, 1910-09-03
THE GHOST OF THE HEATH.
Ca the Augtss Number of he 0ut}ooh)
BY jacob A Rus.
lContia4sR troan dnis No. TO.l

could grow tuerc. Inc Vest vino "uulO
not let il. But the heath farmer shook his
bead. It. would cost too much, and give too
little back What he needed was water and
mnrl. Could the captain help him to these
that was another matter. The little streams
that found their way into the heath and Iost
it there, dire need had taught them to turn
10, .use.in their fields not q drop escaped.
But the river that run between deep banks
was beyond their reach Could he show.
shem how to harness that Dalgss saw
their point. Eve are working not for the
dead soil, but for the living men who find
honee upon it," he told his associates, and
tree-plnntinB was Put aside for the time.
IIty u}I ed cnnal- diPRela instead. 1rr1gR-
ton became then ann ana task; the engineer
was IL his rlabt place The water was rails
I'd { ON the 5 reum and led out upon the
ntoI and l1tFtIty grass grew III the sand
which the Wlry stems OF the heather had
clulched 70 long. Green meadows lined the
water runs, and fragrant baystaoks rose
10 the lean sheep Was added COW, then two,
The farmer laid by a little. took IN moro land
for cultivation. That meant breaking the
heath Also. it meant mari. The heath is
hme-YooI mari is lime IN The exact form in
which it Lest fits That sandy soil. 1t wRs
Known TO o1ist IN sCme favored spots, bat
the poor heath farmer could not bring it
from u distunce. So the marl-borer went
with the canal-ttigger Into every acre he
drove his auRer and mapped out his discov-
cries. But last accounts. he had fCund mari
in more tlhL seventeen hundl ed = noes, and
he is not dcue yet. Where there was none
DARas's So iely Lullt portable railways INTO
the moor fnr enough to bring il to nearly
every fey7perhs door.
1t was rs + a magic wand had been
waved over the heath. With water and mari,
the neaDs we've ut land for fighting il and
whining on Hrnds lhat had been low In
discourage u,en1 were raised. The cat
Tie keep increased, and wlth It came the
farmers wealth. Mas changes tho chnrac-
ter q the hentA soli with manure 70 fer
tllisa il thele was no reason why ii should
not grow crQps-none except the whitening
blast Of the west wind. The time for Dial
gas to preach tree planting had cuDle.
Willis tho capal-di8ger and mari seeker
were ut work there had been neiQbborhood
meetings and talks at which Captain palgas
aid the talking. When he spoke, the boath
boer listened, for he had learned 10 look
upon him az one Of them. He woie no gold
lace. A plain man in everyday gray weeds,
with his trousers tucked into his hoets he
spoke TO plain people of things thAt con
corLed them vitality und in q way theG could
understand. So when he told them thai the
heath had once been forest-claj, st least L
large Fart of it, and pointed them TO the
proofs, aud that tho woods could be made to
grow again to give them timber and shelter
and crops, they gave heed. 1t was worth
trying at any rate. The shelter was the i'm
mediate thing, They began planting hedges
about their homesteads not always wisely,
for it is not every tree that viii grow ia the
henth. The Wind whipped and wore them,
the OIL cramped Their roots, and they died.
The uM is the rusty red crust that forms
undor the heather in>the course Of the ages
where The desert rules. Sometimes il Is q
loose sandstone formation sometimes it
carries as much Us twenty per ceut of iron
that is absorbed from The upper layers OF
the sand. In any cuse, it must be broken
through no tlee root can do it The 0hI,
the poverty Of the sand, and hhe wind to-
gether make the evil genius Of the heath
that had won until then in the cautury-old
fight with man. But this time the man had
backing and was not minded TO give up.
The Heath Society was there TO counsel, to
aid. And soOp he hedges took hold aud
gardens grew in their shelter. There is