material from the ,google ,print        
project47        ,,the  ,,holy ,,earth  
,,by   ,l4 ,h4 ,,bailey    ,,new ,,york 
,,charles ,,scribner',s ,,sons  #aiaf   
,copyright1 #aiae1 by  ,,charles        
,,scribner',s ,,sons   ,published       
,september1 #aiae     ,contents         
,page  ,first1 ,the ,statement3 ,pages  
#a-af      ,in the beginning            
#e      ,the earth is good              
#g      ,it is kindly                   
#aj      ,the earth is holy             
#ad   ,second1 ,the ,consequences3      
,pages #ag-aga      ,the habit of       
destruction                       #ah   
,the new hold                           
#bb      ,the brotherhood relation      
#cj      ,the farmer's relation         
#cb      ,the underlying training of a  
people            #ci      ,the         
neighbor's access to the earth          
#db      ,the subdividing of the land   
#dh      ,a new map                     
#ee      ,the public program            
#fa      ,the honest day's work         

#ff      ,the group reaction            
#gj      ,the spiritual contact with    
nature              #ge      ,the       
struggle for existence3 war             
#hj      ,the daily fare                
#ij      ,the admiration of good        
materials              #ajc      ,the   
keeping of the beautiful earth          
#aae      ,the tones of industry        
#abj      ,the threatened literature    
#abd      ,the separate soul            
#acj      ,the element of separateness  
in society        #acf      ,the        
democratic basis in agriculture         
#aci      ,the background spaces4--,the 
forest            #aej      ,a forest   
background for a reformatory            
#aef      ,the background spaces4--,the 
open fields       #afd      ,the        
background spaces4--,the ancestral sea  
#afg     ,,the ,,holy ,,earth     ,,the 
,,holy ,,earth   ,first1 the ,statement 
,so bountiful hath been the earth and so
 securely have we drawn from it our     
substance1 that we have taken it all for

 granted as if it were only a gift1 and 
with little care or conscious thought of
 the consequences of our use of it2 nor 
have we very much considered the        
essential relation that we bear to it as
 living parts in the vast creation4  ,it
 is good to think of ourselves--of this 
teeming1 tense1 and aspiring human      
race--as a helpful and contributing part
 in the plan of a cosmos1 and as        
participators in some far-reaching      
destiny4 ,the idea of responsibility is 
much asserted of late1 but we relate it 
mostly to the attitude of persons in the
 realm of conventional conduct1 which we
 have come to regard as very exclusively
 the realm of morals2 and we have       
established certain formalities that    
satisfy the conscience4 ,but there is   
some deeper relation than all this1     
which we must recognize and the         
consequences of which we must practise4 
,there is a directer and more personal  
obligation than that which expends      
itself in loyalty to the manifold       

organizations and social requirements of
 the present day4 ,there is a more      
fundamental co-operation in the scheme  
of things than that which deals with the
 proprieties or which centres about the 
selfishness too often expressed in the  
salvation of one's soul4  ,we can be    
only onlookers on that part of the      
cosmos that we call the far heavens1 but
 it is possible to co-operate in the    
processes on the surface of the sphere4 
,this co-operation may be conscious and 
definite1 and also useful to the earth2 
that is1 it may be real4 ,what means    
this contact with our natural situation1
 this relationship to the earth to which
 we are born1 and what signify this new 
exploration and conquest of the planet  
and these accumulating prophecies of    
science8 ,does the mothership of the    
earth have any real meaning to us8  ,all
 this does not imply a relation only    
with material and physical things1 nor  
any effort to substitute a nature       
religion4 ,our relation with the planet 

must be raised into the realm of spirit2
 we cannot be fully useful otherwise4   
,we must find a way to maintain the     
emotions in the abounding commercial    
civilization4 ,there are two kinds of   
materials1--those of the native earth   
and the idols of one's hands4 ,the      
latter are much in evidence in modern   
life1 with the conquests of engineering1
 mechanics1 architecture1 and all the   
rest4 ,we visualize them everywhere1 and
 particularly in the great centres of   
population4 ,the tendency is to be      
removed farther and farther from the    
everlasting backgrounds4 ,our religion  
is detached4  ,we come out of the earth 
and we have a right to the use of the   
materials2 and there is no danger of    
crass materialism if we recognize the   
original materials as divine and if we  
understand our proper relation to the   
creation1 for then will gross           
selfishness in the use of them be       
removed4 ,this will necessarily mean a  
better conception of property and of    

one's obligation in the use of it4 ,we  
shall conceive of the earth1 which is   
the common habitation1 as inviolable4   
,one does not act rightly toward one's  
fellows if one does not know how to act 
rightly toward the earth4  ,nor does    
this close regard for the mother earth  
imply any loss of mysticism or of       
exaltation3 quite the contrary4 ,science
 but increases the mystery of the       
unknown and enlarges the boundaries of  
the spiritual vision4 ,to feel that one 
is a useful and co-operating part in    
nature is to give one kinship1 and to   
open the mind to the great resources and
 the high enthusiasms4 ,here arise the  
fundamental common relations4 ,here     
arise also the great emotions and       
conceptions of sublimity and grandeur1  
of majesty and awe1 the uplift of vast  
desires1--when one contemplates the     
earth and the universe and desires to   
take them into the soul and to express  
oneself in their terms2 and here also   
the responsible practices of life take  

root4  ,so much are we now involved in  
problems of human groups1 so persistent 
are the portrayals of our social        
afflictions1 and so well do we magnify  
our woes by insisting on them1 so much  
in sheer weariness do we provide        
antidotes to soothe our feelings and to 
cause us to forget by means of many     
empty diversions1 that we may neglect to
 express ourselves in simple free       
personal joy and to separate the        
obligation of the individual from the   
irresponsibilities of the mass4     ,in 
the beginning   ,it suits my purpose to 
quote the first sentence in the ,hebrew 
,scripture3 ,in the beginning ,god      
created the heaven and the earth4  ,this
 is a statement of tremendous reach1    
introducing the cosmos2 for it sets     
forth in the fewest words the elemental 
fact that the formation of the created  
earth lies above and before man1 and    
that therefore it is not man's but      
,god's4 ,man finds himself upon it1 with
 many other creatures1 all parts in some

 system which1 since it is beyond man   
and superior to him1 is divine4  ,yet   
the planet was not at once complete when
 life had appeared upon it4 ,the        
whirling earth goes through many        
vicissitudes2 the conditions on its     
fruitful surface are ever-changing2 and 
the forms of life must meet the new     
conditions3 so does the creation        
continue1 and every day sees the genesis
 in process4 ,all life contends1        
sometimes ferociously but more often    
bloodlessly and benignly1 and the       
contention results in momentary         
equilibrium1 one set of contestants     
balancing another2 but every change in  
the outward conditions destroys the     
equation and a new status results4 ,of  
all the disturbing living factors1 man  
is the greatest4 ,he sets mighty changes
 going1 destroying forests1 upturning   
the sleeping prairies1 flooding the     
deserts1 deflecting the courses of the  
rivers1 building great cities4 ,he      
operates consciously and increasingly   

with plan aforethought2 and therefore he
 carries heavy responsibility4  ,this   
responsibility is recognized in the     
,hebrew ,scripture1 from which ,i have  
quoted2 and ,i quote it again because ,i
 know of no other ,scripture that states
 it so well4 ,man is given the image of 
the creator1 even when formed from the  
dust of the earth1 so complete is his   
power and so real his dominion3 ,and    
,god blessed them3 and ,god said unto   
them1 ,be fruitful1 and multiply1 and   
replenish the earth1 and subdue it2 and 
have dominion over the fish of the sea1 
and over the fowl of the air1 and over  
every living thing that moveth upon the 
earth4  ,one cannot receive all these   
privileges without bearing the          
obligation to react and to partake1 to  
keep1 to cherish1 and to co-operate4 ,we
 have assumed that there is no          
obligation to an inanimate thing1 as we 
consider the earth to be3 but man should
 respect the conditions in which he is  
placed2 the earth yields the living     

creature2 man is a living creature2     
science constantly narrows the gulf     
between the animate and the inanimate1  
between the organized and the           
inorganized2 evolution derives the      
creatures from the earth2 the creation  
is one creation4 ,i must accept all or  
reject all4     ,the earth is good   ,it
 is good to live4 ,we talk of death and 
of lifelessness1 but we know only of    
life4 ,even our prophecies of death are 
prophecies of more life4 ,we know no    
better world3 whatever else there may be
 is of things hoped for1 not of things  
seen4 ,the objects are here1 not hidden 
nor far to seek3 ,and ,god saw          
everything that he had made1 and1       
behold1 it was very good4  ,these good  
things are the present things and the   
living things4 ,the account is silent on
 the things that were not created1 the  
chaos1 the darkness1 the abyss4 ,plato1 
in the ,republic1 reasoned that the     
works of the creator must be good       
because the creator is good4 ,this      

goodness is in the essence of things2   
and we sadly need to make it a part in  
our philosophy of life4 ,the earth is   
the scene of our life1 and probably the 
very source of it4 ,the heaven1 so far  
as human beings know1 is the source only
 of death2 in fact1 we have peopled it  
with the dead4 ,we have built our       
philosophy on the dead4  ,we seem to    
have overlooked the goodness of the     
earth in the establishing of our        
affairs1 and even in our philosophies4  
,it is reserved as a theme for preachers
 and for poets4 ,and yet1 the goodness  
of the planet is the basic fact in our  
existence4  ,i am not speaking of good  
in an abstract way1 in the sense in     
which some of us suppose the creator to 
have expressed himself as pleased or    
satisfied with his work4 ,the earth is  
good in itself1 and its products are    
good in themselves4 ,the earth sustains 
all things4 ,it satisfies4 ,it matters  
not whether this satisfaction is the    
result of adaptation in the process of  

evolution2 the fact remains that the    
creation is good4  ,to the common man   
the earth propounds no system of        
philosophy or of theology4 ,the man     
makes his own personal contact1 deals   
with the facts as they are or as he     
conceives them to be1 and is not swept  
into any system4 ,he has no right to    
assume a bad or evil earth1 although it 
is difficult to cast off the hindrance  
of centuries of teaching4 ,when he is   
properly educated he will get a new     
resource from his relationships4  ,it   
may be difficult to demonstrate this    
goodness4 ,in the nature of things we   
must assume it1 although we know that we
 could not subsist on a sphere of the   
opposite qualities4 ,the important      
consideration is that we appreciate it1 
and this not in any sentimental and     
impersonal way4 ,to every bird the air  
is good2 and a man knows it is good if  
he is worth being a man4 ,to every fish 
the water is good4 ,to every beast its  
food is good1 and its time of sleep is  

good4 ,the creatures experience that    
life is good4 ,every man in his heart   
knows that there is goodness and        
wholeness in the rain1 in the wind1 the 
soil1 the sea1 the glory of sunrise1 in 
the trees1 and in the sustenance that we
 derive from the planet4 ,when we grasp 
the significance of this situation1 we  
shall forever supplant the religion of  
fear with a religion of consent4  ,we   
are so accustomed to these              
essentials--to the rain1 the wind1 the  
soil1 the sea1 the sunrise1 the trees1  
the sustenance--that we may not include 
them in the categories of the good      
things1 and we endeavor to satisfy      
ourselves with many small and trivial   
and exotic gratifications2 and when     
these gratifications fail or pall1 we   
find ourselves helpless and             
resourceless4 ,the joy of sound sleep1  
the relish of a sufficient meal of plain
 and wholesome food1 the desire to do a 
good day's work and the recompense when 
at night we are tired from the doing of 

it1 the exhilaration of fresh air1 the  
exercise of the natural powers1 the     
mastery of a situation or a             
problem1--these and many others like    
them are fundamental satisfactions1     
beyond all pampering and all toys1 and  
they are of the essence of goodness4 ,i 
think we should teach all children how  
good are the common necessities1 and how
 very good are the things that are made 
in the beginning4     ,it is kindly     
,we hear much about man being at the    
mercy of nature1 and the literalist will
 contend that there can be no holy      
relation under such conditions4 ,but so 
is man at the mercy of ,god4  ,it is a  
blasphemous practice that speaks of the 
hostility of the earth1 as if the earth 
were full of menaces and cataclysms4    
,the old fear of nature1 that peopled   
the earth and sky with imps and demons1 
and that gave a future state to ,satan1 
yet possesses the minds of men1 only    
that we may have ceased to personify and
 to demonize our fears1 although we     

still persistently contrast what we call
 the evil and the good4 ,still do we    
attempt to propitiate and appease the   
adversaries4 ,still do we carry the ban 
of the early philosophy that assumed    
materials and the flesh to be evil1 and 
that found a way of escape only in      
renunciation and asceticism4  ,nature   
cannot be antagonistic to man1 seeing   
that man is a product of nature4 ,we    
should find vast joy in the fellowship1 
something like the joy of ,pan4 ,we     
should feel the relief when we no longer
 apologize for the creator because of   
the things that are made4  ,it is true  
that there are devastations of flood and
 fire and frost1 scourge of disease1 and
 appalling convulsions of earthquake and
 eruption4 ,but man prospers2 and we    
know that the catastrophes are greatly  
fewer than the accepted bounties4 ,we   
have no choice but to abide4 ,no growth 
comes from hostility4 ,it would         
undoubtedly be a poor human race if all 
the pathway had been plain and easy4    

,the contest with nature is wholesome1  
particularly when pursued in sympathy   
and for mastery4 ,it is worthy a being  
created in ,god's image4 ,the earth is  
perhaps a stern earth1 but it is a      
kindly earth4  ,most of our difficulty  
with the earth lies in the effort to do 
what perhaps ought not to be done4 ,not 
even all the land is fit to be farmed4  
,a good part of agriculture is to learn 
how to adapt one's work to nature1 to   
fit the crop-scheme to the climate and  
to the soil and the facilities4 ,to live
 in right relation with his natural     
conditions is one of the first lessons  
that a wise farmer or any other wise man
 learns4 ,we are at pains to stress the 
importance of conduct2 very well3       
conduct toward the earth is an essential
 part of it4  ,nor need we be afraid of 
any fact that makes one fact more or    
less in the sum of contacts between the 
earth and the earth-born children4 ,all 
higher criticism adds to the faith      
rather than subtracts from it1 and      

strengthens the bond between4 ,the earth
 and its products are very real4  ,our  
outlook has been drawn very largely from
 the abstract4 ,not being yet prepared  
to understand the conditions of nature1 
man considered the earth to be          
inhospitable1 and he looked to the      
supernatural for relief2 and relief was 
heaven4 ,our pictures of heaven are of  
the opposites of daily experience1--of  
release1 of peace1 of joy uninterrupted4
 ,the hunting-grounds are happy and the 
satisfaction has no end4 ,the habit of  
thought has been set by this conception1
 and it colors our dealings with the    
human questions and to much extent it   
controls our practice4  ,but we begin to
 understand that the best dealing with  
problems on earth is to found it on the 
facts of earth4 ,this is the            
contribution of natural science1 however
 abstract1 to human welfare4 ,heaven is 
to be a real consequence of life on     
earth2 and we do not lessen the hope of 
heaven by increasing our affection for  

the earth1 but rather do we strengthen  
it4 ,men now forget the old images of   
heaven1 that they are mere sojourners   
and wanderers lingering for deliverance1
 pilgrims in a strange land4 ,waiting   
for this rescue1 with posture and       
formula and phrase1 we have overlooked  
the essential goodness and quickness of 
the earth and the immanence of ,god4    
,this feeling that we are pilgrims in a 
vale of tears has been enhanced by the  
wide-spread belief in the sudden ending 
of the world1 by collision or some other
 impending disaster1 and in the common  
apprehension of doom2 and lately by     
speculations as to the aridation and    
death of the planet1 to which all of us 
have given more or less credence4 ,but  
most of these notions are now considered
 to be fantastic1 and we are            
increasingly confident that the earth is
 not growing old in a human sense1 that 
its atmosphere and its water are held by
 the attraction of its mass1 and that   
the sphere is at all events so permanent

 as to make little difference in our    
philosophy and no difference in our good
 behavior4  ,i am again impressed with  
the first record in ,genesis in which   
some mighty prophet-poet began his      
account with the creation of the        
physical universe4  ,so do we forget the
 old-time importance given to mere      
personal salvation1 which was permission
 to live in heaven1 and we think more of
 our present situation1 which is the    
situation of obligation and of service2 
and he who loses his life shall save it4
  ,we begin to foresee the vast religion
 of a better social order4     ,the     
earth is holy   ,verily1 then1 the earth
 is divine1 because man did not make it4
 ,we are here1 part in the creation4 ,we
 cannot escape4 ,we are under obligation
 to take part and to do our best1 living
 with each other and with all the       
creatures4 ,we may not know the full    
plan1 but that does not alter the       
relation4 ,when once we set ourselves to
 the pleasure of our dominion1          

reverently and hopefully1 and assume all
 its responsibilities1 we shall have a  
new hold on life4  ,we shall put our    
dominion into the realm of morals4 ,it  
is now in the realm of trade4 ,this will
 be very personal morals1 but it will   
also be national and racial morals4     
,more iniquity follows the improper and 
greedy division of the resources and    
privileges of the earth than any other  
form of sinfulness4  ,if ,god created   
the earth1 so is the earth hallowed2 and
 if it is hallowed1 so must we deal with
 it devotedly and with care that we do  
not despoil it1 and mindful of our      
relations to all beings that live on it4
 ,we are to consider it religiously3    
,put off thy shoes from off thy feet1   
for the place whereon thou standest is  
holy ground4  ,the sacredness to us of  
the earth is intrinsic and inherent4 ,it
 lies in our necessary relationship and 
in the duty imposed upon us to have     
dominion1 and to exercise ourselves even
 against our own interests4 ,we may not 

waste that which is not ours4 ,to live  
in sincere relations with the company of
 created things and with conscious      
regard for the support of all men now   
and yet to come1 must be of the essence 
of righteousness4  ,this is a larger and
 more original relation than the modern 
attitude of appreciation and admiration 
of nature4 ,in the days of the          
patriarchs and prophets1 nature and man 
shared in the condemnation and likewise 
in the redemption4 ,the ground was      
cursed for ,adam's sin4 ,paul wrote that
 the whole creation groaneth and        
travaileth in pain1 and that it waiteth 
for the revealing4 ,isaiah proclaimed   
the redemption of the wilderness and the
 solitary place with the redemption of  
man1 when they shall rejoice and blossom
 as the rose1 and when the glowing sand 
shall become a pool and the thirsty     
ground springs of water4  ,the usual    
objects have their moral significance4  
,an oak-tree is to us a moral object    
because it lives its life regularly and 

fulfils its destiny4 ,in the wind and in
 the stars1 in forest and by the shore1 
there is spiritual refreshment3 ,and the
 spirit of ,god moved upon the face of  
the waters4  ,i do not mean all this1   
for our modern world1 in any vague or   
abstract way4 ,if the earth is holy1    
then the things that grow out of the    
earth are also holy4 ,they do not belong
 to man to do with them as he will4     
,dominion does not carry personal       
ownership4 ,there are many generations  
of folk yet to come after us1 who will  
have equal right with us to the products
 of the globe4 ,it would seem that a    
divine obligation rests on every soul4  
,are we to make righteous use of the    
vast accumulation of knowledge of the   
planet8 ,if so1 we must have a new      
formulation4 ,the partition of the earth
 among the millions who live on it is   
necessarily a question of morals2 and a 
society that is founded on an unmoral   
partition and use cannot itself be      
righteous and whole4     ,second1 the   

,consequences   ,i have now stated my   
purpose2 and the remainder of the little
 book will make some simple applications
 of it and draw some inferences         
therefrom4 ,there is nothing here that  
need alarm the timid1 albeit we enter a 
disputed field1 a field of opinion      
rather than of demonstration2 and if the
 reader goes with me1 ,i trust that we  
may have a pleasant journey4  ,it is to 
be a journey of recognition1 not of     
protest4 ,it is needful that we do not  
forget4  ,we are not to enter into a    
course of reasoning with those whom we  
meet on the way1 or to pause to debate  
the definitions and analyses made in    
books1 or to deny any of the            
satisfactions of tradition4 ,we shall be
 ready for impressions2 and possibly we 
shall be able to find some of the old   
truths in unfrequented places4     ,the 
habit of destruction   ,the first       
observation that must be apparent to all
 men is that our dominion has been      
mostly destructive4  ,we have been      

greatly engaged in digging up the stored
 resources1 and in destroying vast      
products of the earth for some small    
kernel that we can apply to our         
necessities or add to our enjoyments4   
,we excavate the best of the coal and   
cast away the remainder2 blast the      
minerals and metals from underneath the 
crust1 and leave the earth raw and sore2
 we box the pines for turpentine and    
abandon the growths of limitless years  
to fire and devastation2 sweep the      
forests with the besom of destruction2  
pull the fish from the rivers and ponds 
without making any adequate provision   
for renewal2 exterminate whole races of 
animals2 choke the streams with refuse  
and dross2 rob the land of its available
 stores1 denuding the surface1 exposing 
great areas to erosion4  ,nor do we     
exercise the care and thrift of good    
housekeepers4 ,we do not clean up our   
work or leave the earth in order4 ,the  
remnants and accumulation of            
mining-camps are left to ruin and decay2

 the deserted phosphate excavations are 
ragged1 barren1 and unfilled2 vast areas
 of forested lands are left in brush and
 waste1 unthoughtful of the future1     
unmindful of the years that must be     
consumed to reduce the refuse to mould  
and to cover the surface respectably1   
uncharitable to those who must clear    
away the wastes and put the place in    
order2 and so thoughtless are we with   
these natural resources that even the   
establishments that manufacture         
them--the mills1 the factories of many  
kinds--are likely to be offensive       
objects in the landscape1 unclean1      
unkempt1 displaying the unconcern of the
 owners to the obligation that the use  
of the materials imposes and to the     
sensibilities of the community for the  
way in which they handle them4 ,the     
burden of proof seems always to have    
been rested on those who partake little 
in the benefits1 although we know that  
these non-partakers have been real      
owners of the resources2 and yet so     

undeveloped has been the public         
conscience in these matters that the    
blame--if blame there be--cannot be laid
 on one group more than on the other4   
,strange it is1 however1 that we should 
not have insisted at least that those   
who appropriate the accumulations of the
 earth should complete their work1      
cleaning up the remainders1 leaving the 
areas wholesome1 inoffensive1 and safe4 
,how many and many are the years        
required to grow a forest and to fill   
the pockets of the rocks1 and how       
satisfying are the landscapes1 and yet  
how desperately soon may men reduce it  
all to ruin and to emptiness1 and how   
slatternly may they violate the scenery6
  ,all this habit of destructiveness is 
uneconomic in the best sense1 unsocial1 
unmoral4  ,society now begins to demand 
a constructive process4 ,with care and  
with regard for other men1 we must      
produce the food and the other supplies 
in regularity and sufficiency2 and we   
must clean up after our work1 that the  

earth may not be depleted1 scarred1 or  
repulsive4  ,yet there is even a more   
defenseless devastation than all this4  
,it is the organized destructiveness of 
those who would make military domination
 the major premise in the constitution  
of society1 accompanying desolation with
 viciousness and violence1 ravaging the 
holy earth1 disrespecting the works of  
the creator1 looking toward extirpation1
 confessing thereby that they do not    
know how to live in co-operation with   
their fellows2 in such situations1 every
 new implement of destruction adds to   
the guilt4  ,in times past we were moved
 by religious fanaticism1 even to the   
point of waging wars4 ,to-day we are    
moved by impulses of trade1 and we find 
ourselves plunged into a war of         
commercial frenzy2 and as it has behind 
it vaster resources and more command of 
natural forces1 so is it the most       
ferocious and wasteful that the race has
 experienced1 exceeding in its havoc the
 cataclysms of earthquake and volcano4  

