tax systems of the United States most state and municipal taxes are
assumed to be direct, because levied upon persons and more permanent forms
of property, while the taxes of the general government are by the
Constitution indirect, unless levied upon the states according to
population. They are in the form of customs or excise, in which some
article of commerce or some service rendered gives a value upon which the
tax may be transferred. Thus the state, the county, the city and the
school district levy upon assessment of property and enumeration of polls.
The United States collects upon imported goods of various kinds, upon
special articles of manufacture, upon persons or corporations carrying on
particular business, and upon commercial transactions of various kinds.
_Assessment of direct taxes._—Assessment implies an enumeration of
property in the possession of supposed owners and an appraisement of its
value. The officer making the assessment is under constraint of an
official oath to give a fair valuation. The market price is supposed to
control his judgment, and is usually explicitly named in law.
In actual practice in various states of the Union assessed valuation often
falls as low as one-third or even one-fifth of a fair estimate at market
value. This is brought about by several causes. Each assessor fears
over-valuation, lest his district will bear too large a share of more
general expenses; and his successor is inclined rather to lower than raise
the standard of value, from neighborly interest. Even if the assessors of
an entire county agree upon terms of valuation, they are together under
the same influence with reference to state and special taxes. A more
definite cause of under-valuation is the practice of exempting a certain
limited amount of property from all taxes. If personal property worth $200
is exempt from taxation for every householder, the smaller the assessment
for his total property, the larger in proportion is the exemption.
Specific taxes at a fixed rate, for state or school or improvement
purposes, operate in the same way to force down the valuation of property
in the entire state or district. In assessment of real estate even greater
violence is sometimes done to equity. In newly settled portions of the
country the valuation of land held in the name of non-resident owners is
notoriously high. Often in cities the assessor is subject to political
influences and social connections in such a way as to destroy all equity
in taxation. The official oath attached to such assessments is a sham.
If all property of stated kinds were equally and fairly valued, the burden
of taxation would be most fairly distributed as regards property owners.
Any tendency to undervalue is sure to oppress the weaker part of these
property holders. If the price of a horse is fixed at twenty dollars, when
the average price is sixty, the more wealthy owner of horses whose average
value is above the general average has a larger part of his property
exempt than the poorer owner whose horses are below the average. In the
same ratio all household goods and even farms and buildings are
under-estimated.
In this connection it is proper to mention the exemption of certain
property devoted wholly to public welfare and contributing alike to the
good of all citizens. In every state there are multitudes of schools,
created and sustained by gifts of benevolent men. These supplement and
extend the work of the state for general enlightenment, and are wisely
encouraged by exemption from the burden of taxation, because their entire
income is devoted to the same ends which the state serves. Public
libraries and churches, devoted to such general enlightenment and moral
growth, are wisely included in this exemption. Nobody suffers, but
everybody gains, by the use of private property for such purposes. If in
any way these institutions serve the private ends of individuals, those
individuals become themselves property owners, subject to the same
taxation as others. Such exemptions may extend even to art collections
made by private funds, and to extensive grounds laid out in parks,
provided they are open to the public and serve as a means of wholesome
recreation and culture.
In general, however, specific exemptions of private property from any
taxes lead to abuse of privileges, jealousies and popular dissatisfaction,
which result in danger to government and harm to the people. Exemptions of
property used for particular purposes, like a farmer’s team, may be
thought of as a bounty upon such means of production. But the effect is
almost always to the disadvantage of the weak, and the practice gives a
general encouragement to the disposition to escape taxes. Farmers, of all
classes of people, are most interested in a fair and painstaking
assessment of all forms of property. Their influence is most widely
extended and far-reaching in its effects. The whole community should be
led to realize the absolute necessity of fair taxation and prompt meeting
of individual responsibility. Fraud in the treatment of taxes is a crime
against society, whether it involves false swearing or not. It partakes of
the nature of treason, and may well be subjected to severe penalties.
Usually, however, a penalty in the shape of additional taxes and
forfeiture of property by sale for taxes, with room for redemption at
considerable expense, are sufficient to secure a proper assessment and
collection, if the community are really in earnest in resisting the fraud.
_Indirect taxes._—The methods of indirect taxation by excise and custom
duties have been familiar for ages. They are usually favored by
politicians who dread the opposition of the people to taxation, because
the collection is so incidental to ordinary expenditures as scarcely to be
realized and never clearly measured. Few users of tobacco or strong drink
have any distinct idea what portion of the cost represents the government
revenue. Still less in drinking the cup of coffee, or sweetening it with
sugar, does the person benefited weigh the tax he pays. It is doubtful if
most of those who read this, actually know that sugar pays a tax, while
tea and coffee do not, in our country.
So convenient is this mode of taxation that it forms the favorite mode of
discrimination in favor of productive industries. A tariff of 50 per cent
upon imported cloth may actually increase the price of similar cloths
manufactured at home by nearly that amount, thus fostering cloth-making by
a premium on the product, while only a few discover the added burden of
the tax. Yet these modes of taxation are usually costly to the people.
Even if free from complications with either preventing vice or fostering
industry, they require a separate body of officials from those provided
for direct taxation. They involve investment by every wholesale and retail
dealer of extra capital in taxes, upon which extra interest and profit is
expected. The actual consumer bears this extra burden with only partial
realization of its bulk. If duties are high, the temptation to smuggling
and fraud becomes great, and a force of officials must be stretched around
the borders of a country to prevent it.
_Custom, or duty._—Duties are said to be either specific or ad valorem.
Specific duties are a definite sum upon every pound, ton, yard or other
unit of measure, applied to the article taxed. They are easily assessed,
and misrepresentation or fraud is scarcely possible. Ad valorem duties are
a certain rate per cent upon the invoice value of the goods. In these,
frauds are abundant, and experts are required to prevent them. Specific
duties are relatively heavy upon the consumers of goods of cheaper
quality. A tax of 25 cents on each yard of cloth worth a dollar is five
times as heavy as the same tax on cloth worth five dollars. Equalization
is frequently attempted by combination of specific duties upon all goods
of a certain character with ad valorem duties upon all such goods above a
certain quality.
_Excise collections._—The same difficulty is experienced in adjusting
taxes by excise under our internal revenue system. Such revenues are
largely collected through a sale of stamps, though the dealer himself may
be required to pay a license fee, to secure the necessary inspection.
