House and Garden 
THE GRADUATES’ FARM 
A cooperative farm managed by gardeners trained by the Association 
work and his words of encouragement bring 
cheer and success to hundreds of unskilled 
tillers of the soil. 
Rider Haggard, the famous novelist, has 
for the past five years given much study to 
sociological conditions in England, and is 
deeply interested in whatever gives promise 
of relief to the poor. He visited Philadelphia 
last spring and looked into the vacant lots 
cultivation idea. In this connection he said: 
“It is obvious that there is a great problem 
facing civilization. To me it is the greatest 
problem of the present and the future—the 
problem of keeping men and women in the 
country and not in cities where they deterio¬ 
rate, their children sicken, and where they 
enjoy less happiness than they have a right to 
expect. How to turn the flow hack to the land 
is a great work—a work for which the world 
to-day, and thousands yet unborn, will be 
grateful. In England, farm lands are going 
to waste for want of skilled farm labor. 
Where, in years gone by, a farm of ioo acres 
was under the plow, now eighty of these acres 
are down in grass—no labor, consequently 
no cultivation. London charities, that is, 
organized charities, abound by the thou¬ 
sands, but they fail in their purpose utterly, 
no means being provided for the transporta¬ 
tion of these poor unfortunates hack to their 
rural homes. Men and women horn into 
this world can only find the best that is in 
this life who live out their lives amid the sights 
and sounds of nature; and he who can show 
the way to turn the flow back to the land will 
do a great service to humanity. The plan 
of the Vacant Lots Cultivation Association 
is a splendid one.” 
In Philadelphia some twenty-seven acres 
were secured the first year, and these were 
divided into gardens 76 by 100 feet. The 
ground was loaned by the owners on condi¬ 
tion that it should be returned, if necessary, 
on ten days’ notice. Each applicant who 
received an allotment was provided with 
the necessary implements and seed and 
was taught by the superintendent how to 
use them. The following regulations were 
adopted: 
1. Each person receiving land is required 
to cultivate it thoroughly throughout the 
season, as directed by the superintendent. 
2. Each planter must keep an accurate 
account of all the time spent by himself or 
others in cultivating his garden. 
3. An accurate account must be kept of 
the quantity and value of all produce sold, 
used, or given away. 
4. Failure to comply with these regula¬ 
tions, or to follow the instructions of the 
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