,certainly we have not yet learned how  
to withstand the prosperity and the     
privileges that we have gained by the   
discoveries of science2 and certainly   
the morals of commerce has not given us 
freedom or mastery4 ,rivalry that leads 
to arms is a natural fruit of           
unrestrained rivalry in trade4  ,man has
 dominion1 but he has no commission to  
devastate3 ,and the ,lord ,god took the 
man1 and put him into the garden of     
,eden to dress it and to keep it4       
,verily1 so bountiful hath been the     
earth and so securely have we drawn from
 it our substance1 that we have taken it
 all for granted as if it were only a   
gift1 and with little care or conscious 
thought of the consequences of our use  
of it4     ,the new hold   ,we may      
distinguish three stages in our relation
 to the planet1 the collecting stage1   
the mining stage1 and the producing     
stage4 ,these overlap and perhaps are   
nowhere distinct1 and yet it serves a   
purpose to contrast them4  ,at first man

 sweeps the earth to see what he may    
gather1--game1 wood1 fruits1 fish1 fur1 
feathers1 shells on the shore4 ,a       
certain social and moral life arises out
 of this relation1 seen well in the     
woodsmen and the fishers--in whom it    
best persists to the present            
day--strong1 dogmatic1 superstitious    
folk4 ,then man begins to go beneath the
 surface to see what he can find1--iron 
and precious stones1 the gold of ,ophir1
 coal1 and many curious treasures4 ,this
 develops the exploiting faculties1 and 
leads men into the uttermost parts4 ,in 
both these stages the elements of waste 
and disregard have been heavy4          
,finally1 we begin to enter the         
productive stage1 whereby we secure     
supplies by controlling the conditions  
under which they grow1 wasting little1  
harming not4 ,farming has been very much
 a mining process1 the utilizing of     
fertility easily at hand and the        
moving-on to lands unspoiled of quick   
potash and nitrogen4 ,now it begins to  

be really productive and constructive1  
with a range of responsible and         
permanent morals4 ,we rear the domestic 
animals with precision4 ,we raise crops1
 when we will1 almost to a nicety4 ,we  
plant fish in lakes and streams to some 
extent but chiefly to provide more game 
rather than more human food1 for in this
 range we are yet mostly in the         
collecting or hunter stage4 ,if the     
older stages were strongly expressed in 
the character of the people1 so will    
this new stage be expressed2 and so is  
it that we are escaping the primitive   
and should be coming into a new         
character4 ,we shall find our rootage in
 the soil4  ,this new character1 this   
clearer sense of relationship with the  
earth1 should express itself in all the 
people and not exclusively in farming   
people and their like4 ,it should be a  
popular character--or a national        
character if we would limit the         
discussion to one people--and not a     
class character4 ,now1 here lies a      

difficulty and here is a reason for     
writing this book3 the population of the
 earth is increasing1 the relative      
population of farmers is decreasing1    
people are herding in cities1 we have a 
city mind1 and relatively fewer people  
are brought into touch with the earth in
 any real way4 ,so is it incumbent on us
 to take special pains--now that we see 
the new time--that all the people1 or as
 many of them as possible1 shall have   
contact with the earth and that the     
earth righteousness shall be abundantly 
taught4  ,i hasten to say that ,i am not
 thinking of any back-to-the-farm       
movement to bring about the results we  
seek4 ,necessarily1 the proportion of   
farmers will decrease4 ,not so many are 
needed1 relatively1 to produce the      
requisite supplies from the earth4      
,agriculture makes a great contribution 
to human progress by releasing men for  
the manufactures and the trades4 ,in    
proportion as the ratio of farmers      
decreases is it important that we       

provide them the best of opportunities  
and encouragement3 they must be better  
and better men4 ,and if we are to secure
 our moral connection with the planet to
 a large extent through them1 we can see
 that they bear a relation to society in
 general that we have overlooked4  ,even
 the farming itself is changing         
radically in character4 ,it ceases to be
 an occupation to gain sustenance and   
becomes a business4 ,we apply to it the 
general attitudes of commerce4 ,we must 
be alert to see that it does not lose   
its capacity for spiritual contact4     
,how we may achieve a more wide-spread  
contact with the earth on the part of   
all the people without making them      
farmers1 ,i shall endeavor to suggest as
 ,i proceed2 in fact1 this is my theme4 
,dominion means mastery2 we may make the
 surface of the earth much what we will2
 we can govern the way in which we shall
 contemplate it4 ,we are probably near  
something like a stable occupancy4 ,it  
is not to be expected that there will be

 vast shifting of cities as the contest 
for the mastery of the earth            
proceeds1--probably nothing like the    
loss of ,tyre and ,carthage1 and of the 
commercial glory of ,venice4 ,in fact1  
we shall have a progressive occupancy4  
,the greater the population1 the greater
 will be the demands on the planet2 and1
 moreover1 every new man will make more 
demands than his father made1 for he    
will want more to satisfy him4 ,we are  
to take from the earth much more than we
 have ever taken before1 but it will be 
taken in a new way and with better      
intentions4 ,it will be seen1 therefore1
 that we are not here dealing narrowly  
with an occupation but with something   
very fundamental to our life on the     
planet4  ,we are not to look for our    
permanent civilization to rest on any   
species of robber-economy4 ,no flurry of
 coal-mining1 or gold-fever1 or         
rubber-collecting in the tropics1 or    
excitement of prospecting for new finds 
or even locating new lands1 no ravishing

 of the earth or monopolistic control of
 its bounties1 will build a stable      
society4 ,so is much of our economic and
 social fabric transitory4 ,it is not by
 accident that a very distinct form of  
society is developing in the great      
farming regions of the ,mississippi     
,valley and in other comparable places2 
the exploiting and promoting occupancy  
of those lands is passing and a stable  
progressive development appears4 ,we    
have been obsessed of the passion to    
cover everything at once1 to skin the   
earth1 to pass on1 even when there was  
no necessity for so doing4 ,it is a vast
 pity that this should ever have been   
the policy of government in giving away 
great tracts of land by lottery1 as if  
our fingers would burn if we held the   
lands inviolate until needed by the     
natural process of settlement4 ,the     
people should be kept on their lands    
long enough to learn how to use them4   
,but very well3 we have run with the    
wind1 we have staked the lands2 now we  

shall be real farmers and real          
conquerors4 ,not all lands are equally  
good for farming1 and some lands will   
never be good for farming2 but whether  
in ,iowa1 or ,new ,england1 or old      
,asia1 farming land may develop         
character in the people4  ,my reader    
must not infer that we have arrived at a
 permanent agriculture1 although we     
begin now to see the importance of a    
permanent land occupancy4 ,probably we  
have not yet evolved a satisfying       
husbandry that will maintain itself     
century by century1 without loss and    
without the ransacking of the ends of   
the earth for fertilizer materials to   
make good our deficiencies4 ,all the    
more is it important that the problem be
 elevated into the realm of             
statesmanship and of morals4 ,neither   
must he infer that the resources of the 
earth are to be locked up beyond contact
 and use 7for the contact and use will  
be morally regulated74 ,but no system of
 brilliant exploitation1 and no         

accidental scratching of the surface of 
the earth1 and no easy appropriation of 
stored materials can suffice us in the  
good days to come4 ,city1 country1 this 
class and that class1 all fall and merge
 before the common necessity4  ,it is   
often said that the farmer is our       
financial mainstay2 so in the good      
process of time will he be a moral      
mainstay1 for ultimately finance and    
social morals must coincide4  ,the gifts
 are to be used for service and for     
satisfaction1 and not for wealth4 ,very 
great wealth introduces too many        
intermediaries1 too great indirectness1 
too much that is extrinsic1 too frequent
 hindrances and superficialities4 ,it   
builds a wall about the man1 and too    
often does he receive his impressions of
 the needs of the world from satellites 
and sycophants4 ,it is significant that 
great wealth1 if it contributes much to 
social service1 usually accomplishes the
 result by endowing others to work4 ,the
 gift of the products of the earth was  

for meat3 nothing was said about riches4
  ,yet the very appropriation or use of 
natural resources may be the means of   
directing the mind of the people back to
 the native situations4 ,we have the    
opportunity to make the forthcoming     
development of water-power1 for example1
 such an agency for wholesome training4 
,whenever we can appropriate without    
despoliation or loss1 or without a      
damaging monopoly1 we tie the people to 
the backgrounds4  ,in the background is 
the countryman2 and how is the          
countryman to make use of the rain and  
the abounding soil1 and the varied      
wonder of plant and animal amidst which 
he lives1 that he may arrive at kinship8
 ,we are teaching him how to bring some 
of these things under the dominion of   
his hands1 how to measure and to weigh  
and to judge4 ,this will give him the   
essential physical mastery4 ,but beyond 
this1 how shall he take them into       
himself1 how shall he make them to be of
 his spirit1 how shall he complete his  

dominion8 ,how shall he become the man  
that his natural position requires of   
him8 ,this will come slowly1 ah1        
yes6--slowly4 ,the people--the great    
striving self-absorbed throng of the    
people--they do not know what we mean   
when we talk like this1 they hear only  
so many fine words4 ,the naturist knows 
that the time will come slowly1--not yet
 are we ready for fulfilment2 he knows  
that we cannot regulate the cosmos1 or  
even the natural history of the people1 
by enactments4 ,slowly3 by removing     
handicaps here and there2 by selection  
of the folk in a natural process1 to    
eliminate the unresponsive2 by teaching1
 by suggestion2 by a public recognition 
of the problem1 even though not one of  
us sees the end of it4  ,i hope my      
reader now sees where ,i am leading him4
 ,he sees that ,i am not thinking merely
 of instructing the young in the names  
and habits of birds and flowers and     
other pleasant knowledge1 although this 
works strongly toward the desired end2  

nor of any movement merely to have      
gardens1 or to own farms1 although this 
is desirable provided one is qualified  
to own a farm2 nor of rhapsodies on the 
beauties of nature4 ,nor am ,i thinking 
of any new plan or any novel kind of    
institution or any new agency2 rather   
shall we do better to escape some of the
 excessive institutionalism and         
organization4 ,we are so accustomed to  
think in terms of organized politics and
 education and religion and             
philanthropies that when we detach      
ourselves we are said to lack           
definiteness4 ,it is the personal       
satisfaction in the earth to which we   
are born1 and the quickened             
responsibility1 the whole relation1     
broadly developed1 of the man and of all
 men1--it is this attitude that we are  
to discuss4  ,the years pass and they   
grow into centuries4 ,we see more       
clearly4 ,we are to take a new hold4    
,the brotherhood relation   ,a          
constructive and careful handling of the

 resources of the earth is impossible   
except on a basis of large co-operation 
and of association for mutual welfare4  
,the great inventions and discoveries of
 recent time have extensive social      
significance4  ,yet we have other       
relations than with the physical and    
static materials4 ,we are parts in a    
living sensitive creation4 ,the theme of
 evolution has overturned our attitude  
toward this creation4 ,the living       
creation is not exclusively man-centred3
 it is bio-centric4 ,we perceive the    
essential continuity in nature1 arising 
from within rather than from without1   
the forms of life proceeding upwardly   
and onwardly in something very like a   
mighty plan of sequence1 man being one  
part in the process4 ,we have genetic   
relation with all living things1 and our
 aristocracy is the aristocracy of      
nature4 ,we can claim no gross          
superiority and no isolated             
self-importance4 ,the creation1 and not 
man1 is the norm4 ,even now do we begin 

to guide our practises and our speech by
 our studies of what we still call the  
lower creation4 ,we gain a good         
perspective on ourselves4  ,if we are   
parts in the evolution1 and if the      
universe1 or even the earth1 is not made
 merely as a footstool1 or as a theatre 
for man1 so do we lose our cosmic       
selfishness and we find our place in the
 plan of things4 ,we are emancipated    
from ignorance and superstition and     
small philosophies4 ,the present        
wide-spread growth of the feeling of    
brotherhood would have been impossible  
in a self-centred creation3 the way has 
been prepared by the discussion of      
evolution1 which is the major biological
 contribution to human welfare and      
progress4 ,this is the philosophy of the
 oneness in nature and the unity in     
living things4     ,the farmer's        
relation   ,the surface of the earth is 
particularly within the care of the     
farmer4 ,he keeps it for his own        
sustenance and gain1 but his gain is    

also the gain of all the rest of us4 ,at
 the best1 he accumulates little to     
himself4 ,the successful farmer is the  
one who produces more than he needs for 
his support2 and the overplus he does   
not keep2 and1 moreover1 his own needs  
are easily satisfied4 ,it is of the     
utmost consequence that the man next the
 earth shall lead a fair and simple     
life2 for in riotous living he might    
halt many good supplies that now go to  
his fellows4  ,it is a public duty so to
 train the farmer that he shall         
appreciate his guardianship4 ,he is     
engaged in a quasi-public business4 ,he 
really does not even own his land4 ,he  
does not take his land with him1 but    
only the personal development that he   
gains from it4 ,he cannot annihilate his
 land1 as another might destroy all his 
belongings4 ,he is the agent or the     
representative of society to guard and  
to subdue the surface of the earth2 and 
he is the agent of the divinity that    
made it4 ,he must exercise his dominion 

with due regard to all these            
obligations4 ,he is a trustee4 ,the     
productiveness of the earth must        
increase from generation to generation3 
this also is his obligation4 ,he must   
handle all his materials1 remembering   
man and remembering ,god4 ,a man cannot 
be a good farmer unless he is a         
religious man4  ,if the farmer is       
engaged in a quasi-public business1     
shall we undertake to regulate him8     
,this relationship carries a vast       
significance to the social order1 and it
 must color our attitude toward the man 
on the land4 ,we are now in that epoch  
of social development when we desire to 
regulate by law everything that is      
regulatable and the other things        
besides4 ,it is recently proposed that  
the ,congress shall pass a law          
regulating the cropping scheme of the   
farmer for the protection of soil       
fertility4 ,this follows the precedent  
of the regulation1 by enactment1 of     
trusts and public utilities4 ,it is     

fortunate that such a law cannot be     
passed1 and could not be enforced if it 
were passed2 but this and related       
proposals are crude expressions of the  
growing feeling that the farmer owes an 
obligation to society1 and that this    
obligation must be enforced and the     
tiller of the soil be held to account4  
,we shall produce a much better and     
safer man when we make him              
self-controlling by developing his sense
 of responsibility than when we regulate
 him by exterior enactments4  ,in the   
realm of control of the farming         
occupation we shall invoke other than   
legal means1 and perhaps these means    
will be suggestive for other situations4
 ,these means may be somewhat indefinite
 in the law-book sense1 but they may    
attain to a better human result4 ,we    
shall reach the question by surer ways  
than the crudities of legislation4 ,we  
shall reach the man1 in this field1     
rather than his business4 ,we have begun
 it by accepting it as one part of our  

duty to the race to provide liberally at
 public expense for the special         
education of the man on the land4 ,this 
is the reason1 even if we have not      
formulated it to ourselves1 why society 
is willing to go farther in the         
education of the farming people than in 
the popular education of other ranges of
 the people4 ,this1 of course1 is the   
fundamental way2 and if there are any   
governments that attempt to safeguard   
this range directly by laws rather than 
by education1 then they have not arrived
 at a long view of the situation4  ,we  
invoke regulatory law for the control of
 the corporate activities2 but we must  
not forget the other kinds of activities
 contributing to the making of society1 
nor attempt to apply to them the same   
methods of correction4  ,into this      
secular and more or less technical      
education we are now to introduce the   
element of moral obligation1 that the   
man may understand his peculiar         
contribution and responsibility to      

society2 but this result cannot be      
attained until the farmer and every one 
of us recognize the holiness of the     
earth4  ,the farmer and every one of us3
 every citizen should be put right      
toward the planet1 should be quicked to 
his relationship to his natural         
background4 ,the whole body of public   
sentiment should be sympathetic with the
 man who works and administers the land 
for us2 and this requires understanding4
 ,we have heard much about the marginal 
man1 but the first concern of society   
should be for the bottom man4  ,if this 
philosophy should really be translated  
into action1 the farmer would nowhere be
 a peasant1 forming merely a caste1 and 
that a low one1 among his fellows4 ,he  
would be an independent co-operating    
citizen partaking fully of the fruits of
 his labor1 enjoying the social rewards 
of his essential position1 being        
sustained and protected by a body of    
responsive public opinion4 ,the farmer  
cannot keep the earth for us without an 

enlightened and very active support from
 every other person1 and without        
adequate safeguards from exploitation   
and from unessential commercial         
pressure4  ,this social support requires
 a ready response on the part of the    
farmer2 and he must also be developed   
into his position by a kind of training 
that will make him quickly and naturally
 responsive to it4 ,the social          
fascination of the town will always be  
greater than that of the open country4  
,the movements are more rapid1 more     
picturesque1 have more color and more   
vivacity4 ,it is not to be expected that
 we can overcome this fascination and   
safeguard the country boy and girl      
merely by introducing more showy or     
active enterprises into the open        
country4 ,we must develop a new         
background for the country youth1       
establish new standards1 and arouse a   
new point of view4 ,the farmer will not 
need all the things that the city man   
thinks the farmer needs4 ,we must       

stimulate his moral response1 his       
appreciation of the worthiness of the   
things in which he lives1 and increase  
his knowledge of all the objects and    
affairs amongst which he moves4 ,the    
backbone of the rural question is at the
 bottom a moral problem4  ,we do not yet
 know whether the race can permanently  
endure urban life1 or whether it must be
 constantly renewed from the vitalities 
in the rear4 ,we know that the farms and
 the back spaces have been the mother of
 the race4 ,we know that the exigencies 
and frugalities of life in these        
backgrounds beget men and women to be   
serious and steady and to know the value
 of every hour and of every coin that   
they earn2 and whenever they are        
properly trained1 these folk recognize  
the holiness of the earth4  ,for some   
years ,i have had the satisfaction to   
speak to rural folk in many places on   
the holy earth and to make some of the  
necessary applications4 ,everywhere ,i  
have met the heartiest assent from these

 people4 ,specially do they respond to  
the suggestion that if the earth is     
hallowed1 so are the native products of 
the earth hallowed2 and they like to    
have the mystery--which is the essential
 sentiment--of these things brought home
 to them with frequency4 ,i will here   
let my reader have a letter that one of 
these persons wrote me1 and ,i print it 
without change4 ,on inquiry1 the writer 
of it told me that he is a farmer1 has  
never followed any other occupation1 was
 brought up in the woods1 and has had   
practically no education4 ,i did not ask
 him1 but ,i judge from the narrative   
style that he has been a reader or a    
hearer of the ,old ,testament2 and here 
is the letter3      ,as you say1 too    
many people confound farming1 with that 
sordid1     selfish1 money-getting game1
 called business1 whereas1 the          
farmer's position is administrative1    
being in a way a dispenser of     the   
,mysteries of ,god1 for they are        
mysteries4 ,every apple is a            

mystery1 and every potato is a mystery1 
and every ear of corn is a     mystery1 
and every pound of butter is a mystery1 
and when a farmer     is not able to    
understand these things he is out of    
place4      ,the farmer uses the soil   
and the rains and the snows and the     
frosts     and the winds and the sun2   
these are also the implements of the    
,almighty1 the only tools ,he uses1 and 
while you were talking that     day1 it 
brought to mind the recollection of an  
account ,i once read     of an          
occurrence which took place in the      
vicinity of ,carlsruhe1 in     ,germany1
 about thirty years ago1 and ,i want to 
tell you about it4 ,an     old man and  
his two sons1 who were laborers on a    
large farm there1     went out one      
morning to mow peas1 with scythes1 as   
was the method in     use at that time1 
and soon after they began work1 they    
noticed a     large active man coming   
along a pathway which bordered the field
 on     one side1 and when he came to   

where they were1 he spoke to them1      
very pleasantly1 and asked them some    
questions about their work and          
taking the scythe from the hands of the 
older man he mowed some with     it and 
finally returned it and went his way4   
,after a time when the     owner of the 
farm came out to oversee the work they  
told him of the     occurrence1 and     
asked him if he could tell who the      
stranger might     be1 and he told them 
that he was ,prince ,bismarck1 the      
,chancellor of     the empire1 who was  
staying at his country home at          
,carlsruhe1 and     was out for his     
morning walk1 and they were astonished1 
and the old     man was filled with a   
great pride1 and he felt himself        
elevated     above all his fellows1 and 
he wouldn't have sold his scythe for    
half     the money in ,germany1 and his 
descendants to this day boast of the    
fact that their father and ,bismarck    
mowed with the same scythe4 ,now     if 
it was sufficient to stimulate the pride

 of this old laborer1 if     it was     
sufficient to create for him a private  
aristocracy1 if it was     sufficient to
 convert that old rusty scythe into a   
priceless     heirloom to be treasured  
up and transmitted from father to son1  
if     it was sufficient for all these  
things that he had once held a          
momentarily unimportant association with
 the man of blood and     iron1 how much
 more inconceivably and immeasurably    
high and exalted     is the station of  
the farmer who is1 in a measure1 a      
fellow     craftsman of the ,god of     
,nature1 of the great ,first ,cause of  
all     things1 and people don't know   
it4 ,no wonder the boys leave the farm6 
,the underlying training of a people    
,this1 then1 is the landsman's          
obligation1 and his joyful privilege4   
,but it must not be supposed that he    
alone bears the responsibility to       
maintain the holiness of the divine     
earth4 ,it is the obligation also of all
 of us1 since every one is born to the  

earth and lives upon it1 and since every
 one must react to it to the extent of  
his place and capabilities4 ,this being 
so1 then it is a primary need that we   
shall place at the use of the people a  
kind of education that shall quicken    
these attachments4  ,certainly all means
 of education are useful1 and every     
means should be developed to its best2  
and it is not to be expected that all   
the people shall pursue a single means3 
but to the nation and to the race a     
fundamental training must be provided4  
,we are now in the time of developing a 
technical education in agriculture1 to  
the end that we may produce our land    
supplies4 ,already this education is    
assuming broad aspects1 and we begin to 
see that it has very important bearing  
on public policies4 ,it is a new form of
 exercise in natural science1--the old  
education in this great realm having    
become so specialized and               
departmentalized as to lose much of its 
value as a means of popular training4   

