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CHAPTER VIII ROADTOWN AGRICULTURE.
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 MARKET gardens near our cities are worth several hundreds of dollars per acre. But there are millions of acres of land more fertile than a Brooklyn market garden that cannot be used because there is no way to get fertilizer to it or products away. Transportation is more important to land values than fertility.
 
A modern city of a hundred thousand inhabitants is about six miles in diameter, within “an air line” mile of the edge of that city will be about twenty square miles of land, but this land will average three and one half miles from the markets which are usually clustered in the center of the city, but if the street system is of the checker-board type, the edge of the city between the compass points will be five miles by street from the markets.
 
91 A Roadtown with a hundred thousand inhabitants will have within a mile of its house line “edge,” or “center,” two hundred square miles of land area, ten times as much as in the above case, and this land will average but half a mile from the market to which the gardener must needs transport his produce, which is only one-tenth the distance under the present day conditions.
 
Another advantage of Roadtown for intensive agricultural development is that, because of the numerous other functions that transportation is to serve, Roadtown agriculture has a perfected system of transportation immediately at its service to say nothing of an immense consuming population on the line.
 
The first impression of a casual reader when Roadtown agriculture is mentioned, will be that reference is made to the play-farming, chrysanthemum2 and chicken breeding indulged in by suburbanites. On the contrary, though suburbanites living in Roadtown will undoubtedly3 play at farming much to their physical and mental betterment, we are here speaking of the agriculture that will be the92 leading industry of the fully4 developed Roadtown.
 
The trouble in grasping the possibilities of Roadtown agriculture comes from the difficulty of renouncing5 our old viewpoint. The typical farmer with his house in the middle of a quarter section of land, half of which is fallow, and on the other half of which he carelessly grows food for live stock of which only 6 per cent of the nutriment is recovered in the form of meat, will be inclined to make light of the idea of farm houses being built touching6 each other. On the other hand the city dweller7, especially of the older Eastern cities, which were located chiefly in reference to navigation and are more likely to be surrounded with water, swamp, rock and sand than by soil, find that when the little remaining land has paid toll8 to railroad and coal yards, millionaire villas9, and deer parks and land held by speculators, who discourage its agricultural improvements, there is little remaining to give one the picture of the close proximity10 of the consumer and the food supply.
 
In spite of the previous bias11 of these two93 viewpoints, those familiar with the possibilities of intelligent agriculture will see nothing strange in the prediction that the farmer of the future will live next door to the “city” consumer of his wares12.
 
Sufficient Land to Support Population.
 
In the first place, the locations of Roadtown will be through districts where there is little loss through uncultivatable soil. With twenty-one foot houses, there would be almost two and one-half acres per family for each mile one goes back from the Roadtown line. Thus within a mile (counting both sides) of the house line will be five acres per family. But in no section of the Roadtown will all the families be engaged in agriculture. In typically agricultural sections of the country to-day about one-third of the population live in villages and towns. This population is composed of retired13 farmers, traders and professional men who serve the farm population. In Roadtown civilization this population would live in Roadtown lines. Near cities the commuting14 population and everywhere the manufacturing94 population who are only engaged in agriculture on a small scale, or not at all, will release more land for the Roadtown farmer. If the proportion of agriculture to other enterprises is the same as in the country at large, the area available to the support of an agricultural family within a mile of Roadtown will be about twelve acres.
 
But we have limited our calculation to land within a mile of the house line—why? Evidently for argument’s sake only, for there is no other reason. In the country districts children frequently walk two or two and a half miles to school. The average distance from the post office is three or four miles. The average haul to the railroad, five to seven. The average distance to the other good things of civilization is so great that the farmer doesn’t go at all, he is often referred to as a “Hayseed,” unsophisticated, civilized15 to the extent of the civilization that can be shipped by rail and be hauled home in a wagon16. The Roadtown will pour into the farm home all the luxuries and refreshments17 of civilization at its best. In return it brings him a new problem in the95 relative location of his home to the land he cultivates. The result will be a wonderful rearrangement of the whole scheme of agriculture. The land, whether owned by private individuals, the Roadtown corporation or the Federal government, will be cut up into plots, larger and larger in size as the distance from the Roadtown increases.
 