Here, too, the tax is specific and bears most heavily upon the users of
the poorest grade of goods. If attempt is made to grade it by quality,
expensive machinery for preventing fraud is necessary. This is well
illustrated in the list of officials required in connection with
distilleries and bonded warehouses. Both the manufacture and the sale of
alcoholic liquors must somewhere be under the inspection of an expert
officer. All this necessary expense of collecting must be borne by the
consumers. The bonded warehouse itself must not be mistaken for a part of
this machinery, though it is essential to the collection. It is simply a
device by which the holder of manufactured liquors subject to sale can
avoid the payment of a tax until the time of actual delivery. His
warehouse, being under bonds to the government, is open only in the
presence of the revenue officer, who carries one of the keys necessary to
its opening. Without this the tax would have to be paid at time of
manufacture, and interest on that amount, to greater or less extent would
finally be paid by the consumer. While this system protects essentially
against fraud on the part of the owner alone, it does not protect against
the weakness or wickedness of officials, and the temptation is sometimes
enormous.
_Peculiar taxes._—Aside from these general forms of taxation, peculiar
devices are common. The stamps required on official papers or commercial
transactions, involving checks, notes, mortgages and deeds, have been
familiar at various times in our country, and are associated with the
history of the world. These differ little from the practice of affixing
stamps to patent medicines, cigars and other articles of trade; but
instead of being attached to the article transferred they are affixed to
the check or note or deed or bond employed in the transaction. These bear
unequally, being proportionally heavy upon the people of small means, and
are generally annoying in active business. They are frequently favored,
however, as being felt most by those who deal most in commerce.
The heavy taxes laid upon the consumption of alcoholic liquors and tobacco
illustrate another device for making so-called luxury bear the heavier
portion of taxes. It looks both ways, attempting to check luxurious living
or vicious practices by a penalty for indulgence, and at the same time to
secure a revenue as the result of such indulgence. Evidently in so far as
it prohibits indulgence it is not a revenue measure; and in so far as it
secures the revenue it does not prohibit indulgence. It is borne somewhat
patiently, because each person feels that he can avoid the payment by
ceasing to indulge himself. The universal tendency is to make it purely a
revenue measure by fixing the tax just where it will not retard
consumption in any material degree, and in some instances will give a
quasi dignity to the dealer through his official license.
_Taxation of credits._—A very common device adopted in most of the states
is that of assessing credits as well as property. The majority of farmers
favor the assessment of mortgages upon a valuation equal to, if not higher
than, that upon farms. They forget that the ability to pay taxes from year
to year comes out of the profit or rent from the farm; and if both farm
and mortgage are taxed, the adjustment comes through the interest which
the mortgage must bear. To illustrate, a father sells his farm, worth
$5,000, to his son, taking a mortgage for the entire value. If mortgages
are assessed, the value of that farm for all purposes of taxation is
$10,000; and yet the living of both father and son, taxes included, comes
out of that farm’s production. The two have no more property and no more
ability after the transaction than before. Thus the mortgaged farms in
every community where mortgages are taxed bear double burden.
In a similar way the taxation of any form of notes or bonds or stock
doubles the assessment in form without increasing the abilities. _The
actual property in use will finally bear the burden of both assessments._
The road-bed and rolling stock of a railway are property whose value is
readily estimated. The actual ownership is in a corporation which may be
distinctly taxed. Certificates of stock are individual titles in that
corporation whose property has already been taxed. Its outstanding bonds
are simply claims against that corporation, to be paid out of that
property which has already been taxed. So every note, being evidence of
debt simply, is not a representative of property, but simply a claim
against property supposed to exist somewhere else. It may be an absolute
fiction, in being a claim against property only hoped for. The result of
all efforts to treat certificates of indebtedness as personal property are
hardship to debtors and apparent fraud on the part of many creditors. Even
though the creditor escapes taxation by hiding his possession of a
mortgage, the possibility of its being taxed is always counted in his
bargain with the borrower as an important element in interest. The
experience of those states in which such taxation has been abolished
proves that lower rates of interest are sure to follow.
_Income taxes._—A favorite device in some countries, and often advocated
in this, is a direct tax upon incomes above a certain amount, graduated so
as to give a much larger rate upon large incomes than upon more moderate
ones. The most obvious reason for such a distinction against the large
incomes is the evident failure of our national system of taxation to
distribute the burden according to ability. It is evident that the
expenditures of the very wealthy for such articles as bring revenue to the
government are not in the same proportion to their income as the
expenditures of the poorer people are to their incomes. A further reason
is based upon the supposition that large incomes involve a considerable
unearned increment, in the shape of rent or extraordinary profits, because
of accidental opportunity or the crowding of population. An income tax,
carefully graduated, is supposed to cause such extra privileges and
opportunities to bear a fair share of government expenses.
There are several difficulties in administering such a tax which have
stood in the way of its general and permanent adoption. No one has yet
devised a certain or fair method of estimating income. The peculiarities
of any business or employment make great variation in the ability given by
a certain income in dollars and cents. The business man in a small town,
with an income of $5,000, might live in relative luxury, and still have a
surplus for investment in his business. The same man, attempting business
in a large city, might, even with an income of $10,000, find it barely
possible to keep up appearances. The income of farmers is largely in
provisions and personal privileges from use of teams, etc., never counted
in dollars and cents, while the village mechanic pays from his measured
income for all such comforts, or goes without them. The actual, necessary
expenses of the business of a professional man in the way of books and
travel are as essential to his business as are farm implements and live
stock to the farm; yet no one counts such expenses as a subtraction from
the income. A teacher promoted to a higher position is at once subjected
to extraordinary expenses, and may be less able with a higher salary to
meet the requirements of his new life than he was with a lower salary to
meet the less expensive requirements.
Another principal difficulty is the unpopularity of such a tax from its
necessary interference with private business. The country will be almost
certainly more divided along lines of wealth over an income tax than over
anything else. On the part of the wealthy it seems an effort of the people
to take from them actual property rights. On the part of the poorer
classes it fosters the assumption that the more wealthy are unjustly so.
In the nature of the case, it is an arbitrary adjustment without the
possibility of establishing exact reasons for any distinctions made.
Finally, since such distinctions are liable to be varied from time to
time, an income tax requires some nice adjustment as to the nature of the
income. An income from the sale of property is entirely different in
character from the income made by interest on the same property. One is a
part of permanent investment, the other is the result of productive
investment. One destroys the principal if consumed, the other adds to the
principal. Yet no one could arrive at the actual, natural income, without
a most intricate system of book-keeping open to public inspection. For
without public inspection the temptation to fraudulent returns, under the
feeling that the tax is unjust, is so strong as to be demoralizing.