,it is a happy augury that in ,north    
,america so many public men and         
administrators have taken the large view
 of education by means of agriculture1  
desiring1 while training farmers or     
those who would be farmers1 to make it a
 means of bringing the understanding of 
the people back to the land4 ,the       
,americans are making a very remarkable 
contribution here1 in a spirit of real  
statesmanship4 ,in the long run1 this   
procedure will produce a spirit in the  
people that will have far-reaching      
importance in the development of        
national character1 and in a relation to
 the backgrounds of which very few of us
 yet have vision4  ,it will be fortunate
 if we can escape the formalizing and   
professionalizing of this education1    
that has cast such a blight on most of  
the older means of training the young1  
and if we can keep it democratic and    
free in spirit4  ,we shall need to do   
the same in all the subjects that lie at
 the foundations1--in all the other     

crafts2 all these crafts are of the     
earth4 ,they support the physical man   
and the social fabric1 and make the     
conditions out of which all the highest 
achievements may come4  ,every person in
 a democracy has a right to be educated 
by these means2 and a people living in a
 democracy must of necessity understand 
the significance of such education4     
,this education should result or        
function politically4 ,it is not        
sufficient to train technically in the  
trades and crafts and arts to the end of
 securing greater economic              
efficiency1--this may be accomplished in
 a despotism and result in no           
self-action on the part of the people4  
,every democracy must reach far beyond  
what is commonly known as economic      
efficiency1 and do everything it can to 
enable those in the backgrounds to      
maintain their standing and their pride 
and to partake in the making of         
political affairs4     ,the neighbor's  
access to the earth   ,when one really  

feels the response to the native earth1 
one feels also the obligation and the   
impulse to share it with the neighbor4  
,the earth is not selfish4 ,it is open  
and free to all4 ,it invites everywhere4
 ,the naturist is not selfish1--he      
shares all his joys and discoveries1    
even to the extent of publishing them4  
,the farmer is not selfish with his     
occupation1--he freely aids every one or
 any one to engage in his occupation1   
even if that one becomes his competitor4
 ,but occupations that are some degrees 
removed from the earth may display      
selfishness2 trade and1 to a large      
extent1 manufacture are selfish1 and    
they lock themselves in4 ,even the      
exploiting of the resources of the earth
 may be selfish1 in the taking of the   
timber and the coal1 the water-powers   
and the minerals1 for all this is likely
 to develop to a species of plunder4    
,the naturist desires to protect the    
plants and the animals and the          
situations for those less fortunate and 

for those who come after4 ,there are    
lumbermen and miners with the finest    
sense of obligation4 ,there are other   
men who would take the last nugget and  
destroy the last bole4  ,we are to      
recognize the essential integrity of the
 farming occupation1 when developed     
constructively1 as contrasted with the  
vast system of improbity and dishonor   
that arises from depredation and from   
the taking of booty4  ,the best kind of 
community interest attaches to the      
proper use and partitioning of the      
earth1 a communism that is dissociated  
from propaganda and programs4 ,the      
freedom of the earth is not the freedom 
of license3 there is always the thought 
of the others that are dependent on it4 
,it is the freedom of utilization for   
needs and natural desires1 without      
regard to one's place among one's       
fellows1 or even to one's condition of  
degradation or state of sinfulness4 ,all
 men are the same when they come back to
 the meadows1 to the hills1 and to the  

deep woods3 ,he maketh his sun to rise  
on the evil and the good1 and sendeth   
rain on the just and the unjust4  ,the  
lesson of the growing abounding earth is
 of liberality for all1 and never       
exploitation or very exclusive          
opportunities for the few4 ,even if the 
weaker anywhere perish in the contest   
for food1 they are nevertheless given   
the opportunity to contest on terms     
equal to their abilities2 and at all    
events1 we come1 in the human sphere1 to
 the domination of sweet reason rather  
than to competition in sheer force4     
,when1 by means of reasonable education1
 this simple relation is understood by  
mankind and begins to express itself    
spontaneously1 we shall find our        
voluminous complex of laws to regulate  
selfishness gradually disappearing and  
passing into the limbo4  ,it is now easy
 to understand the sinfulness of vast   
private estates that shut up expanses of
 the surface of the earth from the reach
 and enjoyment of others that are born  

similarly to the privileges of the      
planet4 ,there is no warrant in nature  
for guarantee deeds to such estates4 ,it
 is true1 of course1 that land-estates  
should not be equal1 for capacities for 
use are not equal1 and abilities and    
deserts are not equal4 ,it is legitimate
 to reward those who otherwise render   
great service1 and this reward may lie  
in unusual privileges4 ,the present     
emoluments in the way of incomes bear   
little relation to service or even to   
merit4  ,we have not yet escaped the    
idea that vested rights--and            
particularly personal realty--are       
inviolable4 ,certainly these rights must
 be protected by law1 otherwise there   
can be no stability and regularity in   
affairs2 but there is no inalienable    
right in the ownership of the surface of
 the earth4 ,readjustments must come1   
and even now they are coming slowly1 and
 here and there in the interest of the  
neighbor2 and in the end there will be  
no private monopoly of public or natural

 resources4  ,the cure for these ills   
does not lie1 however1 in the ownership 
of all the land by the government1 at   
least not in our time and perhaps never4
 ,it is well for a person to have his   
own plot for his lifetime1 with the     
right to use it as he will so long as he
 does not offend1 or does not despoil it
 for those who follow3 it steadies him1 
and it identifies him with a definite   
program in life4  ,we usually speak as  
if all good results in the distribution 
of the natural bounty will ensue if the 
government or the state owns the        
resources2 but government ownership of  
resources and direction of industries   
may not mean freedom or escape for the  
people4 ,it depends entirely on the kind
 of government1--not on its name or     
description1 but on the extent to which 
the people have been trained to partake 
on their own initiative4 ,the government
 may be an autocracy or only another    
form of monopoly4  ,the aristocracy of  
land has much to its credit4 ,great     

gains in human accomplishment have come 
out of it2 but this does not justify it 
for the future4 ,the aristocracy of land
 is a very dangerous power in human     
affairs4 ,it is all the more dangerous  
when associated with aristocracy of     
birth and of factitious social position1
 which usually accompany it4 ,a people  
may be ever so free in its advantages   
and in its theoretical political        
organization1 and yet suffer            
overwhelming bondage if its land is tied
 up in an aristocratic system1 and      
particularly if that system is connected
 into a social aristocracy4 ,and        
whenever rigid aristocracy in land      
connects itself with the close control  
of politics1 the subjection becomes     
final and complete4  ,what lies within a
 nation or a people may lie in enlarged 
form between the nations or the peoples4
 ,neighborliness is international4      
,contest for land and sea is at the     
basis of wars4 ,recognizing the right of
 any people to its own life1 we must    

equally recognize its right to a        
sufficient part of the surface of the   
earth4 ,we must learn how to subdivide  
it on the basis of neighborliness1      
friendship1 and conference2 if we cannot
 learn this1 then we cannot be neighbors
 but only enemies4 ,the proposal now    
before ,congress to cede to ,canada the 
,alaskan ,panhandle1 or a part of it1 is
 an evidence of this growth of          
international morals1 extended to the   
very basis on which nations have been   
the least ready to co-operate4  ,if we  
may fraternalize territory1 so shall we 
fraternalize commerce4 ,no people may   
rightly be denied the privilege to trade
 with all other peoples4 ,all kinds of  
useful interchange are civilizers and   
peacemakers2 and if we carry ourselves  
to others when we carry our produce and 
our wares1 so do any of us need that    
others shall bring their produce and    
their wares to us4 ,it would be a sorry 
people that purchased no supplies from  
without4 ,every people1 small or large1 

has right of access to the sea1 for the 
sea belongs to mankind4 ,it follows that
 no people has a right to deprive any   
other people of the shore1 if that      
people desires the contact4  ,we now    
begin to understand the awful sin of    
partitioning the earth by force4        
,the subdividing of the land   ,the     
question then arises whether lands and  
other natural resources shall now be    
divided and redistributed in order that 
the share-and-share of the earth's      
patrimony shall be morally just4        
,undoubtedly the logic of the situation 
makes for many personal points of very  
close contact with the mother earth1 and
 contact is usually most definite and   
best when it results from what we       
understand as ownership4 ,this1 in      
practice1 suggests many small parcels of
 land--for those who would have their   
contact by means of land1 which is the  
directest means--under personal fee4    
,but due provision must always be made1 
as ,i have already indicated1 for the   

man who makes unusual contribution to   
the welfare of his fellows1 that he may 
be allowed to extend his service and    
attain his own full development2 and    
moreover1 an established order may not  
be overturned suddenly and completely   
without much damage1 not only to        
personal interests but to society4      
,every person should have the right and 
the privilege to a personal use of some 
part of the earth2 and naturally the    
extent of his privilege must be         
determined by his use of it4  ,it is    
urged that lands can be most            
economically administered in very large 
units and under corporate management2   
but the economic results are not the    
most important results to be secured1   
although at present they are the most   
stressed4 ,the ultimate good in the use 
of land is the development of the       
people2 it may be better that more      
persons have contact with it than that  
it shall be executively more effectively
 administered4 ,the morals of land      

management is more important than the   
economics of land management2 and of    
course my reader is aware that by morals
 ,i mean the results that arise from a  
right use of the earth rather than the  
formal attitudes toward standardized or 
conventional codes of conduct4  ,if the 
moral and the economic ends can be      
secured simultaneously1 as eventually   
they will be secured1 the perfect       
results will come to pass2 but any line 
of development founded on accountant    
economics alone will fail4  ,here ,i    
must pause for an explanation in        
self-defense1 for my reader may think ,i
 advise the little farm well tilled that
 has so much captured the public mind4  
,so far from giving such advice1 ,i am  
not thinking exclusively of farming when
 ,i speak of the partitioning of the    
land4 ,one may have land merely to live 
on4 ,another may have a wood to wander  
in4 ,one may have a spot on which to    
make a garden4 ,another may have a      
shore1 and another a retreat in the     

mountains or in some far space4 ,much of
 the earth can never be farmed or mined 
or used for timber1 and yet these       
supposed waste places may be very real  
assets to the race3 we shall learn this 
in time4 ,i am glad to see these        
outlying places set aside as public     
reserves2 and yet we must not so        
organize and tie up the far spaces as to
 prevent persons of little means from   
securing small parcels4 ,these persons  
should have land that they can handle   
and manipulate1 in which they may dig1  
on which they may plant trees and build 
cabins1 and which they may feel is      
theirs to keep and to master1 and which 
they are not obliged to improve4 ,in the
 parks and reserves the land may be     
available only to look at1 or as a      
retreat in which one may secure         
permission to camp4 ,the regulations are
 necessary for these places1 but these  
places are not sufficient4  ,if it were 
possible for every person to own a tree 
and to care for it1 the good results    

would be beyond estimation4  ,now1      
farming is a means of support2 and in   
this case1 the economic possibilities of
 a particular piece of land are of      
primary consequence4 ,of course1 the    
most complete permanent contact with the
 earth is by means of farming1 when one 
makes a living from the land2 this      
should produce better results than      
hunting or sport2 but one must learn how
 to make this connection4 ,it is        
possible to hoe potatoes and to hear the
 birds sing at the same time1 although  
our teaching has not much developed this
 completeness in the minds of the       
people4  ,i hope1 therefore1 that the   
farmer's piece of land will be          
economically good 7that it may make him 
a living and produce a surplus for some 
of the rest of us71 and that the farmer 
may be responsive to his situation4 ,the
 size of the farm that is to support a  
family1 and the kinds of crops that     
shall be grown and even the yields that 
shall be secured to the acre1 are       

technical problems of agriculture4 ,in  
this ,new ,world1 with expensive labor  
and still with cheap land1 we cannot yet
 afford to produce the high yields of   
some of the ,old ,world places1--it may 
be better to till more land with less   
yield to the acre4 ,but all this is     
aside from my present purpose2 and this 
purpose is to suggest the very real     
importance of making it possible for an 
increasing proportion of the people to  
have close touch with the earth in their
 own rights and in their own names4  ,we
 recognize different grades or kinds of 
land occupancy1 some of it being        
proprietorship and some of it tenancy   
and some of it mere shareholding4 ,thus 
far have we spoken of the partitioning  
of the land mostly in its large social  
and political relations2 but to society 
also belongs the fertility of the land1 
and all efforts to conserve this        
fertility are public questions in the   
best sense4 ,in ,america we think of    
tenant occupancy of land as dangerous   

because it does not safeguard fertility2
 in fact1 it may waste fertility4 ,this 
is because the practice in tenancy does 
not recognize the public interest in    
fertility1 and the contract or agreement
 is made merely between the landowner   
and the tenant1 and is largely an       
arrangement for skinning the land4 ,it  
is only when the land itself is a party 
in the contract 7when posterity is      
considered7 that tenancy is safe4 ,then 
the tenant is obliged to fertilize the  
land1 to practise certain rotations1 and
 otherwise to conserve fertility1       
returning to the land the manurial value
 of products that are sold4 ,when such  
contracts are made and enforced1 tenancy
 farming does not deplete the land more 
than other farming1 as the experience in
 some countries demonstrates4 ,it is    
hardly to be expected1 however1 that    
tenant occupancy will give the man as   
close moral contact with the earth and  
its materials as will ownership2 yet a  
well-developed tenancy is better than   

absentee farming by persons who live in 
town and run the farm by temporary hired
 help4 ,the tenancy in the ,united      
,states is partly a preliminary stage to
 ownership3 if we can fulfil the moral  
obligation to society in the conserving 
of fertility and other natural          
resources1 tenancy may be considered as 
a means to an end4 ,persons who work the
 land should have the privilege of      
owning it4  ,it may be urged by those   
who contend that land should be held by 
society1 that this regulation of tenancy
 provides a means of administering all  
farm lands by government in the interest
 of maintenance of fertility4 ,leaving  
aside the primary desirability1 as ,i   
see it1 of reserving individual         
initiative1 it is to be said that this  
kind of regulation of the tenant is     
possible only with a live-stock         
husbandry2 nor do we yet have sufficient
 knowledge to enable us to project a    
legal system for all kinds of           
agriculture2 nor again is it applicable 

to widely differing conditions and      
regions4 ,a keener sense of             
responsibility will enable owner and    
tenant to work out better methods in all
 cases1 but it is now impossible to     
incorporate complete control methods    
into successful legislative regulations4
 ,the increasing competition will make  
it ever more difficult for the careless 
man to make a good living by farming1   
and he will be driven from the business2
 or if he is not driven out1 society    
will take away his privilege4  ,yet we  
are not to think of society as founded  
wholly on small separate tracts1 or     
family farms1 occupied by persons who   
live merely in contentment2 this would  
mean that all landsmen would be         
essentially laborers4 ,we need to hold  
on the land many persons who possess    
large powers of organization1 who are   
managers1 who can handle affairs in a   
bold way3 it would be fatal to the best 
social and spiritual results if such    
persons could find no adequate          

opportunities on the land and were      
forced into other occupations4          
,undoubtedly we shall find ourselves    
with very unlike land units1 encouraged 
and determined by the differing         
conditions and opportunities in         
different regions2 and thereby shall we 
also avoid the great danger of making   
our fundamental occupation to produce a 
uniform and narrow class spirit4  ,we   
need the great example of persons who   
live separately on their lands1 who     
desire to abide1 who are serious in the 
business1 and who have sufficient       
proprietary rights to enable them to    
handle the natural resources            
responsibly4 ,there is a type of        
well-intentioned writers that would have
 the farmers live in centres in order   
that they may have what are called      
social advantages1 betaking themselves  
every morning to the fields when the dew
 is on the grass and the birds sing1    
hastening back every evening 7probably  
when the clock points to five7 to engage

 in the delightful delirium of          
card-parties and moving-picture shows   
7of course gathering the golden harvest 
in the meantime74 ,other writers are to 
have the farms so small that the        
residences will be as close as on a     
village street1 and a trolley-car will  
run through1 and ,i suppose the band    
will play6     ,a new map   ,if1 then1  
we are to give the people access to the 
holy earth1 it means not only a new     
assent on the part of society but a new 
way of partitioning the surface4 ,this  
is true whether we consider the subject 
wholly from the view-point of making    
natural resources utilizable or from the
 added desire to let the people out to  
those resources4  ,the organization of  
any affair or enterprise determines to a
 great extent the character of the      
result2 and the organization rests      
directly on the subdivision into parts4 
,the dividing of a business into        
separate responsibilities of different  
departments and sub-departments makes   

for easy access and for what we now know
 as efficiency2 the dividing of a nation
 into states or provinces and counties  
and many lesser units makes political   
life possible2 the setting off of a     
man's farm into fields1 with lanes and  
roads connecting1 makes a working       
enterprise4 ,the more accurately these  
subdivisions follow natural and living  
necessities1 the greater will be the    
values and the satisfactions that result
 from the undertaking4  ,here is the    
open country1 behind the great cities   
and the highly specialized industries4  
,there are hills in it1 great and small4
 ,there are forests here1 none there2   
sands that nobody wants2 fertile lands  
that everybody wants2 shores inviting   
trade2 mineral wealth2 healing waters2  
power in streams2 fish in ponds and     
lakes2 building stone2 swamps abounding 
in life2 wild corners that stimulate    
desire2 sceneries that take the soul    
into the far places4 ,these are the     
fundamental reserves and the            

backgrounds4 ,the first responsibility  
of any society is to protect them1      
husband them1 bring them into use1 and  
at the same time to teach the people    
what they mean4  ,to bring them into    
use1 and1 at the same time1 to protect  
them from rapacious citizens who have   
small social conscience1 it is necessary
 to have good access4 ,it is necessary  
to have roads4 ,these roads should be   
laid where the resources exist1 direct1 
purposeful4 ,in a flat and uniform      
country1 road systems may well be       
rectangular1 following section-lines and
 intermediate lines2 but the            
rectangularity is not the essential     
merit1--it is only a serviceable way of 
subdividing the resources4 ,to find     
one's direction1 north or south1 is     
convenient1 but it may clearly be       
subordinated to the utilization and     
protection of the supplies4 ,the        
section-line division may accomplish    
this or it may not1 and it is likely to 
place roads in wrong locations and to   

render the country monotonous and       
uninteresting4  ,but in the broken      
country1 in the country of tumbled hills
 and crooked falling streams1 of slopes 
that would better be left in the wild1  
and of lands that are good and fruitful 
for the plow1 the roads may go the easy 
grades2 but they ought also to go in    
such a plan as to open up the country to
 the best development1 to divide its    
resources in the surest way for the     
greatest number of persons1 and to      
reduce profitless human toil to the     
minimum1--and this is just what they may
 not do4 ,they may go up over bare and  
barren hills merely to pass a few       
homesteads where no homesteads ought to 
be1 roads that are always expensive and 
never good1 that accomplish practically 
nothing for society4 ,they leave good   
little valleys at one side1 or enter    
them over almost impossible slopes4     
,there are resources of physical wealth 
and of wonderful scenery that they do   
not touch1 that would be of much value  

if they were accessible4 ,the farming   
country is often not divided in such a  
way as to render it either most readily 
accessible or to make it the most useful
 as an asset for the people4  ,to       
connect villages and cities by stone    
roads is good4 ,but what are we to do   
with all the back country1 to make it   
contribute its needful part to feed the 
people in the days that are to come1 and
 to open it to the persons who ought to 
go8 ,we cannot accomplish this to the   
greatest purpose by the present road    
systems1 even if the roads themselves   
are all made good4  ,when the traveler  
goes to a strange country1 he is        
interested in the public buildings1 the 
cities1 and some of the visible         
externals2 but if he wants to understand
 the country1 he must have a detailed   
map of its roads4 ,the automobile maps  
are of no value for this purpose1 for   
they show how one may pass over the     
country1 not how the country is         
developed4 ,as the last nerve-fibre and 

the last capillary are essential to the 
end of the finger and to the entire     
body1 so the ultimate roads are         
essential to the myriad farms and to the
 national life4 ,it is difficult in any 
country to get these maps1 accurately   
and in detail2 but they are the         
essential guidebooks4  ,we undertake    
great conquests of engineering1 over    
mountains and across rivers and through 
the morasses2 but at the last we shall  
call on the engineer for the greatest   
conquest of all1--how to divide the     
surface of the earth so that it shall   
yield us its best and mean to us the    
most1 on the easiest grades1 in the most
 practicable way1 that we may utilize   
every piece of land to fullest          
advantage4  ,this means a new division  
and perhaps a redistribution of lands in
 such a way that the farmer will have   
his due proportion of hill and of       
valley1 rather than that one shall have 
all valley and another all hard-scrabble
 on the hill or all waste land in some  

remote place4 ,it means that there will 
be on each holding the proper relation  
of tilled land and pasture land and     
forest land1 and that the outlets for   
the farmer and his products will be the 
readiest and the simplest that it is    
possible to make4 ,it means that some   
roads will be abandoned entirely1 as not
 worth the cost1 and society will make a
 way for farmers living on impossible   
farms to move to other lands2 and that  
there will be no back roads1 for they   
will be the marks of an undeveloped     
society4 ,it means that we shall cease  
the pretense to bring all lands into    
farming1 whether they are useful for    
farming or not2 and that in the back    
country beyond the last farms there     
shall be trails that lead far away4  ,in
 the farm region itself1 much of the old
 division will pass away1 being         
uneconomical and non-social4 ,the       
abandonment of farms is in some cases a 
beginning of the process1 but it is     
blind and undirected4 ,our educational  

effort is at present directed toward    
making the farmer prosperous on his     
existing farm1 rather than to help him  
to secure a farm of proper resources and
 with proper access4 ,as time goes on1  
we must reassemble many of the land     
divisions1 if each man is to have       
adequate opportunity to make the most   
effective application of his knowledge1 
the best use of himself1 and the        
greatest possible contribution to       
society4 ,it would be well if some of   
the farms could be dispossessed of their
 owners1 so that areas might be         
recombined on a better basis4  ,this is 
no ,utopian or socialistic scheme1 nor  
does it imply a forcible interference   
with vested rights4 ,it is a plain      
statement of the necessities of the     
situation4 ,of course it cannot come    
about quickly or as a result of direct  
legislation2 but there are various      
movements that may start it1--it is1 in 
fact1 already started4 ,all the burning 
rural problems relate themselves in the 

end to the division of the land4 ,in    
,america1 we do not suffer from the     
holding of the land in a few families or
 in an aristocratic class2 that great   
danger we have escaped1 but we have not 
yet learned how to give the land meaning
 to the greatest number of people4 ,this
 is a question for the best political   
program1 for we look for the day when   
statesmanship shall be expressed in the 
details of common politics4  ,we now    
hear much about the good-roads question1
 as if it were a problem only of highway
 construction3 it is really a question  
of a new map4     ,the public program   
,it would be a great gain if many       
persons could look forward to the       
ownership of a bit of the earth1 to     
share in the partition1 to partake in   
the brotherhood4 ,some day we shall make
 it easy rather than difficult for this 
to be brought about4  ,society1 in its  
collective interest1 also has           
necessities in the land4 ,there is      
necessity of land to be owned by cities 

and other assemblages for water         
reservoirs1 and all the rights thereto2 
for school grounds1 playgrounds1        
reformatory institutions1 hospitals1    
drill grounds1 sewage-disposal areas1   
irrigation developments1 drainage       
reclamations2 for the public control of 
banks and borders of streams and ponds1 
for the shores of all vast bodies of    
water1 for pleasure parks1 recreation1  
breathing spaces in the great           
congestions1 highways and other lines of
 communication2 for the sites of public 
buildings1 colleges and experiment      
stations1 bird and beast refuges1 fish  
and game reservations1 cemeteries4      
,there are also the rights of many      
semi-public agencies that need land1--of
 churches1 of fraternal organizations1  
of incorporated seminaries and schools1 
of water-power and oil and coal         
developments1 of manufacturing          
establishments1 of extensive quarries1  
and of commercial enterprises of very   
many kinds4 ,there is also the          

obligation of the general government    
that it shall have reserves against     
future needs1 and that it shall protect 
the latent resources from exploitation  
and from waste4 ,great areas must be    
reserved for forests1 as well as for    
other crops1 and1 in the nature of the  
case1 these forest spaces in the future 
must be mostly in public ownership4     
,great remainders should be held by the 
people to be sold in small parcels to   
those who desire to get out to the      
backgrounds but who do not want to be   
farmers1 where they may spend a vacation
 or renew themselves in the soil or     
under the trees1 or by the green        
pastures or along the everlasting       
streams4 ,it is a false assumption which
 supposes that if land cannot be turned 
into products of sale it is therefore   
valueless4 ,the present active          
back-to-the-land movement has meaning to
 us here4 ,it expresses the yearning of 
the people for contact with the earth   
and for escape from complexity and      

unessentials4 ,as there is no regular   
way for attaining these satisfactions1  
it has largely taken the form of        
farming1 which occupation has also been 
re-established in popular estimation in 
the same epoch4 ,it should not be       
primarily a back-to-the-farm movement1  
however1 and it is not to be derided4   
,we are to recognize its meaning and to 
find some way of enabling more of the   
people to stand on the ground4  ,aside  
from all this1 land is needed for human 
habitation1 where persons may have space
 and may have the privilege of gathering
 about them the goods that add value to 
life4 ,much land will be needed in      
future for this habitation1 not only    
because there will be more people1 but  
also because every person will be given 
an outlet4 ,we know it is not right that
 any family should be doomed to the     
occupancy of a very few dreary rooms and
 deathly closets in the depths of great 
cities1 seeing that all children are    
born to the natural sky and to the wind 

and to the earth4 ,we do not yet see the
 way to allow them to have what is      
naturally theirs1 but we shall learn    
how4 ,in that day we shall take down the
 wonderful towers and cliffs in the     
cities1 in which people work and live1  
shelf on shelf1 but in which they have  
no home4 ,the great city expansion in   
the end will be horizontal rather than  
perpendicular4 ,we shall have many      
knots1 clustered about factories and    
other enterprises1 and we shall learn   
how to distribute the satisfactions in  
life rather than merely to assemble     
them4 ,before this time comes1 we shall 
have passed the present insistence on   
so-called commercial efficiency1 as if  
it were the sole measure of a           
civilization1 and higher ends shall come
 to have control4 ,all this will rest   
largely on the dividing of the land4    
,it is the common assumption that the   
solution of these problems lies in      
facilities of transportation1 and1 to an
 extent1 this is true2 but this         

assumption usually rests on the other   
assumption1 that the method of the      
present city vortex is the method of all
 time1 with its violent rush into the   
vortex and out of it1 consuming vastly  
of time and energy1 preventing home     
leisure and destroying locality feeling1
 herding the people like cattle4 ,the   
question of transportation is indeed a  
major problem1 but it must be met in    
part by a different philosophy of human 
effort1 settling the people in many     
small or moderate assemblages rather    
than in a few mighty congestions4 ,it   
will be better to move the materials    
than to move the people4  ,the great    
cities will grow larger2 that is1 they  
will cover more land4 ,the smaller      
cities1 the villages1 the country towns 
will take on greatly increased          
importance4 ,we shall learn how to      
secure the best satisfactions when we   
live in villages as well as when we live
 in cities4 ,we begin to plan our cities
 and to a small extent our villages4 ,we

