190 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



water, mopped his face, and made this wise re- 

 mark, which had been evolved out of his difficul- 

 ties : " Professor, I don't believe it is profitable to 

 raise wheat on that field." And I promised him 

 then and there that it should never be plowed 

 again even if I stayed there a quarter of a century. 



And I kept my word although I stayed there 

 nearly thirty years. The next year the field was 

 mowed and ever after it was pastured. This is the 

 field known as the " Roberts' Pasture " which now 

 for more than a quarter of a century, has attracted 

 much attention, though I never did anything won- 

 derful to it I merely treated it liberally, for 

 I believe that pastures and boys, alike, should be 

 treated not too niggardly. Only to-day I met a 

 wealthy man's fourteen-year-old son going to see 

 Mr. Paulan's free display of aviation, thirty miles 

 away. He had been given only just money enough 

 to pay steam-car fare, so I paid his street-car fare 

 rather than see him walk a mile to the station. 

 That boy may fly from home later on as his elder 

 brother did, merely because he was not generously 

 treated. 



The back field of the farm when I came to Cor- 

 nell, was in timothy which had been mowed for 



