"But that is hardly in accord with what the people now living on these old Eastern farms report for the conditions of agriculture in the times of their ancestors."
"Oh, yes, I know people are always talking about their ancestors, and especially Virginians; but, Caesar! I wonder what their ancestors would think of them! You can't afford to take any stock in the ancestry of these old Virginians."
"I call to mind that the historical records give much information along this line," said Percy. "It is recorded that mills for grinding corn and wheat were common, that the flour of Mount Vernon was packed under the eye of Washington, and we are told that barrels of flour bearing his brand passed in the export markets without inspection. History records that the plantations of Virginia usually passed from father to son, according to the law of entail, and that the heads of families lived like lords, keeping their stables of blooded horses and rolling to church or town in their coach and six, with outriders on horseback. Their spacious mansions were sometimes built of imported brick; and, within, the grand staircases, the mantles, and the wainscot reaching from floor to ceiling, were of solid mahogany, elaborately carved and paneled. The sideboards shone with gold and silver plate, and the tables were loaded with the luxuries from both the New and the Old World, and plenty of these old mansions still exist in dilapidated condition."
"That all sounds good for history," said the Congressman, "but the historian probably got his information from some of these old Virginians whose only religion is ancestral worship. If the lands were ever any good they'd be good now. Good lands stay good. As an Illinois man, you ought to know that. My father settled in Illinois and I tell you his land is better to-day than it was the day he took it from the Government."
"My grandfather also took land from the Government," said Percy, "but the land that he first put under cultivation is not producing as good crops now as it used to, even though—"
"Then it must be you don't farm it right. Of course you don't want to corn your land to death. I lived on the farm long enough to learn that; but if you'll only grow two or three crops of corn and then change to a crop of oats, you'll find your land ready for corn again; and, if you'll sow clover with the oats and plow the clover under the next spring, you'll find the land will grow more corn than ever your grandfather grew on it."
"But how can we maintain the supply of plant food in the soil by merely substituting oats for corn once in three or four years and turning under perhaps a ton of clover as green manure. That amount of clover would contain no more nitrogen than 40 bushels of corn would remove from the soil, and of course the clover has no power to add any phosphorus or other mineral elements."
"Oh, yes. I've heard all about that sort of talk. You know I'm a U. of I. man myself. I studied chemistry in the University under a man who knew more in a minute than all the 'tommy rot' you've been filled up with. I also lived on an Illinois farm, and I speak from practical experience. I know what I am talking about, and I don't care a rap for all the theories that can be stacked up by your modern college professor, who wouldn't know a pumpkin if he met one rolling down hill. I tell you God Almighty never made the black corn belt land to be worn out, and he doesn't create people on this earth to let 'em starve to death. Don't you understand that?"
"I am afraid that I do not," replied Percy. "I have received no such direct communication; but I saw a letter written from China by a missionary describing the famine-stricken districts in which he was located. He wrote the letter in February and said that at that time the only practical thing to do in that district was to let four hundred thousand people starve and try to get seed grain for the remainder to plant the spring crops. I have a "Handbook of Indian Agriculture" written by a professor of agriculture and agricultural chemistry at one of the colleges in India. I got it from one of the Hindu students who attended the University when I was there. This book states that famine, local or general, has been the order of the day in India, and particularly within recent years. It also states that in one of the worst famines in India ten million people died of starvation within nine months. The average wage of the laboring man in India, according to the Governmental statistics, is fifty cents a month, and in famine years the price of wheat has risen to as high as $3.60 a bushel. This writer states that the most recent of all famines; namely, that prevailing in most parts of India from 1897 to 1900, was severer than the famine of 1874 to 1878. No, Sir, I am not sure that I understand just what God's intentions are concerning the corn belt, but it is recorded that the Lord helps him who helps himself, and that man should earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. If God made the common soil in America with a limited amount of phosphorus in it, He also stored great deposits of natural rock phosphate in the mines of several States, and perhaps intended that man should earn his bread by grinding that rock and applying it to the soil. Possibly the Almighty intended—"
"Now, I'm very sorry, Mr. Johnston, but I have an engagement which I must keep, and you'll have to excuse me just now. I'm mighty glad to have met you and I'd like to talk with you for an hour more along this line; but you take my advice and stick to the corn belt land. Above all, don't begin to use phosphates or any sort of commercial fertilizer; they'll ruin any land in a few years; that's my opinion. But then, every man has a right to his own opinion. and perhaps you have a different notion. Eh?"