Next to the house on both sides will be plots or gardens about the width of the house, and probably partitioned from the neighbor’s by trellises of vines or hedges of shrubbery. These plots will be of sufficient depth to give ample privacy to one’s doors and windows. These front yards—there are no back yards or back alleys18 in Roadtown—are but the outdoor part of private homes, and will perhaps be devoted19 to shade trees and lawn on one side, and to garden stuff on the other. Though these yards in Roadtown etiquette20 will be strictly21 private as far as an outsider’s presence is concerned, they will still be within easy view of promenaders on the roof, and for the same reason one is not allowed to dump rubbish on the front stoop in the city, the Roadtown yard96 will be under the general oversight22 and supervision23 of the Roadtown landscape gardener.
 
Beyond the private gardens will be vegetable gardens, then chicken yards, greenhouses or pigeon flies. Beyond these in larger plots will be berry patches and coarser vegetables, and then orchards24 and dairy barns and pastures, and farther still, grain fields, and beyond that, forests.
 
The distance back which land will eventually be tilled by farmers living in the Roadtown, is a matter on which I hesitate to express my opinion for fear it will discredit25 the worth of my judgment26 in the minds of those who have given the matter no thought, but I think I can carry the points by examples: Imagine yourself to be a farmer of the future, and accustomed to the luxury of civilization; suppose you wish to raise flax as a main crop, and breed pigeons and grow dew berries as side issues. The pigeons and berries you could have at a few minutes’ walk from your Roadtown home. The flax would require your attention, plowing28 and seeding a couple of weeks in the spring, and harvesting again a week or97 so in the summer. Would you prefer to go five miles to that field every day for fifteen or twenty days, or even take a tent with you and go twenty miles and camp there, and for the rest of the year enjoy the co?perative and waste eliminating features of the Roadtown home life, or would you live in a frame house on the land and wash your face in cold water and get up winter mornings to start a fire and drink impure29 water from a polluted well and make your wife a kitchen scullion, isolated30 and lonely, and send your children two miles through the storm to an inefficient31 country school?
 
Two of the most immediate1 advantages of the Roadtown for agriculture are heat and water for lawns, greenhouses and gardens. How far this water service can be extended from the Roadtown main will of course depend upon the nature of the supply. But it has been abundantly proven that water for irrigation, even in the most moist sections of the United States, was a wonderfully profitable investment. Sewage will find a special use as fertilizer as before mentioned, and the Roadtown98 garbage disposal works will doubtlessly have a residue32 for the land.
 
Horse manure33 as a fertilizer is gradually vanishing from industrial life, and the Roadtown will eventually depend upon the chemical fertilizers, “green manure” crops, and from the animals upon the land for fertilizer.
 
The distribution of fertilizer as well as the receipt of heavy freight, will require a freight station located about every quarter or half mile. The opening of the ground for access to the tracks will disturb a yard or two which will lessen34 the rental35 value of the house above, just as the rental value of thousands of city houses have been diminished by the presence of elevated roads. In practice such locations in the house line will doubtless be used for some of the numerous non-residential purposes for which room will be occasionally planned to suit the local conditions.
 
Transportation will enable the better development of co?perative features, such as creameries, hatcheries and nurseries that now thrive under adverse36 conditions and will doubtlessly99 encourage the development of others not now anticipated.
 
Elimination37 of the Middleman.
 
The markets of Roadtown can hardly be compared to present conditions at all. Where the farmers of to-day go to the railroad station with their produce, Roadtown farmers will leave theirs in the warehouse38 of the food department. The 25 to 75 per cent of the price that now melts away between the producer and consumer will of necessity be divided between the producer and the consumer.
 
The Roadtown, either through its central co?peration or in the form of individual citizens will be a great consuming market for the Roadtown farmer. Certain products, however, for which the locality is especially adapted must necessarily be sold outside the Roadtown. For such, salesmanship co?peration as is now carried on in the Ontario and California fruit belts and in the creameries of the Middle West and trucking districts of the South will be brought into play, and with the100 Roadtown transportation system and storage warehouses39 its farmers will surely not fail where the former have succeeded.
 
Co?perative Ownership of Farm Tools.
 
Well managed co?peration will also find another field in Roadtown agriculture in the form of co?peratively owned tools. I fully believe in the electric plow27, for instance; an invention which the writer worked out some years ago in the form of a flexible cable which would unwind from a cylinder40 on the plow as the plow moves out from the electric plug, and will rewind as it returns. Such a device as I propose is entirely41 practicable and has simply failed to be developed because of lack of cheap electric power near the land to be cultivated; however, the old reliable horse will be used back from the Roadtown line and as near to it as he proves economical and desirable.
 
