one of sedentary employment, should be
a light meal. The dinner, which should come after
the day's work is over for all who are engaged in sed-
entary employment, may have a roast, beef or mutton
or pork, or poultry or game, but never more than one.

If these ideas of dietary practice could be carried
into effect, there would be a less demand for meat
among the well-to-do. This diminution of demand,
other things being equal, would produce a lowering of
price which would enable those in more straitened cir-
cumstances to indulge in meat oftener than they do.
From the selfish farmer's point of view the lowering
of price is not desirable. I may say, even, that from
the scientific point of view on the agricultural side,
the lowering of the price to the consumer, which of
course would have its reflex upon the price to the
farmer, is not desirable, unless it could be effected by
economies in handling the product.

LITTLE PROFIT IN BEEF GROWING.

My own experience during the present year 1914
shows that the price obtained by the farmer in the pro-
duction of beef under present conditions is barely com-
pensatory from a financial point of view. I sold, early
in April, 35 steers, weighing at the barns an average of

254 THE LURE OF THE LAND

1,165 pounds each. In shipment from my farm to
Bennings, which is the abattoir of Washington, these
animals lost 45 pounds each in weight, and I received
for the weight at Bennings $7.75 per hundred pounds.
Having kept a fairly accurate account of the expenses
involved in producing these cattle, I found that, ex-
clusive of the manure which they furnished, my ac-
tual profit on the transaction was a little over $100, or
about $3 per head. It is readily seen that a very
slight decrease in price of the cattle would have brought
me out in debt.

Moreover, it is hardly probable that under present
conditions the price of beef per head to the farmer
would undergo very much diminution, unless it be by
combinations in restraint of trade whereby the farmer
will be frozen out while the consumer will still pay as
much as he does at the present time. It is a noticeable
fact that when the price of meat animals falls to the
farmer, you wait a long time to see the price to the con-
sumer diminished. On the other hand, when the price
to the consumer is increased, it is a long while before
the reflex of this increase shows in the increased profits
of the farmer.

FOEMEB METHOD OF BEEF PRODUCTION ABITOKMAI*

Up to the present time the production of meat ani-
mals, especially beef and mutton, has not been a normal
industry. The vast areas of the semi-arid plains,
which are open to free grazing, afforded an oppor-
tunity of producing beef and mutton under abnormal
conditions, that is, under conditions of minimum cost.
Animals produced in this way could be sold at a figure
which rendered the efforts for the production of beef
and mutton more generally throughout the older settled

THE DECREASING MEAT SUPPLY 255

portions of the country a most hazardous business.
There was no telling when the price to the producer of
such animals would be so reduced by the heavy influx
of plains-grazed cattle and sheep to the markets as to
leave the old farmer on the wrong side of the balance
sheet. These abnormal conditions are now rapidly dis-
appearing. The grazing of the public domains has
been reduced to a system, so that it is possible, with a
fair degree of accuracy, to forecast the cost of produc-
tion of meat animals of those areas. This gives a
datum of substantial foundation to enable the older
farmer who wishes to produce meat animals to deter-
mine, with a very great degree of probability, the
amount of competition he will have to meet.

A study of the second problem, however, the increase
in the number of meat animals, is naturally divided
into two correlated parts. The growing of additional
numbers of beef cattle will of course be accomplished
just as soon as it appears to the farmer that he can
get a greater profit by turning a bull calf into a steer
to be sold at the age of two or three years for beef, than
he can get by selling hiin at six weeks for veal, which
is the common practice of to-day. Hence the increased
production of beef animals must follow the conserva-
tion of the calf.

SELL OR KEEP THE BULL CALF.

Under the present practice a calf at six weeks will
bring the Eastern farmer at least in the neighborhood
of ten dollars in cash. If the calf is kept for three
years and produces a steer that weighs approximately
twelve hundred pounds, the farmer may expect a price,
under present conditions, of from $80 to $100. Mean-
while, how much does it cost to maintain a steer for

256 THE LURE OF THE LAND

this length of time? In answering this question it
must be supposed that the steer is fed and not starved,
as is the common practice of farmers in so far as winter
feeding is concerned. The young steer is put, his first
winter, usually upon a diet of wheat straw and Indian
corn fodder. The result of this diet is that he weighs
less in the spring than he does in the fall, and has ac-
quired the starvation hahit, which is the natural result
of his enforced hunger strike. It takes half of the
next summer, when he is turned on grass, to overcome
the handicap of the winter of starvation. Assuming
that he has fairly good pasturage during the summer,
that is all the feed he gets, and in the second winter
he undergoes the same privations as in the first. In
the third summer an attempt is made to prepare him for
the market. As a rule, he gets nothing but grass. If
this be blue grass and in abundance, it is all he needs ;
but it isn't every steer that has access to blue grass.
In the autumn the farmer usually feeds him some
freshly grown Indian corn to finish him, and in the
beginning of October the steer grown in this way will
weigh from nine hundred to ejeven hundred pounds.

If the farmer had to hire the pasture and buy the
straw and corn fodder and other food which is consumed
during these three years and a half of life, he would
have been feeding the animal for 1,277 days at 5
cents a day, which is a reasonable minimum of the cost
of his food for this length of time. The total cost of
the feeding of the animal is, in round numbers, $64.
Add to this the cost of the invested funds and the risk
cost of injury or death, and the result is, in round num-
bers, $75 as the cost of this animal. At 1,000 pounds
at 7 cents a pound, he is worth $70, showing a net loss
on the bringing up of this steer to a marketable state

THE DECREASING MEAT SUPPLY 257

of $'5. At 1,200 pounds this animal would show a
profit of $9.00.

Contrast this with the selling of the calf at six weeks.
The milk furnished by the mother of this calf may be
roughly estimated at two gallons a day. The farmer
can sell this milk in any ordinary market at about $.14
net per gallon. It therefore costs $.28 a day to nour-
ish the calf. For 42 days the total cost of keeping the
calf is $13.50: The calf should weigh 100 pounds,
and it is worth $.09 a pound, giving a selling price of
$9. The loss on the calf is only $4.

Thus it is a toss-up, under present conditions, whether
the farmer should sell the calf at six weeks or keep him
for three years and a half and sell him for beef. There
is nothing in it for him in either case. The answer to
this statement is that the calf on the farm, growing up a
steer, eats food which the farmer could not sell. This
is the whole story in so far as any profit is concerned.
There is a certain amount of roughage and pasture on
every well regulated farm that the farmer could not
dispose of to profit, and hence it would be wasted if
it were not fed in the manner described. Any profit,
therefore, which the farmer gets from growing meat
animals, is due to the fact that he may utilize food
products which otherwise would be a total loss.

GROWING BABY BEEF.

In the scientific record of growing beef, namely, baby
beef, can better results be obtained ? In the first place
baby beef, that is, animals not over 18 or 20 months
of age, or two years at most, weighing from 900 to
1,100 pounds, bring a much higher price on the mar-
ket than ordinary beef cattle. This increase of price
amounts to from 1% to 2 cents per pound on the hoof.

258 THE LURE OF THE LAND

A baby beef weighing 900 pounds ought to bring the
farmer $90. If the animal be sold at two years, he
will have been fed for 730 days. From the beginning
to the end of his life he eats about 17% cents' worth
a day. The total cost of production is therefore
$127.75. The apparent loss on baby beef is $32.25
per head. The farmer, therefore, who had to buy all
the food to bring up a baby beef steer, would be rapidly
approaching bankruptcy. As in the other case, the sal-
vation of this process is in the utilization of food which
the farmer could not sell.

The above illustrations show the fundamental diffi-
culty which has to be overcome before it is evident to
the farmer that the production of increased numbers of
beef cattle is desirable from his point of view. With
the production of pork and mutton the difficulties are
not so great, but not having had any very great deal of
experience in this line I refrain from giving approxi-
mate estimates of cost and of profit or loss.

EXTENDING THE AREA OF PRODUCTION.

The second part of the problem is one more of theo-
retic consideration, namely, the more general diffusion
of the production of meat animals. As has already
been intimated, the vast plains of the semi-arid West
and the fruitful cornfields of Missouri, Illinois, In-
diana, Iowa and Nebraska, have been the dominant
factors in the production of beef and pork. These
great centers of production have been supplemented by
great centers of distribution. After all has been said
that is deserving, and this is much, of the advantages
of great centers of distribution of meat products, it can-
not be denied that there is always more or less danger
of combinations, made possible by the existence of such

THE DECREASING MEAT SUPPLY 259

centers, that are inimical to the producer on the one
hand and the consumer on the other.

In other words, the practical control of the meat
products trade by a few immensely wealthy corpora-
tions is an element of danger which cannot he too care-
fully considered. If the production of meat animals
could he encouraged in all parts of the country, so that
every farmer would have a few animals for sale, and if
these animals could find a market in near-by centers,
thus increasing immensely the numbers of centers of
distribution, the dangers of the monopolistic system
would be largely neutralized. It is highly important,
therefore, that smaller centers of production be encour-
aged, and these, in turn, would make it possible to es-
tablish smaller centers of distribution.

HAEDSHIPS OP TEUST CONTROL.

At the present time the farmer who produces a few
steers, as is the case with myself, from fifty to one
hundred per year, when he goes into the market meets
the competition of the great distributing firms. Theo-
retically the price of cattle on the hoof in Virginia
should be greater than in Chicago. This is true be-
cause the great majority of all meats consumed along
the Eastern border of the United States come from the
packing centers of the Middle West. Nevertheless, I
believe it would be more profitable for the Virginia
farmer, if he could ship in carload lots, to send his cat-
tle to Chicago. There he would get from 1 to 2 cents
a pound more on the hoof than he does at Bennings or
Baltimore.

An illustration of this is found in my recent experi-
ence. My cattle lost 45 pounds a head in shipping
from Bluemont to Bennings, a distance of 55 miles.

260 THE LURE OF THE LAND

The cattle were 18 hours en route. The firm to which
I sold them received, a short time afterwards, a carload
of cattle from Chicago that had been three days and a
half en route, and which had lost only 23 pounds per
head in transit. It doesn't cost much more to ship a
carload of cattle from Bluemont to Chicago than it does
from Bluemont to Baltimore. The greatest degree of
loss to cattle is during the first day of shipment. The
next three days they would lose but little. Steers
weighing 1,200 pounds in Chicago are worth from 8 to
10 cents a pound on the hoof. Could I have sold my
steers, which ought to have reached Chicago weighing
at least 1,100 pounds, at 9 cents a pound, I would
have gotten $99 apiece for them; whereas I got only
$85.50 a head for them at Bennings. In other words,
I would have received, in round numbers, $11 apiece
more for them in Chicago than I got at Bennings.
This would have paid all the freights and left me still
a handsome profit. Yet the very meat which we eat
might have been sent back from these steers over the
same line, as is the case every day, and thus have made
a journey of nearly 2,000 miles before consumption.

NORMAL PRICE DISTURBED.

I have said that according to the natural law beef
cattle on the hoof should be worth more along the At-
lantic Coast, especially near the large cities of Balti-
more and Washington, than they are in Chicago. As
a further proof of this assertion I may say that the
farmer gets more for his wheat and his corn along the
Atlantic Coast, and especially near Washington and
Baltimore, than he can get for it in Chicago. The aver-
age difference is about 5 or 6 cents a bushel. Wheat
and corn are not controlled by any distributing corpora-

10

EXPERIMENTS WITH FERTILIZERS ON POTATOES, KENTUCKY EXPERIMENT
STATION. POTASH IS ESPECIALLY USEFUL FOR POTATOES.

Per Acre

No. 1 Blank 50.0 bushels

No. 2 Nitrate of Soda, 160 Ibs 60.5 bushels

No. 3 Acid phosphate, 140 Ibs 43.8 bushels

No. 4 Muriate of potash, 160 Ibs 87.0 bushels

No. 5 Blank • 45.0 bushels

No. 6 Nitrate of soda, 160 Ibs.; acid phosphate, 140 Ibs 59.3 bushels

No. 7 Nitrate of soda, 160 Ibs.; muriate of potash, 160 Ibs 122.8 bushels

No. 8 Acid phosphate, 140 Ibs.; muriate of potash, 160 Ibs 95.0 bushels

No. 9 Nitrate of soda, 160 Ibs.; acid phosphate, 140 Ibs.; muriate of potash,

160 Ibs 126.8 bushels

No. 10 Land plaster, 1,000 Ibs 33.8 bushels

THE DECREASING MEAT SUPPLY 261

tion. They have a normal, natural price in the mar-
kets, and therefore the Virginia farmer gets more for
his wheat or his corn than the Illinois farmer does, and
this is in accordance with the legitimate principles of
transportation, supply and demand.

DATA BELATTITa TO DECKEASINa MEAT SUPPLY.

The latest obtainable data in regard to the shortage
of meat animals are those issued by the Department of
Agriculture, in February, 1914. They are as follows:

SHORTAGE OF 18,259,000 MEAT ANIMALS IN THE UNITED STATES

The indicated total shortage of meat animals since the
census of 1910 is nearly 9 beef cattle, 7 sheep and over 3
hogs for each 100 of the total estimated population of the
United States in January, 1914, according to the estimates
of the Department of Agriculture just published in the Agri-
cultural Outlook. This means that it would take 18,259,000
more meat cattle, sheep and swine than the estimates show at
present in this country, to give the present population the
same meat supply that the census of 1910 showed to exist.

These estimates are based upon reports and estimates from
the Department's field and State agents and county, township
and special correspondents, who have reported on practically
every county in the United States. The figures moreover have
been compared with those of the census of 1910 and with the
records of tax assessors in the various States as far as they are
available. The Department therefore believes that these figures
represent the best information obtainable on the numbers and
values of live stock, including meat animals.

The estimates with regard to meat animals, that is, cattle
other than milch cows, and sheep and swine, indicate a steady
and fairly uniform decrease in the number of meat cattle and
sheep and a slight increase in the number of swine. The figures
of the present estimates compared with the census of 1910 are
significant in showing the decrease in the number of meat
animals especially in comparison with the increase in popula-
tion.

262 THE LURE OF THE LAND

ACTUAL DECREASE OF MEAT ANIMALS

Total De-
crease (D) Average annual
January, 1914 Census or Increase decrease or

(estimated) 1910 (I) increase

Beef Cattle ...35,855,000 41,178,000 (D) 5,323,000 (D) 1,330,000

(12.9%) (3.2%)

Sheep 49,719,000 52,448,000 (D)2, 729,000 (D) 682,000

(5.2%) (1.3%)

Swine . ..58.933,000 58,186,000 (I) 747,000 (I) 180,250

(1.3%) (0.3%)

Total meat animals, Census of 1910 151,812,000

Estimated number, January, 1914 144,507,000

Estimated decrease 7,305,000

The figures by years are as follows, those subsequent to 1910
being estimates of the Department of Agriculture:

Beef Cattle Sheep Swine

January 1, 1914 35,855,000 49,719,000 58,933,000

January 1, 1913 36,030,000 51,482,000 61,178,000

January 1, 1912 37,260,000 52,362,000 65,410,000

January 1, 1911 39,679,000 53,633,000 65,620,000

Census, April 15, 1910. .. .41,178,000 52,448,000 58,186,000

The actual figures of decrease or increase as stated above,
however, do not take into consideration the increase in the
population of the United States, and therefore do not show the
difference in the ratios between meat animals and population
as between January, 1914, and the census year of 1910. The
report of the last census shows a population in 1910 of 91,972,-
000, and estimates an annual increase subsequent to 1910 that
would make the population in 1914 equal to 98,646,000.

Taking this figure of estimated population :
Beef cattle are 19.2% short of the number nec-
essary to maintain the per capita ratio of

1910, or 8,536,000 head;

Sheep are 11.6% short, or 6,509,000 head ;

Swine are 5.2% short, or 3,214,000 head ;

Making an indicated total shortage of meat
animals since the census of 1910 of ap-
proximately 18,259,000 head

Notwithstanding the fact that the estimates show there is
actually a decrease of 7,305,000 food animals since the census
of 1910, the estimated farm value of the cattle, sheep and

THE DECREASING MEAT SUPPLY 263

swine on farms on January 1, 1914, shows an increase, because
of higher prices, as follows:

Estimated value, January, 1914 $1,930,087,000

Census (1910) 1,534,600,000

Increase in valuation $ 395,487,000

The increase indicated is due to the fact that the estimates
show that the farm value of beef cattle has increased from
$19.07 to $31.13 a head, or 63.2%, an average annual increase
of over 15%. Swine have increased in value from $9.17
to $10.40 per head, or 13.4%. Sheep have decreased from an
estimated average farm value of $4.12 in 1910 to $4.04 in
1914.

FARMERS NOT PROFITING BY INCREASED VALUATION

This increase in the average value of meat animals, however,
does not necessarily mean that farmers or stock raisers are
making more, if any, profit. On the contrary, the cost of pro-
duction has probably increased more rapidly than the increase
in the selling price of live stock.

SOME CAUSES OF THE SHORTAGE OF MEAT ANIMALS AND IN-
CREASE IN THEIR VALUE

The shortage of meat animals is probably due to a number
of contributing causes. Some of the more important of these
are:

The encroachment of farms upon the range territory.

The lack of a proper range leasing law permitting econom-
ical management and utilization of ranges.

The shortage in the corn and forage crop due to the severe
drought in Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma in 1913, which
caused the farmers in those States to dispose of their meat
animals.

The increase in the value of land and the increased cost of
labor and stock feed, resulting in greatly increased cost of
production.

The decline in stockraising on farms in the East and South
because of poor marketing facilities, resulting from many
local slaughtering establishments having been driven out of

264 THE LURE OF THE LAND

business by the competition of the great central slaughtering
establishments of the West and Central West.

The temptation to sell live stock at the prevailing high
prices rather than to continue to carry them with high-priced
stock feed, possible loss from disease or accident, and uncer-
tain prices the following year.

NO LONGER PROFITABLE TO GROW MEAT ANIMALS.

From these data the officials of the Department of
Agriculture conclude that even at the prevailing high
prices it is no longer profitable for farmers to grow
meat animals. In other words, the cost of food for
these animals and the cost of taking care of them have
increased at a more rapid rate than the price of the
animals themselves when sold. It is generally con-
ceded by farmers who have lands suitable for the or-
dinary purposes of agriculture, that it doesn't pay to
grow beef cattle on the farm. It is more remunerative
to purchase the cattle at the age of two or two and a
half years from localities where grazing only is possi-
ble. Nearly all the farmers in Loudoun County, Vir-
ginia, grow beef cattle for the fall market, and prac-
tically all of them buy their cattle either from the
West or from the mountains of southwestern Virginia,
northwestern North Carolina, and eastern Kentucky or
Tennessee. On these mountains, where plowing the
fields is somewhat difficult and land is cheap, the steers
may be grown without much artificial feeding and very
little care, and perhaps at a profit to the farmers of
those localities. These young steers at two and a half
years of age cost the Loudoun County farmers about
$45 apiece, and by keeping them over winter and turn-
ing them onto the blue grass the next summer, the
farmer thinks he makes a large profit when he sells
them for from $70 to $80 apiece.

THE DECREASING MEAT SUPPLY 265

I have tried in a small way to grow a few beef cattle,
full-blooded and grade Aberdeen Angus variety. Tor
these steers, when at 1,000 to 1,200 pounds, I am able
to get half a cent a pound more than for the ordinary
beef cattle. When, however, the cost of feeding these
cattle is taken into consideration, and also the cost of
care, the profits are not superior to, and perhaps hardly
equal to, those obtained in the ordinary method of pur-
chasing stock cattle which prevails in the community.

