6 THE FAT OF THE LAND 



not. But I do not believe that this is the case, 

 The wealth of the world comes from the land, 

 which produces all the direct and immediate 

 essentials for the preservation of life and the 

 protection of the race. When people cease to 

 look to the land for support, they lose their in- 

 dependence and fall under the tyranny of circum- 

 stances beyond their control. They are no longer 

 producers, but consumers ; and their prosperity 

 is contingent upon the prosperity and good will 

 of other people who are more or less alien. Only 

 when a considerable percentage of a nation is 

 living close to the land can the highest type of 

 independence and prosperity be enjoyed. This 

 law applies to the mass and also to the indi- 

 vidual. The farmer, who produces all the neces- 

 sities and many of the luxuries, and whose 

 products are in constant demand and never out 

 of vogue, should be independent in mode of life 

 and prosperous in his fortunes. If this is not 

 the condition of the average farmer (and I 

 am sorry to say it is not), the fault is to be 

 found, not in the land, but in the man who 

 tills it. 



Ninety-five per cent of those who engage in com- 

 mercial and professional occupations fail of large 

 success ; more than fifty per cent fail utterly, and 

 are doomed to miserable, dependent lives in the 

 service of the more fortunate. That farmers do 

 not fail nearly so often is due to the bounty of 

 the land, the beneficence of Nature, and the ever- 



