seventeen] conclusion 



Sure enough ; the wall on one side held shelves liter- 

 ally full of tumblers of jellies and jars of preserved 

 fruits. "All my own putting up, out of our own 

 garden! Do you hear that? Nobody else's stuff 

 — except the pineapple and orange." The op- 

 posite shelves were filled with Hubbard squashes 

 and golden pumpkins. At one end hung bunches of 

 herbs. It was clear that my friend was in love with 

 the country. "Oh, yes," she said, "the snow and 

 cold weather can't be kept out of the country, nor 

 out of the city, either ; but a country house can be 

 made so comfortable that we rather enjoy a storm. 

 There is just one drawback, that of cleaning roads; 

 but that is managed by the pathmaster mostly." 



The reaction to country life affects Europe nearly 

 as much as the United States. Denmark is con- 

 spicuous for having created a reverse current of 

 population. She has within a few years reclaimed 

 two thousand square miles of previously waste 

 land, and with this movement she is increasing her 

 exports with great rapidity. Danish farmers and 

 other land-owners have formed cooperative soci- 

 eties, in order the more perfectly to handle produce 

 and control foreign markets. The country folk 

 have four hundred banks for the deposit of small 



[373] 



