PRELIMINARY. 17 



face, it is four thousand miles deep ; and that is a 

 very handsome property. And there is a great 

 pleasure in working in the soil, apart from the 

 ownership of it. The man who has planted a 

 garden feels that he has done something for the 

 good of the world. He belongs to the produ- 

 cers. It is a pleasure to eat of the fruit of one's 

 toil, if it be nothing more than a head of let- 

 tuce or an ear of corn. One cultivates a lawn 

 even with great satisfaction ; for there is noth- 

 ing more beautiful than grass and turf in our 

 latitude. The tropics may have their delights ; 

 but they have not turf: and the world with- 

 out turf is a dreary desert. The original Gar- 

 den of Eden could not have had such turf as 

 one sees in England. The Teutonic races 

 all love turf: they emigrate in the line of its 

 growth. 



To dig in the mellow soil to dig moderately, 

 for all pleasure should be taken sparingly is 



B 



