TEE IRRIGATION AGE. 367 



over the land, but especially in great cities, where the very forces 

 which have created our present prosperity as a nation have also op- 

 erated to make a certain fringe of half-employed and semi-prosper- 

 ous. And then I see National Irrigation like a good fairy, wave its 

 magic wand; and lo! a new star of hope arises in the sky of our com- 

 mon humanity. A new vista opens before thousands of families. 

 Opportunity comes with beckoning finger. It points the way to a new 

 Land of Promise. Hope chases anxiety from a thousand faces, and a 

 new enthusiasm for home and independence drives apprehension 

 from a thousand hearts. 



This is to me the inspiring and uplifting aspect of national irriga- 

 tion. True, we are to have millions of people living where few lived 

 before. We are to see a vast increase in national wealth. But all 

 this is merely incidental to the human aspect of the matter, which is 

 the making of homes for the homeless and the giving of social and 

 industrial independence to those now dependent on the enterprise of 

 others. Let us take care of the family and the nation will take care 

 of itself. 



Let us look a little closer into this wonderful social process which 

 is to be brought about by the new national policy. I think perhaps 

 the time has come when something should be said about the attrac- 

 tions of rural life for the masses of our people. We have heard a 

 great deal about the allurements of the towns and the manner in 

 which they draw to them the cream of our young men and women. 

 Living in the country has become unpopular. Nobody but old folks 

 and foreigners can endure such an existence. Everybody else looks 

 for a situation in the big city and the bigger the better. It is un- 

 deniably true that the tide has been setting away from the soil, and 

 that both here and abroad the cities have been rolling up to porten- 

 tous proportions. Are there any signs of a reaction? I think there 

 are. In the first place, country life is becoming fashionable again. 

 The abandoned farms of New England have been largely bought up 

 to be converted into the country estates of well-to-do city people. 

 These city people are extending their vacations a little more each 

 year. It is now almost customary for them to spend about six months 

 on the farm. Simultaneously with this we see a new literature 

 springing up in response to it. There is no end of new books about 

 birds and flowers and domestic animals. There are new periodicals 

 which have quickly acquired a large circulation because they deal 

 attractively with this subject. 



Now, to my mind this new phase of our social life has a very deep 

 significance. I hope and believe that it is not a mere fad or passing 

 fashion. In my opinion it is a manifestation of one of the strongest 

 traits of human nature. And that is man's inherent and inerradicable 



