84 ADVENTURES IN IDEALISM 



"DEAR FRIEND: 



"Your valuable and friendly letter of Nov. 28th is 

 at hand. I appreciate your warm feeling toward me 

 and your splendid offer. The troubles I have had 

 with my co-workers were settled in the spring. Now 

 I am directly responsible to the Directors of our Fund. 



"The results of the first agricultural season are more 

 favorable than I had expected, considering all the dif- 

 ficulties we had to overcome. You know from my 

 previous letters that our place is adapted to fruit grow- 

 ing and market gardening. Out of sixty orchards 

 planted, only in a half-dozen is the percentage of dead 

 trees about five per cent. With small fruits we have 

 had the same result. While raising fruit, we have 

 also been successful with watermelon culture, early 

 potatoes, sweet potatoes and cucumbers. It seems our 

 soil and climate are well adapted to growing these 

 vegetables. On account of the late planting, and the 

 fact that I did not have a chance to prepare the land 

 right, I was not successful in raising strawberries. . . . 



"Concerning the industries, the Fund has built two 

 factories, which employ 180 hands and are able to 

 employ 100 more. As the farming population cannot 

 supply enough hands for the factories, the Fund has 

 built 22 nice cottages, costing $1000 to $1500 each, and 

 a pleasant hotel, heated by steam and lighted by elec- 

 tricity. 



"I have graded four miles of farm roads 25 feet 

 wide, and over two miles of streets and avenues in 

 town, 66 to 100 feet wide. 67 farms are under cul- 

 tivation ; that is, about 700 acres. 200 acres are cleared 

 in town and 100 acres of roads. By increasing the 

 number of factories we expect to increase the town 



