196 City Homes on Country Lanes 



ment of agriculture, nearly all of the disheartening 

 disappointments, and a very large share of the un- 

 popularity of rural life, could be traced to the absence 

 of this high sense of engineering and of responsible 

 public leadership that should make it available to the 

 people. 



We had permitted the spirit of individualism to run 

 riot in a department of the national life closely related 

 to the common welfare. There is no reason why an 

 acre of poor land should ever be offered to a settler. 

 There is no reason why vast areas of land, unfitted for 

 cultivation in their natural state, should not be made 

 over into the best soil, whether it requires drainage, 

 irrigation, clearing or ref ertilization ; but, to deal suc- 

 cessfully with such things it is necessary to enlist a 

 quality and range of information not within reach of 

 the average promoter or settler, and then to utilize 

 this information in a scientific way. The great need 

 is a form of development thoroughly planned in ad- 

 vance, and executed with precision. 



Another conclusion was arrived at: That it is not 

 enough simply to investigate soils and do the large 

 work of reclamation, such as the provision of irriga- 

 tion and drainage, as the Government has done in the 

 Western States. The land should be cleared, plowed, 

 harrowed, and made ready for the planting of the 

 seed even fertilized if necessary. Some of these proc- 

 esses require scientific knowledge and methods; and 

 all of them can be performed more economically and 

 thoroughly if done on a large scale and standardized. 

 After all this has been done, the settler stands only 

 on the threshold of his new adventure. The engineer 



