296 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



than any other one thing we may resort to. I base my asser- 

 tion upon experience and experiments of ten years and the re- 

 sults obtained are most gratifying. 



In order to obtain the best results, farming or gardening 

 should be done in a strictly scientific manner and the patients 

 should be partners in the work, and in a manner enjoy a part 

 of the benefits ; that is, one or two acres should be attended by a 

 few patients and a premium offered for the best products. 



The seed should be selected to suit the soil or the soil analyzed 

 and fertilized to meet the requirements of the seed planted. 

 The crops should be rotated scientifically to prevent an exhaus- 

 tion of the nutriment in the soil. This should all be done under 

 the direction of a thoroughly competent foreman, and the pa- 

 tients should be taught and made to understand the purpose 

 of analysis, fertilization and rotation, as well as how to plant 

 and cultivate. Experiments in this line are carried on at this 

 institution and we get splendid results. At a small cost for 

 proper fertilizers our soil is made to yield three and four times 

 more than previously raised with no more work or seed re- 

 quired. 



Employment of any kind is always good, but when some in- 

 centive is offered, the patient is stimulated to greater activity, 

 and the old morbid concentration is changed and the mind under- 

 goes a phenomenal transformation. Drudgery and routine will 

 not accomplish the desired results any more than a wagon wheel 

 running in the same track for months will obliterate a rut. 



Every state institution for the care of the insane should have 

 at least one half acre of good tillable land for each patient. 

 None but thoroughbred stock should be raised as they cost no 

 more to feed and care for than the ordinary scrubs and the 

 profits are much greater. 



The plan of allotting stock to patients as well as land, results 

 in a rivalry, which brightens the patient's mind and in a short 

 time restores him to his normal condition if his case is at all 

 curable. 



Aside from the great curative benefit the patient receives, 

 the institution is provided with an abundance of vegetables, 

 which materially reduces the cost of maintenance. Again, the 

 state farm should be conducted on a high scientific plan as an 



