PRELIMINARY. 



HE love of dirt is among the earliest 

 of passions, as it is the latest. Mud- 

 pies gratify one of our first and best 

 instincts. So long as we are dirty, we are pure. 

 Fondness for the ground comes back to a man 

 after he has run the round of pleasure and busi- 

 ness, eaten dirt, and sown wild-oats, drifted about 

 the world, and taken the wind of all its moods. 

 The love of digging in the ground (or of looking 

 on while he pays another to dig) is as sure to 

 come back to him as he is sure, at last, to go 

 under the ground, and stay there. To own a bit 

 of ground, to scratch it with a hoe, to plant 