_Inheritance taxes._—A device much employed for making large accumulations
of wealth bear a larger portion of the community’s burdens is a heavy tax
upon inheritance. Since such inheritance requires the guardianship of law
for security of transfer, government is suffered to take a liberal fee for
such transfer. Moreover, the inheritor is assumed to have no such property
interest in what has been accumulated by another as to claim that he can
be wronged if government takes a portion. It is defended also by
socialists on the ground that large estates are dangerous to the general
welfare.
Some facts bear upon the opposite side, and are worthy of consideration. A
large estate is the accumulation of enterprise and industry on the part of
a man of more than ordinary abilities. The presumption is in favor of
following his judgment in making that useful after his death. Most
frequently it is employed in some huge industrial machine, which the
public cannot manage, but can destroy by even taking a portion from it.
One of the main stimulants to all accumulation is the provision for the
future wants of a family. If the state takes the accumulation, it also
takes the responsibility for the successors in the family line. Wherever
it is applied, it is felt to be a heavy burden upon the community at
large. If the state interferes with the freedom of a testator, the chances
are that few estates will be accumulated, and wasteful methods of
expenditure, diminishing the power of the entire community, will surely
follow. Moreover, evasions of the inheritance tax are comparatively easy,
and are likely to be adopted extensively by the holders of large estates.
The very rich can give away a large portion of their property before death
without material suffering. Only the moderately wealthy are obliged to
hold on to their possessions until death. Any wealthy man can dispose of
his wealth during his lifetime, and still retain its income, by giving it
away, subject to an annuity. To prevent this the law would have to be
extended with intricate inspection to cover all transfers of property. Let
no one be deceived into feeling that this is a simple and easy way of
saddling government expenses upon the rich.
_Special taxes._—A multitude of minor devices are worthy of brief
consideration. An occupation tax on business men is easily levied, but
bears unequally upon the original payers, and in the end falls most
heavily upon the poorest. A house tax, measured by the number of rooms, or
the number of windows, or the number of fireplaces, has been supposed
adjustable to actual income of the possessors. But it bears very heavily
upon men in certain professions requiring house-room, and forces the poor
into narrow and crowded quarters. The rent of the poor is necessarily a
larger proportion of their living expenses than that of the well-to-do. It
is a serious hardship when a tax is levied upon that which a man cannot
possibly save.
A tax upon retail dealers and peddlers is frequently advocated, as tending
to prevent the increase of unnecessary middlemen and wasteful competition.
Yet this, too, bears heavily upon the poor, since it crowds out also those
who are satisfied with small profits and deal in small sales. Even a tax
upon pawnbrokers, whose profits are supposed to be extraordinary, gives
occasion for a sharper grinding of the poor. A study of all these devices
will lead one to the conclusion that a tax upon property only, based upon
a fair valuation and paid by the controller of the property, is fairest to
the whole community and leads to truest conceptions of the relation of
property to public expenditure. It is certainly best for rural welfare.
_A single land tax._—A brief consideration must be given to a proposed
system of taxation, commonly known as the single land tax. The proposition
is to tax all lands, including building sites, to such an extent as may be
necessary to meet all public expenditures. The lands are to be valued for
this purpose at the rent they will bring, independent of all improvements.
The supposition is that such an income is due entirely to the effect of
crowding population, and therefore belongs to society as a whole rather
than to the individual possessing it. In fact, if the state were to
consume the entire economic rent, it would take only, it is said, what
already belongs to the community. Other supposed advantages of the single
tax system are the reduced expense of assessment and collection, together
with incidental effects in promoting production by removing burdens from
capital, in preventing the holding of land unproductive, possibly in
equalizing wealth and diminishing greed for landed property, while the
poorer, cheaper agricultural lands, having no rent value, would be
relieved of all burden. These are essentially the views maintained by the
followers of Henry George, the leading champion of such taxation. It is
claimed, further, that the poor in crowded cities would be better housed,
since buildings would bear no taxation, and holders of city lots would
make them productive through construction of buildings without adding to
their burden of taxation. It is claimed also that such taxation would be
finally distributed, and fairly distributed, among all the consumers of
products affected by land possession, as well as all even indirectly
making use of the land. Since food and shelter are universal, all would
contribute, so far as they are self-dependent, according to food consumed
and space occupied.
These statements are somewhat inconsistent with each other. If rent is of
such a nature, as assumed at the beginning of the argument, that it cannot
directly affect all values because it depends upon those values for its
existence, a tax levied upon it cannot be distributed but rests wholly
upon the landholder. If, on the other hand, a tax on land is distributed
among all consumers of its products, there is no economic rent, but the
burden rests upon the consumers alone, according to the amount consumed,
subjecting this tax to the objection against all indirect taxes that the
poor bear the heavier burden.
It is evident, too, that such a tax must bear heavily upon the unthrifty.
The valuation of farms must be made by an expert judge of what farms
similarly situated ought to produce. A farm valued at $500 annual rent
might, under thrifty management, produce twice as much as under unthrifty
management. The tax, under thrifty management, could be easily paid; under
unthrifty management, it would ruin the manager. This certainly does not
levy the tax according to ability. It also bears heavily upon the
enterprising young farmer whose capital is small, as compared with the
long-established farmer with accumulated capital. The man weak in capital
would bear as heavy a burden as the strong.
Again, it provides no system of taxation in newly settled communities
where land has practically no value except from improvements. Unless a
fictitious value be given to such land for purposes of taxation, as
sometimes happens with reference to non-resident land-holders, no
government could be maintained.
Finally, since under this system government assumes a control over landed
estates, from which it exempts all other forms of property, it tends
toward the nationalization of land, which would necessarily destroy the
system itself. For if government claims all increment from land
production, land ceases to be property and does not pass from owner to
owner at a market value: then government fixes arbitrarily the rental of
space, and taxation is distributed upon a new principle. If a new
principle were not to be assumed, there could hardly be a device conceived
more likely to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. Farmers, of all
men, are best situated to realize the unequal workings of a single land
tax system.
_Government debts._—An important part of government machinery is connected
with its ability to make use of borrowed capital. Under the pressure of
heavy expenditures in case of war, or in undertaking permanent
improvements in a new country, or in carrying on various enterprises for
common welfare, the demand for means is greater than the supply from
ordinary modes of taxation. Not even the special devices of war taxes can
meet at once the burdens of a defensive war. The rightfulness of such
expenditures upon the credit of the government depends upon the object to
be secured. The expense of the war which defends and preserves the future
home of posterity may properly be borne in part, at least, by posterity.
The court house, the water works, or the electric plant, whose benefits
will be shared by the people for a hundred years, may properly be so
constructed that all the people benefited may share in the burden. Good
economy requires the foresight which builds beyond mere present need. The
danger is that expenditure made under expectation that others will pay may
be wasteful, and often other reasons than actual needs in the interest of
private speculation control.