In regard to this lack of profit to farmers, the De-
partment of Agriculture report referred to makes the
following comment:

MEAT RAISING EVIDENTLY NOT PROFITABLE TO FARMERS

The large increase in the value of meat animals on farms is
probably accounted for by the increased cost of production
and the increased consumption or demand arising from the
fact that production has not kept pace with the increase in
population, and in the case of cattle and sheep has actually
declined. It is well known that producers of farm products
are the last to receive any benefit from higher prices paid by
consumers, yet they are among the first to increase production
if there is a prospect of realizing better returns. The very
fact that there is a present shortage of nearly 19,000,000 meat
animals in the United States since the census of 1910 indicates
clearly that the business is not profitable to producers; other-
wise every farmer and stock raiser in the country would have
increased his herds of meat animals. It should also be borne
in mind that the estimated average value of meat animals is
their value on the farm, and not the wholesale or retail value.
The farm value, or average price received on farms, is much
less than the wholesale prices and considerably less than the
retail prices to consumers.

Another distinction which is rather discouraging to
the farmer who would like to grow his own beef, is
this: When the farmer hands in his returns for his

266 THE LURE OF THE LAND

income tax and states the price he received for his beef
cattle, he is allowed to subtract the price he paid for
them as stock animals. On the contrary, if the farmer
grows his own beef on the farm and sells the fat steer
for $90, the whole selling price must be reported for
income purposes.

These conditions indicate so grave a situation as to
require the careful consideration of all who are inter-
ested in the future of agriculture. The old system of
providing the meat supply of this country has broken
down. When we had access to the almost unbounded
wealth of the virgin soils of the Middle West and the
grazing States, the cost of production of meat was
reduced to a minimum. At the same time there arose
in this country a method of handling meat animals in
large packing houses. There is no question of the fact
that the cost of handling in this way is reduced to a
minimum. It costs far less to slaughter the meat ani-
mals in a large packing house and prepare them for con-
sumption than it would cost the farmer who did it at
home.

The meat supply of this country was therefore an
abnormal one, due to the cheapness of production on
the one hand, and to the efficiency and cheapness of
handling on the other. But these benefits to the con-
sumers during the last fifty years are hardly to be
counted as blessings to the consumers of the next fifty
years. The whole theory of meat production must be
changed. The production of meat should become uni-
versal instead of localized. Every farmer ought to be
able to produce a few meat animals more than is neces-
sary for his own supply. The meat industry would
thus be decentralized and spread over the whole coun-
try. The possibilities of manipulation which the

THE DECREASING MEAT SUPPLY 267

monopoly of the business now offers would be mini-
mized.

By this universal extension of the industry a multi-
tude of small abattoirs, controlled by the towns and
small cities, would arise, which, while they could not
compete in absolute efficiency and economy in the
handling of meat animals, would have the advantage of
handling them near the points of consumption. We
should not look forward to a period when the killing
would be done on the farm; this is too wasteful and
too cruel; but we could look forward with hope and
enthusiasm to the establishment of the small abattoirs
of which I have spoken. It has been my good fortune
to see some of these small abattoirs under municipal
control, and I have found them clean, sanitary and
efficient. There is also a benefit to agriculture in hav-
ing the abattoirs scattered all over the country. The
offal, the blood, the tankage and the refuse of the abat-
toir make excellent fertilizers, and these could be pro-
duced in the localities where they are needed.

ENCOURAGE THE SMALL FARMER TO GROW MEAT
ANIMALS.

Every effort it seems to me, therefore, should be put
forward to encourage the small farmer to grow meat
animals. If this is not done, the realization of the ideal
of the local butcher of steak at $1 a pound may not be
very remote.

On the other hand, meat animals controlled by a few
immense corporations do not obey the usual law of
demand and supply. The problem is a difficult one,
but if meat animals are to be increased in proportion
to the number of population, they must be grown by
greater numbers of people and under conditions which

268 THE LURE OF THE LAND

eliminate unnatural control of price. The figures col-
lected by the Bureau of Labor show that in many places
the retail price of beef is, in round numbers, fifty per
cent, higher than it was a few years ago to the con-
sumer. And the retail price of pork has gone up at a
still higher rate. The possible contingency of lower-
ing the price of beef by importation from foreign coun-
tries is not one that appeals either to the patriotism or
the pocket-books of the American farmer. As Henry
Wallace, one of the deans of agricultural editorial
writing in the United States, has very aptly remarked:

It is not likely that the farmers would consider themselves
particularly obliged to grow enough cattle irrespective of
profits so as to keep the packing houses running at full capac-
ity and thus enable the packers to make a maximum of profit.

They have not yet forgotten 1908, when the banks of the
West were full of packers' paper, which, it was claimed, did
not exceed in value the meats in cold storage and could have
been paid off by simply stopping the purchase of cattle for six
weeks.

What they did was to cut down their purchases for three
months — and every man that had cattle or hogs to sell at that
time had to take about two-thirds of their value until the
debts of the packers were paid. Many of the farmers still
remember this and will not soon forget it.

XXVI

STATISTICS RELATING TO ANIMALS ON FARMS

THE number of cattle, excluding calves, on farms
in the United States for the census years 1910,
1900, 1890, and 1880, is given in the table below; also
for the years 1910 and 1900, the number including
calves :

NTJMBER OP CATTLE, EXCLUDING CALVES, ON FARMS

1910 1900 1890 1880

53,997,327 52,403,828 57,648,792 39,675,553

* 61,803,866 67,719,410

In regard to these comparative numbers, it is stated
in the census report that the enumeration for the thir-
teenth census was made as of April 15th, while the
enumeration for the twelfth census, 1900, was as of
June 1st. It is therefore concluded that some five or
six million calves which were born between the period
of April 15th and June 1st were not enumerated in
the census of 1910. Thus the total number of cattle
for comparative purposes in the 1910 census should be
increased by five or six million in order to be compara-
ble with the census for 1900.

Allowing for the number of cattle which would have
been slaughtered or died during this interval, also, the
census concludes that instead of a decrease in the total
number of cattle of 8.7 per cent., as shown by the

* Including calves.

269

270 THE LURE OF THE LAND

census figures, there would probably have been a de-
crease of not more than three million, and possibly
not over one million, had enumeration for 1910 been
made as of June 1st. Even this small decrease in the
number of cattle is significant, however, when consid-
ered with the increase of the population of the country
during the decade.

Thus it is seen that, so far as the official figures for
1910 are concerned, there was a notable decrease of
cattle on the farms during the decade and a very large
increase in the population. The number of cattle on
the farms was very much less in proportion to the
population in 1910 than it was in 1900. It is also
reasonable to suppose that this discrepancy has in-
creased during the four years that have elapsed since
the enumeration of the thirteenth census was made.

It is interesting to compare these data with the num-
ber of domestic animals in Great Britain, as reported in
Publications of the International Agricultural Institute,
Volume III, No. 11 :

NUMBER OF LIVE STOCK ON JUNE 4, 1913, COMPARED WITH THE
NUMBER ON JUNE 4, 1912.

1913 1912 (1912 =

Class June 4th. June 4th. 100).

Decrease %

Horses 1,402,146 1,406,610 3,864 0.3

Cattle 5,716,944 5,841,720 124,776 2.1

Sheep .....17,130,286 18,053,365 923,079 5.1

Swine 2,101,902 2,498,670 394,768 15.8

NUMBER OF DAIRY COWS IN THE UNITED STATES.

The number of dairy cows for the four decades from
1880 to 1910, inclusive, is as follows:

STATISTICS RELATING TO ANIMALS ON FARMS 271

1910 1900 1890 1880

20,625,432 17,135,633 16,511,950 12,443,120

In regard to the dairy cows, the census reports that
there was a nominal increase over the number for the
twelfth census of 20.4 per cent. The animals desig-
nated as dairy cows, however, at the census of 1910
included all born prior to June 1, 1909, or, in other
words, all over fifteen and a half months old ; while the
class designated as dairy cows in 1900 included only
those two years of age or over on June 1, 1900.

While the data of comparison are therefore not
strictly representative, the census report concludes that
after making all necessary allowances in the different
methods of enumeration, there was a very considerable
increase in the number of dairy cows between 1900
and 1910. The dairy industry therefore is increasing
in the number of dairy cows, and doubtless also in their
quality. Its growth is less rapid than that of the popu-
lation ; while, on the other hand, the business of raising
cattle for slaughter is rapidly declining.

The tendency to decrease the number of farm ani-
mals appears to obtain in Great Britain also.

ANIMAL FOOD PRODUCTS.

In regard to the food products of domestic cattle,
interesting data are supplied by the census. The total
quantity of milk reported as produced on farms for the
census year 1910 was 5,813,699,000 gallons. The
average production of milk per cow was about 362 gal-
lons. The total reports, however, cover only a little
over 16,000,000 cows. If the unreported milk of the
remaining cows should be added to this quantity, it is
seen that the total production on farms in 1909 would
have been about 7,466,406,000 gallons. For 1899 the

272 THE LURE OF THE LAND

estimated quantity of milk produced was 7,265,804,304
gallons. The average amount per cow for 1910 was
362 gallons and for 1900, 424 gallons. The average
value per cow of the milk produced in 1900 was $27.56,
and in 1910, $31.82. These values per cow, however,
do not include the amount of milk and other dairy
products consumed on the farm.

The Director of the Census, in discussing the data,
calls attention to the fact that while the figures appar-
ently show a larger production per cow in 1900 than
in 1910, this does not warrant the belief that there has
been an actual decrease in the average production of
milk per dairy cow. The figures for 1910 are believed
to be more accurate than those for 1900, for in these
latter is included a large element of estimations.

In regard to the quantity of butter, is included not
only the butter made on farms, but also in factories.
The totals for the United States for the census years
1900 and 1910 are as follows: 1900, 1,491,752,602
pounds; 1910, 1,619,415,263 pounds — an increase of
8.6 per cent, in the total amount of butter made as com-
pared to an increase of 21 per cent, in the population.
The quantity of cheese produced, both on farms and in
factories, for the two census years is as follows: 1900,
298,314,642 pounds; 1910, 320,532,181 pounds — an
increase of 7.4 per cent. Since the data summarized
above have been collected a phenomenal increase in the
value of dairy cows has taken place. Good grade cows
of the leading types, viz., Holstein, Jersey, and Guern-
sey, sell at auction at from $75 to $100, while reg-
istered animals cost very much more. The movement
to exterminate tuberculosis in milch cows is gathering
momentum and I hope will soon be completely success-
ful. Various estimates of the number of tuberculous

STATISTICS RELATING TO ANIMALS ON FARMS 273

cows have been made on the basis of the number reacting
to the tuberculin tests. These estimates indicate that a
larger percentage, possibly 25 per cent., of the dairy
cows in the country will be slaughtered in the campaign
of exterminating this threatening disease. The near
future for this reason will see a still greater increase
in the value of sound cows.

XXVII

THE TRUE RELATION OF SCIENCE TO THE INDUSTRIES
AND ARTS

Proceedings of a Convention of Agriculturists held at The
Department of Agriculture, January 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 29,
1883. (Second Convention.) Special Report No. 2.

The evolution of Agricultural Science has been phenomenal
in the past third of a century. The point of view as far back
as that may show at least how far we have come. The fol-
lowing paper was read before a meeting of representatives of
the Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations, Boards of
Agriculture and Agricultural Societies, held in Washington, on
invitation of Commissioner of Agriculture George B. Loring,
January, 1883. This convention was the precursor of the
Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations,
which now exerts a powerful favoring influence on agricul-
tural education in the United States.

Some of the prophecies of thirty-one years ago have al-
ready been fulfilled. The transfer of the weather predictions
from the Signal Service has long been an accomplished fact.
The weather service was given to the Department of Agricul-
ture as I predicted. The work of the agricultural colleges and
experiment stations has been systematized and vastly improved.
Trained experts, not available thirty years ago, are now in
control of most of the experimental work. Technical instruc-
tion has advanced so rapidly that no longer does a young
American need to go abroad to obtain the technique to do his
work. Large numbers of students are devoting themselves to
agricultural studies and pursuits. Engineers of all kinds,
civil, mechanical, electrical and agricultural, are graduated in
increasingly large numbers from Uncle Sam's big university.
The impress of this flood of technical education is felt in every
industry. Unfortunately, agricultural industries have re-

274

TRUE RELATION OF SCIENCE TO INDUSTRIES 275

ceived, so far, the least assistance. But this is changing. The
graduate of the agricultural course is beginning to find him-
self. As foreman of the farm or director of the dairy, he is
putting into practice the principles of economy and efficiency
so greatly needed in the field and orchard.

In writing of variation and crossing thirty-one years ago I
could not have mentioned the name of Luther Burbank. His
star, of the first magnitude, had not yet risen. As I look
back a third of a century and see myself writing these lines,
I cannot repress a feeling of exultation at finding things as
good as they are. We have come farther than I imagined
possible in January, 1883.

SCIENCE is the mother of the industries and arts.
I propose in this essay to set forth this maternal
relation and briefly illustrate its conditions. An in-
dustry or an art is applied science. This science is
sometimes the result of theory, but more often the off-
spring of experience. Science is knowledge of matter
and the laws which its action reveals. Every industry
and every art is directly dependent for its success on
knowledge of the matter worked upon and the laws of
its existence. To know something of the nature of
ores and of metals is indispensable to even the crudest
forms of metallurgy. Tubal Cain had first to devote
himself to science before he could become a worker in
brass. Blot out of existence what science has revealed
of the nature of metals, and the progress of the world
would at once be stopped, and all civilized nations re-
lapse into barbarism. A beautiful illustration of the
relation of science to the arts is found in the manufac-
ture of steel. Chemistry revealed the fact that steel
differed from wrought iron mainly in its content of
carbon.

The chemist also learned that cast iron is richer in
carbon than either steel or wrought iron. In the

276 THE LURE OF THE LAND

process of puddling, the extra content of carbon in cast
iron is gradually burned out. This led the chemist to
believe that if this combustion could be stopped at the
right time the manufacture of steel could be rendered
much cheaper. This idea eventually took shape in the
Bessemer converter. As a result, every industry and
every art has been immensely benefited. All tools for
the machinist, the carpenter's planes, the farmer's
plows, have felt the influence of this discovery. It has
netted the continents with steel rails, and thus cemented
the ties of international friendship. It has made steel-
plated ships in place of the oak hulls of our fathers, and
has profoundly affected the progress and wealth of the
world. Cheap steel means plenty of work, good wages,
and cheap bread.

Cheap steel is a great civilizer and a great mission-
ary. The most bigoted heathen idolater, who remains
unmoved by the sincerest and most potent appeals of
the devout missionary, would not endure for a year the
exhortations of a Bessemer converter. If science had
never done anything for the world other than making
cheap steel a reality the world would be to science a
hopeless debtor. What is true of the steel industry is
true of every metallurgical process. We are apt to
forget in the ripeness and success of a business how it
arose and by what fostering care it was protected.

In this day, however, when most of the industries
and arts have already advanced to a fair degree of per-
fection, we are not practically interested in how they
had their origin. This is a question more of historical
than of practical interest. Science however has not
lost its vital relation to industry by this advancement.
Having been the source from which the industry sprang,
it remains the protector and promoter of industry. He

TRUE RELATION OF SCIENCE TO INDUSTRIES 277

is filled with a false and dangerous pride who maintains
that any science or art has attained its perfect develop-
ment. In such self-satisfaction are always found the
roots of decay. True, much has been accomplished,
but much yet remains to be done. We may then pro-
pose as the chief theme of this essay, " Science, the
guardian of industry and art." And, first: What are
some of the ways in which this guardian care is to be
exercised? First, I will answer, science must furnish
an educated body of workmen. Industrial education
is the first great duty of the State. Congress never
enacted a wiser law than that which set apart a certain
portion of the public domain for the purpose of encour-
aging agricultural land, technical education in the vari-
ous States.

It would be out of place here to criticize the disposi-
tion which has been made of this munificent gift. It
would be easy to point out blunders and mistakes.
Blunders arising from lack of judgment and mistakes
arising from ignorance. What is to be considered now
is the intention of this grant. And this certainly was
of the best. The great demand of our country, rich in
reality, rich a thousand times in near possibilities, is
educated craftsmen. In our eagerness to get wealth,
in the wild exuberance of our growth we have neglected
too much the demands which the near future will have
upon us. Our fields will not always be fertile without
fertilizers ; gold will not always be found in the river
sands, to be had for the collecting; we cannot always
look to Europe for the finest works of skill. This
country is too large, its wants too gigantic, to be sup-
plied by foreign hands.

Science therefore comes forward and offers her help
in giving to the youth of the land a technical education.

278 THE LURE OF THE LAND

The education which science offers is not of the brain
alone. There is no dearth here of lawyers, and doc-
tors, and preachers, and novelists, but science recognizes
the fact that a human being has a spinal cord as well as
a cerebrum. Backbone is the watchword of technical
education.

Heine, in that beautiful and satirical poem entitled
" Deutschland," speaks of the shadow that seemed to
follow him one night through the streets of Cologne.
It dogged his steps like a sptiritus familicwis. At'
last he stopped and addressed it:

I could not bear it, so turn'd sharp round,

And said, " I insist on an answer ;
Why follow me thus in the silent night,

And lead me this wandering dance, Sir?"

The other replied in a somewhat dry tone,

If not a little phlegmatic,
"I pray thee, exorcise me not,

And be not quite so emphatic ! "

" I am of a practical nature in fact,

And of silent resolution;
But know, that whatever thy spirit conceives,

" I put into execution."

" Thy lictor am I, and follow behind,

And carry in all its splendor
The polish'd executioner's ax;

I'm the deed which thy thoughts engender."

So the spinal cord is the " deed " of the brain's
thoughts.

EDUCATING THE BACKBONE.

All work of skill, all cunning and delicacy of handi-
craft are the results of educating the spinal cord. The

TRUE RELATION OF SCIENCE TO INDUSTRIES 279

anatomist will tell you that all the nerves that control
or rather direct motion spring from this sensory cen-
ter. And herein lies the great hold which true science
has on every industry. True scientific study has al-
ways something for the hand as well as for the brain.
Science without the laboratory, is a ship without a sea.
In the study of botany we find the hand at once engaged.
The manipulations of the magnifying glass and of the
dissecting implements teach at once a skill and dex-
terity which are never without their value. The chem-
ical and physical laboratory is even richer in culture
for the backbone. No student can earnestly pursue
the study of these sciences in a proper way without se-
curing a technical training that will prove a lasting
benefit. Men must produce as well as consume. Mere
abstract reasoning is a good thing, but men cannot live
on abstract reasons. Even turnips are more nutritious
than abstract reasons. Fairies can " live on lovers'
sighs/7 but shepherds and lord chancellors must have
something more substantial. Science study, in or-
der to have its true technical value, must be pursued in
a scientific manner. What has caused science to be
looked on with so much suspicion by many practical
men ? I answer, humbug. Much of what has passed
for science in this and other countries has been the
flimsiest shoddy.

In many places of instruction the object seems to
have been simply " cram." Dead and dry platitudes
have been forced down the throats of unwilling subjects
to absolute nausea. So-called science has been taught
without a single idea of what real science is. What,
then, could you expect in the way of results ? Noth-
ing; absolutely nothing but disgust and distrust for
everything which was suspected of being scientific.

280 THE LURE OF THE LAND

Such science as this has no relation whatever to any
art or any industry. Even agriculture has not been
free from these pretenders and their nostrums, and it
has been pelted and pestered in the name of science with
so much that is irrelevant and nonsensical that no won-
der is to be expressed at the hearty disgust which it has
so often manifested. But happily, these doleful days
are passing away and the dawn of the era of true tech-
nical training is dispelling the darkness which has kept
scientific claims from appearing in their true light.

TECHNICAL TRAINING FUNDAMENTAL.

There is no art or industry which is not vitally in-
terested in this technical training. In this training, I
am sorry to say, we are far behind Europe. If we go
into any of our factories where work of skill is required
it is surprising to find how large a percentage of the
workmen are of foreign birth.

