Ten Thousand a Year 241 



hundred and fifty dollars from an acre of grapes; 

 two hundred from currants; three hundred from 

 raspberries; four hundred from prunes; five hun- 

 dred from cherries; six hundred from peaches; 

 [seven hundred from — yes, that is what I was about 

 |to plant. John Law and the Mississippi Bubble 

 Icould hardly stir the imagination to livelier fancies. 

 And when we can raise grapes, currants, raspberries, 

 [gooseberries, prunes, cherries, and peaches on the 

 [same acre, — intensive Dalmatian cultivation, — 

 fwhy not ''passing rich" on twenty-one hundred 

 and fifty dollars an acre, and possibilities for 

 [lettuce, turnips, and cabbages between the rows! 

 But shut the eye, and you are a millionaire! 



Were every owner of land in the Valley as 

 [thoughtful and wise as he is eager for ten thousand 

 'a year — and had he land enough — ^he might realize 

 his hopes. Nor need he own many acres. But he 

 must own ten-thousand-dollar land. Fifty-dollar 

 land will not do it; nor five-hundred dollar land. 

 Ten-thousand-dollar land and no other must be 

 had. And there must be the man. Climate abides ; 

 stubborn, friendly, hostile, freakish, helpful, domi- 

 nant. So we pass climate. But the man is a ten- 

 thousand-dollar man; not a thirty-dollar, or any 

 dollar below ten thousand. Like breeds like and 

 no man is greater than himself. And his fruit- 

 farm is his measure. It is easier to see him in his 

 farm than in his clothes, be it at mill or meeting. 

 But his farm blurts out the truth about him. Live 



weeds keep no secrets. Dead ones tell tales. The 

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