The use of electricity for agricultural power, is a part of the future programme of the world as the land becomes more thickly settled and as land to raise horse food gradually diminishes. How fast the change will come will depend101 upon how rapidly the storage battery and the means of conducting electric power are cheapened through invention. At present the electrical truck competes successfully with the gasoline truck, and Edison storage batteries are now replacing the horse cars in New York streets where the traffic does not warrant the regular electric car. I believe the most economical agricultural conveyances42 in Roadtown will in a short time, if not from the outset, be light electrical storage wagons43 and that the use of such vehicles as well as electrical cultivating instruments will gradually extend back from the Roadtown as intensive agriculture develops and electric power is cheapened.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
参考例句:
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
2 chrysanthemum Sbryd     
n.菊,菊花
参考例句:
  • Each mourner wore a black armband and a white paper chrysanthemum.每个吊唁的人都佩带着黑纱和一朵白纸菊花。
  • There are many species of chrysanthemum.菊花品种很多。
3 undoubtedly Mfjz6l     
adv.确实地,无疑地
参考例句:
  • It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
  • He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。
4 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
5 renouncing 377770b8c6f521d1e519852f601d42f7     
v.声明放弃( renounce的现在分词 );宣布放弃;宣布与…决裂;宣布摒弃
参考例句:
  • He enraged the government by renouncing the agreement. 他否认那项协议,从而激怒了政府。 来自辞典例句
  • What do you get for renouncing Taiwan and embracing Beijing instead? 抛弃台湾,并转而拥抱北京之后,你会得到什么? 来自互联网
6 touching sg6zQ9     
adj.动人的,使人感伤的
参考例句:
  • It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
  • His letter was touching.他的信很感人。
7 dweller cuLzQz     
n.居住者,住客
参考例句:
  • Both city and town dweller should pay tax.城镇居民都需要纳税。
  • The city dweller never experiences anxieties of this sort.城市居民从未经历过这种担忧。
8 toll LJpzo     
n.过路(桥)费;损失,伤亡人数;v.敲(钟)
参考例句:
  • The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
  • The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。
9 villas 00c79f9e4b7b15e308dee09215cc0427     
别墅,公馆( villa的名词复数 ); (城郊)住宅
参考例句:
  • Magnificent villas are found throughout Italy. 在意大利到处可看到豪华的别墅。
  • Rich men came down from wealthy Rome to build sea-side villas. 有钱人从富有的罗马来到这儿建造海滨别墅。
10 proximity 5RsxM     
n.接近,邻近
参考例句:
  • Marriages in proximity of blood are forbidden by the law.法律规定禁止近亲结婚。
  • Their house is in close proximity to ours.他们的房子很接近我们的。
11 bias 0QByQ     
n.偏见,偏心,偏袒;vt.使有偏见
参考例句:
  • They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
  • He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。
12 wares 2eqzkk     
n. 货物, 商品
参考例句:
  • They sold their wares at half-price. 他们的货品是半价出售的。
  • The peddler was crying up his wares. 小贩极力夸耀自己的货物。
13 retired Njhzyv     
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的
参考例句:
  • The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
  • Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。
14 commuting d2c3874ec246fb1858841223ffe4992e     
交换(的)
参考例句:
  • I used the commuting time to read and answer my mail. 我利用上下班在汽车中的时间来阅读和答复给我的函电。
  • Noncommuting objects are as real to the mathematicians as commuting objects. 对于数学家来说,不可交换的对象与可交换的对象是一样真实的。
15 civilized UwRzDg     
a.有教养的,文雅的
参考例句:
  • Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
  • rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为
16 wagon XhUwP     
n.四轮马车,手推车,面包车;无盖运货列车
参考例句:
  • We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
  • The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。
17 refreshments KkqzPc     
n.点心,便餐;(会议后的)简单茶点招 待
参考例句:
  • We have to make a small charge for refreshments. 我们得收取少量茶点费。
  • Light refreshments will be served during the break. 中间休息时有点心供应。
18 alleys ed7f32602655381e85de6beb51238b46     
胡同,小巷( alley的名词复数 ); 小径
参考例句:
  • I followed him through a maze of narrow alleys. 我紧随他穿过一条条迂迴曲折的窄巷。
  • The children lead me through the maze of alleys to the edge of the city. 孩子们领我穿过迷宫一般的街巷,来到城边。
19 devoted xu9zka     
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的
参考例句:
  • He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
  • We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
20 etiquette Xiyz0     
n.礼仪,礼节;规矩
参考例句:
  • The rules of etiquette are not so strict nowadays.如今的礼仪规则已不那么严格了。
