xiv THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 



fields, half cultivated, and at first they did not like to hear 

 that they had been wasting so much of the labor that had 

 bent their backs. Nor did they want to hear that it would 

 have been far more profitable to them to have cultivated a 

 few acres and left the goats and hogs or sheep to attend to 

 the rest as wild land until the long-expected settlers came 

 along to buy the land at dreamland prices. 



Consequently, all the faults in the book there were, and 

 some more besides, have been picked out by these critics. It 

 is surprising as well as a notable compliment to the agricul- 

 tural experts who revised the first edition that, with one ex- 

 ception, no material error or omission has been pointed out. 



The more so because there is absolutely no limit to the 

 advances in methods and results in doing things, and in 

 growing things, all born of intelligent toil. Your suggestions 

 may help the world to better and bigger things. If you will 

 listen at the 'phone you may sometime hear a conversation 

 like this : 



"Hello, this is Mrs. Wise, send me two strawberries, 

 please." "You'd better take three, Madam, I've none 

 larger than peaches to-day." "All right; good-bye." 



You may sometime see that kind of strawberry in New 

 Jersey at Kevitt's Athenia, or Henry Joralamon's, or in 

 the berry known by various names, such as Giant and dif- 

 ferent Joe's. But lots of people have failed in their war 

 garden work even on common things; lots more ought to 

 have failed but haven't yet. Years ago, we, the book and 

 its helpers, started the forward-to-the-land movement which 

 has resulted in probably two million extra garden patches 

 this war year. I have had carloads of letters, at least hand 

 carloads, about the book, but not one worker who even 

 tried to follow its counsels has reported failure. 