Every true friend, therefore, of the industries and
arts of our country must look with especial favor on
the efforts that have been making during the past few
years to build up in our country a vast and thorough
system of technical training. Some may be disposed
to complain because this system has so far yielded no
striking results. But this is not just. The most val-
uable products are not taken from things immature.
Time must be given for growth before demands are
made for production.

In agriculture, the great and overshadowing industry
of this land, how few are taking advantage of the sci-
entific education which nearly every State offers her
citizens! In one great State of two million inhab-
itants, a State with fertile soil and a favoring climate,
not fifty young men are pursuing the thorough course

HON. G. B. LORING

Commissioner of Agriculture who called the first official convention of the Agricultural
Colleges and experiment stations in 1883

TRUE RELATION OF SCIENCE TO INDUSTRIES 281

in experimental and practical agricultural work which
the State and country have provided.

THE DIGNITY OF LABOR.

Manual labor is the source of all wealth and happi-
ness. No man fully measures up to the full stature of
manhood who shirks it altogether. To labor with the
hands is as honorable as it is necessary to human exist-
ence. Science encourages this habit of manual labor,
and at the same time directs it to the best and most
profitable results. Considered in all its aspects, there-
fore, we must allow to science the possession of a most
intimate relation to all that pertains to real industrial
and artistic achievements. Most certainly must we ad-
mit that, as society is at present arranged, it would be
quite impossible that every artisan should receive a
thorough scientific education. Most boys and girls are
financially debarred from this. The eternal and insist-
ent cry of the stomach is the first business which every
person must attend to. When this is accomplished, in
most cases, there is no time or opportunity for anything
else. I have no Utopian view of universal technical
education to offer here to-day. In these matters I am
neither pessimist nor optimist, and only an agnostic by
necessity. But if the cold facts of existence must make
ninety-nine shiver through life let the one be warm, and
be able to devise means whereby the ninety-nine may
shiver less. One thoroughly educated artisan will prove
an inestimable blessing to a community of uneducated
artisans. And so it happens that, while science works
apparently only for the few, in reality it is the many
who reap the great benefit. Unhappily the forces of
Evil are more keen than those of Good to apply the dis-
coveries of science. Peace is not served as well as war.

282 THE LURE OF THE LAND

THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF CHEMISTBY.

Perhaps it would be well to illustrate by a few in-
stances how scientific training and scientific methods
have proved beneficial to an industry, and I do not know
of any more striking example than that great industry in
whose interest we are here to-day. I will cite first
what chemistry has done in working up the refuse of civ-
ilized life into useful products. One or two instances
of this will be sufficient. Take the case of bones.
Chemistry has shown that bones contain a large amount
of phosphoric acid. It also showed that this acid was
an essential constituent of plant life, especially of the
cereals. This was the beginning of a great industry.
Bones which before had been the pest and plague of
cities and towns were carefully collected, ground and re-
turned to the soil as a most valuable fertilizer.

Chemistry also showed that the nitrogen of plants was
not taken from the nitrogen of the air, at least only in
small quantities by one family of plants. On the
other hand, it appeared that nitrogen in the form of
ammonia was most readily absorbed. This led the way
to the guano beds and the cess-pools. What was be-
fore considered not only worthless but really noxious,
was now sought after to enrich the soil. It was
also discovered that plants did not assimilate organic
particles as such, but that all these had first to undergo
decomposition before they could be used as plant food.
This fact reconciled people to using as food, plants
grown with fertilizers that were most offensive to
thought and sense.

You may macerate a growing potato in starch, it
will not absorb a single grain of it. You may soak the
growing cane in sugar, the juice will not be one whit the

TRUE RELATION OF SCIENCE TO INDUSTRIES 283

sweeter. You may pour linseed oil around the roots
of growing flax, the seed will yield no more oil under
the hydraulic press than before. In all the above cases
it is of course understood that the yield will be no
greater than if an equivalent amount of inorganic mat-
ter had been supplied instead of the organic.

MAKING A GARDEN OF A SAND BED.

A striking case is found in the gardens of Asnieres,
near Paris. These gardens, which now exhibit the lux-
uriance of the tropics, a few years ago were worthless
fields of sand. Science has converted them to their
present beautiful state. It has done this by bringing
to them the poisonous sewage of Paris. Here, if any-
where, the plant will find opportunity to absorb these
filthy organic matters.

But the vegetables and fruits produced here are as
free from sewage taint as if they had been grown on
the virgin soil of a Western prairie.

Here we see hundreds of acres covered with splendid
vegetables and luscious fruits, which only yesterday
were expanses of yellow sand, on which a few strug-
gling weeds eked out a miserable existence.

In this manner, by the triumphs of science, the seeds
of disease and the breath of pestilence have been made
to bring forth health and wealth, and an arid waste
has been transformed into a blooming field.

There, by the eye of scientific faith, in the blushing
raspberry we see a metamorphosis of cholera infantum,
now become a preserver instead of a destroyer of the
children.

Deadly fevers appear, divested of all their terrors,
in bulbous cabbages and pendent beans ; miasma is seen
quivering in the leaves of the apple and the pear, or

284 THE LURE OF THE LAND

secretly instilling its jaundice into the velvety coat of the
peach; devastating cholera, green and glaring, writhes
and wriggles in harmless rage through the vines of the
cucumber, or loses in the prickly surface of the goose-
berry its sting of death.

Chemistry is scarcely less valuable as a scavenger than
as an inventor. In all the industries what to do with
the waste product, is a question of no less importance
than the value of the chief product. In the meat-mak-
ing industries this economy of science is set forth in a
strong light. No part of the animal tissue is now
thrown away, where a few years ago there was an enor-
mous waste. The hair, the hide, the vital organs, the
hoof, the horn, the blood, and the bones have all found
a valuable application. This saving of science has
come upon us so gradually that we are not aware of its
value. One pork-packing house in Chicago has lately
said that it saved annually in waste products $200,000,
which were lost twenty-five years ago. With such a
fact as that on record, only the veriest infidel could
doubt the economic value of science. In the economy
of nature there is no waste. I will say but little more
of the relation of chemistry to science. This theme
has been often and thoroughly discussed. Returning
from this digression, I will illustrate a little further
what science is doing in the industry of agriculture.

Munich is happy in the possession of magnificent
museums of painting and sculpture. The Glyptothek
is a vast marble place ; in style, resembling the temples
of ancient Greece. This majestic hall is filled with the
masterpieces of sculpture, gathered by skilled hands
from all quarters of the globe.

TRUE RELATION OF SCIENCE TO INDUSTRIES 285

We find there statues of Egyptian priests chiseled
one thousand four hundred years hefore Christ; we
find marble vessels used for holding the entrails of ani-
mals sacrificed hy the earlier Pharaohs.

In the hall of Apollo we see on the one hand a colos-
sal bust of Bacchus, the god of the vintage, and on the
other a beautiful torso of Diana, the virgin huntress.
One wanders from hall to hall, bewildered by the pro-
lixity of art, and oppressed with the presence of an-
tiquity.

In the old and new Pinakotheks is found even a
greater degree of excellence in painting, and also a
more lavish display of abundance than the Glyptothek
has shown in sculpture.

The masterpieces of Holbein, of Claude Lorraine,
of Kubens and Michael Angelo decorate every wall, and
fringe the triumphs of skill with the halo of genius.
Without, in the city, long streets bordered with bronze
statues and ending in triumphal arches, lure the visitor
on to admire their beauties and recall their histories.

Everywhere are Frenchmen, Englishmen, Americans,
who have been attracted by all these wonders of art and
have come, some to take a passing glance at them and
others to study them more at their leisure.

But there is one place in Munich rarely visited by
travelers. That place is found with some difficulty,
and one enters a narrow and muddy court and finds his
way into a dingy and dirty room. This room is orna-
mented with no chiseled marble, nor are its walls fres-
coed by the hand of old masters. The windows are
small and low, and the plaster yellow with age and
smoke. Yet this humble room has seen greater tri-
umphs than any of those which adorn the galleries of
art, or are celebrated in the monuments of the streets.

286 THE LURE OF THE LAND

It has seen triumphs of toil and of genius which have
not merely made one man famous, but have also made
millions comfortable and happy. It has seen triumphs
which have not filled long trenches with the dead and
huge hospitals with the wounded, but triumphs which
have made fields of peace fertile, and filled granaries to
the top.

It is the laboratory of Justus von Liebig, the founder
of agricultural chemistry, the benefactor of his age.
Liebig himself is dead, but I seem to stand in the pres-
ence of his great genius, and to feel the inspiration of
his wonderful industry and application. There is no
other one place in the world which illustrates so con-
vincingly the intimate relation existing between prac-
tical science and rational agriculture.

The work so splendidly begun by Liebig has not been
allowed to languish with his death. Problems which
he left unfinished have since been solved and new ques-
tions have been asked, which are now answering from
a hundred experimental stations. Chemistry has the
same vital relation to agriculture that anatomy and
physiology have to medicine. The alleged surgeon
who does not know the locality of the heart is no more
at sea in his practice than the farmer who does not have
at least a practical knowledge of the nature of soils,
fertilizers, and crops. Ignorance of these things is not
bliss, it is crime.

METEOROLOGY.

Another intimate relation of science to agricultural
industry is found in the science of the weather.

Next to the soil, climate and the weather are the
most important factors which enter into the agricul-
tural problem. The science which studies these phe-

TRUE RELATION OF SCIENCE TO INDUSTRIES 287

nomena, discloses the laws which govern them, and
foretells their occurrence, is called meteorology. The
weather not only makes crops, but it may also ruin them.
To be able to know the state of the weather forty-eight,
or even twenty-four, hours in advance would save many
a dollar annually to every farmer. It is true that an
ancient writer has said, " In the morning sow thy seed,
and in the evening withhold not thy hand." But we
must remember this was written before the days of
the signal service and modern science. The farmer,
warned of an approaching storm, would not cut down
six acres of grass in the morning to have it soaked with
rain in the afternoon. With forty-eight hours' warn-
ing he could complete the planting of a field before the
rain, instead of having to leave off in the middle of
the work and then leave the other half without the
benefit of the rain. With such a warning he could se-
cure a field of ripened wheat and save it from being
prostrated by the wind or torn in shreds by the hail.
In fact there is scarcely a farm process that would not
be better done or more timely done could the state of
the weather be known in advance. The ancients fully
realized the importance of this matter. That agricul-
tural poet, Virgil, thus advised the Roman farmers:
" But before we cut up the unknown plain with the
plow, let us be careful to foretell the winds and the
varied manner of the weather."

As in ancient times so still do we gain a good idea
of the coming weather by observing the moon and sun,
wind and cloud. Farmers now as then " pray for moist
summers and dry winters. Corn is made joyous and
the field glad in the wintry dust." A circle round
the sun " betokens a great storm for farmers and for
the sea." Before sunrise rays shooting up through the

288 THE LURE OF THE LAND

clouds indicate hail. " If the sun is spotted on rising
or especially if half his disc be hidden by a cloud, a
showery day may be expected."

" An azure color of the sky at sunset threatens rain."
" A spotted sunset warns of storms." " If the sun
both rise and set clear you need not be frightened by
clouds during the day." Such are some of the indi-
cations which Virgil tells us were derived from the
sun.

Respecting the moon, we learn from the same author
that a red color of the moon indicates wind.

If the new moon rose and set clear on the fourth day
all that month would be pleasant and free from rain.

It is easy to see that many of the signs of the weather
which were relied on two thousand years ago are still
considered valid at the present day. We are still able
to judge by the sun, the wind, the cloud, and the rain-
bow, while all of you have heard the weather-wise pre-
dict the weather for the month from the appearance of
the new moon about the fourth day, just as was done
so long ago. We must remember, however, that it is
still now, as it was then, somewhat uncertain to prophesy
from these phenomena, either singly or collectively ; and
especially is it likely that " all signs will fail in dry
weather."

Quite in contrast with the interest exhibited by the
Romans in this matter was the apathy which prevailed
no more than forty years ago. Speaking of this topic
and that time, Liebig says : " No attention was paid
to the latitude of the place, its height above the sea,
the yearly mean of rain-fall, the rain-fall of different
seasons of the year, the respective number of fair and
cloudy days, the mean temperature of the year and of
the different seasons, the extremes of temperature; no

TESTING THE SIZE OF THE OATS
'My first oat crop averaging 57 bushels per acre"

THE OLD FARM-HOUSE
'I found no sanitary conveniences for man or beast'

TRUE RELATION OF SCIENCE TO INDUSTRIES 289

regard was had for the physical, chemical, and geognos-
tic properties of the soil."

GROWTH OF WEATHER OBSERVATION.

Since the time spoken of by Liebig, however, a
revolution has taken place in respect of these things.
Every civilized Government has instituted a thorough
system of meteorological observations taken at different
stations and representing the mean of the whole coun-
try. These observations, it is true, were first under-
taken for the benefit of commerce, but they are far more
likely in the end to prove a greater benefit to farmers.
As a result of this, agricultural stations generally have
undertaken a similar series of observations, whose data
can be added to those of the Signal Service proper.
And here I will say with as much emphasis as plain
statement can imply, that I regard the predictions of
the so-called weather prophets as too preposterous to
merit contradiction. And yet these vagaries of mono-
maniacs receive a quite general credence. People
might just as well pin their meteorological faith to the
predictions of the Patent Medicine Almanac. But it
is quite different with a scientifically conducted signal
service. The area of low pressure ascertained from the
various parts of the country shows the direction of the
winds. The telegraph also shows in what direction
these areas are moving, and the anemometer tells the
rate of their progress. These data, in connection with
the temperature, the season of the year, and the degree
of saturation of the air furnished by the hygrometer,
give almost absolute data for predicting the kind of
weather, when no unheralded conditions serve to change
probable environment.

290 THE LURE OF THE LAND

TBANSFEB OF WEATHEB OBSERVATIONS FEOM THE
SIGNAL SERVICE.

We should remember, too, that the Signal Service
is still in its infancy, and that the maximum of scien-
tific skill has by no means been reached in the inter-
pretation of its data. But in spite of its infancy and
consequent lack of perfection, its predictions are already
quite reliable and receive everywhere a due amount of
credence.

It is true, also, that storms which are vast in extent
can be more certainly and sooner predicted than those
merely local. But with the increase of signal stations
even the latter will be foretold with almost absolute cer-
tainty.

Then the next difficulty which science has to remove
will be the one connected with the distribution of these
indications among farming communities. The mer-
chant in the city, at breakfast, glances at the indica-
tions in his morning paper, and, in accordance with
their predictions, either takes his umbrella to his office
with him or else leaves it at home. But the farmer in
the country has not this opportunity of deciding whether
to cut his field of clover or not in the morning, with
the expectation of getting the product under cover be-
fore night. This is not a proper place to discuss the
means by which this information is to be conveyed. It
could be easily done by the telephone and fourth of
July flagstaff. Danger signals of an approaching storm
could easily be placed so that they could be seen by
every farmer before beginning his day's work. Or in-
stead of the flagstaff, signal guns might be employed,
and gunpowder and cannon thus be trained to serve
the arts of peace instead of the furies of war. It will

TRUE RELATION OF SCIENCE TO INDUSTRIES 291

be enough to affirm now that whenever the Government
sees fit to go to even a moderate outlay, science stands
ready to put every farmer in the country en rapport
with the Signal Office in Washington.

And since it thus appears that the Signal Service
is chiefly for the benefit of that industry which raises
our crops, and the one that carries them beyond the
sea, cannot one pardon a suspicion that the Signal
Service might do better under the peaceful flag of the
Department of Agriculture than beneath the red and
raging banner of the War Office ? But this is a thought
which must only be whispered in desert places, in tones
as tremulous as the timidity with which it is now sug-
gested.

BIOLOGY.

That part of biology which I shall mention as pe-
culiarly beneficial to agriculture has reference to the
study of domesticated and useful animals and plants,
and the laws of their variation and improvement. I am
aware that this theme, in a strictly etymological sense,
does not fall under the head of agriculture; but, by
immemorial usage, it has become a part of agriculture,
since every farmer makes use of animals in doing the
work of his farm, and is also, to a greater or less ex-
tent, a keeper of herds and flocks. Whatever, there-
fore, tends to improve the character or quality of his
domesticated animals proves of immediate or ultimate
advantage to the farmer.

In this way the science of biology in its special
branches of variation, heredity, and natural and inten-
tional selection has been of the greatest benefit to agri-
culture. As with the other sciences, so with this, we
believe that the good which it has already done is but a
beginning of what it will eventually accomplish.

292 THE LURE OF THE LAND

INFLUENCE OF HEEEDITY.

Science has shown that every species, and in fact
every variety, has an inherent power of variability. It
thus happens that the individuals of the same species or
race, while they have a close resemblance to one an-
other, are not exactly alike. Even the offspring of the
same parents, when subjected to the same conditions of
existence, as in the case of twins or polygenesis, are
easily distinguished from each other. This variation
from the type may be greater or less ; usually it is very
slight. Sometimes it is so great that it is called a
monstrosity. By crossing different species, to produce
hybrids, as in the case of mules and hinnies, a progeny
is produced in which the variation from the parent
forms is more marked. Hybrids often seem to possess
characters which are almost a mean of those possessed
by their parents, while often, also, by a certain prepo-
tency of generative force in one or the other of the pro-
genitors, the hybrid is attracted to one or the other of
the species from which it is produced. But this varia-
bility in animals would prove of little use to man were
it not for another principle, the law of heredity, which
science has also discovered and formulated. While it
is true that the offspring varies more or less from the
parent, it is equally true and equally as important that
there is also a greater or less resemblance between them.
From this it happens that there is always a tendency
for the parent to transmit to the offspring those pe-
culiarities which are its distinguishing marks. Let us
combine now with the two foregoing principles, viz.,
variability and heredity, that of selection, and we have
the basis of the improvements of breeds, upon which
every scientific farmer acts. Science, in the last few

TRUE RELATION OF SCIENCE TO INDUSTRIES 293

years, has, as thoroughly as time and opportunity have
permitted, investigated the phenomena of variability,
heredity, and selection, and as a result the practical
man has now at his disposal a vast array of facts, which,
a few years ago, were wholly unknown to him.

IMPORTANCE OF VARIATION.

Many of the causes of variation have been discovered.
Chief among these known causes are climate and condi-
tions of life. Thus meteorology again comes into play
as an important factor in practical agriculture. Oth-
ers are still unknown, but we do not despair of the dis-
covery of many of these. Heredity is a natural prin-
ciple so well known that we are astonished only when it
fails to act. But science has done much to sort out and
arrange the facts connected with its phenomena, al-
though its laws have not yet been formulated. Science
has shown that selection is a universal principle, and
that it is of two kinds, natural and conscious, though it
is not implied by this classification that conscious se-
lection is unnatural. A good general example of con-
scious selection is the well-known fact that breeders gen-
erally keep the finest animals for breeding purposes,
and thus keep their animals up to a high degree of per-
fection. In this way science, consciously or uncon-
sciously, continually improves the condition of ani-
mals.

A few examples, illustrating the topic under consid-
eration, will serve better than any argument of my own
to show what science may thus accomplish.

EXAMPLES OF VARIABILITY, SELECTION, AND
HEREDITY.

In the horse, conditions of life and climate produce
the greatest variations. Mr. Charles Darwin, in his

294 THE LURE OF THE LAND

classical work on variation of domestic animals, gives
some curious instances. Horses become " greatly re-
duced in size and altered in appearance by living on
mountains and islands, and this is due apparently to
want of nutritious or varied food." The horse can
stand great cold. He is found wild in Siberia, as far
north as fifty-six degrees; also, where it is very hot the
horse flourishes, as in Arabia and Africa. A very moist
climate seems to be more injurious to the horse than
extreme heat or cold.

