164 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 



Conversely, intensive cultivation is most advanced in 

 China, where a dense population forced the people long ago 

 to bring into use every foot of tillable soil that is left open to 

 them. 



Near the towns of the United States a few market gardeners 

 supply such vegetables as the people do not raise for them- 

 selves. The states along the Atlantic seaboard have all the 

 facilities for successful intensive cultivation a dense popu- 

 lation and idle, cultivable land. In choosing a location, the 

 home crofter should well consider his experience, and try to 

 enter a community where he can engage in analogous pur- 

 suits. Dairy regions never have enough men who under- 

 stand cattle and horses ; fruit-growing districts always need 

 experienced pickers; market garden regions need men who 

 understand rotating crops and making hotbeds, transplant- 

 ing, etc. 



If you have a little money, you can probably do best by 

 buying and draining some swamp land, which is the most 

 productive of all, as it contains the washings of the upland 

 for centuries. Swamp land can usually be cleared and 

 drained for from thirty to forty dollars per acre. It can be 

 bought very cheap and when ready to cultivate will have 

 increased many times in value. 



The next best is the " abandoned " or worn-out farm. 

 Proper methods of cultivation will bring it back to more than 

 its original fertility. The Eastern states from Maine to 

 Virginia abound with them at from five to twenty-five 

 dollars per acre. In many cases the buildings are worth 

 more than the whole price asked. 



The nearest land easily available in the East is in the 

 state of New York. The writer believes it is true that " there 

 are twenty thousand farms for sale in this state, and nearly 