Nevertheless, there is good reason for government debts; and every form of
government, from the loftiest to the most insignificant, finds such
indebtedness easy to contract. The smallest school district can issue
scrip in payment of its teacher, or can issue bonds for the construction
of its school-house. Only the general government, under our laws, can
borrow by issuing due-bills in the form of legal tender notes. All of
these certificates of indebtedness enter into the general commerce under
the common law of supply and demand, and bear an economic price
proportional to the certainty of their final payment and the convenience
of their use in commercial transactions. The exemption of national bonds,
or even state bonds, from local taxation works no more hardship than the
exemption of state property. Under ordinary circumstances the entire
advantage of such exemption is gained by the state, and so by all the
taxpayers of the state. The exemption of national bonds from every form of
taxation prohibits interference with the government’s privilege of
borrowing when and where it can, and the advantage comes back to the
people _in full_ through the low rate of interest or the premium in price
which such bonds bear. They are subject to fluctuations in value through
their being a means of transferring floating capital between industries.
Under a stable government, with a somewhat permanent debt, a holder of
bonds is a sort of stockholder in the governmental wealth, with definite
stated dividends rather than profits.
Such bonds have various effects upon a general industry of the country.
While they lessen somewhat the immediate burdens of present productive
industries, they may increase the burden of the same industries in a
second generation. Their convenience in securing annuities for long series
of years may diminish the enterprise of a community by fostering a class
of non-producers, whose wealth is represented in the display of government
buildings rather than in productive enterprises. Just so far as government
employs the capital of the country through bonds, it diminishes the
capital which would otherwise find investment in productive employment.
The danger of extravagance to even small communities, from the ease with
which such government debts can be contracted, warrants the contrivance of
strong constitutional limitations. Indeed, provision, not only against
extravagant debt, but for reasonably prompt settlement, may well be
required by constitutional law. All property holders, but especially land
holders, are interested in preventing extravagant outlay by means of
bonded indebtedness. Farmers must know that the burden will have to be
borne, with all the natural additions, by the property they hold, and the
value of that property will be lessened by whatever extra burden it bears.
_Settlement of government debts._—The settlement of government debts is a
matter of uncertain provision. In many instances there has been a tendency
toward a permanent debt. The United States has shown a surprising capacity
for making such debts for all sorts of purposes, but has also shown an
equally surprising ability in payment. And yet examples are not wanting,
even in our own country, of a tendency to indefinite postponement and a
rapidly increasing burden, until settlement could be made only by
compromise or a total repudiation. The effect of such bankruptcy of
nation, state or municipality is like that of any failing enterprise, only
more widely felt. The repudiation of a government debt affects the capital
of the country like the confiscation of estates under ancient tyranny. It
destroys the common faith, which is the basis for true productive
industry. It takes the nation back into the dark ages as regards its
relation to the individual welfare of citizens. Every economic reason
existing for the collection of private debts, and leading to government
machinery for collecting such debts, has still greater force when applied
to the debts of governments. The demoralization, widespread and
destructive, which follows repudiation, or anything resembling it, cannot
be outgrown for generations. The most plausible reasons for repudiation,
except in cases of absolute fraud against the government, should have no
weight with a citizen who cares for the welfare of his fellow-citizens and
their progress toward that welfare, under the natural laws concerning
wealth. A nation of robbers is safer to live in than a robbing nation.
CONCLUSION.
It is clear that Rural Welfare, as far at least as it rests upon Wealth,
is to be gained by careful study of laws of nature and human nature quite
independent of mere wishes. The only way to improve the present situation
of affairs in any community is to use the natural forces within reach to
advantage. All the growth of the past is preparation for more growth and
better fruit in the present and future. The farmer who knows most about
the fundamental principles of property and property rights in society is
most likely to best serve his community, as well as himself.
Still it is equally clear that the chief elements of Rural Welfare are not
mere wealth. Wealth is but the material out of which the external
machinery of welfare is formed. Every way essential to progress in any
degree, it does not give the chief test of progress. No one is gaining the
full use of his wealth until it is well spent for the welfare that is
strictly personal,—health, wisdom and virtue. No society, however wealthy,
has reached true welfare till all its members appreciate the higher
welfare, and make wealth-seeking a means for securing it.
Rural communities can take advantage of many inexpensive ways of adding to
their welfare without great wealth. The natural surroundings of the
country home give development to ability and courage in children that are
better than wealth. The same principles of thrift that are to be
cultivated for the sake of material comforts apply to the larger welfare
that a wise enjoyment of nature’s gifts and nature’s lessons may bring.
The thrifty farmer comes nearest of all men to the ideal condition of the
wise man, expressed in the wish, “Give me neither poverty nor riches.” He
can have enough to comfortably house, clothe and feed his family in the
midst of surroundings as wholesome as the world affords. He can give his
children, by the aid of their healthy bodies and strong hearts, as good
opportunities for education as any can use. He has a natural leisure for
self-culture in the use of papers and books, if he tries to use it, and
his relations with neighbors of similar abilities are more human, more
true, than those found in any other circumstances. If farmers live as they
ought, their homes are centers of true hospitality, true sympathy for
human rights; and with a little more constant care for neighborly spirit
would come nearest to giving the true foundation for manly and womanly
character in children, and so in their parents.
A family of eight children grew up on a farm of little more than one
hundred acres, chopped out of the wilderness. Father and mother worked
hard and strove thriftily to make their children useful. A school was the
first requisite, even though it must be taught in the one room that was
kitchen, library and parlor, if not the bedroom, too. The church was
equally important, though it took the choicest lot on the farm for its
location. Newspapers and wholesome books were as needful as daily bread.
The household was a center of cheer and interest for the entire community.
The first Sunday School and the first Temperance Society of all that new
country were organized there. The trend of national life towards higher
ideals of justice for all humanity was first recognized there, so that
three of the four votes cast in that township for the first liberty ticket
were connected with the same household. The whole world came nearer these
youth because they learned about it.
When opportunity came for larger growth in college training, all but the
oldest boy and the oldest girl sought it eagerly. These made the old
homestead and a neighboring farm worthy centers of the same true
influence. The three sons and the three daughters whose education lifted
them to a little wider field of influence are all recognized as having
been leaders in this country, and their names are cherished by thousands
who have known their work. The thrift that has made them useful in the
truest welfare of the world was cultivated and trained on that little
farm.
The little farm became itself an evidence of thrift, attractive in its
beauty as well as in its productiveness. It gave to the father and mother
a satisfactory living till both died, the mother at eighty, and the father
at nearly a hundred. Riches they never needed, for they had enough with
the blessings of children and children’s children scattered through the
world. The farm is still in the family, doing its good work for the fourth
and fifth generations, in the same wholesome way and with promise of
never-ending welfare. A little wealth well used means enormous welfare.
