THE EARTH'S BOUNTY 



son in Australia and a daughter in Eng- 

 land. 



Three years had turned our landlord into a 

 valued friend and my chief adviser; so, when 

 success had outgrown the twelve acres, he was 

 the first to propose that I take back one hun- 

 dred and sixty acres of the original land be- 

 longing to the farm. It included a large pro- 

 portion of wood and brush lots, but had about 

 eighty acres divided in pasture and cultivated 

 ground, two outlying barns and a workman's 

 cottage. His offer was a five years' lease, at 

 $20 a month, and the option of purchase on 

 easy terms. Need I say that we accepted im- 

 mediately? 



The extended acreage made it advisable for 

 me to devote all my strength and time to man- 

 agerial planning and supervision, so more help 

 had to be engaged. Sidney, my first assistant, 

 a boy of fifteen, was still with me ; and his sister 

 had left school the year before, to become my 

 household factotum. From them I had, at dif- 

 ferent times, gleaned parts of the family history. 



4 



