the way. I've divided the five thousand acres into twenty-acre
holdings. I believe each twenty acres should support, comfortably, not
only a family, but pay at least six per cent."

"When it is all allotted it will mean two hundred and fifty families,"
the _Gazette_ man calculated; "and, say five to the family, it
will mean twelve hundred and fifty souls."

"Not quite," Dick corrected. "The last holding is occupied, and we
have only a little over eleven hundred on the land." He smiled
whimsically. "But they promise, they promise. Several fat years and
they'll average six to the family."

"Who is _we_?" Graham inquired.

"Oh, I have a committee of farm experts on it--my own men, with the
exception of Professor Lieb, whom the Federal Government has loaned
me. The thing is: they _must_ farm, with individual responsibility,
according to the scientific methods embodied in our instructions. The
land is uniform. Every holding is like a pea in the pod to every other
holding. The results of each holding will speak in no uncertain terms.
The failure of any farmer, through laziness or stupidity, measured by
the average result of the entire two hundred and fifty farmers, will
not be tolerated. Out the failures must go, convicted by the average
of their fellows.

"It's a fair deal. No farmer risks anything. With the food he may grow
and he and his family may consume, plus a cash salary of a thousand a
year, he is certain, good seasons and bad, stupid or intelligent, of
at least a hundred dollars a month. The stupid and the inefficient