The peasant-farmer soils his cows, his sheep, his swine, in a way that
is economical of space and food, if not of labor, and manages to make a
living and to pay rent for his twenty-acre strip of land. His methods do
not appeal to the American farmer, who wastes more grain and forage each
year than would keep the Netherlander, his family, and his stock; but
there is a lesson to be learned from this subdivision and careful
cultivation of land. Belgian methods prove that Mother Earth can care
for a great many children if she be properly husbanded, and that the
sooner we recognize her capacity the better for us.
Abandoned farms are not known in Belgium and France, though the soil
has been cultivated for a thousand years, and was originally no better
than our New England farms, and not nearly so good as hundreds of those
which are practically given over to "old fields" in Virginia.
It is neglect that impoverishes land, not use. Intelligent use makes
land better year by year. The only way to wear out land is to starve and
to rob it at the same time.
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