 now begin to plan the layout of the    
farms1 that they may accomplish the best
 results4 ,but the cities and the towns 
depend on the country that lies beyond2 
and the country beyond depends on the   
city and the town4 ,the problem is      
broadly one problem1--the problem of so 
dividing and subdividing the surface of 
the earth that there shall be the least 
conflict between all these interests1   
that public reservations shall not be   
placed where it is better to have farms1
 that farming developments may not      
interfere with public utilities1 that   
institutions may be so placed and with  
such area as to develop their highest   
usefulness1 that the people desiring    
outlet and contact with the earth in    
their own right may be accorded that    
essential privilege4 ,we have not yet   
begun to approach the subject in a      
fundamental way1 and yet it is the      
primary problem of the occupancy of the 
planet4  ,to the growing movement for   
city planning should be added an equal  

movement for country planning2 and these
 should not proceed separately1 but both
 together4 ,no other public program is  
now more needed4     ,the honest day's  
work   ,there is still another          
application of this problem of the land 
background4 ,it is the influence that   
productive ownership exerts on the day's
 work4  ,yesterday for some time ,i     
observed eight working men engaged in   
removing parts of a structure and       
loading the pieces on a freight-car4 ,at
 no time were more than two of the men  
making any pretension of working at     
once1 most of the time they were all    
visiting or watching passers-by1 and in 
the whole period the eight men did not  
accomplish what one good honest man     
should have performed4 ,i wondered      
whether they had sufficient exercise to 
keep them in good health4 ,they         
apparently were concerned about their   
rights2 if the employer had rights they 
were undiscoverable4  ,we know the      
integrity and effectiveness of the body 

of workmen2 yet any reader who has      
formed a habit of observing men on day  
work and public work will recognize my  
account4 ,day men usually work in gangs1
 frequently too many of them to allow   
any one to labor effectively1 and the   
whole process is likely to be           
mechanical1 impersonal1 often shiftless 
and pervaded with the highly developed  
skill of putting in the time and        
reducing the time to the minimum and of 
beginning to quit well in advance of the
 quitting time4 ,the process of securing
 labor has become involved1 tied up1 and
 the labor is not rendered in a         
sufficient spirit of service4 ,about the
 only free labor yet remaining to us is 
the month labor on the farm1 even though
 it may be difficult to secure and be   
comprised largely of ineffective        
remainders4  ,over against all this is  
the importance of setting men at work   
singly and for themselves2 this can be  
accomplished only when they own their   
property or have some real personal     

share in the production4 ,the           
gang-spirit of labor runs into the      
politics of the group and constitutes   
the norm4 ,if we are to have self-acting
 men they must be removed from close    
control1 in labor as well as elsewhere4 
,if it is necessary that any great      
proportion of the laboring men shall be 
controlled1 then is it equally important
 that other men in sufficient numbers   
shall constitute the requisite          
counterbalance and corrective4 ,it is   
doubtful whether any kind of            
profit-sharing in closely controlled    
industries can ever be as effective in  
training responsible men for a          
democracy1 other things being equal1 as 
an occupation or series of occupations  
in which the worker is responsible for  
his own results rather than to an       
overseer1 although the profit-sharing   
may for the time being develop the      
greater technical efficiency4  ,the     
influence of ownership on the           
performance of the man is often well    

illustrated when the farm laborer or    
tenant becomes the proprietor4 ,some of 
my readers will have had experience in  
the difficult and doubtful process of   
trying to run a farm at long range by   
means of ordinary hired help3 the       
residence is uninhabitable2 the tools   
are old and out of date1 and some of    
them cannot be found2 the well water is 
not good2 the poultry is of the wrong   
breed1 and the hens will not sit2 the   
horses are not adapted to the work2 the 
wagons must be painted and the harnesses
 replaced2 the absolutely essential     
supplies are interminable2 there must be
 more day labor4 ,now let this hired man
 come into the ownership of the farm3   
presto6 the house can be repaired at    
almost no cost2 the tools are good for  
some years yet2 the harnesses can easily
 be mended2 the absolutely essential    
supplies dwindle exceedingly2 and the   
outside labor reduces itself to minor   
terms4  ,work with machinery1 in        
factories1 may proceed more rapidly     

because the operator must keep up with  
the machine2 and there are also definite
 standards or measures of performance4  
,yet even here it is not to be expected 
that the work will be much more than    
time-service4 ,in fact1 the very        
movement among labor is greatly to      
emphasize time-service1 and often quite 
independently of justice4 ,there must   
necessarily be a reaction from this     
attitude if we are to hope for the best 
human product4  ,the best human product 
results from the bearing of             
responsibility2 in a controlled labor   
body the responsibility is shifted to   
the organization or to the boss4        
,assuredly the consolidating of labor is
 much to be desired if it is for the    
common benefit and for protection1 and  
if it leaves the laborer free with his  
own product4 ,every person has the      
inalienable right to express himself1 so
 long as it does not violate similar    
rights of his fellows1 and to put forth 
his best production2 if a man can best  

express himself in manual labor1 no     
organization should suppress him or deny
 him that privilege4 ,it is a sad case1 
and a denial of fundamental liberties1  
if a man is not allowed to work or to   
produce as much as he desires4 ,good    
development does not come from          
repression4  ,society recognizes its    
obligation to the laboring man of       
whatever kind and the necessity of      
safeguarding him both in his own        
interest and because he stands at the   
very foundations2 the laboring man bears
 an obligation to respond liberally with
 service and good-will4  ,is it         
desirable to have an important part of  
the labor of a people founded on        
ownership8 ,is it worth while to have an
 example in a large class of the        
population of manual work that is       
free-spirited1 and not dominated by     
class interest and time-service8 ,is it 
essential to social progress that a     
day's work shall be full measure8       
,the group reaction   ,one of the       

interesting phenomena of human          
association is the arising of a certain 
standard or norm of moral action within 
the various groups that compose it4     
,these standards may not be inherently  
righteous1 but they become so thoroughly
 established as to be enacted into law  
or even to be more powerful than law4   
,so is it1 as we have seen1 with the    
idea of inalienable rights in natural   
property that may be held even out of   
all proportion to any proper use that   
the owners may be able to make of it2   
and so is it with the idea of inviolable
 natural privileges to those who control
 facilities that depend on public       
patronage for their commercial success4 
,the man himself may hold one kind of   
personal morals1 but the group of which 
he is a part may hold a very different  
kind4 ,it is our problem1 in dealing    
with the resources of the earth1 to     
develop in the group the highest        
expression of duty that is to be found  
in individuals4  ,the restraint of the  

group1 or the correction of the group   
action1 is applied from the outside in  
the form of public opinion and in attack
 by other groups4 ,the correction does  
not often arise from within4 ,the       
establishing of many kinds of           
public-service bodies illustrates this  
fact4 ,it is the check of society on    
group-selfishness4  ,these remarks apply
 to the man who stands at the foundation
 of society1 next the earth1 as well as 
to others1 although he has not organized
 to propagate the action of his class4  
,the spoliation of land1 the            
insufficient regard for it1 the trifling
 with it1 is much more than an economic 
deficiency4 ,society will demand either 
through the pressure of public opinion1 
or by regularized action1 that the      
producing power of the land shall be    
safeguarded and increased1 as ,i have   
indicated in an earlier part of the     
discussion4 ,it will be better if it    
comes as the result of education1 and   
thereby develops the voluntary feeling  

of obligation and responsibility4 ,at   
the same time1 it is equally the        
responsibility of every other person to 
make it possible for the farmer to      
prosecute his business under the        
expression of the highest standards4    
,there is just now abroad amongst us a  
teaching to the effect that the farmer  
cannot afford to put much additional    
effort into his crop production1        
inasmuch as the profit in an acre may   
not depend on the increase in yield1 and
 therefore he does not carry an         
obligation to augment his acre-yields4  
,this is a weakening philosophy4        
,undoubtedly there is a point beyond    
which he may not go with profit in the  
effort to secure a heavy yield1 for it  
may cost him too much to produce the    
maximum2 so it may not be profitable for
 a transportation company to maintain   
the highest possible speed4 ,with this  
economic question ,i have nothing to do2
 but it is the farmer's moral           
responsibility to society to increase   

his production1 and the stimulation     
reacts powerfully upon himself4 ,it is a
 man's natural responsibility to do his 
best3 it is specially important that the
 man at the bottom put forth his best   
efforts4 ,to increase his yields is one 
of the ways in which he expresses       
himself as a man and applies his        
knowledge4 ,this incentive taken away1  
agriculture loses one of its best       
endeavors1 the occupation remains       
stationary or even deteriorates1 and    
society loses a moral support at the    
very point where it is most needed4  ,if
 the economic conditions are such that  
the farmer cannot afford to increase his
 production1 then the remedy is to be   
found without rather than by the        
repression of the producer4 ,we are     
expending vast effort to educate the    
farmer in the ways of better production1
 but we do not make it possible for him 
to apply this education to the best     
advantage4  ,the real farmer1 the one   
whom we so much delight to honor1 has a 

strong moral regard for his land1 for   
his animals1 and his crops4 ,these are  
established men1 with highly developed  
obligations1 feeling their              
responsibility to the farm on which they
 live4 ,no nation can long persist that 
does not have this kind of citizenry in 
the background4  ,i have spoken of one  
phase of the group reaction1 as         
suggested in the attitude of the farmer4
 ,it may be interesting to recall1      
again1 the fact that the purpose of     
farming is changing4 ,the farmer is now 
adopting the outlook and the moral      
conduct of commerce4 ,his business is no
 longer to produce the supplies for his 
family and to share the small overplus  
with society4 ,he grows or makes a      
certain line of produce that he sells   
for cash1 and then he purchases his     
other supplies in the general market4   
,the days of homespun are gone4 ,the    
farmer is as much a buyer as a seller4  
,commercial methods and standards are   
invading the remotest communities4 ,this

 will have far-reaching results4        
,perhaps a fundamental shift in the     
moral basis of the agricultural         
occupations is slowly under way4  ,the  
measuring of farming in terms of yields 
and incomes introduces a dangerous      
standard4 ,it is commonly assumed that  
,state moneys for agriculture-education 
may be used only for practical--that is1
 for dollars-and-cents--results1 and the
 emphasis is widely placed very         
exclusively on more alfalfa1 more corn1 
more hogs1 more fruit1 on the           
two-blades-of-grass morals2 and yet the 
highest good that can accrue to a ,state
 for the expenditure of its money is the
 raising up of a population less        
responsive to cash than to some other   
stimuli4 ,the good physical support is  
indeed essential1 but it is only the    
beginning of a process4 ,i am conscious 
of a peculiar hardness in some of the   
agriculture-enterprise1 with little real
 uplook2 ,i hope that we may soon pass  
this cruder phase4  ,undoubtedly we are 

in the beginning of an epoch in rural   
affairs4 ,we are at a formative period4 
,we begin to consider the rural problem 
increasingly in terms of social groups4 
,the attitudes that these groups assume1
 the way in which they react to their   
problems1 will be determined in the     
broader aspects for some time to come by
 the character of the young leadership  
that is now taking the field4     ,the  
spiritual contact with nature   ,a      
useful contact with the earth places man
 not as superior to nature but as a     
superior intelligence working in nature 
as a conscious and therefore as a       
responsible part in a plan of evolution1
 which is a continuing creation4 ,it    
distinguishes the elemental virtues as  
against the acquired1 factitious1 and   
pampered virtues4 ,these strong and     
simple traits may be brought out easily 
and naturally if we incorporate into our
 schemes of education the solid         
experiences of tramping1 camping1       
scouting1 farming1 handcraft1 and other 

activities that are not mere refinements
 of subjective processes4  ,lack of     
training in the realities drives us to  
find satisfaction in all sorts of       
make-believes and in play-lives4 ,the   
movies and many other developments of   
our time make an appeal wholly beyond   
their merits1 and they challenge the    
methods and intentions of education4    
,there are more fundamental             
satisfactions than thrills4 ,there is   
more heart-ease in frugality than in    
surfeit4 ,there is no real relish except
 when the appetite is keen4 ,we are now 
provided with all sorts of things that  
nobody ever should want4  ,the good     
spiritual reaction to nature is not a   
form of dogmatism or impressionism4 ,it 
results normally from objective         
experience1 when the person is ready for
 it and has good digestion4 ,it should  
be the natural emotion of the man who   
knows his objects and does not merely   
dream about them4 ,there is no          
hallucination in it4 ,the remedy for    

some of the erratic futurism and other  
forms of illusion is to put the man hard
 against the facts3 he might be set to  
studying bugs or soils or placed between
 the handles of a plow until such time  
as objects begin to take their natural  
shape and meaning in his mind4  ,it is  
not within my purview here to consider  
the abstract righteous relation of man  
to the creation1 nor to examine the     
major emotions that result from a       
contemplation of nature4 ,it is only a  
very few of the simpler and more        
practical considerations that ,i may    
suggest4  ,the training in solid        
experience naturally emphasizes the     
righteousness of plain and simple eating
 and drinking1 and of frugality and     
control in pleasures4 ,many of the      
adventitious pleasures are in the       
highest degree pernicious and are       
indications of weakness4  ,considering  
the almost universal opinion that nature
 exhibits the merciless and relentless  
struggle of an eye for an eye and a     

tooth for a tooth1 it is significant    
that one of the most productive ways of 
training a youth in sensitiveness and in
 regard for other creatures is by means 
of the nature contact4 ,even if the     
person is taught that the strong and    
ferocious survive and conquer1 he       
nevertheless soon comes to have the     
tenderest regard for every living thing 
if he has the naturist in him4 ,he      
discards the idea that we lose virility 
when we cease to kill1 and relegates the
 notion to the limbo of deceits4 ,this  
only means that unconsciously he has    
experienced the truth in nature1 and in 
practice has discarded the erroneous    
philosophy contained in books even      
though he may still give these          
philosophies his mental assent4  ,it is 
exactly among the naturists that the old
 instinct to kill begins to lose its    
force and that an instinct of           
helpfulness and real brotherhood soon   
takes its place4 ,from another source1  
the instinct to kill dies out among the 

moralists and other people4 ,and yet it 
is passing strange how this old         
survival--or is it a reversion8--holds  
its place amongst us1 even in the higher
 levels4 ,the punishment of a life for a
 life is itself a survival4             
,entertainment even yet plays upon this 
old memory of killing1 as in books of   
adventure1 in fiction1 in playgames of  
children1 and worst of all on the stage 
where this strange anachronism1 even in 
plays that are not historic1 is still   
portrayed in pernicious features and in 
a way that would rouse any community and
 violate law if it were enacted in real 
life4  ,it is difficult to explain these
 survivals when we pretend to be so much
 shocked by the struggle for existence4 
,we must accept the struggle1 but we    
ought to try to understand it4 ,the     
actual suffering among the creatures as 
the result of this struggle is probably 
small1 and the bloody and ferocious     
contest that we like to picture to      
ourselves is relatively insignificant4  

,there is a righteous element in the    
struggle2 or1 more truthfully1 the      
struggle itself is right4 ,every living 
and sentient thing persists by its merit
 and by its right4 ,it persists within  
its sphere1 and usually not in the      
sphere of some other creature4 ,the     
weeding-out process is probably related 
in some way with adaptability1 but only 
remotely with physical strength4 ,it is 
a process of applying the test4 ,the    
test is applied continuously1 and not in
 some violent upheaval4  ,if one looks  
for a moral significance in the struggle
 for existence1 one finds it in the fact
 that it is a process of adjustment     
rather than a contest in ambition4  ,the
 elimination of the unessentials and of 
the survivals of a lower order of       
creation that have no proper place in   
human society1 is the daily necessity of
 the race4 ,the human struggle should   
not be on the plane of the struggle in  
the lower creation1 by the simple fact  
that the human plane is unlike2 and     

those who contend that we should draw   
our methods of contest from wild nature 
would therefore put us back on the plane
 of the creatures we are supposed to    
have passed4 ,if there is one struggle  
of the creeping things1 if there is one 
struggle of the fish of the sea and     
another of the beasts of the field1 and 
still another of the fowls of the air1  
then surely there must be still another 
order for those who have dominion4      
,the struggle for existence3 war   ,we  
may consider even further1 although     
briefly1 the nature of the struggle for 
existence in its spiritual relation4 ,it
 would be violence to assume a holy     
earth and a holy production from the    
earth1 if the contest between the       
creatures seems to violate all that we  
know as rightness4  ,the notion of the  
contentious and sanguinary struggle for 
existence finds its most pronounced     
popular expression in the existence of  
human war4 ,it is a wide-spread opinion 
that war is necessary in the nature of  

things1 and1 in fact1 it has been not   
only justified but glorified on this    
basis4 ,we may here examine this        
contention briefly1 and we may ask      
whether1 in the case of human beings1   
there are other sufficient means of     
personal and social development than by 
mortal combat with one's fellows4 ,we   
may ask whether the principle of enmity 
or the principle of fellow feeling is   
the more important and controlling4  ,we
 are not to deny or even to overlook the
 great results that have come from war4 
,virile races have forced themselves to 
the front and have impressed their stamp
 on society2 the peoples have been mixed
 and also assorted2 lethargic folk have 
been galvanized into activity2 iron has 
been put into men's sinews2 heroic deeds
 have arisen2 old combinations and      
intrigues have been broken up 7although 
new ones take their place74 ,a kind of  
national purification may result from a 
great war4 ,the state of human affairs  
has been brought to its present         

condition largely as the issue of wars4 
,on the other hand1 we are not to       
overlook the damaging results1 the      
destruction1 the anguish1 the check to  
all productive enterprise1 the hatred   
and revenge1 the hypocrisy and deceit1  
the despicable foreign spy system1 the  
loss of standards1 the demoralization1  
the lessening respect and regard for the
 rights of the other1 the breeding of   
human parasites that fatten at the      
fringes of disaster1 the levying of     
tribute1 the setting up of unnatural    
boundaries1 the thwarting of national   
and racial developments which1 so far as
 we can see1 gave every promise of great
 results4 ,we naturally extol the       
nations that have survived2 we do not   
know how many superior stocks may have  
been sacrificed to military conquest1 or
 how many racial possibilities may have 
been suppressed in their beginnings4    
,vast changes in mental attitudes may   
result from a great war1 and the course 
of civilization may be deflected2 and   

while we adjust ourselves to these      
changes1 no one may say at the time that
 they are just or even that they are    
temporarily best4 ,we are never able at 
the moment to measure the effects of the
 unholy conquest of peoples who should  
not have been conquered2 these results  
work themselves out in tribulation and  
perhaps in loss of effort and of racial 
standards through many weary centuries4 
,force1 or even success1 cannot justify 
theft4  ,but even assuming the great    
changes that have arisen from war1 this 
is not a justification of war2 it only  
states a fact1 it only provides a       
measure of the condition of society at  
any epoch4 ,it is probable that war will
 still exert a mighty even if a         
lessening influence2 it may still be    
necessary to resort to arms to win for a
 people its natural opportunity and to  
free a race from bondage2 and if any    
people has a right to its own existence1
 it has an equal right and indeed a duty
 to defend itself4 ,but this again only 

indicates the wretched state of         
development in which we live4           
,undoubtedly1 also1 a certain amount of 
military training is very useful1 but   
there should be other ways1 in a        
democracy1 to secure something of this  
needful training4  ,the struggle for    
existence1 as expressed in human combat1
 does not necessarily result in the     
survival of the most desirable1 so far  
as we are able to define desirability4  
,we are confusing very unlike situations
 in our easy application of the struggle
 for existence to war4 ,the struggle is 
not now between individuals to decide   
the fitter2 it is between vast bodies   
hurling death by wholesale4 ,we pick the
 physically fit and send them to the    
battle-line2 and these fit are slain4   
,this is not the situation in nature    
from which we draw our illustrations4   
,moreover1 the final test of fitness in 
nature is adaptation1 not power4        
,adaptation and adjustment mean peace1  
not war4 ,physical force has been       

immensely magnified in the human sphere2
 we even speak of the great nations as  
powers1 a terminology that some day we  
shall regret4 ,the military method of   
civilization finds no justification in  
the biological struggle for existence4  
,the final conquest of a man is of      
himself1 and he shall then be greater   
than when he takes a city4 ,the final   
conquest of a society is of itself1 and 
it shall then be greater than when it   
conquers its neighboring society4  ,man 
now begins to measure himself against   
nature also1 and he begins to see that  
herein shall lie his greatest conquests 
beyond himself2 in fact1 by this means  
shall he conquer himself1--by great     
feats of engineering1 by completer      
utilization of the possibilities of the 
planet1 by vast discoveries in the      
unknown1 and by the final enlargement of
 the soul2 and in these fields shall be 
the heroes4 ,the most virile and        
upstanding qualities can find expression
 in the conquest of the earth4 ,in the  

contest with the planet every man may   
feel himself grow4  ,what we have done  
in times past shows the way by which we 
have come2 it does not provide a program
 of procedure for days that are coming2 
or if it does1 then we deny the         
effective evolution of the race4 ,we    
have passed witchcraft1 religious       
persecution1 the inquisition1           
subjugation of women1 the enslavement of
 our fellows except alone enslavement in
 war4  ,here ,i come particularly to a  
consideration of the struggle for       
existence4 ,before ,i enter on this     
subject1 ,i must pause to say that ,i   
would not of myself found an argument   
either for war or against it on the     
analogies of the struggle for existence4
 ,man has responsibilities quite apart  
from the conditions that obtain in the  
lower creation4 ,man is a moral agent2  
animals and plants are not moral agents4
 ,but the argument for war is so often  
founded on this struggle in nature1 that
 the question must be considered4  ,it  

has been persistently repeated for years
 that in nature the weakest perish and  
that the victory is with the strong1    
meaning by that the physically powerful4
 ,this is a false analogy and a false   
biology4 ,it leads men far astray4 ,it  
is the result of a misconception of the 
teaching of evolution4  ,our minds dwell
 on the capture and the carnage in      
nature1--the hawk swooping on its prey1 
the cat stealthily watching for the     
mouse1 wolves hunting in packs1         
ferocious beasts lying in wait1 sharks  
that follow ships1 serpents with        
venomous fangs1 the vast range of       
parasitism2 and with the poet we say    
that nature is red in tooth and claw4   
,of course1 we are not to deny the      
struggle of might against might1 which  
is mostly between individuals1 and of   
which we are all aware2 but the weak and
 the fragile and the small are the      
organisms that have persisted4 ,there   
are thousands of little and soft things 
still abundant in the world that have   

outlived the fearsome ravenous monsters 
of ages past2 there were ,goliaths in   
those days1 but the ,davids have        
outlived them1 and ,gath is not peopled 
by giants4 ,the big and strong have not 
triumphed4  ,the struggle in nature is  
not a combat1 as we commonly understand 
that word1 and it is not warfare4 ,the  
earth is not strewn with corpses4  ,i   
was impressed in reading ,roosevelt's   
,african ,game ,trails with the great   
extent of small and defenseless and     
fragile animal life that abounds in the 
midst of the terrible beasts1--little   
uncourageous things that hide in the    
crevices1 myriads that fly in the air1  
those that ride on the rhinos1 that swim
 and hide in the pools1 and bats that   
hang in the acacia-trees4 ,he travelled 
in the region of the lion1 in the region
 that holds the mightiest creatures that
 tread the earth or swim in its rivers2 
it also holds distant kinsfolk of these 
same creatures1 no bigger than          
woodchucks1 which dwell in crannies of  

the rocks1 and in the tree tops4 ,there 
are antelope smaller than hares and     
antelope larger than oxen4 ,there are   
creatures which are the embodiment of   
grace2 and others whose huge            
ungainliness is like that of a shape in 
a nightmare4 ,the plains are alive with 
droves of strange and beautiful animals 
whose like is not known elsewhere4 ,the 
lion is mighty2 he is the king of       
beasts2 but he keeps his place and he   
has no kingdom4 ,he has not mastered the
 earth4 ,no beast has ever overcome the 
earth2 and the natural world has never  
been conquered by muscular force4       
,nature is not in a state of perpetual  
enmity1 one part with another4  ,my     
friend went to a far country4 ,he told  
me that he was most impressed with the  
ferocity1 chiefly of wild men4 ,it came 
my time to go to that country4 ,i saw   
that men had been savage1--men are the  
most ferocious of animals1 and the      
ferocity has never reached its high     
point of refined fury until to-day4 7,of

 course1 savages fight and slay2 this is
 because they are savages47 ,but ,i saw 
also that these savage men are passing  
away4 ,i saw animals that had never     
tasted blood1 that had no means of      
defense against a rapacious captor1 and 
yet they were multiplying4 ,every stone 
that ,i upturned disclosed some tender  
organism2 every bush that ,i disturbed  
revealed some timid atom of animal life2
 every spot where ,i walked bore some   
delicate plant1 and ,i recalled the     
remark of ,sir ,j4 ,william ,dawson that
 frail and delicate plants may be more  
ancient than the mountains or plains on 
which they live2 and if ,i went on the  
sea1 ,i saw the medusae1 as frail as a  
poet's dream1 with the very sunshine    
streaming through them1 yet holding     
their own in the mighty upheaval of the 
oceans2 and ,i reflected on the myriads 
of microscopic things that for untold   
ages had cast the very rock on which    
much of the ocean rests4 ,the minor     
things and the weak things are the most 

numerous1 and they have played the      
greatest part in the polity of nature4  
,so ,i came away from that far country  
impressed with the power of the little  
feeble things4 ,i had a new             
understanding of the worth of creatures 
so unobtrusive and so silent that the   
multitude does not know them4  ,i saw   
protective colorings2 ,i saw fleet wings
 and swift feet2 ,i saw the ability to  
hide and to conceal2 ,i saw habits of   
adaptation2 ,i saw marvellous powers of 
reproduction4 ,you have seen them in    
every field2 you have met them on your  
casual walks1 until you accept them as  
the natural order of things4 ,and you   
know that the beasts of prey have not   
prevailed4 ,the whole contrivance of    
nature is to protect the weak4  ,we have
 wrongly visualized the struggle4 ,we   
have given it an intensely human        
application4 ,we need to go back to     
,darwin who gave significance to the    
phrase struggle for existence4 ,i use   
this term1 he said1 in a large and      

metaphorical sense1 including dependence
 of one being on another1 and including 
7which is more important7 not only the  
life of the individual1 but success in  
leaving progeny4 ,the dependence of one 
being on another1 success in leaving    
progeny1--how accurate and how          
far-seeing was ,darwin6  ,i hope that ,i
 speak to naturists and to farmers4     
,they know how diverse are the forms of 
life2 and they know that somehow these  
forms live together and that only rarely
 do whole races perish by subjugation4  
,they know that the beasts do not set   
forth to conquer1 but only to gain      
subsistence and to protect themselves4  
,the beasts and birds do not pursue     
indiscriminately4 ,a hen-hawk does not  
attack crows or butterflies4 ,even a    
vicious bull does not attack fowls or   
rabbits or sheep4 ,the great issues are 
the issues of live and let-live4 ,there 
are whole nations of plants1 more unlike
 than nations of humankind1 living      
together in mutual interdependence4     

