Three Acres And Liberty | Page 4

NEW YORK
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1918

All rights reserved._

Copyright 1907 and 1918
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
Set up and electrotyped. Published March, 1907.
Reprinted April, July, 1907; March, 1908; June,
September, 1910; April, 1912; April 1914.
New edition, revised February, 1918.

FOREWORD

We are not tied to a desk or to a bench; we stay there only because we
think we are tied.
In Montana I had a horse, which was hobbled every night to keep him
from wandering; that is, straps joined by a short chain were put around
his forefeet, so that he could only hop. The hobbles were taken off in
the morning, but he would still hop until he saw his mate trotting off.
This book is intended to show how any one can trot off if he will.
It is not a textbook; there are plenty of good textbooks, which are
referred to herein. Intensive cultivation cannot be comprised in any one
book.
It shows what is needed for a city man or woman to support a family on
the proceeds of a little bit of land; it shows how in truth, as the old
Book prophesied, the earth brings forth abundantly after its kind to
satisfy the desire of every living thing. It is not necessary to bury
oneself in the country, nor, with the new facilities of transportation,
need we, unless we wish to, pay the extravagant rents and enormous
cost of living in the city. A little bit of land near the town or the city
can be rented or bought on easy terms; and merchandising will bring
one to the city often enough. Neither is hard labor needed; but it is to
work alone that the earth yields her increase, and if, although unskilled,
we would succeed in gardening, we must attend constantly and
intelligently to the home acres.
Every chapter of this book has been revised by a specialist, and the
authors wish to express their appreciation of the aid given them,
particularly by Mr. E. H. Moore, Arboriculturist in the Brooklyn

Department of Parks; Mr. Collingwood of the Rural New Yorker and
Mr. George T. Powell; and to thank Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright, and
also Mr. Joseph Morwitz, for many valuable suggestions; also all those
from whom we have quoted directly or in substance.
We have endeavored in the text to give full acknowledgment to all, but
in some cases it has been impossible to credit to the originator every
paragraph or thought, since these have been selected and placed as
needed, believing that all true teachers and gardeners are more anxious
to have their message sent than to be seen delivering it.
In truth, teaching is but another department of gardening.
Practical points and criticisms from practical men and women,
especially from those experiences in trying to get to the land, will be
welcomed by the authors. Address in care of the publishers.
The Report of the Country Life Commission, with Special Message
from the President of the United States, is especially important as
showing the connection of Intensive Cultivation with Thrift for war
time.
It tells us that:
"The handicaps (on getting out of town) that we now have specially in
mind may be stated under four heads: Speculative holding of lands;
monopolistic control of streams; wastage and monopolistic control of
forests; restraint of trade.
"Certain landowners procure large areas of agricultural land in the most
available location, sometimes by questionable methods, and hold it for
speculative purposes. This not only withdraws the land itself from
settlement, but in many cases prevents the development of an
agricultural community. The smaller landowners are isolated and
unable to establish their necessary institutions or to reach the market.
The holding of large areas by one party tends to develop a system of
tenantry and absentee farming. The whole development may be in the
direction of social and economic ineffectiveness.
"A similar problem arises in the utilization of swamp lands. According
to the reports of the Geological Survey, there are more than 75,000,000
acres of swamp land in this country, the greater part of which are
capable of reclamation at probably a nominal cost as compared to their
value. It is important to the development of the best type of country life
that the reclamation proceed under conditions insuring subdivision into

small farms and settlement by men who would both own them and till
them.
"Some of these lands are near the centers of population. They become a
menace to health, and they often prevent the development of good
social conditions in very large areas. As a rule they are extremely fertile.
They are capable of sustaining an agricultural population numbering
many millions, and the conditions under which these millions must live
are a matter of national concern. The Federal