The English race-horse shows the effects of selection.
These horses are descendants from the mingling of three
races, called Arabs, Turks, and Barbs. Yet the im-
provement in these horses has been so marked that when
descendants from the same stock of the first generation
compete in the races, they are always allowed certain
odds. As an example of heredity in racers may be
mentioned " King Herod/' who gained in prizes a mil-
lion dollars, and was the father of four hundred and
ninety-seven winners. " Eclipse," another great racer,
was the father of three hundred and thirty-four win-
ners. A German writer has asserted that there is not
a successful racer on the continent of Europe which has
not English blood in his veins.

With respect to sheep equally as valuable data have
been collected. Quatref ages says : " Our [French]
sheep on being transferred to America generally become
acclimatized without undergoing great change. Their
fleece, particularly, is retained. But on the plains of
the Meta it is only retained on condition of the sheep
being regularly shorn. If they are left to themselves
the wool becomes of a felty nature, is detached in flakes,
and is replaced by a short, stiff, and shining hair. Un-
der the influence of this burning climate the same indi-

TRUE RELATION OF SCIENCE TO INDUSTRIES 295

vidual is in turn a woolly and a hairy animal." A
cold climate even is capable of producing wool on ani-
mals which naturally do not have it. Some " pigs with
fleece are found in the cold plateaus of the Cordilleras ;
sheep with hair in the warm valleys of the Madeleine,
and hairless cattle on the burning plains of Mara-
quita." In the East there is a remarkable variation
in sheep, by which a race has been formed by selections
in which the tail is very long and deeply laid with fat,
which is considered a great delicacy. " So highly prized
is this character that the animals are furnished with
trucks on which they drag their precious tails about
from place to place." The differences in the texture
of the wool, which make some races, like the pure Meri-
nos, so valuable, have arisen by the combined influences
of climate, heredity, and selection, and it is only by the
most careful attention to selection that the fineness of
the wool can be retained in other than the same climates
in which it was at first produced. A remarkable in-
stance of variation, which by heredity and selection was
made to produce a new race, took place in our own coun-
try. "In 1791 a ram lamb was born in Massachu-
setts having short, crooked legs and a long back like
a turnspit dog. From this one lamb the otter or Ancon
semi-monstrous breed was raised. As these sheep could
not leap over the fences, it was supposed they would be
valuable." This breed, developed by selection, trans-
mitted its character so perfectly that Colonel Hum-
phreys, who made a special study of it, never heard of
but " one questionable case." When the Ancons were
placed in with other sheep they would keep together,
gradually separating themselves from the rest of the
flock.

Another instance, also cited by Darwin, relates to

296 THE LURE OF THE LAND

the formation of the Mauchamp breed. In the year
1828 a Merino ram lamb was born in France which
was remarkable for its long, smooth, straight, and silky-
wool.

In 1833 M. Graux, the owner of the lamb, had raised
enough to serve his whole flock, and in a few years
more he was able to sell stock of his new breed. The
wool is regarded so highly that it brings 25 per cent,
more in the market than the best pure Merino.

Variation also frequently manifests itself by produc-
ing changes in the functions of the animal's body or
some of its parts. These changes are mostly due to
climate influences.

The Egyptian goose brought to France in 1841 by
Geoifroy St. Hilaire, according to Quatrefages, is a
striking example of this. " At first this bird laid its
eggs in December, as in its native country. It raised
its brood in the depth of winter, and, consequently, un-
der very unfavorable circumstances. In 1844 the birds
began to lay in February; in 1845 in March, and in
1846 in April, at the same time as the native goose."
Sometimes instead of climate other forces are active in
producing similar results. The same author states that
" the wild sow litters but once a year and with only six
or eight young, but when domesticated litters twice a
year with from ten to fifteen pigs. The fecundity of the
Indian pig is seven times as great under domestication
as in a wild state."

On the other hand, there are some animals which ap-
pear to be less fruitful when tamed than when in the
wild state.

I will not multiply these examples further. Those
who feel like pursuing the subject will find abundance
of material, collected from many classes of animals and

TRUE RELATION OF SCIENCE TO INDUSTRIES 297

different parts of the world, in Darwin's work, to which
I have already referred.

These examples show what good results can be accom-
plished by paying strict attention to the laws which
science has already discovered, and what progress we
may expect from further investigations in the same
line. There seems to be no more promising field for
developing the relation of science to agriculture than
in the one at which we have just taken a glance.
A long series of carefully conducted scientific experi-
ments will still be needed before we are able to de-
termine what sheep will give the best wool in our cli-
mate, what cows the best milk, and what hogs the best
pork.

In fact there is not a single domesticated animal
which, by careful attention to variation and careful
crossing and selection, may not have its nature better
adapted to our climate, and thus become more profita-
ble to the farmer. It is a good work and worthy of
diligent prosecution.

BOTANY.

The science of botany is justly regarded as having
a very intimate relation to agriculture. I have already
indicated in a previous part of this paper how a
botanist may be of great use in an experimental station
in the examination of seeds. In the seeds of varieties,
for example, nearly allied to each other, the seed may
be so nearly alike that a skilled botanist will be required
to detect the difference.

Taking advantage of this similarity, the unprinci-
pled seller may mix the seed of a comparatively worth-
less variety with one which is highly esteemed and sell
the mixture for the best seed. Just as often a dis-

298 THE LURE OF THE LAND

" honest " grocer will mix coffee at thirty cents with
coffee at forty cents, and sell the mixture for fifty cents
a pound.

But the usefulness of botany to agriculture is not
limited by the examination of seeds. It extends to a
much wider field of activity.

All I have said of the variability, heredity, crossing,
and selection in animals is equally true of plants. I
will, therefore, not repeat here the course of reasoning
used to show the usefulness of a scientific knowledge of
these principles to the farmer. I will only say that as
the farmer has to deal rather with plants than animals,
the arguments have proportionately the greater weight
here.

To variations and selections, crossing and heredity
we are indebted for all the different varieties of the
cereals and other plants which make them so well
adapted to the different countries and climates in which
they grow. As in the case of animals, I can best illus-
trate this by a few examples.

VARIATION, ETC'., IN WHEAT.

Quatref ages relates that " the Abbe Tessier sowed
autumn wheat in the spring. Of a hundred seeds which
germinated only four ripened their seed. One hundred
seeds of this crop (also sown in the spring) produced
fifty fertile plants. In the third generation the whole
hundred seeds ripened. An inverse experiment pro-
duced similar results."

The fact that good seed tends to produce good crops
has been known from the earliest times. Darwin states
that the careful selection of seed-corn was recommended
in ancient times by Calumella and Celsus, and espe-
cially Virgil, who says in his Georgics :

TRUE RELATION OF SCIENCE TO INDUSTRIES 299

I *ve seen the largest seeds tho' viewed with care
Degenerate unless th' industrious hand
Did yearly cull the largest.

Wheat has been cultivated from the remotest an-
tiquity, and without doubt the principles of selection
have been practised from the first. It is thus probable
that the limit of perfection, as far as selection is con-
cerned, has long since been reached.

The chief value of selections, therefore, at the present
time, is to preserve the high standard reached, while
the botanist and experimenter must depend on cross-
ing and accidental variations for the genesis of new
varieties better suited to any given conditions of life.
Nevertheless, existing varieties can be gradually ac-
climatized when taken to a strange country. In Sierra
Leone when wheat was first sown it nearly all ran to
leaf. The ears were few and poorly filled. When the
seeds of this crop were sown many failed to germinate,
but others grew and were much more fertile than the
first crop. After a few years the wheat became as fer-
tile as in its native country.

Another striking illustration of the effect of accli-
matization in plants is afforded by the chrysanthemum.
This plant, which is now so commonly seen, came
originally from China. " Introduced into France in
1790, it flourished there and produced fruit which it
was unable to ripen, so that commerce alone supplied
gardeners with the necessary seed for more than sixty
years. In 1852 a few plants were observed to flower
and to fruit sooner than the others. The seed ripened,
and France now produces all the seed which she re-
quires."

Variation in the one species of cabbage has been most
remarkable. By careful selection nearly fifty races

300 THE LURE OF THE LAND

have been produced and nearly one hundred and fifty
varieties, extending all the way from the full-headed
kind to the cauliflower.

In high northern regions the summers are short and
the days long, and all kinds of crops grow there faster
than in temperate climates, where the days are shorter
and the summers longer.

In south Germany barley will grow and ripen in
four and a half to five months; while in Lapland and
Finland the same process is accomplished in two months.

Our common corn, as is well known, in Minnesota
has six weeks less time to mature than in Southern
Indiana and Kentucky, yet it soon adapts itself to the
changed conditions. But if seed were taken from Ken-
tucky and planted in Minnesota but few stalks would
mature their seed the first year. Perhaps three or four
years would be required for it to become perfectly ac-
climated. Thus, by easy inference, we see that where
it is feared that frost will come too early in the fall
it would be wise in the farmer to bring his seed each
year from the North, and thus grow a crop which will
ripen two or three weeks sooner than the acclimated
plants.

By thoroughly trying experiments like these at our
agricultural stations, botany may prove of immense ad-
vantage to the farmers of the country.

But I will not attempt here to show all the relations
which botany holds to agriculture. There are a dozen
directions in which its lines of useful force operate, and
it would be wiser to leave a complete exposition of the
subject to the professional botanist, who would bring to
the task a richness of knowledge and facility of expres-
sion which would place the subject in a much stronger
setting than I have been able to give it.

TRUE RELATION OF SCIENCE TO INDUSTRIES 301
ENTOMOLOGY.

One of the numerous difficulties which adds to the
burdens of the agriculturist is the fight which he is con-
stantly carrying on against injurious insects. Almost
every year he is compelled to engage in an unequal
contest with the potato bug, the Hessian fly, the
weevil, the caterpillar, and the borers of his fruit trees,
while at intervals the locust, the army-worm, and the
grasshopper pour over his fields with resistless power.
It is the province of the entomologist to study the habits
and methods of reproduction of these injurious insects,
and to provide some way to arrest their almost marvel-
ous fertility.

Much has already been accomplished in this direc-
tion, but much more remains to be done. It is evi-
dent that it is useless for a farmer to fight potato bugs
in his field, while they are left to increase unmolested
in the field of his neighbor. Action against insects must
be concerted and intelligent to be effective. Bush-
whacking and guerrilla warfare can never accomplish
anything more than a local result. The campaign, to
be effective, must be regular, with full equipments and
a perfect knowledge of the ground to be fought over
and the number and disposition of the forces of the
enemy.

The farmer looks to the entomologist to direct him
in the campaign and furnish him all needful informa-
tion.

With such scientific aid he should not despair of even-
tually freeing his fields of these insignificant but de-
structive pests which now cause him so much loss and
trouble.

These are only a few instances of the true rela-

302 THE LURE OF THE LAND

tion science bears to one industry. The argument
becomes cumulative as other industries are considered
and other ties which connect them to science are dis-
covered.

In these illustrations peculiar emphasis has been
given to the real monetary value of science in the in-
dustry. And say what we will, this is the measure
which is the final test of all value in every industry.
What does not pay, at once or ultimately, will never
find a lasting place. This does not arise from the fact
that men are wholly mercenary, but happily from the
fact that nature is so constituted that it is the best that
always in the long run pays best.

TETJE PLEASURE ALWAYS MOEAL.

Herbert Spencer has shown, in his admirable system
of philosophy, that pleasure is the ultimate test of all
virtue, morality and right living. What we call virtue,
morality and right living, are really so because they
confer finally on men the greatest happiness and afford
them the greatest pleasure.

If a life of vice were at once and ultimately capable
of producing greater pleasures, then vice would become
virtue and virtue vice. And the same principle will be
found underlying the industries and arts.

Those influences and conditions which at once or
finally bring forth most from any given outlay of capi-
tal and labor, are the conditions and influences which
are right and proper.

Science shows here its most intimate relations to
every industry. It is its peculiar province to husband
all natural resources, to make the most out of every
exercise of energy, to direct in the right path every
budding enterprise, and to open up new possibilities

TRUE RELATION OF SCIENCE TO INDUSTRIES 303

and secure new achievements in every form of organ-
ized labor.

DIFFUSION OF SCIENTIFIC TRUTH.

It would be, however, a great mistake to suppose that
science has no other relation whatever to industries and
arts aside from what is purely financial. There are
indeed other true relations scarcely less important,
which should be honored at least with some attention.

True science is eminently suited to diffuse general
information among those actively engaged in fhe vari-
ous industries. Anything which tends to impart useful
information to those engaged in active labor, cannot
fail of having an important effect on the industry itself.

To one pursuing any vocation of skill, there is danger
of falling into grooves. It is sometimes hard to see
beyond the confines of self-work and self-interest.
That which concerns the laborer himself in the peculiar
exercise of his trade, is apt to be the only thing which
will excite his attention and hold his interest.

But a narrowness of view like this, is apt to beget
prejudice, selfishness and bigotry. But prejudice, self-
ishness and bigotry react on the very force that begets
them and tend to destroy both themselves and the in-
dustry they ostensibly protect.

One great function of science is to prevent such a
condition. True science liberalizes and humanizes. I
do not mean by science, mere dogma and pretense and
hypothesis. Many condemn science without knowing
what it really is. However plausible a theory may be,
however strong the arguments which sustain an hypoth-
esis, yet theory and hypothesis are not science.

I am far from denying the verisimilitude of many
scientific theories and hypotheses. They may indeed

304 THE LURE OF THE LAND

prove, and often do prove, of great benefit; yet it is a
great mistake to confound these with science itself —
i.e., as already said, the " knowledge of matter and its
laws."

Science, therefore, educates and liberalizes every
trade and industry and art. Its cultivation will
broaden the views of the people, dispel prejudice and
superstition, remove feelings of narrow sectional pride,
and make the whole world akin. When science is more
broadly diffused, when it permeates more thoroughly
the industries of the country, then there will be an end
of humbugs and crazes, of isms and oddities, and the
reign of common sense will supersede the reign of im-
pulse and ignorance.

UNIVERSAL TRAINING NOT POSSIBLE.

I understand perfectly well, as already mentioned,
that it is quite impossible that every artisan should re-
ceive a complete scientific schooling. However desir-
able such a thing may be, it is too Utopian to be con-
sidered here. Every farmer of the future will not be
a graduate of an agricultural college, no matter if they
may be made as numerous as high schools. But every
farmer may feel the liberalizing power of scientific
knowledge, and doubtless will feel it, although he may
be unconscious of it. He cannot shut his eyes to the
light which is abroad in the land. The lowliest slave
will feel the warmth of the sun's rays, though he may
not know that the sun's atmosphere contains sodium
vapor. And thus it is with all kinds of scientific knowl-
edge. Science will warm and vivify the whole world,
though many may remain unconscious of the source of
the new life which springs up within them.

~No one can calculate the ponderous power for good

TRUE RELATION OF SCIENCE TO INDUSTRIES 305

which such influences will exert and do exert on the
industries of the land, and that, too, aside from any
idea of increased monetary value.

LOVE AND EEVEEENCE FOE THE TETJTH.

Science, while it reveals the constitution of matter
and makes known the laws of its change, inculcates at
the same time a love and reverence for the truth. No
one can study carefully the inviolable verities of nature
•without realizing that truth is the only thing which can
endure.

Science can neither be cajoled, threatened nor bribed.
Science never lies and is never deceived by a lie. No
boy can go through with the simplest exercise in chem-
ical quantitative analysis, and not have his moral na-
ture strengthened thereby. Eeverence for the truth,
hatred of error; these are two ideas which are always
uppermost in the scientific mind. While, therefore,
science spreads information, it also teaches morality.
When every industry and art are fully imbued with
these two ideas they will not only attain their maximum
value as wealth-producers, but also become the most
potent factors of happiness-making in the world. And
every one wishes to see this. Honest industries, skilled
arts, honest laborers, skilled artisans; these are the
pride and the salvation of the country.

I have not time to discuss this subject further. At
the very beginning I was oppressed with the thought
that in one short essay I could not more than make a
fair introduction of the subject. I repeat the thought
in closing with which I began: Science is the mother
of industries and arts. She is the mother who brings
them forth, and it is always parthenogenesis. She is
the mother who protects them in the years of their help-

306 THE LURE OF THE LAND

less infancy. She is the mother who instructs them in
knowledge and morality, and finally she is the mother
who looks upon their successes with loving pride.

With such influences working on our industries and
arts, the future seems bright with near possibilities.
We see our industries vivified with new life and new
usefulness. We see them liberalized and educated.
We see them permeated with love of truth and moral-
ity. We see them feeding hundreds of millions of peo-
ple at home, and covering the seas with their products.
We see homes made happier and life made easier to the
millions of toilers. Labor is no longer a mere drudg-
ery, but a constant pleasure. Knowledge and industry
will march hand in hand to higher usefulness and
higher attainment, and in these happy results we will
see realized in all the intimacy of their kinship, the
" true relation of science to the industries and arts."

XXVIII

UNCLE SAM'S BIG COLLEGE

THE constitution of the State of Michigan which
was adopted in 1850 made provision for an agri-
cultural school. This school was opened in 1857, and
is now in a high state of efficiency and prosperity.
The Pennsylvania State College, which is essentially
a school of agriculture, grew out of The Farmers' High
School, which was incorporated in 1854 and opened for
students in 1859. In 1856 the legislature of Maryland
incorporated the Maryland Agricultural College, lo-
cated almost on the edge of the District of Columbia,
and in the same year the legislature of Massachusetts
issued a charter to the trustees of the Massachusetts
School of Agriculture. The above is a resume of the
earliest efforts of the States to promote agriculture as
a distinct science.

VETOED BY PRESIDENT BUCLEAJSTAN.

Justin S. Morrill, of Vermont, introduced in the
House of Representatives, of which he was a member, in

1858, a bill to promote education in agriculture and
the mechanic arts. On the 22 d of April, 1858, Mr.
Merrill's bill was adopted by the House of Representa-
tives by the close vote of 105 to 100. On February 7,

1859, the Morrill bill passed the Senate of the United
States by another close vote, namely, 25 to 22. Soon

after this the House and Senate agreed on the amend-

307

308 THE LURE OF THE LAND

ments to the bill, but on February 24th James Bu-
chanan, President of the United States, vetoed the
measure on the ground that he did not think the time
was opportune and that the possible effect which it
could have upon the relations existing between the fed-
eral and state governments was of doubtful value, and
for the further reason that he doubted the power of
Congress to appropriate money for education in the
States, and therefore in his opinion the aid of such
education by means of a land grant was of doubtful
constitutionality.

Mr. Morrill, however, was not discouraged by this
adverse opinion of President Buchanan. In view of
the strained relations of affairs at that time, due to the
agitation of the slavery question, and the uncertainty
in Mr. Buchanan's own mind about what should be
done and what should not be done, it was not strange
that he refrained from approving any measure which
would, even by implication, invalidate the doctrine of
States' rights. While the theory of States' rights is
still held, there is no longer any disinclination on the
part of any of the States to receive the benefits of a
federal grant of money for any purpose whatever. It
is the old question of " What is the constitution among
friends," when an appropriation is at stake.

APPROVED BY PRESIDENT LINCOLN1.

In 1861 Mr. Morrill introduced into the House of
Eepresentatives practically the same bill which had
passed before, granting 30,000 acres of land for each
member of Congress for the establishment of colleges
in each of the States, and on the 2d of May, 1862,
Senator Wade, of Ohio, introduced a similar bill in
the Senate. Mr. MorrilPs bill was reported adversely

HON. N. J. COLEMAN
First Secretary of Agriculture

UNCLE SAM'S BIG COLLEGE 309

by the Committee on Public Lands, but it was passed
by the Senate on June 10th, and nine days later by
the House of Eepresentatives. President Lincoln
made the bill a law by affixing his signature July 2,
1862. Thus the name of Senator Morrill has become
indissolubly connected with federal aid to agricultural,
mechanical and military education.