The farm homes of America will be the seat of America’s welfare if their
occupants know all they can of the thrift that gives power, and do as well
as they know. Farmers who think carefully and earnestly will not expect to
overturn nature as it is, but to use it for all it is worth. This little
book is intended to help toward such a use of power and wealth as may
bring genuine welfare. Its author hopes in this way to pay in part the
debt he owes to the little farm.
INDEX.
Abandoned farms, 303.
Aggregation, disadvantages of, 197;
limit to, 196;
of forces, 57;
of industry, 191.
Aims of industry, 21.
“Anarchy,” 329.
Annual fluctuations in prices, 91, 98, 100, 104.
Arbitration in labor conflicts, 268.
Assessment, direct taxes, 353.
Association, complex, 55;
compound, 56;
methods of, 55;
simple, 55.
“Autonomy,” 328.
Balance of trade, 152.
Bank business, 148;
inspection, 151;
liabilities, 155;
loans, 153;
resources, 155.
Banking, safety of, 155.
Banks and banking, 140;
described, 141;
government, 147;
national, 144;
state, 136.
Bankruptcy, 179.
Beef prices, 100-106.
Bimetalism, 126, 128.
Bonanza farms, 201.
Bonds, exemption from taxation, 369;
deferred payment, 160.
Borrowed money, 164, 284.
Borrowers and lenders, 154.
Bounties, 207.
Boycott, the, 262.
Business security, 224.
Capital a timesaver, 40;
circulating or fixed, 40;
conservative, 44;
defined and classified, 38;
distinguished from wealth, 38;
floating, 43;
in farming, 43;
of a country, 39;
proceeds of, 279;
prudent adjustment of, 314;
“timid,” 44;
unproductive, 42.
Cattle, numbers of, 9, 83.
Character in production, 47.
Cheap living, 237.
Cheap money drives out good, 125.
Churches, taxes on, 354.
Civilization, developing, 53.
Clearing house, 149.
Clearing systems, 150.
Coinage, 118;
of the United States, 119.
Coin a country’s capital, 133;
as currency, 131.
“Collectivism,” 331.
Combinations for farming, 204;
for production, advantages, 193.
Commerce overestimated, 61.
“Communism,” 330.
Compensation, actual and nominal, 236.
Complex association, 55.
Compound association, 56.
Conclusion, 373.
Conflict between wage-earners and profit-makers, 257.
Conservative influence as security for business, 224.
Consumption, coöperative, 335;
for growth, 317;
luxurious, 319;
of wealth, 307;
wasteful, 322.
Contents, table of, xi.
Control of natural forces, 28.
Coöperative consumption, 335;
industry, 272;
stores, etc., 335.
Copyright, 210.
Corn, acreage and yield, 84;
prices of, New York, 87-91;
consumption of, 84.
Cost and value, 69.
Courts of arbitration, 268.
Cows, numbers of, 9, 83.
Credit by accounts, 133;
by due bills, 134;
currency, 135, 117;
expanding, 167;
expansion, 158.
Credits, taxation of, 359.
Crops in United States since 1850, 10;
yield of, 83-86.
Crop-year, 78.
Currency, 130;
advantages of national bank, 146;
credit, 135.
Custom, or duty, 357.
Deferred settlement and credit expansion, 158;
in exchange, 138.
Department stores, 203.
Destructive consumption, 324.
Developing civilization, 53.
Diminishing returns, law of, 79.
Discipline in production, 47.
Distribution of wealth, 233.
Division of labor, advantages, 182;
disadvantages, 188;
economy of, 180;
limits, 184;
on farms, 186.
Duty, or custom, 357.
Economic functions of government, 337.
Economic machinery of government, 346.
Economic science, 2.
Efficiency, requisites, 53.
Enlightened vs. savage, 50.
“Equality of opportunity,” 333.
Equity in wages, 277.
Exchange, advantages, 58;
in distribution, 234;
in production, 58;
limits of, 60;
its machinery, 109.
Excise collections, 357.
Exemptions from taxes, 354.
Exertion as related to value, 69.
Expanding credit, 167.
Farm crops in United States since 1850, 10;
interests, fluctuation of, 9;
products, prices of, 78;
stock in United States, 9, 83.
Farming combinations, 204.
Farms in the United States, 9, 304;
small, for homes, 202.
Federations of labor, 267.
Final utility, 67.
Financial crisis, 169.
Floating capital, 43.
Fluctuation of prices, 87-108.
Forces in production, 27.
Franchises, 211.
Free communication, 109.
Freedom in markets, 75.
General welfare, 1.
Gold, ratio to silver, 124;
standard, 128.
Government and universal needs, 339.
Government chief incentive to production, 206.
Government, ends of, 338;
stable, 18.
Government banks, 147;
churches, 342;
debts, 368, 370.
Government lands, 294.
Government machinery, 346.
Government resources, 346.
Government wards, 342.
Governmental limits, 337.
Grains, consumption of, 84.
Gresham’s law, 125.
Hard times, 172;
causes of, 173;
cure for, 178;
remedies, 176.
Higgling of the market, 73.
Hogs, number in United States, 9, 83;
prices of, 95-99.
Horses, number in U. S., 9, 83.
Human energy, 27.
Ideal manliness, 49.
Improved farming, effect of, 81.
Imprudent consumption, 319.
Incentive of good government, 206.
Income taxes, 360.
Indirect taxes, 356.
Individual Efficiency, 49.
Individual responsibility for use of wealth, 310.
Individualism, 328.
Inheritance taxes, 363.
Insurance, applications of, 229, 239;
governmental control of, 228;
methods of, 226;
nature of, 225.
Interest and rent distinguished, 279;
principles of, 283;
reasons for, 283;
uses of, 291;
varying rates of, 286.
Invention in farming, 36.
Labor and savings, relative importance, chart, 53.
Labor conflicts, arbitration in, 268.
Labor defined and classified, 32;
operative, executive, speculative, 35;
physical, mental, moral, 34.
Labor restrictions, 274.
Land as a force, 29.
Land rent, 293.
Land values, decrease of, 302;
sources of, 297;
variation, 300.
Legal tender, 166.
License, 210, 347.
Live stock in United States, 9, 83.
Loan associations, 290.
Lockout, the, 263.
Luxury, legal restrictions upon, 321;
not easily defined, 319.
Luxurious consumption, 319.
Manliness, ideal, 49.
Market, the higgling of, 73.
