6 THE FAT OF THE LAND 
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not. But I do not believe that this is the case. 
The wealth of the world comes from the land, 
which produces all the direct and immediate 
essentials for the preservation of life and the 
protection of the race. When people cease to 
look to the land for support, they lose their in- 
dependence and fall under the tyranny of circum- 
stances: beyond their control. They are no longer 
producers, but. consumers; and their prosperity 
is contingent upon the prosperity and good will 
of other people who are more or less alien. Only 
when a considerable percentage of a nation is 
living close to the land can the highest type of 
independence and prosperity be enjoyed. This 
law applies to the mass and also to the indi- 
vidual. The farmer, who produces all the neces- 
sities and many of the luxuries, and whose 
products are in constant demand and never out 
of vogue, should be independent in mode of life 
and prosperous in his fortunes. If this is not 
the condition of the average farmer (and I 
am sorry to say it is not), the fault is to be 
found, not in the land, but in the man who 
tills it. 
Ninety-five per cent of those who engage in com- 
mercial and professional occupations fail of large 
success ; more than fifty per cent. fail utterly, and 
are doomed to miserable, dependent lives in the 
service of the more fortunate. That farmers do 
not fail nearly so often is due to the bounty of 
the land, the beneficence of Nature, and the ever- 