,there are nations of quiet and         
mightless animals that live in the very 
regions of the mighty and the stout4    
,and we are glad it is so4  ,consider   
the mockery of invoking the struggle for
 existence as justification for a battle
 on a ,june morning1 when all nature is 
vibrant with life and competition is    
severe1 and when1 if ever1 we are to    
look for strife4 ,but the very earth    
breathes peace4 ,the fulness of every   
field and wood is in complete           
adjustment4 ,the teeming multitudes of  
animal and plant have found a way to    
live together1 and we look abroad on a  
vast harmony1 verdurous1 prolific1      
abounding4 ,into this concord1 project  
your holocaust6     ,the daily fare     
,some pages back1 ,i said something     
about the essential simplicity in habit 
of life that results from the nature    
contact1 and ,i illustrated the remark  
by calling attention to the             
righteousness of simple eating and      
drinking4 ,of course1 the eating must be

 substantial1 but the adventitious      
appetites accomplish nothing and they   
may be not only intemperate and damaging
 to health but even unmoral4 ,yet it is 
not alone the simplicity of the daily   
fare that interests me here1 but the    
necessity that it shall be as direct as 
possible from the ground or the sea1 and
 that it shall be undisguised and shall 
have meaning beyond the satisfying of   
the appetite4  ,i was interested in     
,tusser's ,christmas husbandly fare1    
notwithstanding some suggestion of      
gluttony in it and of oversupply4 ,there
 is a certain vigor and good relish     
about it1 and lack of ostentation1 that 
seem to suggest a lesson4  ,it was more 
than three centuries ago that native    
,thomas ,tusser1 musician1 chorister1   
and farmer1 gave to the world his       
incomparable ,five ,hundred ,points of  
,good ,husbandry4 ,he covered the farm  
year and the farm work as completely as 
,vergil had covered it more than fifteen
 centuries before2 and he left us       

sketches of the countryside of his day1 
and the ways of the good plain folk1 and
 quaint bits of philosophy and counsel4 
,he celebrated the ,christmas festival  
with much conviction1 and in the homely 
way of the home folks1 deriving his     
satisfactions from the things that the  
land produces4 ,his sketches are        
wholesome reading in these days of foods
 transported from the ends of the earth1
 and compounded by impersonal devices   
and condensed into packages that go into
 every house alike4  ,thomas ,tusser    
would celebrate with things handsome to 
have1 as they ought to be had4 ,his     
board would not be scant of provisions1 
for he seems not to have advised the    
simple life in the way of things good to
 eat2 but he chose good raw materials1  
and we can imagine that the good husband
 and huswife gave these materials their 
best compliments and prepared them with 
diligence and skill4 ,not once does he  
suggest that these materials be secured 
from the market1 or that any imported   

labor be employed in the preparation of 
them4      ,good bread and good drink1 a
 good fire in the hall1      ,brawn1    
pudding1 and souse1 and good mustard    
withal4  ,here is the whole philosophy  
of the contented festival1--the fruit of
 one's labor1 the common genuine        
materials1 and the cheer of the family  
fireside4 ,the day is to be given over  
to the spirit of the celebration2 every 
common object will glow with a new      
consecration1 and everything will be    
good1--even the mustard will be good    
withal4 ,what a contempt old ,tusser    
would have had for all the imported and 
fabricated condiments and trivialities  
that now come to our tables in packages 
suggestive of medicines and drugs6 ,and 
how ridiculously would they have stood  
themselves beside the brawn1 pudding1   
and souse6 ,a few plain accessories1    
every one stout and genuine1 and in good
 quantity1 must accompany the           
substantialities that one takes with a  
free hand directly from the land that   

one manages4  ,it surprises us that he  
had such a bountiful list from which to 
draw1 and yet the kinds are not more    
than might be secured from any good land
 property1 if one set about securing    
them3      ,beef1 mutton1 and pork1     
shred pies of the best1      ,pig1 veal1
 goose1 and capon1 and turkey well      
drest1      ,cheese1 apples1 and nuts1  
joly carols to hear1      ,as then in   
the country1 is counted good cheer4  ,in
 these days we should draw less heavily 
on the meats1 for in the three centuries
 we have gained greatly in the vegetable
 foods4 ,tusser did not have the potato4
 ,but nevertheless1 these materials are 
of the very bone of the land4 ,they grow
 up with the year and out of the        
conditions1 and they have all the days  
in them1 the sunshine1 the rain1 the dew
 of morning1 the wind1 the cold foggy   
nights1 and the work of laborious hands4
 ,every one of them means something to  
the person who raises them1 and there is
 no impersonality in them4 ,john's      

father drained the land when yet he was 
a boy2 the hedges were set2 long ago the
 place was laid out in its rotations2   
the old trees in the fields are a part  
of it2 every stall in the stables and   
every window-seat in the old house hold 
memories2 and ,john has grown up with   
these memories1 and with these fields1  
and with the footpaths that lead out    
over brooks and amongst the herds of    
cattle4 ,it is a part of his religion to
 keep the land well2 and these supplies 
at ,christmas time are taken with a deep
 reverence for the goodness that is in  
them1 and with a pride in having        
produced them4  ,and ,thomas ,tusser1   
good husbandman1 rejoiced that these    
bounties cost no cash3      ,what cost  
to good husband1 is any of this8        
,good household provision only it is4   
,of other the like1 ,i do leave out a   
many      ,that costeth a husbandman    
never a penny4  ,to farm well2 to       
provide well2 to produce it oneself2 to 
be independent of trade1 so far as this 

is possible in the furnishing of the    
table1--these are good elements in      
living4 ,and in this day we are rapidly 
losing all this2 many persons already   
have lost it2 many have never known the 
satisfaction of it4 ,most of us must    
live from the box and the bottle and the
 tin-can2 we are even feeding our cattle
 from the factory and the bag4 ,the     
farmer now raises a few prime products  
to sell1 and then he buys his foods in  
the markets under label and tag2 and he 
knows not who produced the materials1   
and he soon comes not to care4 ,no      
thought of the seasons1 and of the men  
and women who labored1 of the place1 of 
the kind of soil1 of the special        
contribution of the native earth1 come  
with the trademark or the brand4 ,and so
 we all live mechanically1 from shop to 
table1 without contact1 and             
irreverently4  ,may we not once in the  
year remember the earth in the food that
 we eat8 ,may we not in some way1 even  
though we live in town1 so organize our 

,christmas festival that the thought of 
the goodness of the land and its bounty 
shall be a conscious part of our        
celebration8 ,may we not for once reduce
 to the very minimum the supply of      
manufactured and sophisticated things1  
and come somewhere near1 at least in    
spirit1 to a ,christmas husbandly fare8 
,yet1 ,thomas ,tusser would not confine 
his husbandly fare to the ,christmas    
time4 ,in another poem1 he gives us ,the
 farmer's daily diet1 in which the      
sturdy products are still much the same1
 secured and prepared by those who      
partake4 ,all this may be little        
applicable literally in our present     
living1 and yet ,i think it is easily   
possible1 as certainly it is very       
desirable1 to develop a new attitude    
toward the table fare1 avoiding much    
unnecessary and insignificant household 
labor and lending an attitude of good   
morality to the daily sustenance4  ,much
 of our eating and feasting is a vicious
 waste of time1 and also of human energy

 that might be put to good uses4 ,one   
can scarcely conceive how such indirect 
and uncomfortable and expensive methods 
could have come into use4 ,perhaps they 
originated with persons of quality in an
 aristocratic society1 when an abundance
 of servants must be trained to serve   
and when distinctions in eating were a  
part of the distinction in rank4 ,but to
 have introduced these laborious and    
unintelligent methods into hotels1 where
 persons tarry for comfort and into     
homes that do not need to maintain an   
extrinsic appearance1 is a vain and     
ludicrous imitation4 ,the numbers of    
courses1 with more service than food1   
that one often meets at the table d'hote
 of the frequented hotels abroad1 are   
most exasperating to one who values time
 and has a serious purpose in travel and
 a rightful care for the bodily         
apparatus4 ,here is the performance--it 
was nothing more than a performance1    
consisting in repeated changing of all  
the dishes1 the removing of every       

fragment of edibles1 and in passing very
 small separate parcels of food--that it
 was my lot to endure on an otherwise   
happy day in a hotel that had little    
else to distinguish it3    ,course #a4  
,dry bread 7no butter74                 
,removal4    ,course #b4 ,soup 7nothing 
else74                                  
,removal4    ,course #c4 ,fish 7very    
economical71 with a potato on the side4 
,removal4    ,course #d4 ,veal1         
macaroni4                               
,removal4    ,course #e4 ,spoonful of   
green beans 7nothing else74             
,removal4    ,course #f4 ,beef and salad
 7fragmentary74                         
,removal4    ,course #g4 ,charlotte     
,russe1 bit of cake4                    
,removal4    ,course #h4 ,fruit         
7slight74                               
,removal4    ,course #i4 ,morsel of     
cheese1 one cracker4                    
,removal4    ,course #aj4 ,coffee4      
,relief4  ,the traveler knows that this 
species of time-wasting is not unusual2 

certainly the food is not unusual and   
does not merit such considerate         
attention1 although it may profit by the
 magnification4 ,all this contributes   
nothing to human efficiency--quite the  
reverse--and certainly nothing to the   
rightful gusto in the enjoyment of one's
 subsistence4 ,it is a ceremony4 ,such  
laborious uselessness is quite immoral4 
,i am afraid that our food habits very  
well represent how far we have moved    
away from the essentials and how much we
 have misled ourselves as to the        
standards of excellence4 ,i looked in a 
cookbook to learn how to serve potatoes3
 ,i found twenty-three recipes1 every   
one of which was apparently designed to 
disguise the fact that they were        
potatoes2 and yet there is really       
nothing in a potato to be ashamed of4   
,of course1 this kind of deception is   
not peculiar to cookery4 ,it is of the  
same piece as the stamping of the metal 
building coverings in forms to represent
 brick and stone1 although everybody    

knows that they are not brick and stone1
 rather than to make a design that shall
 express metal and thereby frankly tell 
the truth2 of the same kind also as the 
casting of cement blocks to represent   
undressed rock1 although every one is   
aware of the deception1 rather than to  
develop a form that will express cement 
blocks as brick expresses brick2 of the 
same order as the inflating of good     
wholesome water by carbonic gas2 and all
 the other deceits in materials on which
 our common affairs are built4 ,it is1  
of course1 legitimate to present our    
foods in many forms that we may secure  
variety even with scant and common      
materials2 but danger may lie in any    
untruthfulness with which we use the raw
 materials of life4  ,so cookery has    
come to be a process of concealment4    
,not only does it conceal the materials1
 but it also conceals the names of them 
in a ridiculous nomenclature4           
,apparently1 the higher the art of      
cookery1 the greater is the merit of    

complete concealment4 ,i think that one 
reason why persons enjoy the simple     
cooking of farmers and sailors and other
 elemental folk1 is because of its      
comparative lack of disguise1 although  
they may not be aware of this merit of  
it4 ,we have so successfully disguised  
our viands through so many years that it
 is not good form to make inquiries3 we 
may not smell the food1 although the    
odor should be one of the best and most 
rightful satisfactions1 as it is in     
fruits and flowers4 ,we may smell a     
parsnip or a potato when it grows in the
 field1 but not when it is cooked4  ,we 
add the extrinsic and meaningless odors 
of spices and flavorings1 forgetting    
that odor no less than music hath       
occasions2 each of the materials has its
 own odor that the discriminating cook  
will try to bring out in its best       
expression4 ,were we to be deprived of  
all these exotic seasonings1 undoubtedly
 cookery would be the gainer in the end2
 nor could we so readily disguise       

materials that in themselves are not fit
 to eat4 ,there is a reason why all     
foods taste alike1 as we often hear it  
said of the cooking in public places4   
,moreover1 we want everything that is   
out of season1 necessitating great      
attention to the arts of preserving and 
requiring still further fabrication2 and
 by this desire we also lessen the      
meaning of the seasons when they come in
 their natural sequence1 bringing their 
treasure of materials that are adapted  
to the time and to the place4 ,we can   
understand1 then1 why it so happens that
 we neglect the cookery of the common   
foods1 as seeming to be not quite worth 
the while1 and expend ourselves with so 
much effort on the accessories and the  
frills4 ,i have been interested to      
observe some of the instruction in      
cooking1--how it often begins with      
little desserts1 and fudge1 and a       
variety of dib-dabs4 ,this is much like 
the instruction in manual training that 
begins with formal and meaningless model

 work or trivialities and neglects the  
issues of life4 ,it is much like some of
 the teaching in agriculture not so many
 years ago1 before we attacked very     
effectively the serious problems of     
wheat and alfalfa and forests and       
markets4 ,mastery does not lie in these 
pieces of play work1 nor does the best  
intellectual interest on the part of the
 student reside in them4  ,result is    
that one finds the greatest difficulty  
in securing a really good baked potato1 
a well-cooked steak1 or a wholesome dish
 of apple-sauce that is not strained and
 flavored beyond recognition4 ,it is    
nearly impossible for one to secure an  
egg fried hard and yet very tender and  
that has not been turned or scorched on 
the edges1--this is quite the test of   
the skill of the good cook4 ,the notion 
that a hard fried egg is dangerously    
indigestible is probably a fable of poor
 cookery4 ,one can secure many          
sophisticated and disguised egg dishes1 
but ,i think skill in plainly cooking   

eggs is almost an unknown art1 perhaps a
 little-practised art4  ,now1 it is on  
these simple and essential things that  
,i would start my instruction in        
cookery2 and this not only for the gain 
to good eating but also for the         
advantage of vigor and good morals4 ,i  
am afraid that our cooking does not set 
a good example before the young three   
times every day in the year2 and how    
eager are the young and how amenable to 
suggestion at these three blessed epochs
 every day in the year6  ,some          
unsympathetic reader will say that ,i am
 drawing a long bow2 yet undoubtedly our
 cookery has prepared the public mind   
for the adulteration4 ,knowing the      
elaboration of many of the foods and    
fancy dishes1 the use of flavoring and  
spice and other additions to disguise   
unwholesome materials1 the addition of  
coloring matter to make things          
attractive1 the mixtures1 the elaborate 
designs and trimmings and concoctions1  
and various deceptions1 one wonders how 

far is the step from some of the cookery
 to some of the adulteration and whether
 these processes are really all of one  
piece4 ,i will leave with my reader a   
paragraph assembled from a statement    
made by a food chemist but a few years  
ago1 to let him compare adulteration    
with what is regarded as legitimate food
 preparation and note the essential     
similarity of many of the processes4 ,i 
do not mean to enter the discussion of  
food adulteration1 and ,i do not know   
whether these sophistications are true  
at the present day2 but the statement   
describes a situation in which we found 
ourselves and indicates what had become 
a staggering infidelity in the use of   
the good raw materials4  ,hamburg steak 
often contains sodium sulphite2 bologna 
sausage and similar meats until recently
 usually contained a large percentage of
 added cereal4 ,pancake flour often     
contains little if any buckwheat2 wheat 
flour is bleached with nitric oxide to  
improve its appearance4 ,fancy ,french  

peas are colored with sulphate of       
copper4 ,bottled ketchup usually        
contains benzoate of soda as a          
preservative4 ,japanese tea is colored  
with cyanide of potassium and iron4     
,prepared mustard usually contains a    
large quantity of added starch and is   
colored with tumeric4 ,ground coffee has
 recently been adulterated with roasted 
peas4 ,so-called non-alcoholic bottled  
beverages often contain alcohol or a    
habit-forming drug and are usually      
colored with aniline4 ,candy is commonly
 colored with aniline dye and often     
coated with paraffine to prevent        
evaporation4 ,cheap candies contain such
 substances as glue and soapstone4 ,the 
higher-priced kinds of molasses usually 
contain sulphites4 ,flavoring extracts  
seldom are made from pure products and  
usually are artificially colored4 ,jams 
are made of apple jelly with the        
addition of coloring matter and also of 
seeds to imitate berries from which they
 are supposed to be made2 the cheap     

apple jelly is itself often imitated by 
a mixture of glucose1 starch1 aniline   
dye1 and flavoring4 ,lard nearly always 
contains added tallow4 ,bakeries in     
large cities have used decomposed       
products1 as decayed eggs4 ,cheap       
ice-cream is often made of gelatin1     
glue1 and starch4 ,cottonseed-oil is    
sold for olive-oil4 ,the poison         
saccharine is often used in place of    
sugar in prepared sweetened products4   
,the attentive reader of the public     
prints in the recent years can greatly  
extend this humiliating recital if he   
choose4 ,it is our habit to attach all  
the blame to the adulterators1 and it is
 difficult to excuse them2 but we       
usually find that there are contributory
 causes and certainly there must be     
reasons4 ,has our daily fare been       
honest8     ,the admiration of good     
materials   ,not even yet am ,i done    
with this plain problem of the daily    
fare4 ,the very fact that it is         
daily--thrice daily--and that it enters 

so much into the thought and effort of  
every one of us1 makes it a subject of  
the deepest concern from every point of 
view4 ,the aspect of the case that ,i am
 now to reassert is the effect of much  
of our food preparation in removing us  
from a knowledge of the good raw        
materials that come out of the abounding
 earth4  ,let us stop to admire an      
apple4 ,i see a committee of the old    
worthies in some fruit-show going slowly
 and discriminatingly among the plates  
of fruits1 discussing the shapes and    
colors and sizes1 catching the          
fragrance1 debating the origins and the 
histories1 and testing them with the    
utmost precaution and deliberation2 and 
,i follow to hear their judgment4  ,this
 kind of apple is very perfect in       
spherical form1 deeply cut at the stem1 
well ridged at the shallow crater1      
beautifully splashed and streaked with  
carmine-red on a yellowish green        
under-color1 finely flecked with dots1  
slightly russet on the shaded side1     

apparently a good keeper2 its texture is
 fine-grained and uniform1 flavor mildly
 subacid1 the quality good to very good2
 if the tree is hardy and productive1   
this variety is to be recommended to the
 amateur for further trial6 ,the next   
sample is somewhat elongated in form1   
rather below the average in color1 the  
stem very long and well set and         
indicating a fruit that does not readily
 drop in windstorms1 the texture        
exceedingly melting but the flavor      
slightly lacking in character and       
therefore rendering it of doubtful value
 for further test4 ,another sample lacks
 decidedly in quality1 as judged by the 
specimens on the table1 and the         
exhibitor is respectfully recommended to
 withdraw it from future exhibitions2   
another kind has a very pronounced      
aromatic odor1 which will commend it to 
persons desiring to grow a choice       
collection of interesting fruits2 still 
another is of good size1 very firm and  
solid1 of uniform red color1 slightly   

oblate and therefore lending itself to  
easy packing1 quality fair to good1 and 
if the tree bears such uniform samples  
as those shown on the table it          
apparently gives promise of some        
usefulness as a market sort4 ,my older  
friends1 if they have something of the  
feeling of the pomologist1 can construct
 the remainder of the picture4  ,in     
physical perfectness of form and texture
 and color1 there is nothing in all the 
world that exceeds a well-grown fruit4  
,let it lie in the palm of your hand4   
,close your fingers slowly about it4    
,feel its firm or soft and modelled     
surface4 ,put it against your cheek1 and
 inhale its fragrance4 ,trace its       
neutral under-colors1 and follow its    
stripes and mark its dots4 ,if an apple1
 trace the eye that lies in a moulded   
basin4 ,note its stem1 how it stands    
firmly in its cavity1 and let your      
imagination run back to the tree from   
which1 when finally mature1 it parted   
freely4 ,this apple is not only the     

product of your labor1 but it holds the 
essence of the year and it is in itself 
a thing of exquisite beauty4 ,there is  
no other rondure and no other fragrance 
like this4  ,i am convinced that we need
 much to cultivate this appreciation of 
the physical perfectness of the fruits  
that we grow4 ,we cannot afford to lose 
this note from our lives1 for this may  
contribute a good part of our           
satisfaction of being in the world4 ,the
 discriminating appreciation that one   
applies to a picture or a piece of      
sculpture may be equally applied to any 
fruit that grows on the commonest tree  
or bush in our field or to any animal   
that stands on a green pasture4 ,it is  
no doubt a mark of a well-tempered mind 
that it can understand the significance 
of the forms in fruits and plants and   
animals and apply it in the work of the 
day4  ,i sometimes think that the rise  
of the culinary arts is banishing this  
fine old appreciation of fruits in their
 natural forms4 ,there are so many ways 

of canning and preserving and           
evaporating and extracting the juices1  
so many disguises and so much           
fabrication1 that the fruit is lost in  
the process4 ,the tin-can and the bottle
 seem to have put an insuperable barrier
 between us and nature1 and it is       
difficult for us to get back to a good  
munch of real apples under a tree or by 
the fireside4 ,the difficulty is all the
 greater in our congested city life     
where orchards and trees are only a     
vacant memory or stories told to the    
young1 and where the space in the larder
 is so small that apples must be        
purchased by the quart4 ,the eating of  
good apples out of hand seems to be     
almost a lost art4 ,only the most       
indestructible kinds1 along with        
leather-skinned oranges and withered    
bananas1 seem to be purchasable in the  
market4 ,the discriminating apple-eater 
in the ,old ,world sends to a grower for
 samples of the kinds that he grows2 and
 after the inquirer has tested them in  

the family1 and discussed them1 he      
orders his winter supply4 ,the ,american
 leaves the matter to the cook and she  
orders plain apples2 and she gets them4 
,i wonder whether in time the perfection
 of fabrication will not reach such a   
point that some fruits will be known to 
the great public only by the picture on 
the package or on the bottle4 ,every    
process that removes us one step farther
 from the earth is a distinct loss to   
the people1 and yet we are rapidly      
coming into the habit of taking all     
things at second hand4 ,my objection to 
the wine of the grape is not so much a  
question of abstinence as of the fact   
that ,i find no particular satisfaction 
in the shape and texture of a bottle4   
,if one has a sensitive appreciation of 
the beauty in form and color and        
modelling of the common fruits1 he will 
find his interest gradually extending to
 other products4 ,some time ago ,i      
visited ,hood ,river ,valley in company 
with a rugged potato-grower from the    

