A LITTLE LAND 174 



AND A LIVING 



The charge of the prophet against Israel was 

 not merely that the nation had sinned, but 

 " Israel doth not know, my people do not con- 

 sider." If the printing press had been invented 

 in those days, he would have added, " neither will 

 they read good books." 



Fools sneer at book-farming, but you need 

 the best books by practical men. " Experience 

 is a dear teacher, but a fool will learn of no 

 other." A wise man learns by the experience of 

 others. 



Some people can't help being successful with 

 plants, but while they have this gift they may 

 lack the ability to teach you how to do it. If 

 you watch them closely you will see that they 

 love their work; that they handle their plants as 

 tenderly as you do your children, and study them 

 as closely as children should be studied. 

 1 Study the new methods of scientific, practical 

 men, not the methods of ignorant yokels, who 

 are still using the rack-rented hand-to-mouth 

 methods that their grandfathers learned in Po- 

 land or in Ireland. You will find that if you 

 use your powers of observation you can do most 



