246 THE BUSINESS OF FAEMING 



fanning, the acres of these farms will lose little by 

 little, yea, much by much, of their fertility until 

 within less than a generation barrenness and 

 sterility will be their doom. 



Do not understand that the author is condemn- 

 ing the tenant or a proper tenant system. They 

 are both a legitimate and necessary part of our 

 farm economy and must be conserved along right 

 lines. But to accomplish and bring about this 

 state of affairs there must be in some manner in- 

 stilled into the hearts of both landlord and tenant 

 the spirit of "fair play." The miserly, grasp- 

 ing, exacting landlord and the tenant thieving 

 "whip and spur" method of farming make a com- 

 bination that will bankrupt any landlord or tenant, 

 or drive any soil into abandonment. 



"We have already said something about the ten- 

 ant system obtaining in England. A system by 

 which landlords rent their lands for a series of 

 years, in many cases for periods of twenty years, 

 and receive for rental as much as $20 or even more 

 per acre. But the tenants proceed to farm these 

 lands as if they were their own. They farm them 

 to make them pay. They feed the lands with 

 animal, mineral and green manure. They plow 

 deep and give the best possible tillage and grow 

 the crops that are in demand and produce the 

 quality that commands the best market. These 

 tenants without exception are prospering and 

 many of them are amassing wealth. The landlord 

 not only receives a large yearly rental, but receives, 

 the increase in value of the fertile farm. 



Can any one advance a sound reason why such 

 things are not possible in this the land of oppor- 