,rocky ,mountains4 ,we were amazed at   
the wonderful scenery1 and captivated by
 the beauty of the fruits4 ,in one      
orchard the owner showed us with much   
satisfaction a brace of apples of       
perfect form and glowing colors4 ,when  
the grower had properly expounded the   
marvels of ,hood ,river apples1 which he
 said were the finest in the world1 my  
friend thrust his hand into his pocket  
and pulled out a potato1 and said to the
 man3 ,why is not that just as handsome 
as a ,hood ,river apple8 ,and sure      
enough it was4 ,for twenty-five years   
this grower had been raising and        
selecting the old ,peachblow potato1    
until he had a form much more perfect   
than the old ,peachblow ever was1 with a
 uniform delicate pink skin1 smooth     
surface1 comely shape1 and medium size1 
and with eyes very small and scarcely   
sunken2 and my ,hood ,river friend      
admitted that a potato as well as an    
apple may be handsome and satisfying to 
the hand and to the eye1 and well worth 

carrying in one's pocket4 ,but this was 
a high-bred potato1 and not one of the  
common lot4  ,this episode of the potato
 allows me another opportunity to       
enforce my contention that we lose the  
fruit or the vegetable in the processes 
of cookery4 ,the customary practice of  
mashing potatoes takes all the          
individuality out of the product1 and   
the result is mostly so much starch4    
,there is an important dietary side to  
this4 ,cut a thin slice across a potato 
and hold it to the light4 ,note the     
interior undifferentiated mass1 and then
 the thick band of rind surrounding it4 
,the potato flavor and a large part of  
the nutriment lie in this exterior4 ,we 
slice this part away and fry1 boil1 or  
otherwise fuss up the remainder4 ,when  
we mash it1 we go still farther and     
break down the potato texture2 and in   
the modern method we squeeze and strain 
it till we eliminate every part of the  
potato1 leaving only a pasty mass1      
which1 in my estimation1 is not fit to  

eat4 ,the potato should be cooked with  
the rind on1 if it is a good potato1 and
 if it is necessary to remove the outer 
skin the process should be performed    
after the cooking4 ,the most toothsome  
part of the potato is in these outer    
portions1 if the tuber is well grown and
 handled4 ,we have so sophisticated the 
potato in the modern disguised cookery  
that we often practically ruin it as an 
article of food1 and we have bred a race
 of people that sees nothing to admire  
in a good and well-grown potato tuber4  
,i now wish to take an excursion from   
the potato to the pumpkin4 ,in all the  
range of vegetable products1 ,i doubt   
whether there is a more perfect example 
of pleasing form1 fine modelling1       
attractive texture and color1 and more  
bracing odor1 than in a well-grown and  
ripe field pumpkin4 ,place a pumpkin on 
your table2 run your fingers down its   
smooth grooves2 trace the furrows to the
 poles2 take note of its form2 absorb   
its rich color2 get the tang of its     

fragrance4 ,the roughness and ruggedness
 of its leaves1 the sharp-angled stem   
strongly set1 make a foil that a        
sculptor cannot improve4 ,then wonder   
how this marvellous thing was born out  
of your garden soil through the medium  
of one small strand of a succulent stem4
  ,we all recognize the appeal of a     
bouquet of flowers1 but we are unaware  
that we may have a bouquet of fruits4   
,we have given little attention to      
arranging them1 or any study of the     
kinds that consort well together1 nor   
have we receptacles in which effectively
 to display them4 ,yet1 apples and      
oranges and plums and grapes and nuts1  
and good melons and cucumbers and       
peppers and carrots and onions1 may be  
arranged into the most artistic and     
satisfying combinations4  ,i would fall 
short of my obligation if ,i were to    
stop with the fruit of the tree and say 
nothing about the tree or the plant     
itself4 ,in our haste for lawn trees of 
new kinds and from the uttermost parts1 

we forget that a fruit-tree is          
ornamental and that it provides         
acceptable shade4 ,a full-grown         
apple-tree or pear-tree is one of the   
most individual and picturesque of      
trees4 ,the foliage is good1 the        
blossoms as handsome as those of fancy  
imported things1 the fruits always      
interesting1 and the tree is reliable4  
,nothing is more interesting than an    
orange tree1 in the regions where it    
grows1 with its shining and evergreen   
leaves and its continuing flowers and   
fruits4 ,the practice of planting apples
 and pears and sweet cherries1 and other
 fruit and nut trees1 for shade and     
adornment is much to be commended in    
certain places4  ,but the point ,i wish 
specially to urge in this connection is 
the value of many kinds of fruit-trees  
in real landscape work4 ,we think of    
these trees as single or separate       
specimens1 but they may be used with    
good result in mass planting1 when it is
 desired to produce a given effect in a 

large area or in one division of a      
property4 ,i do not know that any one   
has worked out full plans for the       
combining of fruit-trees1 nuts1 and     
berry-bearing plants into good          
treatments1 but it is much to be desired
 that this shall be done4 ,any of you   
can picture a sweep of countryside      
planted to these things that would be   
not only novel and striking1 but at the 
same time conformable to the best       
traditions of artistic rendering4  ,i   
think it should be a fundamental purpose
 in our educational plans to acquaint   
the people with the common resources of 
the region1 and particularly with those 
materials on which we subsist4 ,if this 
is accepted1 then we cannot deprive our 
parks1 highways1 and school grounds of  
the trees that bear the staple fruits4  
,it is worth while to have an           
intellectual interest in a fruit-tree4  
,i know a fruit-grower who secures many 
prizes for his apples and his pears2    
when he secures a blue ribbon1 he ties  

it on the tree that bore the fruit4     
,the admiration of a good domestic      
animal is much to be desired4 ,it       
develops a most responsible attitude in 
the man or the woman4 ,i have observed a
 peculiar charm in the breeders of these
 wonderful animals1 a certain poise and 
masterfulness and breadth of sympathy4  
,to admire a good horse and to know just
 why he admires him is a great resource 
to any man1 as also to feel the         
responsibility for the care and health  
of any flock or herd4 ,fowls1 pigs1     
sheep on their pastures1 cows1 mules1   
all perfect of their kind1 all          
sensitive1 all of them marvellous in    
their forms and powers1--verily these   
are good to know4  ,if the raw materials
 grow out of the holy earth1 then a man 
should have pride in producing them1 and
 also in handling them4 ,as a man       
thinketh of his materials1 so doth he   
profit in the use of them4 ,he builds   
them into himself4 ,there is a          
wide-spread feeling that in some way    

these materials reflect themselves in a 
man's bearing4 ,one type of man grows   
out of the handling of rocks1 another   
out of the handling of fishes1 another  
out of the growing of the products from 
the good earth4 ,all irreverence in the 
handling of these materials that come   
out of the earth's bounty1 and all waste
 and poor workmanship1 make for a low   
spiritual expression4  ,the farmer      
specially should be proud of his        
materials1 he is so close to the sources
 and so hard against the backgrounds4   
,moreover1 he cannot conceal his        
materials4 ,he cannot lock up his farm  
or disguise his crops4 ,he lives on his 
farm1 and visibly with his products4    
,the architect does not live in the     
houses and temples he builds4 ,the      
engineer does not live on his bridge4   
,the miner does not live in his mine4   
,even the sailor has his home away from 
his ship4 ,but the farmer cannot        
separate himself from his works4 ,every 
bushel of buckwheat and every barrel of 

apples and every bale of cotton bears   
his name2 the beef that he takes to     
market1 the sheep that he herds on his  
pastures1 the horse that he             
drives1--these are his products and they
 carry his name4 ,he should have the    
same pride in these--his productions--as
 another who builds a machine1 or       
another who writes a book about them4   
,the admiration of a field of hay1 of a 
cow producing milk1 of a shapely and    
fragrant head of cabbage1 is a great    
force for good4  ,it would mean much if 
we could celebrate the raw materials and
 the products4 ,particularly is it good 
to celebrate the yearly bounty4 ,the    
,puritans recognized their immediate    
dependence on the products of the       
ground1 and their celebration was       
connected with religion4 ,i should be   
sorry if our celebrations were to be    
wholly secular4  ,we have been much     
given to the display of fabricated      
materials1--of the products of looms1   
lathes1 foundries1 and many factories of

 skill4 ,we also exhibit the            
agricultural produce1 but largely in a  
crass and rude way to display bulk and  
to win prizes4 ,we now begin to arrange 
our exhibitions for color effect1       
comparison1 and educational influence4  
,but we do not justly understand the    
natural products when we confine them to
 formal exhibitions4 ,they must be      
incorporated into many celebrations1    
expressing therein the earth's bounty   
and our appreciation of it4 ,the usual  
and common products1 domesticated and   
wild1 should be gathered in these       
occasions1 and not for competition or   
for prize awards or even for display1   
but for their intrinsic qualities4 ,an  
apple day or an apple sabbath would     
teach the people to express their       
gratitude for apples4 ,the moral        
obligation to grow good apples1 to      
handle them honestly1 to treat the soil 
and the trees fairly and reverently1    
could be developed as a living practical
 philosophy into the working-days of an 

apple-growing people4 ,the technical    
knowledge we now possess requires the   
moral support of a stimulated public    
appreciation to make it a thoroughly    
effective force4  ,many of the products 
and crops lend themselves well to this  
kind of admiration1 and all of them     
should awaken gratitude and reverence4  
,sermons and teaching may issue from    
them4 ,nor is it necessary that this    
gratitude be expressed only in collected
 materials1 or that all preaching and   
all teaching shall be indoors4 ,the best
 understanding of our relations to the  
earth will be possible when we learn how
 to apply our devotions in the open     
places4     ,the keeping of the         
beautiful earth   ,the proper           
care-taking of the earth lies not alone 
in maintaining its fertility or in      
safeguarding its products4 ,the lines of
 beauty that appeal to the eye and the  
charm that satisfies the five senses are
 in our keeping4  ,the natural landscape
 is always interesting and it is        

satisfying4 ,the physical universe is   
the source of art4 ,we know no other    
form and color than that which we see in
 nature or derive from it4 ,if art is   
true to its theme1 it is one expression 
of morals4 ,if it is a moral obligation 
to express the art-sense in painting and
 sculpture and literature and music1 so 
is it an equal obligation to express it 
in good landscape4  ,of the first       
importance is it that the race keep its 
artistic backgrounds1 and not alone for 
the few who may travel far and near and 
who may pause deliberately1 but also for
 those more numerous folk who must      
remain with the daily toil and catch the
 far look only as they labor4 ,to put   
the best expression of any landscape    
into the consciousness of one's day's   
work is more to be desired than much    
riches4 ,when we complete our conquest1 
there will be no unseemly landscapes4   
,the abundance of violated landscapes is
 proof that we have not yet mastered4   
,the farmer does not have full command  

of his situation until the landscape is 
a part of his farming4 ,farms may be    
units in well-developed and pleasing    
landscapes1 beautiful in their          
combinations with other farms and       
appropriate to their setting as well as 
attractive in themselves4  ,no one has a
 moral right to contribute unsightly    
factory premises or a forbidding        
commercial establishment to any         
community4 ,the lines of utility and    
efficiency ought also to be the lines of
 beauty2 and it is due every worker to  
have a good landscape to look upon1 even
 though its area be very constricted4   
,to produce bushels of wheat and marvels
 of machinery1 to maintain devastating  
military establishments1 do not comprise
 the sum of conquest4 ,the backgrounds  
must be kept4  ,if moral strength comes 
from good and sufficient scenery1 so    
does the preservation of it become a    
social duty4 ,it is much more than a    
civic obligation4 ,but the resources of 
the earth must be available to man for  

his use and this necessarily means a    
modification of the original scenery4   
,some pieces and kinds of scenery are   
above all economic use and should be    
kept wholly in the natural state4 ,much 
of it may yield to modification if he   
takes good care to preserve its         
essential features4 ,unfortunately1 the 
engineer seems not often to be trained  
in the values of scenery and he is      
likely to despoil a landscape or at     
least to leave it raw and unfinished4   
,on the other hand1 there is            
unfortunately a feeling abroad that any 
modification of a striking landscape is 
violation and despoliation2 and         
unwarranted opposition1 in some cases   
amounting almost to prudery1 follows any
 needful work of utilization4           
,undoubtedly the farmer and builder and 
promoter have been too unmindful of the 
effect of their interference on scenery1
 and particularly in taking little care 
in the disposition of wastes and in the 
healing of wounds2 but a work either of 

farming or of construction may add      
interest and even lines of beauty to a  
landscape and endow it with the         
suggestion of human interest4 ,if care  
were taken in the construction of public
 and semi-public work to reshape the    
banks into pleasing lines1 to clean up1 
to care for1 to plant1 to erect         
structures of good proportions whether  
they cost much or little1 and to give   
proper regard to the sensibilities of   
the communities1 most of the present    
agitation against interference with     
natural scenery would disappear4 ,one   
has only to visit the factory districts1
 the vacation resorts1 the tenement     
areas1 the banks of streams and gorges1 
to look at the faces of cliffs and at   
many engineering enterprises and at     
numberless farmyards1 to find examples  
of the disregard of men for the         
materials that they handle4 ,it is as   
much our obligation to hold the scenery 
reverently as to handle the products    
reverently4 ,man found the earth looking

 well4 ,humanity began in a garden4     
,the keeping of the good earth depends  
on preservation rather than on          
destruction4 ,the office of the farmer  
and the planter is to produce rather    
than to destroy2 whatever they destroy  
is to the end that they may produce more
 abundantly2 these persons are therefore
 natural care-takers4 ,if to this office
 we add the habit of good housekeeping1 
we shall have more than one-third of our
 population at once directly partaking  
in keeping the earth4 ,it is one of the 
bitter ironies that farmers should ever 
have been taken out of their place to   
wreak vengeance on the earth by means of
 military devastation4 ,in the past1    
this ravage has been small in amount    
because the engines of destruction were 
weak1 but with the perfecting of the    
modern enginery the havoc is awful and  
brutal4 ,while we have to our credit the
 improvement of agriculture and other   
agencies of conservation1 it is yet a   
fact that man has never been so         

destructive as now4 ,he is able to turn 
the skill of his discovery to           
destructive ends 7a subject that we have
 already approached from another point  
of view74 ,the keeping of the earth is  
therefore involved in the organization  
of society4 ,military power heads toward
 destructiveness4 ,civil power heads    
toward conservation4 ,the military power
 may be constructive in times of peace1 
but its end1 if it uses the tools it    
invents1 is devastation and the         
inflicting of injury4 ,when the civil   
power is subjugated to the military     
power1 society is headed toward         
calamity4  ,to keep and to waste are    
opposite processes4 ,not only are we    
able to despoil the earth by sheer lust 
of ravage and by blighting the fields   
with caverns of human slaughter1 but we 
shoot away incredible supplies of copper
 and petroleum and other unrenewable    
materials that by every right and equity
 belong to our successors2 and1         
moreover1 we are to make these          

successors pay for the destruction of   
their heritage4 ,day by day we are      
mortgaging the future1 depriving it of  
supplies that it may need1 burdening the
 shoulders of generations yet unborn4   
,merely to make the earth productive and
 to keep it clean and to bear a reverent
 regard for its products1 is the special
 prerogative of a good agriculture and a
 good citizenry founded thereon2 this   
may seem at the moment to be small and  
ineffective as against mad impersonal   
and limitless havoc1 but it carries the 
final healing2 and while the land worker
 will bear much of the burden on his    
back he will also redeem the earth4     
,the tones of industry   ,one of the    
clearest notes of our time is the       
recognition of the holiness of industry 
and the attempt to formulate the morals 
of it4 ,we accept this fact indirectly  
by the modern endeavor to give the      
laboring man his due4  ,the handworker  
is more or less elemental1 dealing      
directly with the materials4 ,we begin  

to recognize these industries in        
literature1 in sculpture1 and in        
painting2 but we do not yet very        
consciously or effectively translate    
them into music4  ,it is to be          
recognized1 of course1 that melody is   
emotional and dynamic not imitative1    
that its power lies in suggestion rather
 than in direct representation1 and that
 its language is general2 with all this 
,i have nothing to do4 ,meunier has done
 much with his chisel to interpret the  
spirit of constructive labor and to     
develop its higher significance4 ,his   
art is indeed concrete and static1 and  
sculpture and music are not to be       
compared2 yet it raises the question    
whether there may be other bold         
extensions of art4  ,the primitive      
industries must have been mostly silent1
 when there were no iron tools1 when    
fire felled the forest tree and hollowed
 the canoe1 when the parts in           
construction were secured by thongs1 and
 when the game was caught in silent     

traps or by the swift noiseless arrow   
and spear4 ,even at the ,stone ,age the 
rude implements and the materials must  
have been mostly devoid of resonance4   
,but now industry has become universal  
and complex1 and it has also become     
noisy1--so noisy that we organize to    
protect ourselves from becoming         
distraught4  ,and yet a workshop1       
particularly if it works in metal1 is   
replete with tones that are essentially 
musical4 ,workmen respond readily to    
unison4 ,there are melodies that arise  
from certain kinds of labor4 ,much of   
our labor is rhythmic4 ,in any factory  
driven by power1 there is a fundamental 
rhythm and motion1 tying all things     
together4 ,i have often thought1        
standing at the threshold of a mill1    
that it might be possible somewhere by  
careful forethought to eliminate the    
clatter and so to organize the work as  
to develop a better expression in labor4
 ,very much do we need to make industry 
vocal4  ,it is worth considering1 also1 

whether it is possible to take over into
 music any of these sounds of industry  
in a new way1 that they may be given    
meanings they do not now possess4  ,at  
all events1 the poetic element in       
industry is capable of great development
 and of progressive interpretation2 and 
poetry is scarcely to be dissociated    
from sound4 ,all good work well done is 
essentially poetic to the sensitive     
mind2 and when the work is the rhythm of
 many men acting in unison1 the poetry  
has voice4          ,the striking of the
 rivet         ,the purr of a drill     
,the crash of a steam-shovel            
,the plunge of a dredge         ,the    
buzz of a saw         ,the roll of belts
 and chains         ,the whirl of       
spindles         ,the hiss of steam     
,the tip-tap of valves         ,the     
undertone rumble of a mill         ,the 
silence intent of men at work           
,the talk of men going to their homes1--
         ,these are all the notes of    
great symphonies4  ,nor should ,i stop  

with the industries of commerce and     
manufacture4 ,there are many            
possibilities in the sounds and voices  
that are known of fisherfolk and campers
 and foresters and farmers4 ,somehow we 
should be able to individualize these   
voices and to give them an artistic     
expression in some kind of human        
composition4 ,there are rich suggestions
 in the voices of the farmyard1 the     
calls of wild creatures1 the tones of   
farm implements and machinery1 the      
sounds of the elements1 and particularly
 in the relations of all these to the   
pauses1 the silences1 and the distances 
beyond4  ,whether it is possible to     
utilize any of these tones and voices   
artistically is not for a layman to say2
 but the layman may express the need    
that he feels4     ,the threatened      
literature   ,a fear seems to be abroad 
that the inquisitiveness and exactness  
of science will deprive literature of   
imagination and sympathy and will       
destroy artistic expression2 and it is  

said that we are in danger of losing the
 devotional element in literature4 ,if  
these apprehensions are well founded1   
then do we have cause for alarm1 seeing 
that literature is an immeasurable      
resource4  ,great literature may be     
relatively independent of time and      
place1 and this is beyond discussion    
here2 but if the standards of           
interpretative literature are lowering  
it must be because the standards of life
 are lowering1 for the attainment and   
the outlook of a people are bound to be 
displayed in its letters4  ,perhaps our 
difficulty lies in a change in methods  
and standards rather than in essential  
qualities4 ,we constantly acquire new   
material for literary use4 ,the riches  
of life are vaster and deeper than ever 
before4 ,it would be strange indeed if  
the new experience of the planet did not
 express itself in new literary form4   
,we are led astray by the fatal habit of
 making comparisons1 contrasting one    
epoch with another4 ,there may be       

inflexible souls among the investigators
 who see little or nothing beyond the   
set of facts in a little field1 but     
surely the greater number of scientific 
men are persons of keen imagination and 
of broad interest in all conquests4     
,indeed1 a lively imagination is        
indispensable in persons of the best    
attainments in science2 it is necessary 
only that the imagination be regulated  
and trained4 ,never has it been so true 
that fact is stranger than fiction4     
,never have the flights of the poets    
been so evenly matched by the flights of
 science4 ,all great engineers1         
chemists1 physiologists1 physicists work
 in the realm of imagination1 of        
imagination that projects the unknown   
from the known4 ,almost do we think that
 the ,roentgen ray1 the wireless        
telegraphy1 the analysis of the light of
 the stars1 the serum control of disease
 are the product of what we might call  
pure fancy4 ,the very utilities and     
conquests of modern society are the     

results of better imagination than the  
world has yet known4 ,if it is true that
 the desire to measure and to analyze is
 now an established trait1 equally is it
 true that it directs the mind into far 
and untried reaches2 and if we have not 
yet found this range of inspiration in  
what is called artistic literature1 it  
must be because literary criticism has  
not accepted the imagery of the modern  
world and is still looking for its art  
to the models of the past4  ,the models 
of the past are properly the standards  
for the performances of their time1 but 
this does not constitute them the       
standards of all time or of the present 
time4 ,perhaps the writing of language  
for the sake of writing it is losing its
 hold2 but a new1 clear1 and forceful   
literature appears4 ,this new literature
 has its own criteria4 ,it would be     
violence to judge it only by standards  
of criticism founded on ,elizabethan    
writings4 ,we do not descend into crude 
materialism because we describe the     

materials of the cosmos2 we do not      
eliminate imagination because we desire 
that it shall have meaning2 we do not   
strip literature of artistic quality    
because it is true to the facts and the 
outlook of our own time4  ,it may be    
admitted that present literature is     
inadequate1 and that we are still       
obliged to go to the former compositions
 for our highest artistic expressions4  
,very good4 ,let us hope that we shall  
never cease to want these older         
literatures4 ,let us hope that we shall 
never be severed from our past4 ,but    
perhaps the good judge in a coming      
generation1 when the slow process of    
elimination has perfected its criticism1
 will discover something very noble and 
even very artistic in the abundant      
writing of our day4 ,certainly he will  
note the recovery from the first excess 
of reaction against the older orders1   
and he will be aware that at this epoch 
man began anew to express his social    
sense in a large way1 as a result of all

 his painstaking studies in science4    
,even if he should not discover the     
highest forms of literary expression1 he
 might find that here was the large     
promise of a new order4 ,possibly he    
would discover major compositions of the
 excellence of which we ourselves are   
not aware4  ,it is less than forty years
 since ,darwin and less than fifty years
 since ,agassiz4 ,it is only twenty     
years since ,pasteur4 ,it is only a     
century and a quarter since ,franklin1  
fifty years since ,faraday1 less than   
twenty-five since ,tyndall4 ,it is sixty
 years since ,humboldt glorified the    
earth with the range of his imagination4
 ,it is not so very far even if we go   
back to ,newton and to ,kepler4 ,within 
the span of a century we count name     
after name of prophets who have set us  
on a new course4 ,so complete has been  
the revolution that we lost our old     
bearings before we had found the new4   
,we have not yet worked out the new     
relationships1 nor put into practice    

their moral obligations1 nor have we    
grasped the fulness of our privileges4  
,we have not yet made the new knowledge 
consciously into a philosophy of life or
 incorporated it completely into working
 attitudes of social equity4 ,therefore1
 not even now are we ripe for the new   
literature4  ,we have gone far enough1  
however1 to know that science is not    
unsympathetic and that it is not        
contemptuous of the unknown4 ,by lens   
and prism and balance and line we       
measure minutely whatever we can sense2 
then with bared heads we look out to the
 great unknown and we cast our lines    
beyond the stars4 ,there are no realms  
beyond which the prophecy of science    
would not go4 ,it resolves the atom and 
it weighs the planets4  ,among the      
science men ,i have found as many poetic
 souls as among the literary men1       
although they may not know so much      
poetry1 and they are not equally trained
 in literary expression2 being free of  
the restraint of conventional criticism1

 they are likely to have a peculiarly   
keen and sympathetic projection4 ,close 
dissection long continued may not lead  
to free artistic literary expression2   
this is as true of literary anatomy as  
of biological anatomy3 but this does not
 destroy the freedom of other souls1 and
 it may afford good material for the    
artist4  ,two kinds of popular writing  
are confused in the public mind1 for    
there are two classes that express the  
findings of scientific inquiry4 ,the    
prevailing product is that which issues 
from establishments and institutions4   
,this is supervised1 edited1 and made to
 conform2 it is the product of our      
perfected organizations and has all the 
hardness of its origin4 ,the other      
literature is of a different breed4 ,it 
is the expression of personality4 ,the  
one is a useful and necessary public    
literature of record and advice2 the    
other is a literature of outlook and    
inspiration4 ,the latter is not to be   
expected from the institutions1 for it  

is naturally the literature of freedom4 
,my reader now knows my line of approach
 to the charge that literature is in    
danger of losing its element of         
devotion1 and hereby lies the main      
reason for introducing this discussion  
into my little book4 ,we may be losing  
the old literary piety and the technical
 theology1 because we are losing the old
 theocratic outlook on creation4 ,we    
also know that the final control of     
human welfare will not be governmental  
or military1 and we shall some day learn
 that it will not be economic as we now 
prevailingly use the word4 ,we have long
 since forgotten that once it was       
patriarchal4 ,we shall know the creator 
in the creation4 ,we shall derive more  
of our solaces from the creation and in 
the consciousness of our right relations
 to it4 ,we shall be more fully aware   
that righteousness inheres in honest    
occupation4 ,we shall find some bold and
 free way in which the human spirit may 
express itself4     ,the separate soul  