Market price, 77.
Markets, 72; freedom in, 75.
Measures, weights and, 114.
Methods of association, 55.
Monometalism, 126.
Monopoly privileges, 209.
Mortgage note, 159.
Mules, number of in United States, 9, 83.
Multiple standard, the, 129.
National bank currency, advantages of, 146.
National banks, 144.
National standards of value, 128.
“Nationalism,” 332.
Nationalization of industry, 275.
Natural forces, 28.
“Nihilism,” 329.
Normal value, 70.
Oats, acreage and yield, 9, 84;
prices of New York, 87-91;
consumption of, 84.
Obstacles to fair adjustment of wages, 259.
Over-production, 172.
Ownership, 15.
Panic, financial, 179.
Patents, 210.
Personal attainments, 45.
Population, drifting to cities, 303.
Population in United States, 9, 83
Pork, prices of, 95-99.
Power not wealth, 6.
Preface, vii-ix.
Premiums, 206.
Price of products and rent, 299.
Price, the market, 77.
Prices of beef, 100-105;
corn, oats, wheat, 87;
of farm products, annual fluctuations, 93, 98, 100, 100, 104;
of farm products, fluctuations, 78;
of hogs and pork, 95-101;
of iron, kerosene, silver, and farm wages, 106;
of wheat, England, 93;
of wheat, New York, 87-93.
Principles of taxation, 348.
Proceeds of capital, 279.
Production defined, 21; extended, 25;
forces in, 27.
Productive industries, 21; labor, 32.
Promissory note, 158.
Profit sharing, 269.
Profits defined, 236, 241;
fluctuation in, 255;
in agriculture, 254;
in competition, 252;
offset by losses, 256;
tendency of, 253;
variation in, 251.
Progress in welfare, 17.
Provision for future wants, 316.
Property, public, 16.
Property rights, 15.
Protection of the weak, 343.
Protective tariff, reasons for, 213;
reasons against, 217.
Prudent consumption, 312.
Prudent use of wealth, 312.
Public property, 16.
Public responsibility, 344.
Quality, standard of, 116.
Railroads in United States, miles of, 83.
Ready transportation, 111.
Rent, interest and, 279;
propriety of, 295;
in price of products, 299.
Rents, variation, 300.
Rent values of land, 293.
Repudiation of government debts, 370.
Restrictive legislation, wages, 274.
Restrictions on luxury, 321.
Rural wealth analyzed, 12.
Savage vs. enlightened, 50.
Sheep, number in U. S., 9, 83.
Silver, ratio to gold, 124.
Single land tax, 365.
Skill, 46.
Sliding scale of wages, 271.
Small farms for homes, 202.
Socialism, 330.
Socialistic tendencies, 333.
Social organization for consumption, 328.
Sources of land values, 297.
Special incentives to production, 206.
Special taxes, 364.
Standard, the multiple, 129.
Standards of value, 117; in United
States, 120; fluctuation of, 121.
Standing account, 158.
State banks, 136.
Statistics, use of, 160.
Stock of farms since 1850, in U. S., 9.
Stock company, 161.
Stock exchange, 162.
Strikes, 259.
Supply and demand, 72.
Tariffs, 213, 357.
Tariff, incidental tendencies, 220;
reasons against, 217;
reasons for, 215.
Tax, a single land, 365.
Taxation, direct and indirect, 351;
exemption of bonds, 369;
of credits, 359;
principles of, 348.
Taxes, assessment of, 353;
on incomes, 360;
on inheritance, 363;
on liquors, etc., 359;
peculiar forms of, 358;
special, 364.
Trades unions, 264.
Transformation in production, 24.
Transmutation in production, 24.
Transportation, cost of, 113;
in production, 22;
ready means of, 111.
Trusts, 204;
may cheapen products, 194.
Universal education, 341.
Universal needs met by government, 339.
Usury laws, 288.
Utility as related to value, 66.
Value and cost, 69.
Value, essentials of, 65;
from utility, 66;
in services, 65;
nature of, 63;
normal, 70;
of gold and silver, fluctuations of, 122;
standards of, 117;
the basis of exchange, 63.
Vicious consumption, 323.
Wage-earners in conflict with profit-makers, 257.
Wages and profits, 239.
Wages, defined, 241;
fluctuation of, 248;
obstacles to fair, 259;
of women, 247;
real and nominal, 236;
relation to wheat price, 93;
sliding scale, 271;
tend upward, 248;
under stimulated competition, 245;
under supply and demand, 244;
variation of, 243;
with cheap transportation, 250.
Wants basis of wealth, 14;
certain, 14;
individual, 16.
Waste, false notions of, 325.
Waste in rivalry, 326.
Wasteful consumption, 323.
Watering stock, 162.
Wealth, consumption of, 307;
defined, 5, 51;
distinguished from power, 6;
distribution, 255;
individual use of, 309;
in farming, 3;
in welfare, 1;
for welfare, 307;
material, 12;
(rural) analyzed, 12;
used by individuals, 307.
Weights and measures, 114;
system of, decimal, 115.
Welfare, elements of, 1;
mutual, 2;
progress in, 17, 373.
Wheat, acreage and yield, 84;
crop in United States, 84, 87, 91;
world’s crop, 87, 91.
Wheat prices, annual New York, 91;
in England, 93;
in New York, 87-93.
Women’s wages, 247.
ADVERTISEMENTS.
_The Best and Newest Rural Books_
Books On Leading Topics Connected With Agricultural And Rural Life Are
Here Mentioned. Each Book Is The Work Of A Specialist, Under The Editorial
Supervision Of Professor L. H. Bailey, Of The Cornell University, Or By
Professor Bailey Himself, And Is Readable, Clear-Cut And Practical.
THE RURAL SCIENCE SERIES
Includes books which state the underlying principles of agriculture in
plain language. They are suitable for consultation alike by the amateur or
professional tiller of the soil, the scientist or the student, and are
freely illustrated and finely made.
The following volumes are now ready:
*THE SOIL.* By F. H. KING, of the University of Wisconsin. 303 pp. 45
illustrations. 75 cents.
*THE FERTILITY OF THE LAND.* By I. P. ROBERTS, of Cornell University.
Second edition. 421 pp. 45 illustrations. $1.25.
*THE SPRAYING OF PLANTS.* By E. G. LODEMAN, late of Cornell University.
399 pp. 92 illustrations. $1.00.
*MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS.* By H. H. WING, of Cornell University. 280 pp. 33
illustrations. $1.00.
*THE PRINCIPLES OF FRUIT-GROWING.* By L. H. BAILEY. Second edition. 514
pp. 120 illustrations. $1.25.
