CHAPTER XX

BACK TO THE LAND

"Life, to the average man, means hard, anxious work, with
disappointment at the end, whereas it ought to mean plenty of time
for books and talk. There is something wrong about a system which
condemns ninety-nine hundredths of the race to an existence as bare
of intellectual activity and enjoyment as that of a horse, and with
the added anxiety concerning the next month's rent. Is there no
escape? Through years of hard toil I suspected that there might be
such an escape. Now, having escaped, I am sure of it, so long as
oatmeal is less expensive than Hour, so long as the fish and the
cabbage grows, I shall keep out of the slavery of modern city
existence, and live in God's sunshine." (Hubert, "Liberty and a
Living.")

The wealthy class are taking up farming as a healthy and beautifying
diversion, and we may expect others to follow, as it certainly
promotes happiness and adds to the attractions of those who adopt
it. With the aids which science has given, a farmer can now make
good profits with less labor than was formerly necessary to get a
bare living. The amount that a single well-managed, well-tilled acre
will produce in a season is simply incredible. This accounts for the
increased demand for farming lands wherever they are to be had on
reasonable terms. The wage earners are learning this, and it is only
a question of a little time when manufacturing plants will have to
be convenient to lands where the families of the hands can have a
small tract of land to cultivate. This requires good transportation
facilities from the homes to the factories.

Corporate operation has been a great aid to human progress.
Organization is man's orderly way of following the Divine Plan for
his economic salvation vet the far mer has profited less by
organization than trades unions. Where farmers have organized to aid
each other to buy and sell, they have gained wonderfully, but a
beginning in this direction has but served to show how much more is
needed.

To the individual farmer with large area and small means, the
improvements in machinery that cheapen his production are not at
present available. The discoveries in methods of fertilization of
the soil only make it more difficult for him to earn a living in
competition with those whose ample capital increases production by
its use. Improvements in fruits and vegetation, by hybridization and
various methods that add wealth to those of means, only ad