DEEP WATERS 269 



cooperative mine ; but as that is a story by itself, 

 I cannot do it now. I promise myself, however, 

 the pleasure of writing a history of this inno- 

 vation in coal-mining at an early date. It is 

 worth the world's knowing that a copartnership 

 can exist between three hundred equal partners 

 without serious friction, and that community in 

 business interests on a large scale can be success- 

 fully managed without any effort to control per- 

 sonal liberty, either domestic, social, or religious. 

 Indeed, I believe the success of this experiment 

 is due largely to the absence of any attempt to 

 superintend the private interests of its members, 

 the only bond being a common financial one, 

 and the one requisite to membership, ability to 

 save a portion of the wages earned. 



But to go back to farm matters. In August 

 the ground was stirred for the second time 

 around the young trees. To do this, the mulch 

 was turned back and the surface for a space of 

 three feet all around the tree was loosened by 

 hoe or mattock, and the mulch was then re- 

 turned. The trees were vigorous, and their 

 leaves had the polish of health, in spite of the 

 dry July and August. The mulching must re- 

 ceive the credit for much of this thrift, for it 

 protected the soil from the rays of the sun and 

 invited the deep moisture to rise toward the sur- 

 face. Few people realize the amount of water 

 that enters into the daily consumption of a tree. 

 It is said that the four acres of leaf surface of 