Twenty-eight years after this grant of Government
lands to the States for educational purposes, the prin-
ciple of appropriating money directly from the Treas-
ury for the same purpose was enacted into law. This
was also accomplished largely by the aid of Mr. Mor-
rill, who had then become a Senator. A bill appropri-
ating money for such service was approved by
President Harrison on August 30, 1890. Under this
act the sum of $15,000 a year, beginning with 1890,
and an increase of the amount of such appropriation
for ten years thereafter by an additional sum of $1,000,
until at the end of ten years the total appropriation
should become $25,000 annually, was appropriated to
each State.

Meanwhile efforts were made, also, to support from
the federal treasury the experimental work of agricul-
ture in the various States. The establishment of the
colleges of agriculture and mechanic arts, including in-
structions in military science, was a powerful stimulus
looking to the establishment of stations for conducting
agricultural experimental work. About 1883 a bill
granting funds from the federal treasury for this pur-
pose was introduced by Eepresentative Carpenter, of
Iowa, but failed of passage. The measure, however,
was supported by the agricultural colleges of the coun-
try, and subsequently became a law. Under the lead
of Mr. Hatch, of Missouri, a bill bearing his name

310 THE LURE OF THE LAND

appropriated $15,000 to each State and territory out of
funds proceeding from the sale of public lands for the
establishment and maintenance of an agricultural ex-
periment station, as a department of the land-grant
colleges established under the act of 1862. This act
passed the House of Representatives and the Senate,
and was approved by President Cleveland on the 2d of
March, 1887.

BENEFITS TO THE STATES.

The benefits arising from the establishment of agri-
cultural experiment stations in the various States were
of such a patent character that it was not long before
increased facilities for such experimentation were pro-
vided for by the appropriation of federal funds.
Under the lead of Representative Adams, of Wisconsin,
an act was finally passed providing for an increased
appropriation over that established by the Hatch Act,
namely, $15,000 a year. The Adams Act provided for
an increase of $5,000 for the fiscal year of 1906, in-
creasing this amount by $2,000 annually until the total
amount reached $15,000, the same as provided for in
the Hatch Act. Thus the total amount provided for
each State for experimental work in agriculture from
the federal treasury is now $30,000 per year. The act
providing for this increase was passed on the 16th of
March, 1906.

PROMOTING AGEICtrLTTJKAL EDUCATION.

Subsequently a successful attempt was made to in-
crease the funds available for agricultural education un-
der the lead of Senator Nelson, who succeeded in intro-
ducing an amendment to the agricultural appropriation
bill which provided that for the fiscal year 1908 an addi-
tional $5,000 be appropriated, and this amount be in-

UNCLE SAM'S BIG COLLEGE 311

creased by $5,000 each year for four years, thus secur-
ing for each State a sum of $25,000 in addition to that
carried by the Second Morrill Act. This amendment
also contained the provision " that said colleges may
use a portion of this money for providing courses for
the special preparation of instructors for teaching the
elements of agriculture and the mechanic arts."

The total amount of appropriations of the federal
government for the colleges of agriculture and mechanic
arts for the years from 1890 to 1914, are as follows:

1890 $ 660,000

1891 704,000

1892 782,000

1893 864,000

1894 912,000

1895 960,000

1896 1,008,000

1897 1,056,000

1898 1,104,000

1899 1,152,000

1900 1,200,000

1901 1,200,000

1902 1,200,000

1903 1,200,000

1904 1,200,000

1905 1,200,000

1906 1,200,000

1907 1,200,000

1908 1,500,000

1909 1,750,000

1910 2,000,000

1911 2,250,000

1912 2,500,000

1913 2,500,000

1914 2,500,000

Total $33,802,000

312 THE LURE OF THE LAND

The last contribution of the national government to
agricultural education has been made under an Act of
Congress approved May 8, 1914, granting ten thousand
dollars a year to each State to promote agricultural ex-
tension work. According to Section 2 of this act the
character of the work to be done is defined as follows:

That cooperative agricultural extension work shall consist
of the giving of instruction and practical demonstration in
agriculture and home economics to persons not attending or
resident in said colleges in the several communities, and im-
parting to such persons information on said subjects through
field demonstrations, publications, and otherwise; and this
work shall be carried on in such manner as may be mutually
agreed upon by the Secretary of Agriculture and the State
Agricultural College or colleges receiving the benefits of this
Act.

The appropriation of $480,000 is made to carry the
provisions of this Act into execution. This sum is to
be increased, year by year, according to the following
provisions: $600,000 for the second year, and for
each following year a sum exceeding by $500,000 the
sum appropriated for each preceding year, and for each
year thereafter there is permanently appropriated for
each year the sum of $4,100,000 in addition to the sum
of $480,000 hereinbefore provided. This makes the
enormous sum of $4,580,000 which will be appropri-
ated permanently from the Treasury of the United
States for the promotion of practical demonstrations
of agricultural processes. To this must be added the
$4,100,000 which States must contribute, making the
total sum annually available $8,600,000 !

DANGER OF OVER ENDOWMENT.

I am of the opinion that agriculture is being too
generously endowed in this country. Overfeeding is

UNCLE SAM'S BIG COLLEGE 313

one of the gravest dangers of the growing organism.
Agriculture is a growing organism. It is likely to be
overfed until it becomes over-fat, in which condition
it will naturally lapse into a condition of lethargy,
inactivity and decay. Just as our colleges and univer-
sities and foundations of different kinds are becoming
over-endowed, just so agriculture is in danger of pam-
pering and coddling. We may well pause on the thresh-
old before entering upon an era of agricultural myxe-
dema.

I would be the last one to oppose any necessary agri-
cultural endowment. I have seen, however, during my
career in the public service, such a wanton waste of
money, due to huge gifts for this and that purpose, as
to make me skeptical of the wisdom of such enormous
grants. Already the Department of Agriculture is ex-
pending twenty million dollars a year, which is more
than ten times as much as it was spending when I first
became attached to it in 1883. Within a year or two,
at the present rate, the expenditures will amount to
twenty-five millions of dollars, and unless some check
is placed upon these extravagant appropriations an-
other twenty years will see forty millions of dollars
appropriated to the federal Department of Agricul-
ture.

The growth of the Department has been truly phe-
nomenal, especially from the time of Hon. Norman J.
Coleman the first Secretary of Agriculture and during
the incumbency of the Hon. James Wilson, who was
Secretary for sixteen years.

Healthy growth can come only from strenuous effort,
and the man who sits at a table bountifully spread, who
goes thence to digestion in a Morris chair, and then
retires in the soft draperies of a luxurious couch, is

314

THE LURE OF THE LAND

not likely to make any mark in the world except that
of his grave. All his virility, his initiative and origi-
nality will be appropriated by Congress and will ooze
out of the Department of Agriculture. The great suc-
cess of agricultural work in this country will not be
through the hot-house plant. The simple, direct ex-
periments which do not cost much money, and the
results of which are couched in plain and simple lan-
guage for the benefit of the practical farmer, will do
more than all the " show me " business that you can
possibly imagine. Most interesting has been the de-
bate in the Senate on the present appropriation bill of
1914. The Senators themselves called attention to
some of the crudities and dangers of this unbridled use
of money.

The following table shows the schedule of appropri-
ations under the last educational Act :

Additional

Federal ap-

Basic fund
Fiscal year $10,000 to
each State

propriation
to be distrib-
uted in pro-
portion to

Total
Federal
appropria-
tion

rural popu-

lation

1914-15 $480,000

1915-16 480,000 $ 600,000 $1,080,000

1916-17 480,000 1,] 00,000 1,580,000

1917-18 480,000 1,600,000 2,080,000

1918-19 480,000 2,] 00,000 2,580,000

1919-20 480,000 2,600,000 3,080,000

1920-21 480,000 3,100,000 3,580,000

1921-22 480,000 3,600,000 4,080,000

1922-23 480,000 4,100,000 4,580,000

1923 and thereafter.. 480,000 4,100,000 4,580,000

UNCLE SAM'S BIG COLLEGE 315

STATE MUST HELP.

One of the important conditions of the Act is that
each State must duplicate the money above $10,000 a
year appropriated to it by the federal government.
The money raised by the State may come from the
State, county, college, local authority, or individual
contributions from within the State, for the mainte-
nance of cooperative agricultural extension work. The
governor of each State, in the interval until the legis-
lature meets, is called upon to designate the agricultural
college or colleges to which the federal funds are to
be paid.

A limitation is placed upon the use to which the
funds appropriated by the United States are to be put.
E"o money appropriated by the United States shall be
applied, directly or indirectly, to the purchase, erection,
preservation, or repair of any building or buildings, or
the purchase or rental of land, or in college-course
teaching, lectures in colleges, promoting agricultural
trains, or any other purpose not specified in the Act.

Not more than 5 per cent, of each annual appro-
priation may be applied to the printing and distribu-
tion of publications, and this means that 95 per cent,
of the appropriation must be devoted to the giving of
instruction and practical demonstrations to persons not
attending the colleges.

If any grant of the federal government be lost, mis-
managed, or misapplied in any way, the State respon-
sible must make good the sum before receiving any
further federal appropriations.

There is no other country in which agricultural edu-
cation and experimentation are so munificently en-
dowed. I fear at times that too much money is avail-

316 THE LURE OF THE LAND

able. The funds have come more rapidly than experi-
ence to handle them. There is no blight so deadly as
that of luxury. I know of no Bordeaux mixture to limit
its ravages.

TEACHING AGEICTTLTTJBE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

Nineteen States now require that an examination
in agriculture be passed before a teacher may obtain
a certificate. This is an indication that training in
the elements of agriculture is soon to be an important
part of the public school system. During the two years
ending March, 1912, the number of institutions giving
courses in agriculture increased at the rate of more
than 75 a month, going from 1,863 to 2,575. Many
normal schools are also introducing courses of agricul-
ture, in order that teachers may have an opportunity
to prepare themselves for these required examinations.
Summer schools are also largely adopting courses of
study in agricultural work, because teachers may read-
ily attend these summer schools without interfering
with their regular work in the classroom.

The agricultural and mechanical colleges of the
country are also beginning to hold special courses for
the use of teachers. This is done by the North Caro-
lina College, as well as by some others. Afternoon,
evening and Saturday classes in agriculture are also
offered at Columbia University, in the city of New
York. Reading courses have been organized in agri-
culture by the University of Arizona, the Michigan
Agricultural College, New Hampshire College, Cornell
University and the State University of Columbus, Ohio.

The Department of Agriculture has organized a free
reading course for the benefit of those who are unable
to attend regular college work. A list of Bulletins and

UNCLE SAM'S BIG COLLEGE 317

other publications which are to be read by correspond-
ents has been prepared, and may be had free by
applying to the Superintendent of Documents, at
Washington, D. C.

There are eight courses offered, which cover thor-
oughly the subjects treated. They are as follows:

1. Agronomy; 5. Agricultural Engineering;

2. Animal Husbandry; 6. Agricultural Technology;

3. Horticulture; 7. Agricultural Economics;

4. Forestry; 8. Agricultural Education.

As a sample of what these courses contain, the list of
the bulletins' given under the heading " Animal Hus-
bandry " is given on the next page.

Besides outlining these courses, the bulletin contains
lists of. institutions maintaining courses in agriculture
in summer sessions, extension courses, and correspond-
ence courses. Similar courses are offered in other
branches of farming.

The latest available data of the activities of the land-
grant colleges are contained in the publication of the
Department of Agriculture entitled " Statistics of
Land-grant Colleges and Agricultural Experiment Sta-
tions, 1912," 2 issued by the Department of Agricul-
ture as a part of the Annual Eeport of the Office of
Experiment Stations for the year ended June 30, 1912.
At that time the total number of land-grant colleges
was 67, and at least one was found in all the States
and territories except Alaska.

TOTAL VALUE OF LAND GRANT ENDOWMENT.

The aggregate value of the land-grant fund as a
permanent endowment under the Act of 1862 is

2 Summary of the Condition of the Agricultural and Land Grant
Colleges at the End of the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1912.

318

THE LURE OF THE LAND

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

Topic

Title

Department's

Farmers'

Bulletin

Number or

Year Book

Bees 447

Birds Some Common Birds 54

Some Common Game, Aquatic, 497
and Rapacious Birds in Their

Relation to Man

Fifty Common Birds of Farm

and Orchard 513

Does It Pay the Farmer to Pro- Year Book

tect Birds'? Sep. 443

Cattle The Dairy Herd 55

Breeds of Dairy Cattle 106

Tuberculosis 473

Hogs Pig Management 205

Hog Cholera 379

Sheep Raising Sheep for Mutton 96

Poultry Standard Varieties of Chickens. 51

Ducks and Geese 64

Turkeys 200

The Guinea Fowl 234

Poultry Management 287

Feeds and The Feeding of Farm Animals. 22

feeding . . . Sheep Feeding 79

Principles of Horse Feeding. . . 170

$13,533,868.64; other land-grants under other acts,
$3,390,215,83; other endowments, $20,129,479.44. A
part of the land-grant of 1862 is still unsold, the value
of which is estimated about $5,165,209.81. The value
of the farms and grounds owned by the agricultural
colleges is $22,023,266.60 ; the value of buildings used
for college purposes is $44,459,391.12; the total value
of scientific apparatus, machinery and furniture is

UNCLE SAM'S BIG COLLEGE 319

$12,594,728.25; the value of the libraries connected
with the institutions is $5,636,297.92 ; the value of the
live stock on the farms is $796,959.66; making the
total value of all kinds in the agricultural colleges
$127,729,315.17. Exclusive of the income derived
from the United States for the agricultural experiment
stations, these institutions receive from the States for
current expenses $6,937,410.97; for increase of build-
ings and plant, $4,647,746.97; they also have received
as an endowment from other than federal or state grants
$660,779 ; as -tuition and incidental fees $3,654,050.11 ;
from private gifts $2,384,947.71 ; and from miscellane-
ous sources $2,296,065.41. Including the appropria-
tions from the United States the total amount of money
available for the annual expenses of these institutions is
$25,967,130.45. During the year 1912 it is estimated
that the increased funds at the disposal of these institu-
tions were as follows: Permanent endowment, $1,809,-
100.40; buildings, $4,721,467.79; libraries, $283,-
725.62; scientific apparatus, $573,186.90; machinery,
$270,547.61; live stock, $141,412.15; miscellaneous,
$438,721.40 ; making a total increment of wealth for
the land-grant colleges for one year of $8,238,161.87.
The total value of properties owned by the institutions,
as already stated, is, in round numbers, $128,000,000.
Allowing for an increase of $10,000,000 for 1913-1914,
the total value of the equipment owned by the land-grant
colleges at the present time is almost $150,000,000 !

DUMBER OF PERSONS IN THE TEACHING FORCE AND
STUDENTS.

In the schools of agriculture and the mechanic arts
devoted to white students, were found the following
number of teachers and professors at the end of the

320 THE LURE OF THE LAND

fiscal year June 30, 1912: Teachers in the prepara-
tory classes, including the secondary schools of agricul-
ture, 62 6> ; professors in the collegiate classes of agri-
culture and the mechanic arts, and in all other forms
of instruction in these colleges, 3,569; making a total
numher of teachers of 3,835. In addition to these
there were 161 instructors giving full time and 525
giving part time to agricultural-extension work; 1,583
officers of experiment stations; and 2,705 persons in
the faculties of other colleges or departments not de-
voted to agriculture; making a total of 7,192 teachers
and instructors in the land-grant institutions.

In like manner for the colored institutions there was
a grand total of 474 persons in the teaching corps.

The number of students in the colleges for white
persons in actual attendance at the institutions was
53,764. There were also enrolled in correspondence
courses 33,149; in extension courses, not including
farmers' institutes, 106,516; and in all other depart-
ments of the institutions, 32,685. Thus the total num-
her of white students receiving instruction from these
institutions during the year ended June 30, 1912, was
242,954.

The total number enrolled in schools for colored per-
sons was 8,495.

The number of graduates from the land-grant insti-
tutions for white students during the year ended June
30, 1912, was 8,370, distributed as follows: Agricul-
ture, 1,200 ; mechanic arts, 2,260 ; home economics,
427; all other courses, 4,494. The total number of
graduates since the institutions were founded amounts
to 103,736.

In the schools for colored persons the total number
of graduates for the year ended June 30, 1912, was

UNCLE SAM'S BIG COLLEGE 321

131, and the total number since the organization of
these institutions, 7,458.

The total number of acres of land granted to the
States under the act of 1862 was 10,570,842, of which
652,617 acres are still unsold.

MUNIFICENT HELP TO AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT
STATIONS.

Important also are the figures showing the expendi-
tures for the work of the agricultural experiment sta-
tions. The total income of the stations maintained
under the acts of 1887 (Hatch fund) and 1906 (Adams
fund) was $4,068,240.09, of which $720,000 came
from the Hatch fund and $720,000 from the Adams
fund. The remaining portion of the income, namely,
$2,628,240.09, came from the following sources:
State governments, $1,492,798.12; individuals and
communities, $54,878.51; fees for analyses of fertiliz-
ers, $129,884.61; sales of farm products, $230,271.81;
miscellaneous, including all unexpended balances,
$720,407.04. In addition to this sum, the Office of
Experiment Stations at Washington had an appropria-
tion for the fiscal year of 1912 of $424,000, which in-
cludes $30,000 each for the Alaska, Hawaii and Porto
Rico Experiment Stations, $15,000 for the Guam Ex-
periment Station, $15,000 for nutrition investigations,
$100,000 for irrigation investigations, $100,000 for
drainage investigations, and $10,000 for farmers' in-
stitutes and agricultural schools.

PROFESSORS, DIRECTORS, ANT> EMPLOYEES.

The agricultural stations employ altogether 1,583
persons in the work of administration and research,
classified as follows: Directors, 57; assistant directors,

322 THE LURE OF THE LAND

25; chemists, 250; agriculturists, 32; agronomists, 91;
animal husbandmen, 120 ; dairymen, 90 ; veterinarians,
60; entomologists, 101; botanists, 61; horticulturists,
121 ; poultrymen, 40 ; plant pathologists, 61 ; zoologists,
3; meteorologists, 9; pomologists, 16; foresters, 21;
mycologists, 21 ; biologists, 7 ; geologists, 2 ; plant breed-
ers, 16; bacteriologists, 40; animal pathologists, 8;
viticulturists, 5; soil specialists, 50; irrigation and
drainage engineers, 26 ; agricultural engineers and farm
mechanics, 15 ; extension work and farmers' institute
directors, 19 ; farm management, 6 ; animal nutrition,
11; fertilizer and feed inspectors, 16; agricultural edu-
cation, 5 ; in charge of substations, 55 ; farm and gar-
den foremen, 43; secretaries and treasurers, 22; and
librarians, 22.

From the above summary it is possible to estimate
the gigantic work, in so far as material means are con-
cerned, which is undertaken by the federal and State
governments for the teaching of agriculture and the
promotion of agricultural research. This army of
graduates and students is distributed all over the coun-
try and through our territorial possessions. They
carry with them the principles of scientific agriculture,
and by precept and example are able to teach these
principles to the farmers at large. It is somewhat re-
markable, in view of these tremendous expenditures of
energy directed towards the improvement of agricul-
tural conditions, that the average yield of the fields has
been increased, if at all, by only small quantities. The
ravages of disease and the scourges that infect, annoy
and destroy crops and farm animals, are yet apparently
unchecked. These negative results, in so far as prac-
tical advantages are concerned, are, however, not to
be too seriously considered. A third of a century ago

UNCLE SAM'S BIG COLLEGE 323

all American agriculture was on the downward path,
racing as rapidly as possible to reach the minimum of
production. It had gathered momentum in its down-
ward course and it has required all these years to check
its progress. The sudden growth of agricultural edu-
cation and experimentation produced a paucity of prop-
erly qualified employees. It would be interesting, if
it could be ascertained, to know what percentage of the
vast sum expended in these activities during the past
third of a century has been absorbed by training di-
rectors and experimenters and how much has been
wasted on incompetents and agricultural vagaries!
This, if known, must explain the absence of material
crop increase.

