HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE 87 



increment in land value had come to the settlers; 

 that they had all paid their taxes, and their improve- 

 ments, possession of high-class live-stock, development 

 of social spirit, had added greatly to the resources 

 and attractiveness of the county. It is an early 

 demonstration that when the State buys, improves, 

 irrigates and subdivides good land and coaches the 

 settlers with farming wisdom and paternalizes them 

 in desirable ways, it can make confident and satisfied 

 farmers out of qualified young persons who might 

 never otherwise get to the land which they desire to 

 earn. 



Mead's work in California is attracting attention 

 throughout the country and beyond. It was planned 

 along educational lines as a demonstration of how 

 land settlement could be undertaken with satisfaction 

 to the settlers and to the State. It will not be the 

 achievements of the few hundreds of farmers who 

 are thus placed in successful action that will measure 

 the results of the idea and enterprise. Far more 

 important and extended must be the example of the 

 policies and methods that are shown to be sound 

 and practicable, how the land must be prepared and 

 the beginning farmer made ready for the land and 

 how the two can be kept in mutual operation. Evi- 

 dently all parties involved are eager for it. When 

 the Board announced its desire to buy land for a 

 colony in 1917, it had offers of eighty tracts varying 

 in area from 4000 to 12,000 acres each, and when 

 the land was ready for settlers, more than 3000 appli- 

 cations were recorded. Whatever may be the popular 



