The Holy Earth for Earth Day

We have assumed that there is no obligation to an inanimate thing, as we consider the earth to be: but man should respect the conditions in which he is placed; the earth yields the living creature; man is a living creature; science constantly narrows the gulf between the animate and the inanimate, between the organized and the inorganized; evolution derives the creatures from the earth; the creation is one creation. I must accept all or reject all.

It is good to live. We talk of death and of lifelessness, but we know only of life. Even our prophecies of death are prophecies of more life. We know no better world: whatever else there may be is of things hoped for, not of things seen. The objects are here, not hidden nor far to seek: And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.

    These good things are the present things and the living things. The account is silent on the things that were not created, the chaos, the darkness, the abyss. Plato, in the "Republic," reasoned that the works of the creator must be good because the creator is good. This goodness is in the essence of things; and we sadly need to make it a part in our philosophy of life. The earth is the scene of our life, and probably the very source of it. The heaven, so far as human beings know, is the source only of death; in fact, we have peopled it with the dead. We have built our philosophy on the dead.

    We seem to have overlooked the goodness of the earth in the establishing of our affairs, and even in our philosophies. It is reserved as a theme for preachers and for poets. And yet, the goodness of the planet is the basic fact in our existence. -L.H. Bailey, The Holy Earth

L.H. Bailey Message for Earth Day

The planet is part of a program we do not comprehend but in which we may partake. We manipulate the surface of the earth for good or for ill. We must keep and protect the heritage for the millions who are to come after us. This is a moral obligation. We did not make the earth. We have received it and its bounties. If it is beyond us, so is it divine. We have inescapable responsibilities. It is our privilege so to comprehend the use of the earth as to develop a spiritual stature. When the epoch of mere exploitation of the earth shall have worn itself out, we shall realize the heritage that remains and enter new realms of satisfaction. -L.H. Bailey, Retrospect for The Holy Earth, 1943

The Country Point of View

     Half of country life is in the living. It is in the point of view. It is in the way in which we look at things. Thoreau rejoiced when it rained, because he knew that his beans were happy. One day my man was agitated because the woodchucks were eating the beans. He would go to town at once and buy a gun. I asked him how many beans the woodchucks would probably destroy. He thought from one-eighth to one-quarter of an acre. Now, one-quarter of an acre of field beans should bring me a net cash return of three or four dollars. I told him that he could not buy a gun for that money. If he had a gun, he would waste more time killing the woodchucks than the beans would be worth. But the worst part of it would be that he would kill the woodchucks, and at daylight, morning after morning, I had watched the animals as they stole from the bushes, sniffed the morning air, and nibbled the crisp young leaves. Many a time I had spent twice four dollars for much less entertainment. -L.H. Bailey, Farm and Forest, 1911

Wisterious Ways: This vine can be a real beauty, or a mystery, if it doesn't bloom | Life & A...

Wisterious Ways: This vine can be a real beauty, or a mystery, if it doesn't bloom | Life & A...

Three Pieces of Advice if You Want to Become A Farmer

   City life is a social machine; or, rather, it is a congeries of machines. A few men are managers and engineers, but the ninety and nine are cogs and pins and links. Most men desire to be cogs, or at least they are willing to be. The daily life is a routine which is made and prepared. Having reached a position that insures a comfortable financial return, the struggle for existence is reduced to its lowest terms, and the person is content. Now and then a person longs for a broader view, more dependence on personal initiative, a more perfect individualism. Perhaps such a person may not go on a farm, but he may consider it.

     This, then, is the first advice that I can give you, if you think of leaving the city to become a farmer, — do not consider the proposition for a moment unless your ideal is individualistic. You are to depend on yourself. You are to make your own way. You are to live your own life. You must be resourceful.

Of course you are to work in cooperation with your fellow farmers, and cooperation will be more necessary every year; but you are to be your own manager.

    My second advice is this, — be sure that you love the country and everything there is in it. Be sure that you do not go with the feeling that you are giving up the pleasures of life. Be sure that a dandelion is worth as much as a theater. You are to be company for yourself. The birds will sing as no opera singer ever sang. The flowers will bloom in the meadows. The brooks will laugh on the pebbles and sleep under the banks. The clouds will float above you. Be sure that your heart is ripe before you move to the country.

    My third advice is that you learn farming. A farmer could not expect to succeed in a city business until he had learned it; and perhaps his type of mind would be such that he could never learn it. Neither can a city man expect to succeed in a farming occupation until he has learned the facts and the business of farming. Books and periodicals and bulletins will help, but they are only helps; the business must be learned by actually working in it, as any other business must be learned. The city man can not expect to revolutionize farming. If any revolution comes, it is to be worked out by farmers, whether they are city bred or country bred.

    You must not be afraid to work with your hands. At times the work will be hard, and the days will be cold or hot. This you are to accept as part of the business; but if your mind is right, labor will be its own reward.

    My city friend must remember that farming is a family business. A single man can hardly expect to be a thoroughly successful and satisfied farmer. So I hope that you have a wife. If she thinks as you do about the country, the problem is half solved. If her heart is wedded to the city, stay where you are. I hope you have children, — and what healthy, natural child under twelve years of age would not love the country?- L.H. Bailey, Farm and Forest, 1911

The Demand for Cheap Food is Fallacious

The demand for cheap food is fallacious. Pressing down the cost of food has one or all of three results on the producers of it (and its effect on the producers is a vital concern with us as citizens of a State): We reduce the standards of living of the producers in our own country; we exploit the cheap labor and cheap lands of new and remote countries; or we live on the products of peasantry in other countries. These three are the same, considered in the human result. If we are glad to meet the problem of maintaining the standard of living for workingmen, we must be equally glad to maintain it for farmers. There are reasons why we should not attempt the same program for farmers as for workingmen: our problem is to be willing to pay as much for food and other farm products as is necessary for the maintenance of the standard of living on the farms. -L.H. Bailey, What is Democracy? 1918

Happy Birthday Liberty Hyde Bailey

"we have another son a full Blooded Yankee boy... Mother said to Sarah if she ever had another one she wanted to name it... we sent to her for a name... we think it will be L.H. Jun... the boy smart and bright as a dollar...born the 15 of March and weighed 7 1/2 lbs." Letter from Liberty Hyde Bailey, Sr. to his parents, March 22, 1858.

It is a marvelous planet on which we ride. It is a great privilege to live thereon, to partake in the journey, and to experience its goodness. We may co-operate rather than rebel. We should try to find the meanings rather than to be satisfied only with the spectacles. My life has been a continuous fulfillment of dreams.-L. H. Bailey. “Words Said About A Birthday”, 1948, Printed on the occasion of Liberty Hyde Bailey's ninetieth birthday celebration