Now we may hope that this downward course has
been stopped. There are even signs of a movement in
the opposite direction. There is every reason to be-
lieve that this movement will become accelerated and
that there will be a gradual, and for some time hastened,
progress towards a maximum of production. It is not
difficult to conceive of the soils of this country, under
such scientific direction, producing three times as much
human food and clothing as they do to-day, with-
out any appreciable expansion of acreage. When that
result shall have been obtained, the full fruition of this
great work in agricultural education will have been
realized, and Uncle Sam's big college be fully appre-
ciated. In this connection we should not forget the
credit due to Hon. Jeremiah Eusk, the second Secre-
tary of Agriculture, 1889-1893, who was an enthusiastic
promoter of agricultural education.

XXIX

UNCLE SAM'S BIG FARM

MANY of the citizens of the United States who are
patriotic and proud of their country have never-
theless vague ideas concerning the extent of Uncle
Sam's Big Farm. I have applied for information on
this point to the Department of Agriculture, and have
been courteously furnished with the following data:

First of all I call attention to the chart, which shows
in a graphic manner the extent of the land area of the
United States and of the different kinds of land therein,
namely, arahle, irrigable, drainable, forest, grazing and
desert. This chart gives at a glance and in a compara-
tive way most valuable information. In submitting
these data I call particular attention to the caution
given by the Department of Agriculture in transmitting
the estimates, by reason of the very difficult task of se-
curing absolutely reliable data on all these points. The
officials of the Department emphasize the fact that the
data rest upon many variable factors that vitiate more
or less such estimates as these; nevertheless they are
undoubtedly the most accurate which have been made,
and while further investigations may change them
slightly they may be accepted as approximately correct.

Especially is it difficult to give accurate forecasts of
the areas which may be brought under cultivation in
the future by reason of reclaiming swamps and deserts.
In the opinion of the Department utilization of land

324

JAMES WILSON

"The growth of the Department has been truly phenomenal especially during
the incumbency of Hon. James Wilson, who for sixteen years was secretary of
agriculture"

ESTIMATED POTENTIAL ARABLE LAND.

UNITED STATES

3 10 II 12 13 14- 15 16 17 18

Total Arabic Land

Arable Land Yet
Unimproved.

Irrigable Land Yet
Unirriqated.

Dramable Land Yet
Undrained.

Umrnqable Arable Land
West of lOOtt Meridian Yet
Unimproved-Dry Farming

Absolute Forest Land
Absolute Gracing Land
Absolute Desert Land

Arable Land, Eastern

Arable Land, Inter-
mediate States.

Arable Land, Western
States.

Arable Land, Eastern
States.Yet Unimproved

Arab It Land .Intermediate
States, Yet Unimproved

Arable Land, Western
StatejjYet Unimproved

325

326 THE LURE OF THE LAND

for crops will probably never reach the total estimated
area of potential arable land. On the contrary, with
increasing population and improved methods of mar-
keting, the trend will probably be towards the more
intensive cultivation of the more fertile or favorably
situated land, and the more extensive cultivation of the
less valuable land, as is illustrated in China. This
trend is particularly evident in California, where the
wheat acreage declined between 1899 and 1909 from
2,683,405 acres to 478,217 acres, while the area planted
to alfalfa, vegetables and fruit, increased during the
same time 340,000 acres. During this time, also, 569,-
000 acres reverted to unimproved land, and approxi-
mately 900,000 acres were transformed into improved
pasture.

It appears from the investigations that have been
made that the acreage of arable land in the Eastern part
of the country will not increase very greatly unless
lower prices of labor render the use of machinery less
profitable, and permit a return to the cultivation of the
hillside by hand. On the contrary, in the Western part
of the country, with rising prices of beef cattle, the ten-
dency is likely to be towards an increase rather than a
diminution of the land devoted to pasture.

The points in the graphic chart which are particu-
larly interesting are: First, the total land area of the
United States, and this of course does not include any
of its territorial possessions, is, in round numbers,
1,904,000,000 acres. The total land suitable for cul-
ture, that is, arable land, is 935,000,000 acres, a little
less than half of the total area. The land suitable to
cultivation which has not yet been brought under the
plow is 456,000,000 acres, and the possible irrigable
land still un-irrigated 31,000,000 acres, and the possi-

UNCLE SAM'S BIG FARM 327

ble drainable land yet undrained 79,000,000 acres.
The arid area not possible of irrigation by reason of the
lack of water, but some of which may be devoted to dry-
farming, is 127,000,000 acres; forest lands totally un-
suitable for agriculture, 460,000,000 acres ; forest lands
suitable for grazing, 467,000,000 acres; and desert
land of which there is no hope for any purpose, 40,-
000,000 acres. These subdivisions of the different
kinds of land are summarized in following tables:

From the estimate of 935,000,000 acres of arable land
there should probably be deducted:
Land in roads, 12 acres for every section

(640 acres) of arable land, or about 17,700,000 acres.

Land in farmsteads, possibly 2 acres for each

of the 6,361,000 farms, or about 12,700,000 "

30,400,000 «

The loss of arable land because of fences
would probably equal the loss from roads,
Leaving a total arable area of 900,000,000 acres, or less.

Acres.

1. Area of irrigated land in United States, 1910
(census) 13,738,485

2. Approximate area irrigated at present 15,500,000

3. Estimated area of irrigated land when all
available water is used and transported by
present methods, less necessary deduction for
drainage, proportionate acreage of different

crops remaining as at present 50,000,000

4. Estimated area of irrigated land when all avail-
able water is transported with minimum waste
without regard to cost of construction of con-
duits, less necessary deduction for drainage,
proportionate acreage of different crops re-
maining as at present 65,000,000

5. Estimated area of irrigated land with most
perfect known transmission of water and opti-

328

THE LURE OF THE LAND

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UNCLE SAM'S BIG FARM

329

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330 THE LURE OF THE LAND

mum utilization upon the fiejds, less necessary
deduction for drainage, proportionate acreage
of different crops remaining as at present . . 90,000,000
6. Probable area which could be profitably irri-
gated at present prices of farm products,
labor, land, and capital 45,000,000

MAGNITUDE OF THE AREA OF SOME OF THE LEADING
CROPS.

INDIAN CORN.

The area planted to Indian corn in the United States
is slightly above 100,000,000 acres. In 1913 the area
was 105,000,820 acres.

Inasmuch as Indian corn covers the largest area de-
voted to any one cultivated crop in the United States,
the comparative areas cultivated in other countries to
this crop will be of interest. The total area in Indian
corn for 1913 was:

Acres

In Canada 16,278,000

In Argentina . . .'. 9,464,000

In Austria 705,000

In Hungary 6,422,000

In Italy , 3,888,000

In Roumania 5,305,000

In Russia 4,233,000

In Spain 1,105,000

In the Philippine Islands 988,000

In Algeria 24,000

In Australia 320,000

It is thus seen that the area planted to Indian corn
in the United States is considerably larger than that of
all the other nations of the world. The largest yield
of Indian corn in the United States was harvested in
1912, totaling 3,124,746,000 bushels. The total pro-

UNCLE SAMS BIG FARM 331

duction of the world for the same year was 4,362,-
288,000 bushels. Thus it appears that the production
of Indian corn in the United States is almost three
times as great as that of all other countries.

OTHEE CEiBEAILS.

The area planted to wheat in 1914 in the United
States is estimated at 35,387,000 acres of winter wheat
and 17,990,000 acres of spring wheat, a total acreage
of 63,377,000. The yield for 1914, estimated on re-
liable data, is considerably in excess of 900,000,000
bushels. The area planted to oats in the United States
in 1914 is estimated at 38,383,000 acres. The area
planted to barley in 1914 is estimated at 7,528,000
acres. In 1913 the yield of oats was 1,121,768,000
bushels. Compared with other countries for 1913, the
following data are given:

Total yield of oats:

Bushels

In Canada 404,669,000

In South America 121,879,000

In Europe 2,960,929,000

In Asia 500,000

In Africa 31,768,000

In Australia 16,625,000

In New Zealand 14,013,000

For the whole world 4,672,168,000

The comparative yields of rye in 1913 are shown by
the following data :

Bushels

United States 41,381,000

Canada 2,300,000

Mexico 70,000

Europe 1,840,695,000

Asia , 32,953,000

Australia ,..,., 110,000

332 THE LURE OF THE LAND

Bushels

New Zealand 90,000

Total for all the world 1,884,646,000

POTATOES.

The area planted in potatoes in the United States
for 1912 was 3,711,000 acres, and the yield 420,647,000
bushels. As compared with other countries the yields
are as follows :

Bushels

In Canada 84,885,000

In Mexico 924,000

In Newfoundland 1,524,000

In South America 59,656,000

In Europe 5,237,364,000

In Asia 118,774,000

In Africa 3,800,000

In Australia 11,256,000

In New Zealand 5,410,000

Total for the world 5,945,846,000

The areas of other crops in the United States are as
follows: Flax, 1914, 1,927,000 acres; sugar beets,
580,006 acres; yielding 5,659,462 tons of beets, with
an average production of sugar of 259 pounds per ton.
The total production of cane sugar in the United States
for 1913 was 299,698 tons, and the total domestic pro-
duction of sugar, exclusive of Hawaii, Porto Rico and
the Philippines, was 1,033,099 tons. During the same
period there were produced in Hawaii 546,524 tons of
cane sugar from 53,600 acres of cane. The total area
planted to cotton in the United States in 1913 is esti-
mated at 37,458,000 acres, yielding an average of 182
.pounds of cotton per acre in spite of the boll weevil.
Of the remaining areas not accounted for in the above
data, that are suitable for agricultural purposes, the
greater part is in meadow 48,400,000 acres and pasture.

UNCLE SAM'S BIG FABM 333

FOREST PRODUCTS.

Uncle Sam's big forest extends over many millions
of acres, but few of us know anything definite regard-
ing the magnitude of business connected with forest ac-
tivities. A careful estimate made by the Bureau of
Forestry shows that about 45,000,000,000 feet of lum-
ber of all kinds are produced annually in the United
States. Of this quantity about 25,000,000,000 feet,
board measure, are subjected to further manufacture,
and the rest of it is used for rough construction lumber
and general purposes. The above estimate does not in-
clude any material which reaches its final use in the
form of fuel, railroad ties, posts, poles, pulpwood,
cooperage, wood distillates, and the barks and extracts
consumed in the tanning industry.

About one hundred different kinds of wood are used
in this country for different purposes. The softwoods
and the needle-leaf, or coniferous trees, are most im-
portant. There is, however, a large number of species
and varieties among the hardwoods, or broadleaf trees.
Yellow pine leads the list of different kinds of trees in
furnishing more than eight billion feet of lumber, fol-
lowed by white pine with three billion feet, and Doug-
las fir with a little more than two billion feet. The
term " yellow pine " includes several species, the three
most important of which are longleaf, shortleaf and
loblolly. All the different kinds of oak furnish about
two billion feet, and oak is the most important of the
hardwoods, maple coming next in order.

A tree which is little known, as a rule, for lumber
purposes, namely, dogwood, furnishes more than seven
million board feet.

There are not less than fifty-five manufacturing in-

334 . THE LURE OF THE LAND

dustries which use wood as a raw material. More than
one-half of the total lumber that is manufactured con-
sists in planing mill products, the largest items of which
are flooring, siding, ceiling, and finishing. The next
most important industry in which wood is used is in
the manufacture of boxes and crates. It is estimated
that nearly four times as much is demanded in the
manufacture of boxes and crates as is used by the build-
ers of steam and electric cars, and five times as much as
that which is used for furniture. Vehicles demand
large supplies of wood, and this must be of a high class
in order to meet the requirements for frames, gears and
bodies.

Chairs, listed separately from furniture, come after
novelties and supplies for dairymen, poultry keepers,
and apiarists, and require just a little more wood than
handles and musical instruments. A large amount of
wood is used in the manufacture of pumps and wood
pipes. Canes, umbrella handles, brooms, firearms, arti-
ficial limbs, and tobacco pipes, use large quantities of
wood.

Taken all in all, Uncle Sam's lumber industry is a
big item. If we add to the above the immense quanti-
ties used for firewood and railroad ties, we then begin
to have an adequate idea of the vast extent of this in-
dustry.

NUMBER AND VALUE OF FAEM ANIMALS.

The latest computation of the number of milch cows
and their value on the farms of the United States on
February 1, 1914, as given by the estimates of the De-
partment of Agriculture, are as follows :

The estimates indicate that the number of milch cows on
farms in the United States is now 20,737,000, an increase of

UNCLE SAM'S BIG FARM 335

about one-half of one per cent, over the census figures of
1910. Meanwhile the average farm price of milch cows has
increased from $35.79 in 1910 to $53.94, or an increase of
50.7%. On this basis the farm value of milch cows now in
the United States is estimated at $1,118,487,000 as compared
with an estimated value in the census year of $738,184,000, an
increase of $380,303,000, or an average annual increase for
four years of $95,075,000.

The average value of milk sold by farmers in the
United States was $0.087 per gallon in 1899 and
$0.130 per gallon in 1909. The average value of
cream per gallon in 1899 was $0.43, and in 1909, $0.69.
The average value of butter per pound in 1899 was
$0.17, and in 1909, $0.24. The average value of
cheese per pound in 1899 was $0.09, and in 1909, $0.12.

The quantity of butter made on farms and in fac-
tories in 1900 was 1,491,752,602 pounds, and in 1910,
1,619,415,263 pounds. The quantity of cheese made
on farms and in factories in 1900 was 298,344,642
pounds, and in 1910, 320,532,181 pounds.

COMPARATIVE VALUE OF THE CATTLE ON FAEMS FOB
THE CENSUS OF 1910 AND 1900.

The value of all cattle, including cows, on the farms
for the census of 1910, is estimated at $1,499,523,607,
showing an average value of $24.26 per head. The
same values for 1900 are $1,475,204,633, showing an
average value of $21.78 per head. Thus, while the
number of cattle decreased, the value slightly increased.
Allowing for the discrepancies in the dates of taking
the two censuses and for the classification of different
ages, the census report comes to the conclusion that had
the census of 1910 been taken on June first, after more
spring cows had been born, the average value of cattle
reported would have been somewhat lower, because of

336 THE LUKE OF THE LAND

the great increase in the number of these calves of low
average value. Allowing for this discrepancy, the total
valuations per head would have been brought a little
closer together.

In regard to the total value of dairy cows, the data
for 1910 show a total of $706,236,307, or an average
of $34.24 a head. Eor 1900 the data show a valuation
of $508,616,501, or an average of $29.68 per head.
Thus the average value of dairy cattle per head in-
creased from 1900 to 1910, despite the fact that the
average age of the class was doubtless somewhat lower
at the later census than at the earlier census. It is
interesting to note, also, that the average number of
cattle of all kinds per farm was 14.3 head in 1900 and
11.7 head in 1910. These data show, also, the pro-
gressive decrease of cattle, not only with the population
, but also with the average number on the farms.

In regard to other animals on the farms, the census
shows the following comparative data :

1900 1910

Number of horses 18,267,020 19,833,113

Number of mules 3,264,615 4,209,769

Number of asses and burros 94,165 105,698

Number of swine 62,868,041 58,185,676

Number of sheep 61,503,712 52,447,861

Number of goats 1,870,599 2,915,125

These data show an increase in the number of horses
during the ten years, of 8.6 per cent.; in the number
of mules, 29 per cent. ; in the number of asses and
burros, 12.2 per cent. ; and a decrease in swine, of 7.4
per cent. ; in sheep, of 14.7 per cent. ; and an increase
in goats of 55.8 per cent. In regard to the values of
the animals, the following comparative data are given:
Total value of the above-named domestic animals on

UNCLE SAM'S BIG FARM 337

the farm in 1900, $2,979,197,586; in 1910, $4,760,-
060,093. The increase of the value in the ten years
amounts to 59.8 per cent, of all animals. The increase
by classes amounts to 1.6 per cent, in cattle; 132.4 per
cent, in horses; 167.8 per cent, in mules; 127.1 per
cent, in asses and burros; 72.1 per cent, in swine; 36.8
per cent, in sheep ; and 89.1 per cent, in goats. For
all domestic animals the average increase in value in
the ten years was 59.8 per cent. The average value
per head for the animals named other than cattle, which
has already been given, is as follows :

1900 1910

For horses $49.08 105.06

For mules 60.11 124.80

For asses and burros 61.71 124.89

For swine 3.69 6.86

For sheep 2.77 4.44

For goats , 1.75 2.12

The comparisons are modified slightly, as in the case
of cattle, by the different dates at which the census
was taken, namely, June 1st for 1900 and April 15th
for 1910. Had both censuses been taken on June first
there would probably have been .much less decrease in
the number of cattle and sheep, a moderate increase
in the number of swine, and a somewhat greater in-
crease in the number of horses and of mules, than is
shown in the table.

As regards the value of the different classes of do-
mestic animals, horses led in the census of 1910, showing
43.8 per cent, of the total value of all the classes com-
bined. On the contrary, in 1900 the value of cattle
greatly exceeded that of horses ; but the value of cattle
per head increased only slightly during the decade,
while that of horses more than doubled. Horses, mules,

338 THE LUKE OF THE LAND

asses and burros together contributed more tban one-
half, namely, 55.1 per cent, of the value of domestic
animal's on farms in 1910 ; while cattle alone contrib-
uted almost one-half of the total value in 1900, namely,
49.5 per cent, and in 1910 the cattle contributed only
31.5 per cent, of the total value.

The above data show that while meat producing ani-
mals, namely, cattle, swine and sheep, decreased in
number in the decade from 1900 to 1910, other ani-
mals, namely, horses, mules and asses, increased in
number. The increase in number, however, in mules
was the only one in which the percentage of increase
exceeded the percentage of increase in the rate of popu-
lation, the mules increasing 29 per cent., while the
population increased only 21 per cent.

From the data contained in the 13th census we learn
that there are in the farms of the United States 878,-
798,325 acres, of which 478,451,750 acres are im-
proved, and 400,346,575 acres unimproved. I shall
endeavor to show that by a proper application of the
principles of scientific agriculture, now well under-
stood, we can easily support one person on each 2 acres
of the actual arable lajnd in this country, or a total of
nearly 300,000,000 souls. The total area of Belgium
is 7,278,720 acres, and its population 6,410,783, or
nearly one for each acre. Ohio resembles Belgium in
contour, climate and fertility of soil. Ohio has an
area of 26,131,200 acres of land, and, measured by the
Belgium standard, could easily feed 20,000,000 peo-
ple. Ohio is only an example of what other portions
of the United States could do.

It would be too much of detail to give here all the
agricultural products of the vast area of our lands. It
is enough to know that with the present method of farm-

UNCLE SAM'S BIG FARM 339

ing the quantity of food and clothing produced is far
greater than is needed by the 100,000,000 people now
within our borders. When Uncle Sam's big farm is
properly cultivated, we would not be hungry with a
population equal to that of China, Malthus and Sir
William Crookes to the contrary notwithstanding.

XXX

A TRIBUTE TO SQUANTOi

Q PECULATIONS concerning the origin and destiny
O of man have always been a favorite pastime of
philosophers and theologians. If man really had his
origin in all the ways which have been seriously and
facetiously described the difference in races and indi-
viduals are no longer a matter of wonder. If at the
end the race be disposed of in harmony with the several
notions relating to his destiny the future state of man
will not be open to the charge of monotony.

The theme of this discourse is far less pretentious
than the scope of discussion outlined above. It accepts
man as he is without a question as to his origin. It
dismisses him finally without predictions as to his fu-
ture state. As becomes a theme suggested by the dedi-
cation of a building devoted to Agriculture, it is of the
earth earthy: The wings of fancy which might carry
the poet into ether are changed into plodding feet which
never lose touch with the ground.