*BUSH-FRUITS.* By F. W. CARD, of Rhode Island College of Agriculture and
Mechanic Arts. 537 pp. 113 illustrations. $1.50.
*FERTILIZERS.* By E. B. VOORHEES, of New Jersey Experiment Station. Second
edition. 335 pp. $1.00.
*THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE.* By L. H. BAILEY. Second edition. 300 pp.
92 illustrations. $1.25.
*IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE.* By F. H. KING, University of Wisconsin. 502 pp.
163 illustrations. $1.50.
*THE FARMSTEAD.* By I. P. ROBERTS. 350 pp. 138 illustrations. $1.25.
*RURAL WEALTH AND WELFARE.* By GEORGE T. FAIRCHILD, Ex-President of the
Agricultural College of Kansas. 381 pp. 14 charts. $1.25.
New volumes will be added from time to time to the RURAL SCIENCE SERIES.
The following are in preparation:
PRINCIPLES OF VEGETABLE GARDENING. By L. H. BAILEY. _In press._
PHYSIOLOGY OF PLANTS. By J. C. ARTHUR, Purdue University.
PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING OF ANIMALS. By W. H. BREWER, of Yale University.
PLANT PATHOLOGY. By B. T. GALLOWAY and associates of U. S. Department of
Agriculture.
FEEDING OF ANIMALS. By W. H. JORDAN, of New York State Experiment Station.
FARM POULTRY. By GEORGE C. WATSON, of Pennsylvania State College.
THE GARDEN-CRAFT SERIES
Comprises practical hand-books for the horticulturist, explaining and
illustrating in detail the various important methods which experience has
demonstrated to be the most satisfactory. They may be called manuals of
practice, and though all are prepared by Professor BAILEY, of Cornell
University, they include the opinions and methods of successful
specialists in many lines, thus combining the results of the observations
and experiences of numerous students in this and other lands. They are
written in the clear, strong, concise English and in the entertaining
style which characterize the author. The volumes are compact, uniform in
style, clearly printed, and illustrated as the subject demands. They are
of convenient shape for the pocket, and are substantially bound in
flexible green cloth.
*THE HORTICULTURIST’S RULE-BOOK.* By L. H. BAILEY. Fourth edition. 312 pp.
75 cts.
*THE NURSERY-BOOK.* By L. H. BAILEY. Third edition. 365 pp. 152
illustrations. $1.00.
*PLANT-BREEDING.* By L. H. BAILEY. 293 pp. 20 illustrations. $1.00.
*THE FORCING-BOOK.* By L. H. BAILEY. 266 pp. 88 illustrations. $1.00.
*GARDEN-MAKING.* By L. H. BAILEY. Third edition. 417 pp. 256
illustrations. $1.00.
*THE PRUNING-BOOK.* By L. H. BAILEY. Second edition. 545 pp. 331
illustrations. $1.50.
*AMATEUR’S PRACTICAL GARDEN-BOOK.* By C. E. HUNN and L. H. BAILEY. 250 pp.
Many marginal cuts. $1.00.
*WORKS BY PROFESSOR BAILEY*
THE EVOLUTION OF OUR NATIVE FRUITS. By L. H. BAILEY, Professor of
Horticulture in the Cornell University.
*472 PAGES—125 ILLUSTRATIONS—$2.00*
In this entertaining volume, the origin and development of the fruits
peculiar to North America are inquired into, and the personality of those
horticultural pioneers whose almost forgotten labors have given us our
most valuable fruits is touched upon. There has been careful research into
the history of the various fruits, including inspection of the records of
the great European botanists who have given attention to American economic
botany. The conclusions reached, the information presented, and the
suggestions as to future developments, cannot but be valuable to any
thoughtful fruit-grower, while the terse style of the author is at its
best in his treatment of the subject.
THE EVOLUTION OF OUR NATIVE FRUITS discusses The Rise of the American
Grape (North America a Natural Vineland, Attempts to Cultivate the
European Grape, The Experiments of the Dufours, The Branch of Promise,
John Adlum and the Catawba, Rise of Commercial Viticulture, Why Did the
Early Vine Experiments Fail? Synopsis of the American Grapes); The Strange
History of the Mulberries (The Early Silk Industry, The "Multicaulis
Craze,"); Evolution of American Plums and Cherries (Native Plums in
General, The Chickasaw, Hortulana, Marianna and Beach Plum Groups, Pacific
Coast Plum, Various Other Types of Plums, Native Cherries, Dwarf Cherry
Group); Native Apples (Indigenous Species, Amelioration has begun); Origin
of American Raspberry-growing (Early American History, Present Types,
Outlying Types); Evolution of Blackberry and Dewberry Culture (The
High-bush Blackberry and Its Kin, The Dewberries, Botanical Names);
Various Types of Berry-like Fruits (The Gooseberry, Native Currants,
Juneberry, Buffalo Berry, Elderberry, High-bush Cranberry, Cranberry,
Strawberry); Various Types of Tree Fruits (Persimmon, Custard-Apple Tribe,
Thorn-Apples, Nut-Fruits); General Remarks on the Improvement of our
Native Fruits (What Has Been Done, What Probably Should Be Done).
THE SURVIVAL OF THE UNLIKE:
A Collection of Evolution Essays Suggested by the Study of Domestic
Plants. By L. H. BAILEY, Professor of Horticulture in the Cornell
University.
*THIRD EDITION—515 PAGES—22 ILLUSTRATIONS—$2.00*
To those interested in the underlying philosophy of plant life, this
volume, written in a most entertaining style, and fully illustrated, will
prove welcome. It treats of the modification of plants under cultivation
upon the evolution theory, and its attitude on this interesting subject is
characterized by the author’s well-known originality and independence of
thought. Incidentally, there is stated much that will be valuable and
suggestive to the working horticulturist, as well as to the man or woman
impelled by a love of nature to horticultural pursuits. It may well be
called, indeed, a philosophy of horticulture, in which all interested may
find inspiration and instruction.
THE SURVIVAL OF THE UNLIKE comprises thirty essays touching upon The
General Fact and Philosophy of Evolution (The Plant Individual,
Experimental Evolution, Coxey’s Army and the Russian Thistle, Recent
Progress, etc.); Expounding the Fact and Causes of Variation (The Supposed
Correlations of Quality in Fruits, Natural History of Synonyms, Reflective
Impressions, Relation of Seed-bearing to Cultivation, Variation after
Birth, Relation between American and Eastern Asian Fruits, Horticultural
Geography, Problems of Climate and Plants, American Fruits,
Acclimatization, Sex in Fruits, Novelties, Promising Varieties, etc.); and
Tracing the Evolution of Particular Types of Plants (the Cultivated
Strawberry, Battle of the Plums, Grapes, Progress of the Carnation,
Petunia, The Garden Tomato, etc.).
*CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN HORTICULTURE*
_COMPRISING DIRECTIONS FOR THE CULTIVATION OF HORTICULTURAL CROPS, AND
ORIGINAL DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE SPECIES OF FRUITS, VEGETABLES, FLOWERS
AND ORNAMENTAL PLANTS KNOWN TO BE IN THE MARKET IN THE UNITED STATES AND
CANADA_
BY L. H. BAILEY
ASSISTED BY MANY EXPERT CULTIVATORS AND BOTANISTS
In Four Quarto Volumes,
Illustrated with over Two Thousand Original Engravings
This monumental work, the most comprehensive review of the vegetable world
yet made by an American, is now in the press. Though distinctly an
American work, not only plants indigenous to the North American continent
are mentioned, but also all the species known to be in the horticultural
trade in North America, of whatever origin. It is really a survey of the
cultivated plants of the world.
The Editor, Professor L. H. Bailey, has been gathering material for this
Cyclopedia for many years. He has enlisted the coöperation of men of
attainments, either in science or practice everywhere, and the Cyclopedia
has the unique distinction of presenting for the first time, in a
carefully arranged and perfectly accessible form, the best knowledge of
the best specialists in America upon gardening, fruit-growing, vegetable
culture, forestry, and the like, as well as exact botanical information.
It is all fresh, and not a rehash of old material. No precedent has been
followed; the work is upon its own original plan.
Many scientific botanical authors of justly high repute decline to give
attention to the important characters of _cultivated_ plants, confining
their work to the species in the original forms only. Professor Bailey
takes the view that a subject of commercial importance, one which engages
the attention and affects the livelihood of thousands of bright people, is
decidedly worthy the investigation of the trained botanist. In the
Cyclopedia of American Horticulture, therefore, very full accounts are
given of the botanical features of all important commercial plants, as the
apple, cabbage, rose, etc. At the same time, practical cultivators submit
observations upon culture, marketing, and the like, and frequently two
opinions are presented upon the same subject from different localities, so
that the reader may have before him not only complete botanical
information, but very fully the best practice in the most favorable
localities for the perfection of any fruit or vegetable or economic plant.
*ILLUSTRATIONS*
The pictorial character of the work is likewise notable. There are over
two thousand illustrations, and they are all made expressly for this work,
either from accurate photographs or from the specimens. These
illustrations have been drawn by competent horticultural artists, in
nearly every case under the eye of the Editor, or with the supervision of
some one of the sub-editors. No “trade” cuts are used.
In planning the illustrations, artistic effect has been kept in view, and
while no drawing is used which does not show its subject with perfect
scientific accuracy, the monotonous so-called “botanical” outlines, often
made from lifeless herbarium specimens, are notably absent. The intention
is to show the life of the plant, not merely its skeleton.
*CONTRIBUTORS, SYSTEM, ETC.*
As above mentioned, the contributors are men eminent as cultivators or as
specialists on the various subjects. The important articles are signed,
and it is expected that the complete work will include fully 5,000 signed
contributions by horticulturists, cultivators and botanists.
The arrangement is alphabetical as to the genera, but systematic in the
species. A very simple but complete plan of key-letters is used, and the
whole arrangement is toward ease of reference as well as completeness of
information. To each large genus there is a separate alphabetic index.
Important commercial subjects are treated usually under the best known
name, whether it be the scientific or "common" designation. Thus, the
apple is fully discussed as apple, rather than as _Pyrus Malus_, and the
carnation comes into view in the third letter of the alphabet, not as
_Dianthus Caryophyllus_. Carefully edited cross-references make it easy to
find any desired subject, however, in the shortest time.
The plan of presenting the full details of culture of important plants,
through the views of acknowledged practical experts upon the various
subjects, assures the great value of the book to the man or woman who is
obtaining a living from horticultural pursuits.
A special feature of the Cyclopedia of American Horticulture is its wealth
of bibliographic reference. The world’s horticultural literature has been
thoroughly searched, and most carefully indexed, so that the student will
find citations to every available article or illustration upon any subject
consulted.
*DETAILS OF PUBLICATION*
The Cyclopedia of American Horticulture is to be completed in four
handsome quarto volumes, embracing about two thousand pages, with more
than that number of original illustrations. It is carefully printed upon
specially made paper of a permanent character. The first volume (A to D,
509 pages, 743 illustrations, 9 plates) is now ready, and the work is
expected to be completed during the year 1900.
The work is sold only by subscription, and orders will be accepted for the
full set only. Terms and further information may be had of the Publishers,
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
No. 66 Fifth Avenue, NEW YORK
LESSONS WITH PLANTS: Suggestions for Seeing and Interpreting Some of the
Common Forms of Vegetation. By L. H. BAILEY, Professor of Horticulture in
the Cornell University, with delineations from nature by W. S. HOLDSWORTH,
of the Agricultural College of Michigan.
*SECOND EDITION—491 PAGES—446 ILLUSTRATIONS—12 MO—CLOTH—$1.10 NET*
There are two ways of looking at nature. The _old way_, which you have
found so unsatisfactory, was to classify everything—to consider leaves,
roots, and whole plants as formal herbarium specimens, forgetting that
each had its own story of growth and development, struggle and success, to
tell. Nothing stifles a natural love for plants more effectually than the
old way.
The new way is to watch the life of every growing thing, to look upon each
plant as a living creature, whose life is a story as fascinating as the
story of any favorite hero. "Lessons with Plants" is a book of stories, or
rather, a book of plays, for we can see each chapter acted out if we take
the trouble to _look_ at the actors.
“I have spent some time in most delightful examination of it, and the
longer I look, the better I like it. I find it not only full of interest,
but eminently suggestive. I know of no book which begins to do so much to
open the eyes of the student—whether pupil or teacher—to the wealth of
meaning contained in simple plant forms. Above all else, it seems to be
full of suggestions that help one to learn the language of plants, so they
may talk to him.”—DARWIN L. BARDWELL, _Superintendent of Schools,
Binghamton_.
“It is an admirable book, and cannot fail both to awaken interest in the
subject, and to serve as a helpful and reliable guide to young students of
plant life. It will, I think, fill an important place in secondary
schools, and comes at an opportune time, when helps of this kind are
needed and eagerly sought.”—Professor V. M. SPALDING, _University of
Michigan_.
FIRST LESSONS WITH PLANTS
An Abridgement of the above. 117 pages—116 illustrations—40 cents net.