44 Soiling. 



which means larger crops; which means more 

 profit ; which means more books and papers, a bet- 

 ter seat in the cars, at church, and at the theatre ; 

 better clothes, more recreation for himself, and a 

 higher social position for his family. 



In a word it puts the man on the road to inde- 

 pendence, and shows that a farmer's life after all is 

 not the most dependent life a man can lead; and 

 that in spite of the foreigners the Government keeps 

 setting up in the farming business, in spite of being 

 smothered by over-production, he may still pursue 

 farming with the respect to himself and family that 

 men of other professions enjoy, where an equal 

 amount of capital is invested. 



How I HAPPENED TO ADOPT SOILING. 



As I was saying in the last chapter, I drifted along 

 until the following summer. I was very much dis- 

 couraged. I saw no hope for anything better. I 

 tried to make myself believe that the year before 

 had been a bad season, an excuse that thousands 

 and tens of thousands of farmers are yearly making 

 as an apology for poor crops; the worst of it is that 

 they seem to succeed in making themselves believe 

 it. But I have long since noticed that a season too 

 wet or a season too dry affects principally men who 

 have farms like mine, farms that have been robbed 

 of their fertility. It is usually an apology for not 

 knowing how to farm ; shifting it onto the weather 

 is the easiest thing in the world, but although I tried 

 to work that excuse on myself, somehow it failed. 



