HOW THE FARM STARTED 61 



for choosing this land was its location, so near the college 

 and the city. Allahabad is the capital of the United 

 Provinces which have a population of about fifty mil- 

 lions. At some time or other the leaders of these Prov- 

 inces come to the capital city. The farm being on the 

 river bank, overlooked by the railway, and having two 

 of the main roads into Allahabad pass by it, is in a 

 commanding position for a demonstration farm. Being 

 so near the city provided a market for the dairy products 

 and surplus vegetables. Furthermore, during the Hindu 

 month, Magh, from the middle of our January to the 

 middle of February, Allahabad is the greatest pilgrim 

 center on earth. On some of the big days of the Mela, 

 crowds of from two to four million pilgrims gather to 

 bathe in the sacred waters of the two rivers which are 

 seen, the Ganges and the Jumna, and the river Saraswati, 

 the river that can only be seen by the eye of faith, that 

 is said to flow underground for hundreds of miles and 

 joins the sacred Ganges at this hallowed spot. Where 

 these three sacred waters unite great benefit is supposed 

 to accrue to the one bathing under the right auspices 

 during this month, Magh. Hundreds of thousands of 

 these pilgrims each year walk past the Mission^farm. 

 Many stop to see our improved tools and implements, 

 our sleek, well-fed cattle, our silos and sanitary bams. 

 They carry the tidings to the most remote parts of the 

 Indian Empire. We get many inquiries about the pur- 

 chase of machinery from far away places where these 

 pilgrims have told of what they have seen. 



I have said that this land was badly infested with 

 weeds, thorns and grasses. The Indian tools and imple- 

 ments could not eradicate them, but we, with our Ameri- 

 can Titan tractor with three American plows behind it. 