,many times in this journey have we come
 against the importance of the          
individual4 ,we are to develop the man's
 social feeling at the same time that we
 allow him to remain separate4 ,we are  
to accomplish certain social results    
otherwise than by the process of        
thronging1 which is so much a part of   
the philosophy of this anxious epoch2   
and therefore we may pursue the subject 
still a little further4  ,any close and 
worth-while contact with the earth tends
 to make one original or at least       
detached in one's judgments and         
independent of group control4 ,in       
proportion as society becomes organized 
and involved1 do we need the separate   
spirit and persons who are responsible  
beings on their own account4 ,the       
independent judgment should be much     
furthered by studies in the sciences    
that are founded on observation of      
native forms and conditions4 ,and yet   
the gains of scientific study become so 
rigidly organized into great enterprises

 that the individual is likely to be    
lost in them4  ,as an example of what ,i
 mean1 ,i mention ,john ,muir1 who has  
recently passed away1 and who stood for 
a definite contribution to his          
generation4 ,he could hardly have made  
this contribution if he had been        
attached to any of the great            
institutions or organizations or to big 
business4 ,he has left a personal       
impression and a remarkable literature  
that has been very little influenced by 
group psychology4 ,he is the interpreter
 of mountains1 forests1 and glaciers4   
,there is one method of aggregation and 
social intercourse4 ,there is another   
method of isolation and separateness4   
,never in the open country do ,i see a  
young man or woman at nightfall going   
down the highways and the long fields   
but ,i think of the character that      
develops out of the loneliness1 in the  
silence of vast surroundings1 projected 
against the backgrounds1 and of the     
suggestions that must come from these   

situations as contrasted with those that
 arise from the babble of the crowds4   
,there is hardiness in such training2   
there is independence1 the taking of    
one's own risk and no need of the       
protection of compensation-acts4 ,there 
is no over-imposed director to fall back
 on4 ,physical recuperation is in the   
situation4 ,as against these fields1    
much of the habitual golf and tennis and
 other adventitious means of killing    
time and of making up deficiencies is   
almost ludicrous4  ,many of our         
reformers fail because they express only
 a group psychology and do not have a   
living personal interpretation4         
,undoubtedly many persons who might have
 had a message of their own have lost it
 and have also lost the opportunity to  
express it by belonging to too many     
clubs and by too continuous association 
with so-called kindred spirits1 or by   
taking too much post-graduate study4 ,it
 is a great temptation to join many     
clubs1 but if one feels any stir of     

originality in himself1 he should be    
cautious how he joins4  ,i may also     
recall the great example of ,agassiz at 
,penikese4 ,in his last year1 broken in 
health1 feeling the message he still had
 for the people1 he opened the school on
 the little island off the coast of     
,massachusetts4 ,it was a short school  
in one summer only1 yet it has made an  
indelible impression on ,american       
education4 ,it stimulates one to know   
that the person who met the incoming    
students on the wharf was ,agassiz      
himself1 not an assistant or an         
instructor4 ,out of the great number of 
applicants1 he chose fifty whom he would
 teach4 ,he wanted to send forth these  
chosen persons with his message1        
apostles to carry the methods and the   
way of approach4 7,when are we to have  
the ,penikese for the rural             
backgrounds87  ,sometime there will be  
many great unattached teachers1 who will
 choose their own pupils because they   
want them and not merely because the    

applicants have satisfied certain       
arbitrary tests4 ,the students may be   
graduates of colleges or they may be    
others4 ,they will pursue their work not
 for credit or for any other reward4 ,we
 shall yet come back to the masters1 and
 there will be teaching in the          
market-places4  ,we are now in the epoch
 of great organization not only in      
industrial developments but also in     
educational and social enterprises1 in  
religious work1 and in governmental     
activities4 ,so completely is the       
organization proceeding in every        
direction1 and so good is it1 that one  
habitually and properly desires to      
identify oneself with some form of      
associated work4 ,almost in spite of    
oneself1 one is caught up into the plan 
of things1 and becomes part of a social1
 economic1 or educational mechanism4 ,no
 longer do we seek our educational      
institutions so much for the purpose of 
attaching ourselves to a master as to   
pursue a course of study4 ,no more do we

 sit at the feet of ,gamaliel4  ,in     
government1 the organization has        
recently taken the form of mechanism for
 efficiency4 ,we want government and all
 kinds of organization to be efficient  
and effective1 but administrative       
efficiency may easily proceed at the    
expense of personality4 ,much of our    
public organization for efficiency is   
essentially monarchic in its tendency4  
,it is likely to eliminate the most     
precious resource in human society1     
which is the freedom of expression of   
the competent individual4 ,we are piling
 organization on organization1 one      
supervising and watching and            
investigating the other4 ,the greater   
the number of the commissions1          
investigating committees1 and the       
interlocking groups1 the more complex   
does the whole process become and the   
more difficult is it for the person to  
find himself4 ,we can never successfully
 substitute bookkeeping for men and     
women4 ,we are more in need of          

personality than of administrative      
regularity4  ,this is not a doctrine of 
laisser-faire or let-alone4 ,the very   
conditions of modern society demand     
strong control and regulation and       
vigorous organization2 but the danger is
 that we apply the controls uniformly   
and everywhere and eliminate the free   
action of the individual1 as if control 
were in itself a merit4  ,in some way we
 must protect the person from being     
submerged in the system4 ,we need always
 to get back of the group to the        
individual4 ,the person is the reason   
for the group1 although he is           
responsible to the group4  ,it is       
probably a great advantage to our       
democracy that our educational          
institutions are so completely          
organized1 for by that means we are able
 to educate many more persons and to    
prepare them for the world with a clear 
and direct purpose in life4 ,but this is
 not the whole of the public educational
 process4 ,some of the most useful      

persons cannot express themselves in    
institutions4 ,this is not the fault of 
the institutions4 ,in the nature of     
their character1 these persons are      
separate4 ,for the most part1 they do   
not now have adequate means of          
self-expression or of contributing      
themselves to the public welfare4  ,when
 we shall have completed the present    
necessity of consolidation1             
centralization1 and organization1       
society will begin to be conscious of   
the separate souls1 who in the nature of
 the case must stand by themselves1 and 
it will make use of them for the public 
good4 ,society will endow persons1 not  
on a basis of salary1 and enable them   
thereby to teach in their own way and   
their own time4 ,this will represent one
 of the highest types of endowment by   
government and society4  ,we begin to   
approach this time by the support1      
through semi-public agencies1 of persons
 to accomplish certain results or to    
undertake special pieces of work1       

particularly of research2 but we have   
not yet attained the higher aim of      
endowing individuals to express         
themselves personally4 ,there are       
liberated personalities1 rare and       
prophetic1 who are consumed only in     
making a living but who should be given 
unreservedly to the people3 the people  
are much in need4  ,never have we needed
 the separate soul so much as now4      
,the element of separateness in society 
,if it is so important that we have     
these separate souls1 then must we      
inquire where they may be found and     
particularly how we may insure the      
requisite supply4 ,isolated separates   
appear here and there1 in all the ranges
 of human experiences2 these cannot be  
provided or foretold2 but we shall need1
 in days to come1 a group or a large    
class of persons1 who in the nature of  
their occupation1 situation1 and        
training are relatively independent and 
free4 ,we need more than a limited      
number of strong outstanding figures who

 rise to personal leadership4 ,we must  
have a body of unattached laborers and  
producers who are in sufficient numbers 
to influence unexpressed public opinion 
and who will form a natural corrective  
as against organization-men1 habitual   
reformers1 and extremists4  ,it is      
apparent that such a class must own     
productive property1 be able to secure  
support by working for themselves1 and  
produce supplies that are indispensable 
to society4 ,their individual interests 
must be greater and more insistent than 
their associative interests4 ,they      
should be in direct contact with native 
resources4 ,this characterization       
describes the farmer1 and no other large
 or important group4  ,we have          
considered1 on a former page1 that we   
are not to look for the self-acting     
individuals among the workingmen as a   
class4 ,they are rapidly partaking in an
 opposite development4 ,they are        
controlled by associative interests4    
,even under a profit-sharing system they

 are parts in a close concert4  ,how to 
strike the balance between the needful  
individualism and social crystallization
 is probably the most difficult question
 before society4 ,of the great          
underlying classes of occupations1      
farming is the only one that presents   
the individualistic side very strongly4 
,if individualism is to be preserved    
anywhere1 it must be preserved here4    
,the tendency of our present-day        
discussion is to organize the farmers as
 other groups or masses are organized4  
,we are in danger here4 ,assuredly1 the 
farmer needs better resources in        
association1 but it is a nice question  
how far we should go and how completely 
we should try to redirect him4          
,fortunately1 the holding of title to   
land and the separateness of farm       
habitations prevent solidification4 ,if1
 on this individualism and without      
destroying it1 we can develop a         
co-acting and co-operating activity1 we 
shall undoubtedly be on the line of     

safety as well as on the line of        
promise4 ,it would be a pity to organize
 the farming people merely to secure    
them their rights4 ,we ought soon to    
pass this epoch in civilization4 ,there 
are no rights exclusive to any class4   
,rights are not possessions4  ,i do not 
know where the element of separateness  
in society is to be derived unless it   
comes out of the earth4  ,given         
sufficient organization to enable the   
farmer to express himself fully in his  
occupation and to secure protection1    
then we may well let the matter rest    
until his place in society develops by  
the operation of natural forces4 ,we    
cannot allow the fundamental supplies   
from the common earth to be controlled  
by arbitrary class regulation4 ,it would
 be a misfortune if the farmer were to  
isolate himself by making demands on    
society4 ,i hope that the farmer's      
obligation may be so sensitively        
developed in him as to produce a better 
kind of mass-cohesion than we have yet  

known4     ,the democratic basis in     
agriculture   ,all these positions are  
capable of direct application in the    
incorporation of agriculture into a     
scheme of democracy4 ,a brief treatment 
of this subject ,i had developed for the
 present book2 and this treatment1 with 
applications to particular situations   
now confronting us1 ,i used recently in 
the vice-presidential address before the
 new ,section ,m of the ,american       
,association for the ,advancement of    
,science 7published in ,science1        
,february #bf1 #aiae1 where the         
remainder of it may be found74 ,some of 
the general points of view1 modified    
from that address1 may be brought       
together here4 ,the desirability of     
keeping a free and unattached attitude  
in the people on the land may be        
expounded in many directions1 but for my
 purpose ,i will confine the            
illustrations to organization in the    
field of education4  ,the agricultural  
situation is now much in the public     

mind4 ,it is widely discussed in the    
press1 which shows that it has news     
value4 ,much of this value is merely of 
superficial and temporary interest4     
,much of it represents a desire to try  
new remedies for old ills4 ,many of     
these remedies will not work4 ,we must  
be prepared for some loss of public     
interest in them as time goes on4 ,we   
are now in a publicity stage of our     
rural development4 ,it would seem that  
the news-gathering and some other       
agencies discover these movements after 
the work of many constructive spirits   
has set them going and has laid real    
foundations2 and not these foundations1 
but only detached items of passing      
interest1 may be known of any large part
 of the public4 ,i hope that we shall   
not be disturbed by this circumstance   
nor let it interfere with good work or  
with fundamental considerations1 however
 much we may deplore the false          
expectations that may result4  ,we are  
at the parting of the ways4 ,for years  

without number--for years that run into 
the centuries when men have slaughtered 
each other on many fields1 thinking that
 they were on the fields of honor1 when 
many awful despotisms have ground men   
into the dust1 the despotisms thinking  
themselves divine--for all these years  
there have been men on the land wishing 
to see the light1 trying to make mankind
 hear1 hoping but never realizing4 ,they
 have been the pawns on the great       
battlefields1 men taken out of the      
peasantries to be hurled against other  
men they did not know and for no rewards
 except further enslavement4 ,they may  
even have been developed to a high      
degree of manual or technical skill that
 they might the better support          
governments to make conquests4 ,they    
have been on the bottom1 upholding the  
whole superstructure and pressed into   
the earth by the weight of it4 ,when the
 final history is written1 the lot of   
the man on the land will be the saddest 
chapter4  ,but in the nineteenth        

century1 the man at the bottom began    
really to be recognized politically4    
,this recognition is of two kinds1--the 
use that a government can make in its   
own interest of a highly efficient      
husbandry1 and the desire to give the   
husbandman full opportunity and full    
justice4 ,i hope that in these times the
 latter motive always prevails4 ,it is  
the only course of safety4  ,great      
public-service institutions have now    
been founded in the rural movement4 ,the
 ,united ,states ,department of         
,agriculture has grown to be one of the 
notable governmental establishments of  
the world1 extending itself to a        
multitude of interests and operating    
with remarkable effectiveness4 ,the     
chain of colleges of agriculture and    
experiment stations1 generously         
co-operative between nation and ,state1 
is unlike any other development         
anywhere1 meaning more1 ,i think1 for   
the future welfare and peace of the     
people than any one of us yet foresees4 

,there is the finest fraternalism1 and  
yet without clannishness1 between these 
great agencies1 setting a good example  
in public service4 ,and to these        
agencies we are to add the ,state       
departments of agriculture1 the work of 
private endowments although yet in its  
infancy1 the growing and very desirable 
contact with the rural field of many    
institutions of learning4 ,all these    
agencies comprise a distinctly modern   
phase of public activity4  ,a new agency
 has been created in the agricultural   
extension act which was signed by       
,president ,wilson on the #hth of ,may  
in #aiad4 ,the farmer is to find help at
 his own door4 ,a new instrumentality in
 the world has now received the sanction
 of a whole people and we are just      
beginning to organize it4 ,the          
organization must be extensive1 and it  
ought also to be liberal4 ,no such      
national plan on such a scale has ever  
been attempted2 and it almost staggers  
one when one even partly comprehends the

 tremendous consequences that in all    
likelihood will come of it4 ,the        
significance of it is not yet grasped by
 the great body of the people4  ,now1   
the problem is to relate all this public
 work to the development of a democracy4
 ,i am not thinking so much of the      
development of a form of government as  
of a real democratic expression on the  
part of the people4 ,agriculture is our 
basic industry4 ,as we organize its     
affairs1 so to a great degree shall we  
secure the results in society in        
general4 ,it is very important in our   
great experiment in democracy that we do
 not lose sight of the first principle  
in democracy1 which is to let the       
control of policies and affairs rest    
directly back on the people4  ,we have  
developed the institutions on public    
funds to train the farmer and to give   
him voice4 ,these institutions are of   
vast importance in the founding of a    
people4 ,the folk are to be developed in
 themselves rather than by class        

legislation1 or by favor of government1 
or by any attitude of benevolence from  
without4  ,whether there is any danger  
in the organization of our new          
nationalized extension work1 and the    
other public rural agencies1 ,i suppose 
not one of us knows4 ,but for myself1 ,i
 have apprehension of the tendency to   
make some of the agricultural work into 
projects at ,washington and elsewhere4  
,if we are not careful1 we shall not    
only too much centralize the work1 but  
we shall tie it up in perplexing        
red-tape1 official obstacles1 and       
bookkeeping4 ,the merit of the projects 
themselves and the intentions of the    
officers concerned in them are not      
involved in what ,i say2 ,i speak only  
of the tendency of all government to    
formality and to crystallization1 to    
machine work and to armchair            
regulations2 and even at the risk of a  
somewhat lower so-called efficiency1 ,i 
should prefer for such work as          
investigating and teaching in           

agriculture1 a dispersion of the        
initiative and responsibility1 letting  
the co-ordination and standardizing     
arise very much from conference and very
 little from arbitrary regulation4  ,the
 best project anywhere is a good man or 
woman working in a program1 but         
unhampered4  ,if it is important that   
the administration of agricultural work 
be not overmuch centralized at          
,washington1 it is equally true that it 
should not be too much centralized in   
the ,states4 ,i hear that persons who   
object strongly to federal concentration
 may nevertheless decline to give the   
counties and the communities in their   
own ,states the benefit of any useful   
starting-power and autonomy4 ,in fact1  
,i am inclined to think that here at    
present lies one of our greatest        
dangers4  ,a strong centralization      
within the ,state may be the most       
hurtful kind of concentration1 for it   
may more vitally affect the people at   
home4 ,here the question1 remember1 is  

not the most efficient formal           
administration1 but the best results for
 the people4 ,the farm-bureau work1 for 
example1 can never produce the          
background results of which it is       
capable if it is a strongly intrenched  
movement pushed out from one centre1 as 
from the college of agriculture or other
 institution4 ,the college may be the   
guiding force1 but it should not remove 
responsibility from the people of the   
localities1 or offer them a kind of     
co-operation that is only the privilege 
of partaking in the college enterprises4
 ,i fear that some of our so-called     
co-operation in public work of many     
kinds is little more than to allow the  
co-operator to approve what the official
 administration has done4  ,in the      
course of our experience in democracy1  
we have developed many checks against   
too great centralization4 ,i hope that  
we may develop the checks effectively in
 this new welfare work in agriculture1 a
 desire that ,i am aware is also strong 

with many of those who are concerned in 
the planning of it4  ,some enterprises  
may be much centralized1 whether in a   
democracy or elsewhere2 an example is   
the postal service3 this is on the      
business side of government4 ,some      
enterprises should be decentralized2 an 
example is a good part of the           
agricultural service3 this is on the    
educational side of government4 ,it is  
the tendency to reduce all public work  
to uniformity2 yet there is no virtue in
 uniformity4 ,its only value is as a    
means to an end4  ,thus far1 the rural  
movement has been wholesomely           
democratic4 ,it has been my privilege   
for one-third of a century to have known
 rather closely many of the men and     
women who have been instrumental in     
bringing the rural problem to its       
present stage of advancement4 ,they have
 been public-minded1 able1 far-seeing   
men and women1 and they have rendered an
 unmeasurable service4 ,the rural       
movement has been brought to its present

 state without any demand for special   
privilege1 without bolstering by        
factitious legislation1 and to a        
remarkable degree without self-seeking4 
,it is based on a real regard for the   
welfare of all the people1 rather than  
for rural people exclusively4  ,thrice  
or more in this book ,i have spoken as  
if not convinced that the present       
insistence on efficiency in government  
is altogether sound4 ,that is exactly   
the impression ,i desire to convey4 ,as 
the term is now commonly applied1 it is 
not a measure of good government4       
,certain phrases and certain sets of    
ideas gain dominance at certain times4  
,just now the idea of administrative    
efficiency is uppermost4 ,it seems      
necessarily to be the controlling factor
 in the progress of any business or any 
people4 ,certainly1 a people should be  
efficient2 but an efficient government  
may not mean an efficient people1--it   
may mean quite otherwise or even the    
reverse4 ,the primary purpose of        

government in these days1 and           
particularly in this country1 is to     
educate and to develop all the people   
and to lead them to express themselves  
freely and to the full1 and to partake  
politically4 ,and this is what          
governments may not do1 and this is     
where they may fail even when their     
efficiency in administration is exact4  
,a monarchic form may be executively    
more efficient than a democratic form2 a
 despotic form may be more efficient    
than either4 ,the justification of a    
democratic form of government lies in   
the fact that it is a means of          
education4  ,the final test of          
government is not executive efficiency4 
,every movement1 every circumstance that
 takes starting-power and incentive away
 from the people1 even though it makes  
for exacter administration1 is to be    
challenged4 ,it is specially to be      
deplored if this loss of starting-power 
affects the persons who deal first-hand 
with the surface of the planet and with 

the products that come directly out of  
it4  ,there is a broad political        
significance to all this4 ,sooner or    
later the people rebel against          
intrenched or bureaucratic groups4 ,many
 of you know how they resist even       
strongly centralized departments of     
public instruction1 and how the         
effectiveness of such departments may be
 jeopardized and much lessened by the   
very perfectness of their organization2 
and if they were to engage in a custom  
of extraneous forms of news-giving in   
the public press1 the resentment would  
be the greater4 ,in our rural work we   
are in danger of developing a piece of  
machinery founded on our fundamental    
industry2 and if this ever comes about1 
we shall find the people organizing to  
resist it4  ,the reader will understand 
that in this discussion ,i assume the   
agricultural work to be systematically  
organized1 both in nation and ,state2   
this is essential to good effort and to 
the accomplishing of results3 but we    

must take care that the formal          
organization does not get in the way of 
the good workers1 hindering and         
repressing them and wasting their time4 
,we want governments to be economical   
and efficient with funds and in the     
control of affairs2 this also is        
assumed3 but we must not overlook the   
larger issues4 ,in all this new rural   
effort1 we should maintain the spirit of
 team-work and of co-action1 and not    
make the mistake of depending too much  
on the routine of centralized control4  
,in this country we are much criticised 
for the cost of government and for the  
supposed control of affairs by monopoly4
 ,the cost is undoubtedly too great1 but
 it is the price we pay for the         
satisfaction of using democratic forms4 
,as to the other disability1 let us     
consider that society lies between two  
dangers1--the danger of monopoly and the
 danger of bureaucracy4 ,on the one side
 is the control of the necessities of   
life by commercial organization4 ,on the

 other side is the control of the       
necessities of life1 and even of life   
itself1 by intrenched groups that       
ostensibly represent the people and     
which it may be impossible to dislodge4 
,here are the ,scylla and the ,charybdis
 between which human society must pick  
its devious way4  ,both are evil4 ,of   
the two1 monopoly may be the lesser3 it 
may be more easily brought under        
control2 it tends to be more            
progressive2 it extends less far2 it may
 be the less hateful4 ,they are only two
 expressions of one thing1 one possibly 
worse than the other4 ,probably there   
are peoples who pride themselves on more
 or less complete escape from monopoly  
who are nevertheless suffering from the 
most deadening bureaucracy4             
,agriculture is in the foundation of the
 political1 economic1 and social        
structure4 ,if we cannot develop        
starting-power in the background people1
 we cannot maintain it elsewhere4 ,the  
greatness of all this rural work is to  

lie in the results and not in the       
methods that absorb so much of our      
energy4 ,if agriculture cannot be       
democratic1 then there is no democracy4 
,the background spaces4--,the forest    
,this is the forest primeval4 ,these are
 the significant words of the poet in   
,evangeline4 ,perhaps more than any     
single utterance they have set the      
,american youth against the background  
of the forest4  ,the backgrounds are    
important4 ,the life of every one of us 
is relative4 ,we miss our destiny when  
we miss or forget our backgrounds4 ,we  
lose ourselves4 ,men go off in vague    
heresies when they forget the conditions
 against which they live4 ,judgments    
become too refined and men tend to      
become merely disputatious and subtle4  
,the backgrounds are the great          
unoccupied spaces4 ,they are the large  
environments in which we live but which 
we do not make4 ,the backgrounds are the
 sky with its limitless reaches2 the    
silences of the sea2 the tundra in      

