We in North America are wont to think that we may instruct all the world
in agriculture, because our agricultural wealth is great and our exports
to less favored peoples have been heavy; but this wealth is great
because our soil is fertile and new, and in large acreage for every
person. We have really only begun to farm well. The first condition of
farming is to maintain fertility. This condition the oriental peoples
have met, and they have solved it in their way. We may never adopt
particular methods, but we can profit vastly by their experience. With
the increase of personal wants in recent time, the newer countries may
never reach such density of population as have Japan and China; but we
must nevertheless learn the first lesson in the conservation of natural
resources, which are the resources of the land. [From the Forward] Get
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