The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1896-03-26
A MlLLIONAIRE'S FARM.


has returned from Asheville, N. c.,
where he spent a week investigating
Biltmore," the famous estate Of
George Vanderbilt and he tells his
friends that there is nothing in the
world owned by sovereign or subject
that will compare with 1t, either as a
residence or as an object lesson in the
agricultural arts
at is grand idea" said Mr..
Morton THAT young Mr.. Van
derbilt is trying to carry ont 1t is
unique and none but man of enormous
wealth could undertake it. Few kings
have either funds or the good of their
people at heart sufficiently to conceive
and carry out what Mr.. Vanderbilt
has successfully demonstrated. 1 don't
Know how much money he has spent
there, nor how much more he intends
to invest, but it is one Of the grandest
undertakings that individual enter
prise ever attempted, and 1 understand
that it is the owners intention to leave
it as legacy to the public when he
can no longer enjoy it himself. There
are 95 900 acres in the estate and every
inch of it may be said to be under
scientific cultivation, embracing
every branch of the vegetable kingdom.
Combined with it he has the most
perfect system Of roadways have ever
seen, and you can drive 100 miles
over macadamized pavement without
going off his estate. AS an exhibit
tion of landscape gardening it is with
out an equal. Frederick Law Olmsted
has had charged of that branch of the
work and the late Richard M. Hunt
was the architect Of all the buildings,
which for their several uses surpass,
perhaps, any that exist on earth.
There are no palaces in Europe that
can equal Mr.. Vanderbilt's for ele
gance, comfort and convenience, and
he is gathering there collection of
works of art that would make it
famous If it had no other attraction.
His stables, his barns, his dairies
his propagating houses, his henneries
and other features of his establishment,
are all on the same grand scale. He
has undertaken to furnish the highest
possible example of the science of
food culture in every one of its
branches.
"He has employed the best men he
could find to take charge of his ex
periments and pays them salaries com
mensurate with their services. There
are Germans and Frenchmen and Ital-
ians and Englishmen, as well as Ameri-
cans, employed. The foreigners are
usually men Of high professional repu-
tations, who are attached to universi-
ties in the Old World and spend their
Vacations three, four or six months,
on Mr.. Vanderbilt's estate, looking
after their respective departments
While the work has not yet been
carried far enough to show the results,
the possibilities of usefulness offered
by Mr. Vanderbilt's enterprise are un-
limited.
Il consider his work there just as
important to the agricultural interests
of this country as the department of
agriculture at Washington He employs
more men than 1 have under my
charge, and l think he is spending
more money every year than congress
appropriates for my department,
although l do not know his figures
H. has nearly thousand names on his
pay roll and we have about 700. His
men are promoted for efficiency accord
ins to the most practical civil service
rules. If man who is employed at 81
a day to shovel dirt shows that he is
capable of something better his work
and his wages are both advanced and
the same rule applies to everybody on
the estate. If there were nothing else
TO be accomplished, Mr.. Vanderbilt is
at least building up an educational
institution that will furnish scientific
farmers and teachers for the instruc-
tion of the rest of mankind, and 1 feel
like thanking old Commodore Wander
bilt for having given us a grandson
who has the brains and the benevolence
to devote his wealth to afford the pub
lie such valuable object lessons in art,
architecture, agriculture, forestry,
viticulture, dairying, road making and
other useful work. The people down
there talk about the enormous amount
Of money Mr.. Vanderbilt is investing
to crafty his taste and pride, to pro-
vide luxuries for his appetite and mag
niticent displays to fatter his vanity,
but the poor creatures do not compre
hend the first letter in the alphabet of
his ambition. Their vision is not
broad enough; their intelligence is not
sufficient to grasp a single fragment Of
the idea he is developing, and while
they imagine that it is all due to selfish
ness he is a great benefactor working
for them. They talk about the land
being worn out down there in North
Carolina. It's the people. The land is
all right if brains and energy were
applied to its cultivation