pallid arctic nights2 the deserts with  
their prismatic colors2 the shores that 
gird the planet2 the vast mountains that
 are beyond reach2 the winds1 which are 
the universal voice in nature2 the      
sacredness of the night2 the elemental  
simplicity of the open fields2 and the  
solitude of the forest4 ,these are the  
facts and situations that stand at our  
backs1 to which we adjust our           
civilization1 and by which we measure   
ourselves4  ,the great conquest of      
mankind is the conquest of his natural  
conditions4 ,we admire the man who      
overcomes3 the sailor or navigator in   
hostile and unknown seas2 the engineer  
who projects himself hard against the   
obstacles2 the miner and the explorer2  
the builder2 the farmer who ameliorates 
the earth to man's use4  ,but even      
though we conquer or modify the physical
 conditions against which we are set1   
nevertheless the backgrounds will       
remain4 ,i hope that we may always say  
,the forest primeval4 ,i hope that some 

reaches of the sea may never be sailed1 
that some swamps may never be drained1  
that some mountain peaks may never be   
scaled1 that some forests may never be  
harvested4 ,i hope that some knowledge  
may never be revealed4  ,look at your   
map of the globe4 ,note how few are the 
areas of great congestion of population 
and of much human activity as compared  
with the vast and apparently empty      
spaces4 ,how small are the spots that   
represent the cities and what a little  
part of the earth are the political     
divisions that are most in the minds of 
men6 ,we are likely to think that all   
these outlying and thinly peopled places
 are the wastes4 ,i suspect that they   
contribute more to the race than we     
think4 ,i am glad that there are still  
some places of mystery1 some reaches of 
hope1 some things far beyond us1 some   
spaces to conjure up dreams4 ,i am glad 
that the earth is not all ,iowa or      
,belgium or the ,channel ,islands4 ,i am
 glad that some of it is the hard hills 

of ,new ,england1 some the heathered    
heights of ,scotland1 some the cold     
distances of ,quebec1 some of it the    
islands far off in little-traversed     
seas1 and some of it also the unexplored
 domains that lie within eyesight of our
 own homes4 ,it is well to know that    
these spaces exist1 that there are      
places of escape4 ,they add much to the 
ambition of the race2 they make for     
strength1 for courage1 and for renewal4 
,in the cities ,i am always interested  
in the variety of the contents of the   
store windows4 ,variously fabricated and
 disguised1 these materials come from   
the ends of the earth4 ,they come from  
the shores of the seas1 from the mines1 
from the land1 from the forests1 from   
the arctic1 and from the tropic4 ,they  
are from the backgrounds4 ,the cities   
are great1 but how much greater are the 
forests and the sea6  ,no people should 
be forbidden the influence of the       
forest4 ,no child should grow up without
 a knowledge of the forest2 and ,i mean 

a real forest and not a grove or village
 trees or a park4 ,there are no forests 
in cities1 however many trees there may 
be4 ,as a city is much more than a      
collection of houses1 so is a forest    
much more than a collection of trees4   
,the forest has its own round of life1  
its characteristic attributes1 its      
climate1 and its inhabitants4 ,when you 
enter a real forest you enter the       
solitudes1 you are in the unexpressed   
distances4 ,you walk on the mould of    
years and perhaps of ages4 ,there is no 
other wind like the wind of the forest2 
there is no odor like the odor of the   
forest2 there is no solitude more       
complete2 there is no song of a brook   
like the song of a forest brook2 there  
is no call of a bird like that of a     
forest bird2 there are no mysteries so  
deep and which seem yet to be within    
one's realization4  ,while a forest is  
more than trees1 yet the trees are the  
essential part of the forest2 and no one
 ever really knows or understands a     

forest until he first understands a     
tree4 ,there is no thing in nature finer
 and stronger than the bark of a tree2  
it is a thing in place1 adapted to its  
ends1 perfect in its conformation1      
beautiful in its color and its form and 
the sweep of its contour2 and every bark
 is peculiar to its species4 ,i think   
that one never really likes a tree until
 he is impelled to embrace it with his  
arms and to run his fingers through the 
grooves of its bark4  ,man listens in   
the forest4 ,he pauses in the forest4   
,he finds himself4 ,he loses himself in 
the town and even perhaps in the        
university4 ,he may lose himself in     
business and in great affairs2 but in   
the forest he is one with a tree1 he    
stands by himself and yet has           
consolation1 and he comes back to his   
own place in the scheme of things4 ,we  
have almost forgotten to listen2 so     
great and ceaseless is the racket that  
the little voices pass over our ears and
 we hear them not4 ,i have asked person 

after person if he knew the song of the 
chipping-sparrow1 and most of them are  
unaware that it has any song4 ,we do not
 hear it in the blare of the city       
street1 in railway travel1 or when we   
are in a thunderous crowd4 ,we hear it  
in the still places and when our ears   
are ready to catch the smaller sounds4  
,there is no music like the music of the
 forest1 and the better part of it is   
faint and far away or high in the tops  
of trees4  ,the forest may be an asylum4
 ,the groves were ,god's first temples4 
,we need all our altars and more1 but we
 need also the sanctuary of the forest4 
,it is a poor people that has no        
forests4 ,i prize the farms because they
 have forests4 ,it is a poor political  
philosophy that has no forests4 ,it is a
 poor nation that has no forests and no 
workers in wood4  ,in many places there 
are the forests4 ,i think that we do not
 get the most out of them4 ,certainly   
they have two uses3 one for the         
products1 and one for the human relief  

and the inspiration4 ,i should like to  
see a movement looking toward the better
 utilization of the forests humanly1 as 
we use school buildings and church      
buildings and public halls4 ,i wish that
 we might take our friends to the       
forests as we also take them to see the 
works of the masters4 ,for this purpose1
 we should not go in large companies4   
,we need sympathetic guidance4 ,parties 
of two and four may go separately to the
 forests to walk and to sit and to be   
silent4 ,i would not forget the forest  
in the night1 in the silence and the    
simplicity of the darkness4 ,strangely  
few are the people who know a real      
forest at dark4 ,few are those who know 
the forest when the rain is falling or  
when the snow covers the earth4 ,yet the
 forest is as real in all these moments 
as when the sun is at full and the      
weather is fair4  ,i wish that we might 
know the forest intimately and          
sensitively as a part of our background4
 ,i think it would do much to keep us   

close to the verities and the           
essentials4     ,a forest background for
 a reformatory   ,some years ago ,i     
presented to a board that was charged   
with establishing and maintaining a new 
,state reformatory for wayward and      
delinquent boys an outline of a possible
 setting for the enterprise2 and as this
 statement really constitutes a         
practical application of some of the    
foregoing discussions1 ,i present the   
larger part of it here4 ,with           
delinquents it is specially important to
 develop the sense of obligation and    
responsibility1 and ,i fear that we are 
endeavoring to stimulate this sense too 
exclusively by means of direct governing
 and disciplinary methods4 ,the         
statement follows4  ,i think that the   
activities in the proposed reformatory  
should be largely agricultural and      
industrial4 ,so far as possible the     
young men should be put into direct     
contact with realities and with useful  
and practical work4 ,an effort should be

 made to have all this work mean        
something to them and not to be merely  
make-believe4 ,it is fairly possible to 
develop such a property and organization
 as will put them in touch with real    
work rather than to force the necessity 
of setting tasks in order to keep them  
busy4  ,aside from the manual labor part
 of it1 the background of the           
reformatory should be such as will      
develop the feeling of responsibility in
 the workers4 ,this means that they must
 come actually in contact with the raw  
materials and with things as they grow4 
,when a young man has a piece of wood or
 metal given to him in a shop1 his whole
 responsibility is merely to make       
something out of this material2 he has  
no responsibility for the material      
itself1 as he would have if he had been 
obliged to mine it or to grow it4 ,one  
of the greatest advantages of a farm    
training is that it develops a man's    
responsibility toward the materials with
 which he works4 ,he is always brought  

face to face with the problem of saving 
the fertility of the land1 saving the   
crops1 saving the forests1 and saving   
the live-stock4 ,the idea of saving and 
safeguarding these materials is only    
incidental to those who do not help to  
produce them4  ,it is important that the
 farm of this reformatory should be     
large enough so that all the young men  
may do some real pieces of work on it4  
,such a farm is not to be commercial in 
the ordinary farming sense4 ,its primary
 purpose is to aid in a reformative or  
educational process4 ,you should1       
therefore1 undertake such types of      
farming as will best serve those needs  
and best meet the abilities of the      
inmates4 ,a very highly specialized     
farming1 as the growing of truck-crops1 
would be quite impracticable as a       
commercial enterprise because this kind 
of farming demands the greatest skill   
and also because it requires a property 
very easily accessible to our great     
markets and1 therefore1 very expensive  

to procure and difficult to find in     
large enough acreage for an institution 
of this size2 and it is doubtful whether
 this type of farming would have the    
best effect on the inmates4 ,of course1 
,i should expect that the institution   
would try to grow its own vegetables1   
but it would probably be unwise to make 
truck-gardening the backbone of the     
farming enterprise4 ,i also feel that it
 would not be best to make it primarily 
a dairy farm or a fruit farm or a       
poultry farm1 although all these things 
should be well represented on the place 
and in sufficient extent to supply the  
institution in whole or in part4  ,there
 should be such a farming enterprise as 
would give a very large and open        
background1 part of it practically wild1
 and which would allow for considerable 
freedom of action on the part of the    
inmates4 ,you should have operations    
perhaps somewhat in the rough and which 
would appeal to the manly qualities of  
the young men4 ,it seems to me that a   

forestry enterprise would possibly be   
the best as the main part of the farming
 scheme4  ,if the reformatory could have
 one thousand acres of forest1 the area 
would provide a great variety of        
conditions that the inmates would have  
to meet1 it would give work in the      
building of roads and culverts and      
trails1 it would provide winter activity
 at a time when the other farming       
enterprises are slack1 it would bring   
the inmates directly in touch with wild 
and native life1 and it would also place
 them against the natural resources in  
such a way as to make them feel their   
responsibility for the objects and the  
supplies4  ,perhaps it will be          
impossible to secure one thousand acres 
of good timber in a more or less        
continuous area4 ,however1 it might be  
possible to assemble a good number of   
contiguous farms in some of the hill    
regions so that one thousand acres of   
timber in various grades of maturity    
might be secured4 ,there would be open  

spaces which ought to be planted1 and   
this of itself would provide good work  
and supervision4 ,the trimming1 felling1
 and other care of this forest would be 
continuous4 ,the forest should not be   
stripped1 but merely the merchantable or
 ready timber removed from year to year1
 and the domain kept in a growing and   
recuperating condition4 ,one thousand   
acres of forest1 in which timber is fit 
to be cut1 should produce an annual     
increase of two hundred thousand to     
three hundred thousand board feet1 and  
this increase should not lessen as the  
years go on4 ,this timber should be     
manufactured4 ,i have not looked into   
the question as to whether a market     
could be found for the materials that   
would be made from this timber1 but ,i  
should suppose that a market could be as
 readily secured for this kind of       
manufacture as for any other4 ,the      
educational and moral effect of seeing  
the material grow1 then caring for it1  
then harvesting it1 and then            

manufacturing it would be very great4   
,one could follow the process from      
beginning to end and feel a             
responsibility for it in every stage4 ,i
 should suppose that the manufacture    
would be of small work and not merely   
the sawing of lumber4 ,it might be well 
to determine whether there would be     
market for chairs1 cabinets1 and other  
furniture1 whip-stocks1 or small        
material that could be used in the      
manufacture of novelties and other like 
articles4 ,possibly the reformatory     
could supply some of the stock to the   
prisons that are manufacturing          
furniture1 although the educational and 
moral effects would be better if the    
inmates could see the process from      
beginning to end4  ,of course1 you would
 not limit the manufacturing activities 
of the reformatory to wood-working4 ,you
 probably would be obliged to have other
 kinds of factories1 but the            
wood-working shops ought to be part of  
the plan and ,i should hope a very      

important part4  ,i have not made any   
careful study of this question1 and do  
not know how feasible these suggestions 
may be2 but they appeal to me very      
strongly on the educational and         
reformational end4 ,these suggestions   
are made only that they may be          
considered along with other suggestions1
 and if they seem to be worth while1 to 
have the question investigated4  ,if    
something like one thousand acres of    
land were secured for a forest1 it would
 mean that the farm itself would be     
rather large4 ,there ought to be        
probably not less than two or three     
hundred acres of land that might be used
 for grazing1 gardens1 and the ordinary 
farm operations that would contribute to
 the support of the inmates of the      
institution4 ,of course1 this arable    
land ought to be valley land or at least
 fairly level and accessible along good 
public highways4 ,the forest land could 
be more remote1 running back on the     
hills4 ,if the property could be so     

located that the forest would control   
the sources of important streams and    
springs1 the results would be all the   
better4 ,the young men should feel their
 responsibility for creeks and ponds1   
and for the protection of wild life as  
well as for the crops that they raise4  
,where the reformatory should be located
 is a matter that should receive very   
careful attention4 ,it is not alone the 
problem of finding a site that is proper
 for a reformatory1 but also the        
question of so placing it that it will  
have some relation to ,state development
 and some connection with the people's  
interests and desires4 ,state           
institutions should be so separated that
 the greatest number of people may see  
them or come into contact with them4 ,i 
dislike the tendency to group the ,state
 institutions about certain populous    
centres4 ,in these days of easy         
transportation1 the carrying problem is 
really of less importance than certain  
less definite but none the less real    

relations to all the people4 ,there are 
certain great areas in the ,state of    
considerable population in which there  
are no ,state institutions1 and in which
 the people know nothing about such     
affairs beyond the local school and     
church4 ,perhaps at first blush the     
people of a locality might not relish   
the idea of having a reformatory in     
their midst1 but this feeling ought soon
 to pass away2 and1 moreover1 the people
 should be made to feel their           
responsibility for reformatories1       
asylums1 and penitentiaries as well as  
their responsibility for any other      
,state institutions1 and the feeling    
should not be encouraged that such      
institutions should be put somewhere    
else merely because one locality does   
not desire them4  ,the character of the 
property that is purchased will         
determine to a very large extent the    
character of the institution1 and1      
therefore1 the nature of the reformatory
 processes4 ,this is more important than

 transportation facilities4 ,it is a    
more important question even than that  
of the proper buildings1 for buildings  
for these purposes have been studied by 
many experts and our ideas concerning   
them have been more or less standardized
 and1 moreover1 buildings can be        
extended and modified more easily than  
can the landed area4 ,it seems to me    
that before you think actually of       
purchasing the land1 you should arrive  
at a fairly definite conclusion as to   
what kind of a farming enterprise it is 
desired to develop as a background for  
the institution2 you could then         
determine as far as possible on         
principle in what general region the    
institution ought to be located2 and    
then set out on a direct exploration to 
determine whether the proper kind and   
quantity of land can be secured4        
,the background spaces4--,the open      
fields   ,here not long ago was the     
forest primeval4 ,here the trees        
sprouted1 and grew their centuries1 and 

returned to the earth4 ,here the        
midsummer brook ran all day long from   
the far-away places4 ,here the          
night-winds slept4 ,here havened the    
beasts and fowls when storms pursued    
them4 ,here the leaves fell in the glory
 of the autumn1 here other leaves burst 
forth in the miracle of spring1 and here
 the pewee called in the summer4 ,here  
the ,indian tracked his game4  ,it was  
not so very long ago4 ,that old man's   
father remembers it4 ,then it was a new 
and holy land1 seemingly fresh from the 
hand of the creator4 ,the old man speaks
 of it as of a golden time1 now far away
 and hallowed2 he speaks of it with an  
attitude of reverence4 ,ah yes1 my      
father told me2 and calmly with bared   
head he relates it1 every incident so   
sacred that not one hairbreadth must he 
deviate4 ,the church and the master's   
school and the forest1--these three are 
strong in his memory4  ,yet these are   
not all4 ,he remembers the homes cut in 
the dim wall of the forest4 ,he recalls 

the farms full of stumps and heaps of   
logs and the ox-teams on them1 for these
 were in his boyhood4 ,the ox-team was a
 natural part of the slow-moving        
conquest in those rugged days4 ,roads   
betook themselves into the forest1 like 
great serpents devouring as they went4  
,and one day1 behold6 the forest was    
gone4 ,farm joined farm1 the village    
grew1 the old folk fell away1 new people
 came whose names had to be asked4  ,and
 ,i thought me why these fields are not 
as hallowed as were the old forests4    
,here are the same knolls and hills4 ,in
 this turf there may be still the fibres
 of ancient trees4 ,here are the paths  
of the midsummer brooks1 but vocal now  
only in the freshets4 ,here are the     
winds4 ,the autumn goes and the spring  
comes4 ,the pewee calls in the groves4  
,the farmer and not the ,indian tracks  
the plow4  ,here ,i look down on a      
little city4 ,there is a great school in
 it4 ,there are spires piercing the     
trees4 ,in the distance are mills1 and  

,i see the smoke of good accomplishment 
roll out over the hillside4 ,it is a    
self-centred city1 full of pride4 ,every
 mile-post praises it4 ,toward it all   
the roads lead4 ,it tells itself to all 
the surrounding country4 ,and yet ,i    
cannot but feel that these quiet fields 
and others like them have made this     
city2 but ,i am glad that the fields are
 not proud4  ,one day a boy and one day 
a girl will go down from these fields1  
and out into the thoroughways of life4  
,they will go far1 but these hills they 
will still call home4  ,from these      
uplands the waters flow down into the   
streams that move the mills and that    
float the ships4 ,loads of timber still 
go hence for the construction down      
below4 ,here go building-stones and sand
 and gravel1--gravel from the glaciers4 
,here goes the hay for ten thousand     
horses4 ,here go the wheat1 and here the
 apples1 and the animals4 ,here are the 
votes that hold the people steady4      
,somewhere there is the background4     

,here is the background4 ,here things   
move slowly4 ,trees grow slowly4 ,the   
streams change little from year to year1
 and yet they shape the surface of the  
earth in this hill country4 ,in yonder  
fence-row the catbird has built since ,i
 was a boy1 and yet ,i have wandered far
 and ,i have seen great changes in      
yonder city4 ,the well-sweep has gone   
but the well is still there3 the wells  
are gone from the city4 ,the cows have  
changed in color1 but still they are    
cows and yield their milk in season4    
,the fields do not perish1 but time eats
 away the city4 ,i think all these      
things must be good and very good or    
they could not have persisted in all    
this change4  ,in the beginning6 ,yes1  
,i know1 it was holy then4 ,the forces  
of eons shaped it3 still was it holy4   
,the forest came3 still holy4 ,then came
 the open fields4     ,the background   
spaces4--,the ancestral sea   ,the      
planet is not all land1 and the sea is  
as holy as the soil4 ,we speak of the   

waste of waters1 and we still offer     
prayers for those who go down to the sea
 in ships4  ,superstition yet clings    
about the sea4 ,the landsman thinks of  
the sea as barren1 and he regrets that  
it is not solid land on which he may    
grow grass and cattle4 ,and as one looks
 over the surface of the waters1 with no
 visible object on the vast expanse and 
even the clouds lying apparently dead   
and sterile1 and when one considers that
 three-fourths of the earth's surface is
 similarly covered1 one has the         
impression of utter waste and           
desolation1 with no good thing abiding  
there for the comfort and cheer of man4 
,the real inhabitants of the sea are    
beneath the surface and every part is   
tenanted1 so completely tenanted that   
the ocean produces greater bulk of life1
 area for area1 than does the solid     
land2 and every atom of this life is as 
keen to live and follows as completely  
the law of its existence as does the    
life of the interiors of the continents4

 ,the vast meadows of plankton and      
nekton1 albeit largely of organisms     
microscopic1 form a layer for hundreds  
of feet beneath the surface and on which
 the great herbivora feed2 and on these 
animals the legions of the carnivora    
subsist4 ,every vertical region has its 
life1 peculiar to it1 extending even to 
the bottoms of the depths in the        
world-slimes and the darkness2 and in   
these deeps the falling remains of the  
upper realms1 like gentle primeval      
rains1 afford a never-failing1          
never-ending source of food and maintain
 the slow life in the bottoms4 ,we think
 of the huge animals of the sea when we 
think of mass1 and it is true that the  
great whales are the bulkiest creatures 
we know to have lived2 yet it is the    
bacteria1 the desmids1 the minute       
crustaceans1 and many other diminutive  
forms that everywhere populate the sea  
from the equator to the poles and       
provide the vast background of the ocean
 life4 ,in these gulfs of moving unseen 

forms nitrification proceeds1 and the   
rounds of life go on unceasingly4 ,the  
leviathan whale strains out these minute
 organisms from the volumes of waters1  
and so full of them may be his maw that 
his captors remove the accumulation with
 spades4 ,the rivers bring down their   
freight of mud and organic matter1 and  
supply food for the denizens of the sea4
 ,the last remains of all these         
multitudes are laid down on the ocean   
floors as organic oozes2 and nobody     
knows what part the abysmal soil may    
play in the economy of the plant in some
 future epoch4  ,the rains of the land  
come from the sea2 the clouds come      
ultimately from the sea2 the trade-winds
 flow regularly from the sea2 the       
temperatures of the land surface are    
controlled largely from the sea2 the    
high lands are washed into the sea as   
into a basin2 if all the continents were
 levelled into the sea still would the  
sea envelop the planet about two miles  
deep4 ,impurities find their way into   

the sea and are there digested into the 
universal beneficence4 ,we must reckon  
with the sea4  ,it is supposed that the 
first life on the earth came forth where
 the land and the waters join1 from that
 eternal interplay of cosmic forces     
where the solid and the fluid1 the      
mobile and the immobile1 meet and marry4
  ,verily1 the ancestral sea is the     
background of the planet4 ,its very     
vastness makes it significant4 ,it shows
 no age4 ,its deeps have no doubt       
existed from the solidification of the  
earth and they will probably remain when
 all works of man perish utterly4  ,the 
sea is the bosom of the earth's         
mysteries4 ,because man cannot set foot 
on it1 the sea remains beyond his power 
to modify1 to handle1 and to control4   
,no breach that man may make but will   
immediately fill2 no fleets of mighty   
ships go down but that the sea covers   
them in silence and knows them not2 man 
may not hold converse with the monsters 
in the deeps4 ,the sea is beyond him1   

surpassing1 elemental1 and yet blessing 
him with abundant benedictions4  ,so    
vast is the sea and so self-recuperating
 that man cannot sterilize it4 ,he      
despoils none of its surface when he    
sails his ships4 ,he does not annihilate
 the realms of plankton1 lying layer on 
layer in its deluging1 consuming soil4  
,it controls him mightily4  ,the seas   
and the shores have provided the trading
 ways of the peoples4 ,the ocean        
connects all lands1 surrounds all lands4
 ,until recent times the great marts    
have been mostly on coasts or within    
easy water access of them4 ,the polity  
of early settlements was largely the    
polity of the sea and the strand4 ,the  
daring of the navigator was one of the  
first of the heroic human qualities4    
,probably all dry land was once under   
the sea1 and therefrom has it drawn much
 of its power4  ,from earliest times the
 sea has yielded property common to all 
and free to whomever would take it1--the
 fish1 the wrack1 the drift1 the salvage

 of ships4 ,pirates have roamed the sea 
for spoil and booty4 ,when government   
appropriates the wreckage of ships and  
the stranded derelict of the sea1 the   
people may think it justifiable         
protection of their rights to secrete   
it4 ,smuggling is an old sea license4   
,laws and customs and old restraints    
lose their force and vanish on the sea2 
and freedom rises out of the sea4  ,and 
so the ocean has contributed to the     
making of the outlook of the human      
family4 ,the race would be a very       
different race had there been no sea    
stretching to the unknown1 conjuring    
vague fears and stimulating hopes1      
bringing its freight1 bearing tidings of
 far lands1 sundering traditions1       
rolling the waves of its elemental      
music1 driving its rank smells into the 
nostrils1 putting its salt into the     
soul4