Virginia gazette. [volume] (Williamsburg, Va.) 1893-192?, 1905-11-18

work OF canals. large Snd small. aud
stored In reservoirs. ami every drop
devoted 20 beneficial use. a use that
Nill be- 80 valuable that its value FOR
navigation will count FOR nothing I'm
comparison. Ia may be- a great many
years before this viii happen. but IL
- certain 10 come. In no other way
can the vast population with which
this country will TEEN within few
hundred years be provided with the
food 10 sustain a.
Japan, frCsn her total area OF 1s7.-
6I5 square miles OF which only 1900
are cultivated. collected an annual
revenue before the wa with Russia
began OF 1921 .433. 80. and her exports
amounted 10 Sl2i.2OS 9--s.
The average population per square
mile OF Japan Is 2so.76. but only one
seventh OF her territory IS actually
under cultivation.
A Thousand Miles Square.
A section OF our own country con
taincd within q square extending one
thousand miles north from New or
leans and one thousand miles west
fron PittsburE. and containing one
million square miles. II as donsely
populated SIS Japan. would sustain a
population Of So0OOo.Ooo. but a much
larger proportion Of this great square
IN the center ~ the United States
could be Intensely farmed than ia
Japan. where only oue-sevcnth Of the
total area is cultivated.
on the 1900 square miles Of land
IN Japan that Is actually farmed. they
sustain 3O.OoOOuO farmers. II IL n
safe estimate that az least one-half OF
The thousand mile square central sec
ton ~ tho lnl.ed States above dos
cribcd could bc as closely cultivated
as TIE productive fields of Japan.
T hose Japanese fields sustain over
hfteon hundred people to tie square
mile. st tle same ratio az population.
orr own thousand miie square central
section would -u-.-in lo,u00.O00 OF
/ farming population alone.
A population 90 over fftcen hundred
70 the square mile sustained by agri.
culture seems tn the ordinary mind ln-
Credible, but ora the Island OF Jersey.
OH tne English coast. q population ~
over thirteen hundred 90 t4e snnare
ilile Is sustained by ont OF door aEri-
N.iiure lu a climate by 40 means best
adopted 90 Intensive farming.
lt must be borne in mind that we are
laiaing now 20 the possibilities OF
future development, and the facts and
lEnfes above given VIII uo doubt hc
..oacd upon as utterly Chimerical by
tle average reader.
Degeneraey @, England.
Rear in mind however. again. that
tlcy are based only upon the assump-
Iou ihat we Goa this country should at-
faIn to point OF development already
reached Dy tle Japanese pcopic. and
20 which rests their national strength.
it iS true that our development dur
u- tle last hau-ccutury has not been
towards The land We have followed
il the footsteps OF England. rather
ID
Japan has restored tlp land 10 her
people and rooted them fO the soil ga
homes ~ their own. England has
done the contrary She has driven
beg yeomanry from tle farms 10 the
cities, where they have become fac
tory operatives. and deeencratcf
/ physically and mentally 90 such a de-
gree that the deeeneracy OF her c'tl-
zeusLIp now presents itself 90 fne
statesmen ~ England as most ape
We are doing the same thing. bat
we are not, as yet feeling tlc cfec-s
I 81 20 SD severely because we have still
q larger proportion ~ our people OF
+ tlc land.
Back 10 the Land.
we have much Co 90 e. reverse the
I tide ~ population, and turn it q. m
\ iAc cities iAcS Co tlc llEl-from tle
/ tenement to rle garden. IL must not
/ De imagined tlat lt ls necessary .l
/ ORDER 81 aNtulnl tlls. that flo
/ workers in our cities OF ia our fac
I tories should quit their present cm-
/ r.uyMclt and become farmers AID
that is necessary is that the facilities
/ for rapid usportafiou Afforded hy
our trolley SYSTEM should bc lYailed
- 90 plant every factory family upon
20 least ln acre OF land
Let that Dee done, and tle problem
IS prac.caLy solved DO maftog
| though tile acre be used for nothing
Dur 10 raise chickens ana keep goat
/ The children 81 tie family viii have
| fresh air and sunshine and pure milk
and VIII grow Up 10 be healthy mel
and women.
The lever with which we mus,
move our population back 90 the land
must b. Gle public school system.
Gardens and Handicraft.
Every child in the public schools
boy or girl. must De trained from SIS
earliest days of school l.tc % cult.
vate TIE ground and make things
grow in garden. and 10 raise p0ul-
try, and do an shat needs 20 be done
20 provide tie food for q family from
an acre Of land
Add 90 this q trimming ln simple
I sloyd work and bone handlcraft
cooking and sewing and making things
Tor the home. and You We. have Gre
ated tie impulse ia the minds OF the
/ multiplying millions OF our children
which VIII lead them 20 shun the
bricks ana the asphalt. the slums and
the tencmCnts. "a they would shuu
tie plague, and Gee from them Far
enough into the country 20 have a.
acre az least Tor a home and a gar
den.
Create this impulse IN the minds o.
our children. che millions upon mil