A LITTLE LAND 80 



AND A LIVING 



the machines with which we manufacture them, 

 are themselves drawn from the land, so that 

 economists say again that capital is only that part 

 of wealth, of the product of land and labor, 

 which is used to make or to get more wealth. 



To get the simplest kinds of these things in the 

 simplest way, and to let the children learn to get 

 them in the best ways, a few acres is enough, with 

 modern methods and active minds. 



An acre is not a big plot; the base ball dia- 

 mond has about a fifth of an acre. About two 

 blocks of the space on Fifth Avenue, between 

 the houses, is an acre. 



On such a plot any dunce can raise the average 

 crop of onions, say three hundred bushels, and 

 make at least big wages. If we use brains, and 

 transplant from hot beds, we can raise that yield 

 to five hundred and fifty bushels of choice early 

 onions. That is much better and more profit- 

 able than " to farm " and raise four hundred and 

 fifty bushels of rye on 30 acres, and it gives much 

 more satisfaction. The farmer's work, like the 

 woman's work, is never done, and what gets done 

 is never done thoroughly. Toil as he will, there 



