14 



wisdom than gold " were so true as to-day. " Knowledge is 

 power " not only, but it is wealth. 



I recall a little inland town in one of the New England Statse 

 which for half century had become famous for its eminent men, 

 for whenever the affairs of state demanded, this town sent men 

 equal to any emergency. Such men as really constitute a state, 

 better far than " high raised battlements and labored mound, thick 

 walls and moated gates " in those immortal lines of Sir William 

 Jones. I once asked one familiar with the history of that section 

 the' explanation, when he told me that it doubtless all arose from 

 a good town library which had been established nearly a century 

 before and the debating club which developed the young men of 

 that community ; leading them to acquire and apply their informa- 

 tion. 



As I would urge upon the farmer that he cultivate his fields, 

 rather than to abandon them to weeds arid brambles, so would I 

 urge upon them, especially the young men, that they cultivate 

 their minds and fill them with lofty thoughts, for no mind can 

 long remain quite empty, but like an untenanted house, rats and 

 bats and owls must soon possess it. 



It is well also to bear constantly iu mind that, as yet, we have 

 not even begun to approach the limit of even profitable production 

 upon our lands. 



I have from a friend an account of his personal observations 

 in certain sections of Europe, which are entirely in accord with 

 the statement of a recent writer in the Forum, Prince Kropotkin, 

 who states that in the district of Saffelare in East Flanders, com- 

 prising 37,000 acres of originally unproductive sandy soil, 30,000 

 inhabitants devoted wholly to agriculture, not only obtain support 

 but actually export agricultural products, paying from $15 to $25 

 per acre rent for their land, two-thirds of which is devoted to 

 cereals, flax and potatoes, while the remaining third supports a 

 total of 10,720 cattle, 3,800 sheep, 1,815 horses, 6,550 swine, or a 

 total of 22,885 animals. 



Also, upon the Island of Jersey, Mr. Bear, an English agri- 

 cultural writer, states that 13 acres, under cultivation by Mr, 

 Bashford, yields an amount of products which " greatly exceed 

 those of an ordinary English farm of 1,300 acres." 



