412 AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES. 



Small scrub pines and oaks covered it; very little of it had ever 

 been cultivated; from its unpastured wastes only checker-ber 

 ries and bunches of trailing arbutus came into the Philadelphia 

 market in early spring. Now, California cannot outvie in size 

 and quality the fruit shows from Vineland, to be seen daily on 

 Market street, the luscious strawberries, peaches, melons or 

 the fresh vegetables. 



When Mr. Landis bought his 16,000 acres of the railroad 

 company and set himself to laying out a town, the Chester 

 county farmers laughed in their sleeves. The place could be 

 abundantly watered, but &quot;all the manure in the State of Penn 

 sylvania&quot; was apparently necessary to ensure its productive 

 ness. There was much speculation as to whether it was not 

 merely a dodge of the railroad to raise money on worthless 

 land, from people whose eye-teeth had never been cut. 



The site of the town was central on the track, thirty-four 

 miles from Philadelphia, and was laid out in lots of from one 

 to four acres. Outside the limits it was divided into plats of 

 from ten to fifty acres, according to the distance. Mr. Landis 

 for years never raised on his original price $25 per acre. He 

 gave credit for two thirds of the purchase-money obtained a 

 &quot;no fence law&quot; for the entire domain made a few excellent 

 roads, and settlers began to appear. The terms of the sale in 

 cluded an agreement to put up a dwelling house within a year, 

 at a certain distance from the street; to plant shade trees on the 

 borders; to clear and put in tillage a certain proportion, and the 

 keeping of a strip of roadside neatly laid down to grass. The 

 streets were thus made boulevards from the beginning, to which 

 each year will give additional beauty. These street improve 

 ments were to be perpetually maintained, if neglected by indi 

 viduals, at the cost of the property owners, and only live fences 

 were used. Speculation in uncultivated lands, which has been 

 the bane of other settlements, never has occurred in Yineland, 

 the advance in value invariably being upon the improvements 

 of actual settlors, whether permanent or otherwise. Four car 

 dinal principles were subscribed to by every purchaser, which 

 Mr. Landis had laid down for his own guidance : 



1. No land to be sold to speculators, but to persons agreeing 

 to improve in a certain time and way. 



2. No fences to be required. 



