Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-03-22

Man naturally wants the earth, or at
least that part of it which adjoins his par,
ticular estate, but he makes a great mis-
take when he engages in farming on an ex-
tensive scale.
Prince Krapotkine. who has made care.
full study of the subject in France. gives
number of instances in the country dis
tricts around Paris, where comparatively
ignorant farmers have made small market
gardens enormously productive. one farm
is mentioned by him of two and sevente tenth
acres which produced annually 1875 tons of
market vegetables of all kinds The owner
of this farm, by building walls to protect
his land from cold winds, by whitening the
wall to secure all possible radiated heat,
and by the constant and judicious use of
fertilizers, has his little farm in product
i've condition from the first of January till
the last of December, By simple and mex
pensive means he has practically located
his farm in the tropics.
French gardener does not care what
kind of soil he starts with. He would be
satisfied with an asphalt pavement, because
he makes his soil, and so much of it that he
has to sell it to keep his place from being
gradually raised above the level of the sur.
rounding country. When "A farmer once
understands the laws of chemistry he has
no difficulty in making soil that contains all
the materials needed for plant life.
Prince Krapotkine speaks of one garden
er who has covered half an acre with glass
roof, and run steam pipes, supplied by
small boiler under the ground sheltered by
this covering. The result has been that he
has cut every day for about ten months
from 1000 to 1900 large lunches of aspara-
h
ditions would require 90 acres of land But
this result has been surpassed by an Eng
lish farmer, who has made one-acre mush-
room farm yield him an annual income of
$4,000,
Under the French method of culture it
would be possible to make one square mile
support 1000 human beings. On such a
scale of productive capacity this country
would support population of 3, 600, 600, 600.
Even when we knock off fair percentage
for mistakes, exaggerations, and unfavora-
BILE conditions, it will be seen that we are
in no danger of having an over.popuation
for many centuries to come. There is no
reason why our eastern farmers should 20
west for more elbow room. Their great
drawback is not the want of more land it
is the possession of too much land
In some localities in Switzerland the
traveller on the plains or IN the valleys
looks up to a towering precipice 20OO feet
above his head. When he laboriously climbs
to the summit expecting to find nothing
but bare rock, he sees before him the
smiling expanse of productive fields, with
pretty cottages dotting the landscape The
peasant proprietors started with only the
naked rock under them They carried the
rich soil of the valleys in baskets on their
backs up the steep mountain side and went
to work with a will until they transformed
their sterile patches into blooming gardens
The success of European farmers, with
all the forces of nature against them, should
be an inspiring lesson for our tillers of the
soil. The American small farmer has only
to unite brain work with hand work to
make himself comfortable and independent,
if not rich. But without this union of the
brain and hand there can be no great per.
manent success.-Ati0ntd Constitution.