Crittenden press. [volume] (Marion, Ky.) 1879-1907, 1905-11-16

l. hoods OF the Mississippi and It's tribu
u lrics will be led out through net
e. work of canals. large and small, ana
| stored i'm reservoirs, ana every drop
devoted to beneficial use, use that
viii be- so valuable that its value Tor
81 Iayigution will count for nothing IN
comparison. 10 may be great many
years before this will happen, but IL
+ | is certain To come. In no other way
can the vast population with which
this country viii tccm within few
hundred years be- provided with the
food 10 sustain it,
Japan, from her total area Of H.
$50 square miles. Of which only 1900
larc cultivated. collected an annual
revenue before the war with Russia
began Of 1921 .433.72J and her exports
lamuuntCd 60 Sl2L2oS.923.
The average population per square
mile OF Japan Is 299.I6. but only one
seventh OF her territory is actually
under cultivation.
a Thousand Miles Square.
| a section Of our own country con
| taIucd within a square extending one
! thousand miles north from New or
leans and one thousand miles west
from Pittsburg, and containing one
million square miles, II as densely
populated as Japan. would sustain
population OF BOO, OOOOOO; but u much
larger proportion OF this great square
I'm the center OF the United States
could he intensely farmcd than In
japan. where only one-seventh of the
total area is cultivated.
ON the 1900 square miles 81 land
I'm Japan that is actually farmcd. they
sustain 30.OOOOOO farmers. II l. n |
safe estimate that az least One-half OF
a
ton Of the Un!ted States above des- /
cr'ed could be as closely cultivated I
rs the productive fields Of japan. /
Those Japanese fields sustain over
fifteen hundred people 10 tho square /
mile. At the same ratio Of population. |
our own thousand mile square central /
section would sustain 1jO,OO0.OOO OF 4
farming population alone.
population 81 over fifteen hundred .
10 The square mile sustained by agri- .
culture seems 10 the ordinary mind In
credible: but ON the Island Of Jersey.
OF The English coast. u population OF
oNcr thirteen hundred 10 tue squar,
mile Is sustained 10y ont Of door agrl-
ca lure IN climate hy no means best
adapted 20 intensive farming.
u must be- borne In mind that We are
iaIAlng now Of the possibilities Of
future development. and the facts and
hcures above given viii no doubt D.
looked upon as utterly chlmcrical by
The average reader.
Degencracy England
Bear In mind however again. that
they are based only upon the assump-
ton that We In this country should at
lain 10 point OF development already
reached by the Japanese people. and
on which rests their national strength
il is true that our development dur.
iu- the last hait-ceutury has not been
towards the land We have followed
IN The footsteps Of England. rather
than Japan. and while, zoo nfty years.
Japan has restored the land 10 her
people ana rooted them 10 the soil in
homes Of their own. England has
done the contrary. She has driven
her yeomanry from the farms 10 the
cities, where they have become fac
tory operatives, and degeneratei
ply sically and mentally a. such dc
gree that the dcgeneracy Of her eIu-
zeu~hip now presents itself 10 the
statesmen OF England as most np-
palling problem.
We are doing the same thing. bat
we are not, as yet, feeling the effects
# 10 SD severely because We have stlll
a larger proportion Of our people ola
the land.
Back to the Land.
We have much 20 do e. reverse the
tide OF population, and turn IL from
the cities back Co the lnnd-from the
tenement 20 the garden. IL must not
be Imagined that 10 Is necessary. n /
Jrder 10 accomplish this. that the
workers IN our cities or IN our fac
tories should quit their present en-
ploymcnt and become farmers. All /
that is necessary Is that the facilities
for rapid transportation afforded by /
our trolley system should be ayailed \
u 10 plant every factory family upon /
at least an acre OF land.
Let that be done, and the problem /
is practically solved no matter /
though the acre De used for nothing /
but to raise chickens and keep a goat.
The children OF the family will have /
fresh air and sunshine and pure milk. /
and will grow UP 10 be- healthy men /
and women.
The lever with which We must |
move our population back 10 the land
must be the public school system.
Gardens and Handicraft.
Every child in the public schools.
boy or girl, must be trained from It's
earliest days Of school life 10 cult
Nate the ground ana make things
grow I'm a garden. and 10 raise poul-
try, and do all that needs 10 be done
to provide the food for a family from
an acre Of land.
Add to this n trimming I'm simple
slOyd work and home handicraft.
cooking and sewing and making things
for the home. and you WA have Gre
ated the impulse In the minds Of the
multiplying millions OF our children
which will lead them 70 shun the
bricks and the asphalt the slums and
the tenements, as they would shun
the plague, and fee from them far
enough into the country 10 have an
acre at least for home and n gar
den.
Create this impulse I'm the minds of
our children, the millions upon mil
lions Of them who are attending, and
will attend, our public schools, and
they will find a way TO solve all the
- no HON % L.. {