FINDING THE PLACE 13 



long trains of grain as well as passengers. The 

 automobile is going farther, although for the pres- 

 ent it has not outgrown its aristocratic youth. Any 

 town with half a dozen of these motors is quite as in- 

 dependent as a town on a railroad line served once 

 a day by a freight train. 



At any rate the spirit of " back to the land " has 

 gained a wonderful momentum, and nothing better 

 can be done with our experience than to sift it care- 

 fully for the help of those who are quitting the con- 

 gested street for the sod and rose lawn. It is not 

 so simple a problem as appears on the surface, for 

 the country is far from having a welcome for all 

 comers, nor is it ready to locate and support an 

 indefinite number of applicants who have no knowl- 

 edge of earth culture. So far as knowledge is con- 

 cerned, much less is required of the city dweller, who 

 has little more to do than to furnish his " apart- 

 ments," or hire a conventional house and pay his 

 rent and water taxes. 



But if you would have a garden, or a farm, or a 

 fruit orchard you must know what you are about, 

 and you must study every tree and every shrub ; you 

 must know the soil and the lay of the land 

 thoroughly. You must know a good deal about 

 the birds of the locality, for that counts very heavily 

 in gathering your crops; some birds are your best 

 allies, while others are a serious pest; you must 

 know a good deal more about insects, for the beetles 

 and moths are your main rivals; and then you can- 



