The herald., 1898-01-02

The natural drift of humanity is to.
ward agricultural pursuits There Is
something fascinating in the develop.
mcnt Of fractional part of Mother
Earth, whether 1t be In the exquisite
planting OF door-yard plat, or larger
area devoted to the culture Of necessary
commodities for the sustenance of the
human family.
When professional man reaches the
downhill side of the ordinary allotment
OF human life. he yearns for the COM
munion with nature that rural life only
can satisfy.
i nave thought OF the misuse of that
dearest Of English words-Home-gen-
orally interpreted to mean less than O
Thousand square feet OF earth, with a
cottage or mansion, as the case may
he, but which should be made to ex-
press sufficient area of good land to
support from the products grown upon
Its surface, family. And about such
tract should be thrown certain safe
guards SO that the loss of position, of
health, Of friends, would not mean the
loss of this home.
The wonderful ability the Republic OF
France has shown in paying an enor-
nous war debt Is said to be due to the
vast number of small farm units, all
owned by the people occupying them,
ell intensely cultivated and made to
produce, even after a thousand years
Of cultivation, enormous crops. The
careless farming methods of the great
Western area of the United States is
doubtless due to the cheapness of the
land, the lack Of market for anything
save the great cereal products and the
lack of interest and general shiftless-
ness of the farmer. Nothing has &C.
Cured to teach intense farming until
within a few years, when the establish
ment of the beet sugar factories in Ne
braska, Utah, New Mexico and Califor-
MIA gave the necessary object lesson
that will revolutionize farming meth
DDS.
Nothing short Of an Agricultural
awakening" will save the farmers of
the United States from poverty When
one thousand sugar factories are busy
extracting the sugar from the beet root
grown upon two million acres of land,
when the farm unit is reduced to size
that will enable the farmer with his
own hands (aided only by his house,
hold to make and harvest his CROP
when the number of such farmers shall
have reached 100000. each house repres-
enting five people. then we will see the
Ideal farming communities. The product
OF twenty acres-one-half planted to
beets-will be 125 tons of beets worth
$500. The five cows, the fowls and truck
grown upon the other ten acres will buy
Ill the, farmer needs, and instead of be-
Ing in debt, he will have a surplus in
the bank. The trouble today is that
the farmer rents his land. He is in
clined to be satisfied only with large
held OF beets, or corn, or wheat. He has
little capital and many debts; he has
more horses and more hired men than
he can economically manage and at the
end OF the season his team cost and his
labor bill have eaten up his profits. Give
the same man a small farm unit, let it
be no more than he can farm himself
thoroughly, save perhaps a little help in
topping and hauling beets, and what
be receives will be his own
Land owners should be willing to sell
small holdings ON long credit at reason
able interest, say eleven years and six
per cent. This interest is more than
the land earns them now and is enough.
Fill the country with small farms, in
diligently farmed, and with reasonable
|rugality and aid from the entire fam
ny the debt will be wiped out and the
farmer made free man in FIVE rather
han eleven, years. Build three more
sugar factories in California, at least,
sne in the region of Nadeau ranch, one
Pm the San Joaquin ranch, and one in
he region of Northumberland I am
hot sure that one in the region of San
Bernardino would not find plenty of raw
material near by and from points within
reasonable reach by rail.
With the investment Of capital in
these vast enterprises will come the
agricultural, and as sequence will
lpring up the creameries needed to make
I'll the cheese for home consumption and
Export.