But the toes, as is also becoming, are pointed to the
coming years, but not so far advanced as to prevent
the heels from being buttressed against the solid facts
of the past. The true value of vaticination is vastly
increased by adhesion to verity. My prophetic eye
to-day, therefore, peers into the depths of another cen-

iAn address delivered at the inauguration of the agricultural
building of the State University of Ohio, at Columbus, on Jan-
uary 12, 1898.

340

JEREMIAH RUSK
Secretary of Agriculture, 1889-1893

Under whose administration the Department of Agriculture started its active campaign
in support of agricultural education

A TRIBUTE TO SQUANTO 341

tury, not to catch the glint of marching bayonets, nor
to hear the sound of forensic eloquence. Nor does it
look across the sea to trace the progress of events on that
ground where nearly all history has been made. On
the contrary, it scans only our own land, and for the
sole purpose of ascertaining, in a modest way, how Ag-
riculture is to feed the three hundred million mouths
that will be opened for food in these United States on
the good day of our Lord Jan. 1, 2000. Every college
boy who has advanced to his senior year 'is familiar
with the leading theories of so-called economic science on
this subject. It is quite surprising with what accuracy
the comfortable college professor sets limits to the num-
ber of our inhabitants and the products of agriculture.
The alluring theories of Adam Smith and Malthus
have never lost their dominant influence in those cozy
libraries where the well fed professor, with his gastric
glands in full function on a good dinner, tells us of
the near starvation of man. Our virgin soils, he says,
are exhausted. The average of field crops is decreas-
ing. This country has reached its maximum limit in
the production of food stuffs. In a few years we will
be importing meat and bread. The increase in our
population will soon be checked by the limits of sub-
sistence. Every energy of man will be used up in the
struggle for existence. Progress will be arrested, and
humanity having reached its full flower and fruit, will
soon enter upon that era of retrogression which is the
natural course of all human events.

Such are the dicta of the lecture room and of the
magazine.

I do not believe that this pessimistic view of the near
future of man is based on fact, nor sustained by ten-
able theory. In support of this statement, I propose

342 THE LURE OF THE LAND

to discuss very briefly some of the relations of the new
agriculture to the sustenance and welfare of man.

THE NATION'S NOT TO STARVE.

In a short space I shall try to show how the scien-
tific agriculture of the future will easily provide for all
the demands which a rapidly increasing population
will make upon it. In the illustration of this statement
I shall refer only to a few of our staple products, and
first of all, wheat. The adage " Bread is the staff of
life " should not be taken too literally, but in a more
diffused sense, bread represents especially the cereal
crops. Among these wheat is second in quantity, and
first in its importance as a direct human food. Our
average product of wheat for a period of ten years is
12.7 bushels per acre. This rate of production is prac-
tically a minimum. It is what the patient soil will
produce under a regime of chronic robbery. The aver-
age production of wheat for a period of 50 years in a
soil at Eothamsted which has never received a particle
of manure during the time specified, is 13/4 bushels
per acre. A part of the same field, properly manured
with barnyard manure, has given an average yield of
33% bushels per acre.

INCREASED YIELD OF WHEAT.

I have before me a bulletin of the Maryland Agri-
cultural Station which gives a yield of wheat obtained
on plots under proper culture in Prince George's
County, Maryland. I find that this soil, which a few
years ago was regarded as worthless for agricultural
purposes, has yielded, under scientific management, 40
bushels of wheat per acre. This is not a chance harvest,

A TRIBUTE TO SQUANTO 343

but one that has been often obtained, and one that can
be obtained indefinitely.

The methods which are employed for securing these
yields are well known. They can be easily and gener-
ally applied, being changed to suit changed conditions
of soil and climate. With intelligence and care, such
as the agricultural stations and colleges make possible
to every farmer, these full harvests can be generally
obtained. Thus, without adding anything to our pres-
ent acreage, it is easily possible to increase our wheat
yield three-fold. Scientific agriculture to-day may
safely undertake the task of feeding 240,000,000
Americans, and exporting 150,000,000 bushels of wheat
without encroaching upon the area now devoted to any
other crop.

INCREASED YIELD OF CORN".

But wheat is only a small part of our resources.
Indian corn is almost as nutritious as wheat. Its con-
tent of protein matter is not gluten, and it does not
make light and spongy loaves, but it does make bread,
highly nutritious and palatable. The average yield of
Indian corn for the past ten years in this country has
been 24.2 bushels per acre.

When I turn to the reports of the Kentucky experi-
ment station I find a most striking lesson. We usually
think of experiment stations as the helpers of the poor
soils, but in the case of Kentucky we find one situated
in the heart of the great blue-grass region, one of the
most fertile agricultural areas in the world. Chemis-
try, however, revealed the fact that this soil was poor
in potash. When this cheap fertilizer is applied to the
land we see at once the striking effects which the sim-
ple application of well-known scientific truths pro-

344 THE LURE OF THE LAND

duces. The year 1889 was one in which the climatic
conditions were well suited to the production of Indian
corn. In that year the yield on the Kentucky experi-
ment station, on land to which no fertilizer was applied,
was 31 bushels per acre. The yield on a portion of
the same field which received muriate of potash at the
rate of 160 pounds, and nitrate of soda at the rate of
160 pounds per acre, was 87 bushels. Thus, by the
application of 320 pounds of fertilizing material per
acre, half of which was obtained at a very low price, the
yield of Indian corn was more than doubled. This
illustration, it is true, represents an extreme case, that
is, one in which the climatic conditions were especially
favorable.1 But one of the great triumphs of scientific
agriculture in the future will be found in the more
practical control of climatic conditions than is at pres-
ent secured. We will be able, on the one hand, to con-
serve the natural moisture so that the effects of dry sea-
sons in diminishing a crop will be reduced to the mini-
mum. On the other hand, we will be able to so control
large excesses of precipitation that the sinister effects
of an excessively wet season will likewise be reduced
to a minimum.

In respect of temperature, there is little reason to
fear, inasmuch as the average mean temperature of the
growing season does not vary greatly in any period of
years.

THEEE IS MOEE THAN GRAIN IN INDIAN COEN.

We have spoken only of the grain of Indian corn,
and in this is not included more than half of the true

i In recent years a few boys in corn clubs of the country have
attained officially certified yields of over 200 bushels of Indian
Corn per acre.

A TRIBUTE TO SQUANTO 345

value of this marvelous plant, the discovery of which
was almost as important as that of the American con-
tinent itself.

Profligate nature stores in the stalks of the Indian
corn a greater quantity of food than she deposits in the
grain. Only lately have the experiment stations shown
the high food value of the dry stalks, millions of tons
of which are annually hurned on the vast plains of our
maize helt. The value of the dry stalks alone for cat-
tle food is nearly as great as that of the ear. But in the
fresh stalk are found large quantities of sugar, one of
the best fattening foods in the world.

At the time the grains of the ear are fully formed and
firm, but before they are dry, the stalk contains its
maximum amount of sugar, fully 12 per cent, of its
weight. For every average acre in maize, 3000
pounds of sugar are produced. In the natural drying
of the stalk, in autumn, this sugar ferments and is dis-
tilled into the air, Nature's proof spirits, both of the
sunshine and moonshine stills, although ungaged and
unstamped by any collector of inland revenue. No
wonder our friends in Iowa are such strict Prohibi-
tionists, since they may, on any warm day in October
after a heavy frost, drink into their lungs in Nature's
big saloon rich draughts of this prairie dew.

Mixed with a small ration of cotton seed or flax seed
cake, or with beans or peas, this waste sugar of the
maize fields would fatten every steer, pig and lamb in
the country, and there would be enough left over to
feed all the cattle, horses and sheep of the whole world.
With all this wealth of material available, what need
have we to tremble before the bogy men of Malthus and
his disciples.

346 THE LURE OF THE LAND

IMPROVEMENT IHT QUALITY.

I have spoken of the possibilities of increasing the
yield of our staple crops and consequently of increas-
ing, almost indefinitely, the sources of human food.
There is another important line of progress along which
scientific agriculture will help in this work. I refer
to the methods by means of which the character of a
crop or of an animal may be changed by scientific se-
lection.

A hundred years ago the ordinary garden beet con-
tained only from 3 to 5 per cent, of sugar. To-day the
sugar beet, which has been developed from this primi-
tive form, contains 15 per cent, of sugar. In seven
years of scientific agriculture, the Department of Ag-
riculture raised the average content of sugar in sorghum
from 9 to 14 per cent. Practically nothing has been
done along this line with other standard crops, but it is
perfectly certain that the character of any crop can be
changed, almost at will, in accordance with the demands
which may be made upon it. The protein content of
wheat is now 12 per cent. It is safe to predict that a
few years of careful scientific selection would increase
this content to 15 per cent.

There is no time here to even mention the details of
the work by means of which this desirable result can
be accomplished. Protein matter is by far the most
costly, pound for pound, of human food, with the possi-
ble exception of oils and fats. There is such an il-
limitable field of progress before us in the production
of carbohydrates for foods that we look with interest
upon any methods which may be devised for increasing
the content of protein matter in such standard crops as
our cereals. In other words, we may be able to ac-

A TRIBUTE TO SQUANTO 347

complish with all of our standard vegetable crops what
has already been accomplished in the development of
a dairy cow or a race horse. Thus not only do we see
the prospect of increasing crops for a given area, but
also of adapting the character of these crops more par-
ticularly for the purposes to which they are to be de-
voted.

ECONOMY IN STOCK FEEIXTN'G.

In the methods of using foods also great progress
has been made and greater still is to be expected. It is
possible, with the information which we now possess,
to put a pig of a given weight on the market at only
about two-thirds of the expense that formerly attended
this process. By a careful study of the character of
the food, it is possible to balance the rations in such
a way that each type of food exercises its maximum
nutritive properties. This has already been accom-
plished, to a large extent, in the farmyard and it is
possible to apply similar principles also in the dining-
room. Just as a chain is as weak as its weakest link,
so a food is as poor as its poorest typical element. In
the proper balancing of the rations, and in the appro-
priate mechanical preparation and in the cooking of
the food large economies can be effected and the progress
and welfare of the race promoted.

According to our present system of grazing and feed-
ing, from two to three acres of land are required for the
sustenance of a dairy cow, while in the grazing or range
section of the West the area is much larger. Last sum-
mer, I had the pleasure of seeing a method of green
feeding practised by the Minnesota experiment sta-
tion, in which it was demonstrated that a cow or a sheep
could be kept on practically one-fourth of the area above

348 THE LURE OF THE LAND

described. It was remarkable to see in evidence be-
fore us the animal living and flourishing on an area
which was so small as to seem almost impossible. Yet
this simple experiment has demonstrated what can be
done in a scientific way in increasing the number of
food animals which can be sustained on a given area of
land. Having shown how our product of the cereals
may be easily doubled or increased threefold on a given
area of land, it is interesting to note that it has also
been demonstrated by scientific agriculture how the
number of food animals sustained on a given area can
also be increased two- or threefold. Thus it is not
only bread which we are to furnish, but also the meat,
which will be forthcoming in proper quantities.

PROGRESS NOT CONFINED TO ARABLE SOILS.

Of the vast area of our arid regions we need not
wholly despair. According to conservative and com-
petent authorities, it is estimated that with the visible
supply of water at least 5 per cent, of this region may
be subjected to irrigation. This area alone would add
immense stores to our granaries. On irrigated lands it
already pays to practise intensive agriculture. Exten-
sive agriculture will not pay on land which it has cost
$50 or more per acre to reclaim and prepare for the
seed. At the present time one acre of irrigated land
means as much as three of ordinary land in furnishing
agricultural products.

The coming triumphs in agricultural science will
not be confined to our present arable soils. The arid
wilderness is to be conquered, and even the snows be
robbed of their terror. When the surface water has
been used up the inexhaustible subterranean streams
still remain. The very blizzards that sweep down upon

A TRIBUTE TO SQUANTO 349

us from the far Northwest will be harnessed and made,
by the medium of electricity, to furnish us with heat
and light.

The superficial changes which man will make in the
cold and arid regions cannot fail to produce a profound
impression on the rainfall. Forests will rise to check
the fury of the northwest winds, and to change the
physical condition of the soil and subsoil. The tamed
elements of nature will be pressed into service, and in
the end, help along with the work which they at first
so strenuously opposed. We may not be able to bring
back those tropic breezes which lured the megatherium
and the pterodactyl to linger about the boreal regions in
those times :

" When the sea rolled its fathomless billows
Across the broad plains of Nebraska,
When around the North Pole grew bananas and willows,
And mastodons fought with the fierce armadillos
For the pineapples grown in Alaska:"

But as in the future we shall laugh at the lack of
moisture, so shall we mock the snow and the blizzard.

It requires only a simple calculation by an electrical
engineer to show that if all the energy of the winter's
northwest winds were converted into heat by means of
windmills and dynamos, the North Dakota farmer in
January might be seen mopping his brow vigorously,
and fanning himself as he trimmed his orange trees.

We have also practically inexhaustible sources of
heat close beneath the surface of the earth. The frost
never penetrates more than a few feet below the sur-
face. At a comparatively small depth a summer tem-
perature is reached. It is entirely probable that man
may draw upon the interior of the earth for supplies

350 THE LURE OF THE LAND

of heat for warming his habitation and growing his
green vegetables under cover in winter.

EXTENDING THE BOUNDS OF TILLAGE.

There are good reasons, therefore, for believing that
both in respect of moisture and temperature, the agri-
cultural science of the future may open up large areas
to tillage that are now abandoned to desolation and to
frost. Even in Alaska we read accounts of gardens
and fields of cereals and of meadows for grazing cat-
tle. In the recovery and utilization of waste products
the farmer of the future has spread before him a field
of richest promise. It has been shown that with proper
culture and feeding the yields of our fields may be in-
creased threefold. Scientific feeding of animals is yet
a new science, but it has already shown how to put beef
and pork in the market at less than two-thirds of the
cost of 50 years ago. The science of man feeding is
only in its primer. The science of field feeding is
still learning its alphabet.

From the streets and sewers of cities, from the deserts
of Chili and Arizona, from the islands of the Pacific
and from the oceans and seas the future farmer will
draw the food to feed his fields.

In the geologic ages of the distant past, before the
dawn even of primitive agriculture, provident nature
garnered the migratory elements of plant food in stores
whose extent and richness are yet but little known. In
the case of potash, only one locality in the whole world
has been exploited, and that only partially. But even
in the deposits of Stassfurt and vicinity are found
stores of potash which our successors at the end of a
thousand years may freely draw on. The conditions
which determine the deposits of potash in that locality

A TRIBUTE TO SQUANTO 851

are not unique, and there is every reason for believing
that others equally extensive will be discovered. The
decomposing granites and other potash-bearing rocks
are affording over wide areas additional stores of this
food, so eagerly eaten by plants, and so necessary to
the formation of carbohydrates, one of the principal
foods of animals.

The stores of nitrate of soda on the Pacific coast of
South America show no signs of exhaustion. In the
arid basins of southern California and Arizona are
found large deposits of soils containing from 5 to 20
per cent, of nitrates. These deposits have been formed
in past ages of the earth from the decay of marine veg-
etation and animal remains. Deposits of guano are
formed chiefly from the debris of birds, mostly of ma-
rine predatory habits. In the little frequented islands
of the Hawaiian group these deposits are now forming,
as is shown in photographs I have lately seen, in which
large areas are completely covered with birds and their

NOTHING IS HOPELESSLY LOST.

The bones of marine and terrestrial animals, man in-
cluded, are never wholly lost to agriculture. In this
country alone are found deposits of phosphates in South
Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania and Tennessee, large
enough to feed our crops for many millenniums. Thus
the three most essential plant foods, namely, phosphoric
acid, potash and nitrogen, are stored on every hand in
forms not obnoxious to decay, and in places accessible
to man.

There is no death, only atomic changing,
When life from one form to another passes,
And new life comes but from the rearranging
Of the old parts in new atomic masses.

352 THE LURE OF THE LAND

The sea, the miser of the vanished ages,
Gives up its cherished dead to weed and coral,
And from the tombs of heroes and of sages
Spring fields of corn and fragrant beauties floral.

The dust of Caesar, through the centuries sifting,
Will reach new life, and feel the thrill of being j
No grave so deep, the storied shaft uplifting,
As darkened eye to keep again from seeing.

The very bread, which you to-day are eating,

Has passed from earliest aeons through life's phases,

The circle of eternal life completing,

Secure, untouched, through all its mystic mazes.

The sea is the final receptacle of the plant food,
which seems to be hopelessly lost. The rain dissolves
and carries away the elements which escape absorption
by the plant. The streams and rivers finally carry
these precious stores into the ocean, where they, to the
thoughtless observer, are forever hidden. But not so.
The sea is the great conserver and sorter. Nothing
which enters these apparently unfathomable depths es-
capes attention. Mineral substances of like nature are
brought together and deposited in layers of various
thicknesses, which subsequent changes of level in the
earth's crust render available. Sea weeds and algae
seize on the soluble portions of this waste of matter
and fix them in their tissues. Afterwards this vege-
table matter serves for the nourishment of marine ani-
mal life, or is cast upon the shore, and becomes directly
useful to man for the fertilizing principles it contains.
Marine animal life feeds on other stores of waste mat-
ter, and converts them into forms suitable for food for
man and for fertilizing purposes. Vast stores of oil,
human food, nitrogenous and phosphatic fertilizers are
thus rescued annually from the depths of the sea.

A TRIBUTE TO SQUANTO 353

NOT MUCH PROMISE FROM SYNTHETIC FOODS.

I have not considered at all in this relation the possi-
bility of producing foods and other agricultural prod-
ucts by direct synthesis in chemical laboratories. We
must realize the fact that chemistry has made great ad-
vances in this direction within the last few years. The
chasm between the organic and the inorganic has been
completely bridged over, and it is possible now for the
chemist to commence with inorganic materials and to
proceed step by step until he is able to form from them
true organic compounds. In this way alcohols, sugars
and glycerids have already been produced, and the
chemist of to-day is attacking vigorously the problem of
building up compounds as complicated as the proteins.
I am not a believer, however, in the possibility of chem-
istry ever displacing agriculture and forming from the
inorganic elements all the food necessary for man and
beast. Lately, in an address before the American
Chemical Society, in Boylston Hall of Harvard Uni-
versity, I reviewed this whole subject, and it is not nec-
essary now to do more than refer to it. In that address
I said:

" According to Berthelot, the fields which are now
defaced by agriculture will be beautified by regaining
their natural covering and the earth will be one vast
park of pleasure and the chemist the great conservator
of the human race.

" In all the instances brought forth there is not the
slightest approach to anything to justify the prophecy
of a period of artificial food. The few cases of synthe-
sis in which the products approach the composition of
anything digestible present such insurmountable diffi-
culties in expense and supervision as to render any

354 THE LURE OF THE LAND

expectation of reaching economic results utterly futile.
In the great majority of cases, as has been seen, the
process of synthesis is conducted on materials already
organized by living cells. The enormous cost of build-
ing up any kind of a commercial, synthetic organic
body directly from the elements is such as to render it,
in my opinion, utterly improbable of successful achieve-
ment.

" Even if food products can be formed in the crucible
there is no reason whatever for supposing that they can
ever play any role in an economic sense. The untold
billions of laboratories which nature builds are in-
finitely cheaper in construction and operation than
those filled with platinum and porcelain. The sun ig-
nites the crucibles of nature at an expense far less than
attends the use of the city gas works. The director of
Nature's laboratory depends on no endowment nor leg-
islation for his salary and his bills for supplies are
not disallowed by any board of auditors on the score of
economy. Night and day his patient, faithful assist-
ants work without thirst for fame, without hope of re-
ward. They fight not for priority of discovery, and
their anonymous papers are printed in rich profusion
in the great Berichte of the universe. The chemistry
of the chlorophyl cell is far more wonderful than
any of the achievements of Lavoisier, Berzelius, or
Fischer.