  • According to etiquette,you should stand up to meet a guest.按照礼节你应该站起来接待客人。
21 strictly GtNwe     
adv.严厉地,严格地;严密地
参考例句:
  • His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
  • The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。
22 oversight WvgyJ     
n.勘漏,失察,疏忽
参考例句:
  • I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
  • Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。
23 supervision hr6wv     
n.监督,管理
参考例句:
  • The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
  • The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。
24 orchards d6be15c5dabd9dea7702c7b892c9330e     
(通常指围起来的)果园( orchard的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • They turned the hills into orchards and plains into granaries. 他们把山坡变成了果园,把平地变成了粮仓。
  • Some of the new planted apple orchards have also begun to bear. 有些新开的苹果园也开始结苹果了。
25 discredit fu3xX     
vt.使不可置信;n.丧失信义;不信,怀疑
参考例句:
  • Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
  • They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。
26 judgment e3xxC     
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见
参考例句:
  • The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
  • He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。
27 plow eu5yE     
n.犁,耕地,犁过的地;v.犁,费力地前进[英]plough
参考例句:
  • At this time of the year farmers plow their fields.每年这个时候农民们都在耕地。
  • We will plow the field soon after the last frost.最后一场霜过后,我们将马上耕田。
28 plowing 6dcabc1c56430a06a1807a73331bd6f2     
v.耕( plow的现在分词 );犁耕;费力穿过
参考例句:
  • "There are things more important now than plowing, Sugar. "如今有比耕种更重要的事情要做呀,宝贝儿。 来自飘(部分)
  • Since his wife's death, he has been plowing a lonely furrow. 从他妻子死后,他一直过着孤独的生活。 来自辞典例句
29 impure NyByW     
adj.不纯净的,不洁的;不道德的,下流的
参考例句:
  • The air of a big city is often impure.大城市的空气往往是污浊的。
  • Impure drinking water is a cause of disease.不洁的饮用水是引发疾病的一个原因。
30 isolated bqmzTd     
adj.与世隔绝的
参考例句:
  • His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
  • Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。
31 inefficient c76xm     
adj.效率低的,无效的
参考例句:
  • The inefficient operation cost the firm a lot of money.低效率的运作使该公司损失了许多钱。
  • Their communication systems are inefficient in the extreme.他们的通讯系统效率非常差。
32 residue 6B0z1     
n.残余,剩余,残渣
参考例句:
  • Mary scraped the residue of food from the plates before putting them under water.玛丽在把盘子放入水之前先刮去上面的食物残渣。
  • Pesticide persistence beyond the critical period for control leads to residue problems.农药一旦超过控制的临界期,就会导致残留问题。
33 manure R7Yzr     
n.粪,肥,肥粒;vt.施肥
参考例句:
  • The farmers were distributing manure over the field.农民们正在田间施肥。
  • The farmers used manure to keep up the fertility of their land.农夫们用粪保持其土质的肥沃。
34 lessen 01gx4     
vt.减少,减轻;缩小
参考例句:
  • Regular exercise can help to lessen the pain.经常运动有助于减轻痛感。
  • They've made great effort to lessen the noise of planes.他们尽力减小飞机的噪音。
35 rental cBezh     
n.租赁,出租,出租业
参考例句:
  • The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
  • We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。
36 adverse 5xBzs     
adj.不利的;有害的;敌对的,不友好的
参考例句:
  • He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
  • The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。
37 elimination 3qexM     
n.排除,消除,消灭
参考例句:
  • Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
  • I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。
38 warehouse 6h7wZ     
n.仓库;vt.存入仓库
参考例句:
  • We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
  • The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。
39 warehouses 544959798565126142ca2820b4f56271     
仓库,货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
  • Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。
40 cylinder rngza     
n.圆筒,柱(面),汽缸
参考例句:
  • What's the volume of this cylinder?这个圆筒的体积有多少?
  • The cylinder is getting too much gas and not enough air.汽缸里汽油太多而空气不足。
41 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
42 conveyances 0867183ba0c6acabb6b8f0bc5e1baa1d     
n.传送( conveyance的名词复数 );运送;表达;运输工具
参考例句:
  • Transport tools from work areas by using hand trucks and other conveyances. 负责用相关运输设备从工作区域运载模具。 来自互联网
  • Railroad trains and buses are public conveyances. 火车和公共汽车是公共交通工具。 来自互联网
43 wagons ff97c19d76ea81bb4f2a97f2ff0025e7     
n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 );铁路货车;小手推车
参考例句:
  • The wagons were hauled by horses. 那些货车是马拉的。
  • They drew their wagons into a laager and set up camp. 他们把马车围成一圈扎起营地。


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