" It would doubtless be a solace to the weary toiler
in the sun to look forward to a time when he might lie
in the shade while proteins were pricking up their ears
in the condenser and fats frying in the scientific pan.
But in the days of the far future, while Berthelot will
still be honored, and Fischer praised, the farmer will
be found following in the furrow, fields of waving grain

A TRIBUTE TO SQUANTO 355

will brighten the landscape, and herds of kine graze
upon the hills."

FRUITS OF AGEICinLTUEAJL EDUCATION;

The agricultural colleges and experiment stations
point out the way and demonstrate the practical meth-
ods to be pursued in converting extensive into intensive
agriculture. The work of these great factors in po-
litical economy is still in its infancy. The era of ac-
complishment is hardly inaugurated. We are now only
in the midst of preparation for the advance which is to
come. To teach the art of conserving and utilizing to
the best possible effect all the sources of supply — that
is the glorious future of agricultural education and ex-
periment. The progress of humanity is not a breeder
of poverty, but of wealth. For every additional mouth
are provided two additional hands. The human race
is not a Polyphemus, blinded by the wandering Ulysses
of education, and doomed to a hopeless struggle in the
dark. Clear of vision, firm of purpose, it pushes on
to its final destiny. Depending wholly on agriculture
for subsistence, it looks to the field for that future sup-
port which will bear it on in greater achievements. The
more dense the population, the greater the happiness,
the greater the progress of the race. It is not work in
the field that has caused our agricultural population to
contribute so large a percentage to the inmates of our
insane asylums; it is isolation. Scientific agriculture
will bring men closer together. It will make the vil-
lage, and not the isolated farm house, the center of resi-
dence. It will turn Ohio into a Belgium, with 20,000,-
000 people within her borders, not slaves to ignorant
labor, but beneficiaries of enlightened agriculture,
which will bring plenty to the granary, ease to the

356 THE LURE OF THE LAND

evening of labor, and refinement to the parlors of the
poor. It will show the absurdity of the Malthusian
myth, and the speciousness of the Georgian pessimism.
Our people are not going to starve. The mission of
the new building this day dedicated to agriculture will
not be in vain.

FORGET NOT THE HUMBLE BEGINNING.

On the threshold of this new birth of progress and
of possibility it is meet that we should not forget the
humble beginnings of things. Monuments and memo-
rials are rising to Liebig, to Berthelot, to Gilbert, to
Morrill and to Hatch. We mention with gratitude the
names of Storer, of Johnson, of Caldwell and of Hil-
gard, and we gladly join in every acclaim of the services
which they and many others have rendered to the cause
of agriculture. But there is still one to whom we owe
a debt, and whose name is never heard, a true and typi-
cal American, whose majestic figure we may never se6
in bronze and marble. Some 300 years ago he stood
on the shores of Massachusetts Bay, where the eager
east wind, as now, often made life a burden. The
sturdy white men, lately transplanted from over the
sea, were not looked on with much favor by many of
his brethren. His philanthropy, however, went out to
them, and it was he who, in those early days, taught
our ancestors the first principles of scientific agricul-
ture. He laid the foundations of that system of ex-
periment which is the basis on which our agricultural
colleges and experiment stations of to-day stand. Lis-
ten to the simple record of his work :

A DESERT WHICH MIGHT BE IRRIGATED

A TRIBUTE TO SQUANTO 357

MEAGEB MENTION" OF SQTJASTTO.

The honor of teaching the American colonists the
use of artificial fertilizers belongs, without doubt, to
an Indian named Squanto. In Governor Bradford's
" History of Plimouth Plantation " is given an account
of the early agricultural experiences of the Plymouth
colonists. In April, 1621, at the close of the first long
dreary winter " they (as many as were able) began to
plant their corne, in which service Squanto (an In-
dian) stood them in great stead, showing them both ye
manner how to set it, and after how to dress and tend
it. AJso he tould them, axcepte they got fish and set
with it (in these old grounds) it would come to noth-
ing; and he showed them yt in ye middle of Aprill,
they should have store enough come up ye brooke by
which they begane to build and taught them how to
take it."

Another account mentioned by Goode of the prac-
tice of the Indians in this respect may be found in
George Mourt's " Relation or Journal of the Beginning
and Proceedings of the English Plantation settled at
Plimouth in New England, by certain English Adven-
turers, both merchants and others, London, 1622."
" We set the last spring some twenty acres of Indian
corn, and sowed some six acres of barley and pease,
and, according to the manner of the Indians, we
manured our ground with herrings, or rather shads,
which we have in great abundance and take with great
ease at our doors. Our corn did prove well, and God
be praised, we had a good increase of Indian corn, and
our barley indifferent good."

Thomas Morton, in his " New England Canaan,"
London, 1632, wrote of Virginia: "There is a fish

358 THE LURE OF THE LAND

(by some called shadds, by some, allizes) that at the
spring of the yeare passe up the rivers to spawn in the
pond, and are taken in such multitudes in every river
that hath a pond at the end that the inhabitants doung
their ground with them. You may see in one town-
ship a hundred acres together, set with these fish, every
acre taking 1000 of them, and an acre thus dressed will
produce and yield so much corn as three acres without
fish; and (least any Virginea man would infere here-
upon that the ground of New England was barren, be-
cause they use more fish in setting their corne, I de-
sire them to be remembered, the cause is plaine in Vir-
ginea) they have it not to sett. But this practice is
only for the Indian maize (which must be set by hand),
not for English grain; and this is, therefore, a com-
modity there."

We look back to-day, therefore, three centuries to the
very beginnings of American agriculture. To that
dusky bronze figure, proud in the simplicity of his for-
tune, let us to-day turn our eyes. Eor that service
which he rendered the struggling pilgrim, and for that
example of scientific agriculture let us to-day bring this
tardy tribute to Squanto.

THE, END

INDEX

INDEX

A

Abe Martin, 147

Aberdeen Angus, 265

Adams, money aid to agricul-
tural experiments, 310

Agricultural colleges and ex-
periment stations, first
meeting, 274

Agricultural colleges, money
aid, 309

Agricultural education, fruits

of, 355

promotion, 310
total grants, 311

Agricultural experiment sta-
tions, munificent help,
321

number of professors, di-
rectors and employees,
321, 322

Agricultural extension, future

amount of grants, 314
grants, 312

Agricultural implements, ex-
posure, 65

Agricultural trains, 16

Agricultural wastes, 167

Agriculture, a fundamental

profession, 89
a learned profession, 11

Alaska, former climate of, 349

Alkali, formation, 195
treatment, 196

Ambitions of the farm boy,
148

361

American agriculture on the

downward path, 322
Amortization, 130, 131
Apples, biggest on top of the

barrel, 87
Arable land, classification,

327, 328, 329

Arid region, reclamation, 348
Army, supplies to ofiicers'

families, 156
Average rainfall, 249

B

Baby beef, cost of growing,

257

Back to the farm, 145
Backbone, educating, 278
Bacteria, r6le in soil building,

184
Bankruptcy, nature avoids,

209
Beef cattle, area of production,

258

cost of growing, 256
example of selling, 95
method of selling, 94
price disturbed, 260
Beef growing, little profit, 253
Beef production, abnormal,

254

Belgium, density of popula-
tion, 338

Bills, paid by check, 120
Biology, contributions to agri-
culture, 291
Book farming, 30

INDEX

Bookkeeping on the farm, 116

Boomers and Boomees, 18

Born-on-the-farm, 28

Borrowed money, restriction
on use, 142, 143

Botany, contributions to agri-
culture, 297

Brains, necessary in farming,
34

Buchanan, James, 171

Buchanan, vetoes Land Grant
Bill, 308

Bull calf, sell or keep, 255

Bureau of soils, 204
fertility, 229
various theories, 232

Business methods, 114

Butter, quantity, 272

selling by parcel post, 101

C

Cattle, losses, 169
Cereals, yield, 331
Cheap steel, great civilizer,

276
Checkbook useful for keeping

accounts, 117
Chemistry, contributions to

agriculture, 282
Children, nourishment of farm,

59

Cities, rivalry, 151
City man — when should he go

to the country? 4
Civic center, 83
Classification, social, 87
Clover, early recognition of,

235

Commercialism, spirit of, 155
Commission on farm credits,

126, 127, 128
conclusions, 139, 140, 141
Conservation of plant food,

351
Contract, regard for, 66

Cooperative borrowing, 122
Corn, increased yield, 343
Country life, hard conditions,

5
Country, more attractive than

the city, 91
Cradle, revolutionized the

wheat industry, 33
Cream, selling by parcel post,

101
Crops, improvement in quality,

346
variety, 205

Dairy, better than the orchard,

39

Dairy cow, breeds, 35
infected, 37
number, 270, 271, 336
per cent, tuberculosis, 273
price, 272
Dairy, the hope of the small

farmer, 35
Dairying, success, 40
Darius Green, 163
Death rates, in cities and rural

districts, 55
Debt, beneficial ? 121
Department of Agriculture,

growth, 313
Department officials, interested

in Everglades, 20
Diet, importance of orchard

products, 49

Diet in the farmer's home, 57
Diseases, peculiar to farm life,

54

Doctor, a country, 59
Drunkenness, a curse to farm

labor, 69

Dry farming, 237
difficulties, 240
first official experiment, 238
Dry farming in the East, 241

INDEX

363

Early experience, danger of, 30
Earth, genesis of surface, 173
Earth worms, r6le in soil

building, 183
Education, better for farmer's

children, 146
Electricity, amount available,

161

farm use in America, 166
use in England and Aus-
tralia, 164, 165
uses on the farm, 163
Employer, duty of, 66
Endowment, danger of too

great, 312, 313
Entomology, contributions to

agriculture, 301
Erosion, factors determining,

221

Everglades, Florida, 19
Expensive farming, 29

Factories, move to the coun-
try, 150

Falling water level, 241
Farm, a continued joy, 32
Fdrm animals, comparison of

numbers, 270

Farm animals, number, 269
Farm animals, number and

value, 334, 335
value, 337

Farm credits, proposed legis-
lation, 126
Farm Finance, 119
Farm, health on the, 53
Farm labor, poorly paid, 81
Farm laborer, few recreations,

77

Farm life, attractive, 149
conditions, 3
social opportunities, 150

Farm losses, compensation,

171

insurance, 172

Farm machinery, effect of, 146
Farm property, value, 138
Farmer, an American citizen,

88

chances of the old time, 31
exploited politically, 86
exposure of, 56
helpless in the market, 93
Farmer, long life in the future,

58
neglect and indifference in

regard to soils, 217
of the future, 90
place in the social scale, 86
Farmer Johnson, impressions

of the "Institoot," 15
Farmer's accounts, not kept,

115
Farmer's boy, appeal to the

city, 4

Farmers' institutes, 14
Farmer's markets, 92
Farmer's profits, often illusory,

115
Farmer's sons, keeping at

home, 6

Farmers' Union, 89
Farming a business, 11
Farming at a plump age, 33
Farming, making profitable,

152

visions of the future, 84
Feeding, economical, 36
"Feel in the air," 31
Ferment, nitrifying, 185
Fertility, what is it? 226
Fertilizers, sources of, 350
Field, not fed from its own re-
sources, 33

Fish as fertilizer, 357
Florida, vegetable soils, 199
Food products, animal, 271

364

INDEX

Forest products, 333
Fruit, danger of overproduc-
tion, 51

G

Genesis of the soil, 173

Glacial drift, 189

Gold mine, the old story, 22

H

Hall, Mr. Alfred Daniel, 229
Hall, theories of bureau of

soils, 230

Hatch, money aid to agricul-
tural experiments, 309
Health on the farm, 53
Health, the orchard a help, 48
Heine, Heinrich, spiritus fam-

iliaris, 278
Hen fever, 18
Heredity, influence, 292
Hilgard, Professor E. W., 182
Hog cholera, 168

losses, 169

Home, founded upon labor, 10
making the farmer's home

comfortable, 45
Hopkins, Professor Cyril G.,

229

Horse, cost of keeping, 80
Horses, number, 336
Humus, 200

a measure of fertility, 231
composition, 202
decay, 201
importance, 228

Improved land of the United

States, 325, 326
Income tax, effect on farmer,

265, 266

Indian corn, harvesting, 79
more than grain, 344, 345
yield, 330

Industrial education, 277
Industries, future, 306
Intensive farming, 29
Interest, rate of, 124
Intoxication, effects of, 70
Irrigable lands of the United

States, 325, 326
Irrigable lands, promotion of,

21

Jag, continuing effect of, 71

K
Keeping the boy on the farm,

148

King, Professor F. W., 229
Kiser, where brains are needed,

34
Koch, Dr. Robert, 37

Labor, a curse, 31

carelessness, 63

dignity of, 281

farm, 61

fundamental, 62

skilled for farm, 64

unskilled, 63

value of on farm, 66
Laborer, kind of environment,

68

Laborer not to blame, 67
Land, advancing price, 80
Landlord and laborer, 83
Land area of the United

States, 325
Land banks, bill to establish,

141, 142
Land grant endowment, total

amount, 317, 318, 319
Land grant for education, 12
Land grants, script sale, 13
Leading crops, magnitude, 330
Leaving the farm, why? 147

INDEX

365

Leguminous crops, effect on

soils, 225
Liebig, father of agricultural

chemistry, 284
laboratory of, 285, 286
Life, artificial, 6

the greatest wealth, 60
Lime, benefits, 233

effect on soils, 216
Lincoln, approves Land Grant

Bill, 308

Long-time loans, 130
Long-time mortgage, 129
Long-time notes, 123
Loring, Honorable George B.,

236
Low wages, retarding effect,

158

M

McGee, Dr. W J, 221
Machinery, advantages of

labor-saving, 82
Manor, the lord of, 79
Mayor Shank, Indianapolis,

markets, 157

Meat animals, decrease, 262
encourage the growth, 267
increasing price, 263
not profitable to grow, 264
shortage, 263
Meat diet, diminish, 252
Meat supply, data, 261

decreasing, 252
Meteorology, value to agricul-

ture, 286, 287, 288
Middleman, useful, 154
Milk, quantity, 272
Morrill, Senator Justin S., 12
Moving pictures, aid to agri-
culture, 17

Nation-wide prohibition, 72
Nature's laboratory, 354

Nitrate of soda, 351
Nitrogenous fertilizers, 232

O

Orchard, experience in Colo-
rado, 23

"knee-deep in June/' 48
love of the beautiful, 47
neglect of, 47
recreation and profit, 46
Orchards, confined to restricted

localities, 50
disasters, 26
price in Colorado, 24
promotion of, 21
well kept, 50
yield in Colorado, 25
Organic matter, function in

soils, 215

Oxygen, r6le in soil building,
186

Page, Dr. John K,., 236
Parcel post, 100
difficulties, 104
help from the Post Office
Department, 105, 106, 107,
108

importance of education, 113
minimum packages, 113
not expected successful at,

first, 102
packages for, 100
zones and postage, 109
Patience, philosophy of, 9
Pecan tree, 223
Plant food in solution, 245
Plant food, regained from the

sea, 352

Plants, inorganic foods, 227
Pleasure, true, always moral,

302

Police regulations on the farm,
60

366

INDEX

Ponce de Leon, 20
Population, future, 207
Post Office, Washington, facili-
ties for parcel post, 103
Potatoes, yield, 332
Power on the farm, 160
Price of beef, comparative, 259
Products, ideal for selling, 92
Professor Langley, 164
Profits, what per cent, does

the farmer get? 97
Prohibition, 69

South versus North, 75
Promoters, wickedness of, 7
Public library, clearing house

for parcel post, 110, 111
Public schools, teaching agri-
culture, 316

Q

Quack remedy, victim, 22

R

Rainfall, distribution, 242
Reforestation, 213

early experiment, 218

effect on climate, 250
Reforestation with fruit bear-
ing trees, 222

Riley, James Whitcomb, 48
Rock decay, 175
Rocks, rates of weathering, 178

weathering, 177
Rural banks, minimum capi-
tal, 137

type, 136
Rural credits, 125

free from taxation, 132

stability, 135

state aid, 137
Rural life, love of, 8

Sand, Long Island preferable
to Florida, 27

Sand bed, making the garden

of, 283

Sanitation, importance of, 57
Scale, San Jose", 51
Schools, agricultural, 12

study of farm life, 7
Science, the mother of indus-
tries and arts, 275
Scientific truth, diffusion, 303
Sheep, example of selling, 96

losses, 170
Silage, value as dairy cattle

food, 38

Silo, value of, 38
Silt, quantities carried to the

ocean, 181
Small farmer, 78
Smith, Professor J. Russell,

222

Sobriety, a benefit to agricul-
ture, 73
Soil, evolution, 174

fertility, 226
Soil in situ, 176
Soil, more than mineral, 187

quantity carried in water.,
219, 220

restitution, 224

weight of, 249
Soiling, 37
Soils, adobe, 197

alkali, 194

alluvial, 192

chemical composition in re-
gard to washing, 214

classification, 177, 188

destruction of, 208

fertility according to bureau
of soils, 229

future production, 205

in situ, 190

loss by drainage, 210

loss~ by erosion, 210

peat, 198

reclamation, 211

INDEX

367

sandstone, 191
sandy and clay, 182
vegetable, 194
volcanic, 194

Sorghum, camel among plants,

239
growth in Kansas, 239

Sparseness of population, 138

Squanto, a tribute to, 340, 358

Squanto, contributions to sci-
entific agriculture, 356

Starvation, not imminent, 342

State aid to agricultural ex-
tension, 315

State sovereignty, difficulties,
133, 134

Stimulants, common desire for,
73

Stock feeding, economy, 347

Stock on farms, value, 335

Students in agriculture, num-
ber, 320

Subsoil, 203

Suburbanite, not always
happy, 8

Sucker, one born every min-
ute, 19

Suffrage, importance of equal,
75

Swine, number, 336

Synthetic foods, 353

T

Taylor, John, early theories of
soil improvement, 234

Teachers of agriculture, num-
ber, 319, 320

Teachers, training in agricul-
ture, 316

Technical training, benefit, 279
fundamental, 280

Tenant fanner, lack of ambi-
tion, 78

Tenant house, model, 152

Tillage extension, 350

Training teachers in agricul-

t u r e , correspondence

school, 317

Transportation facilities, 94
Trust, effect of on farmer's

market, 98
Trusts, hardship of control,

259
Truth, love and reverence for,

305

Tuberculosis, 37
Typhoid, prevalence in rural

districts, 55
Tyson, C. J., 52

U

Uncle Sam's big college, 307
Uncle Sam's big farm, 324
Universal hunger, 206
Universal training, 304

Variation, examples, 293, 294,

295, 296
importance, 293
Variation in plants, 299, 300
Vegetable mold, composition,

199
Virgin soils, exhaustion, 341

W

Wallace, Henry, 268

Warehouse, neighborhood, 99

Washed soils, method of res-
toration, 213

Water, chief disintegrating
force, 179

Water, function in agriculture,
244

Water, respective weights of
water and crop, 246, 247,
248

Water, role in soil making, 180

Weather Bureau, transfer
from Signal Service, 290

368

INDEX

Weather observations, growth,

289

Weather prognostication, 289
Webb Law, 76

West Virginia, voting dry, 74
Wheat, increased yield, 342
Wheat, selling and buying

flour, 98
selling at the wrong time,

153

variation in, 298
When the city comes back to

the country, 159
Whisky, adulterated, 70
Wife and daughter, attitude

towards the country, 5

Wife, better conditions for the

farmer's, 45

isolation and insanity of far-
mer's, 43

long hours of farmer's, 42
multiplicity of duties of far-
mer's, 43
no day of rest for farmer's,

44
the farmer's, versus the cow,

41

Wilson, Honorable James, 313
Windmills, development, 162
Winter winds, conversion into
electricity, 349