million bushels of barley, eight hundred million pounds of oil cake,
eight hundred million pounds of mill feed, and other food stuffs,
phosphate, etc., and exports one hundred and seventy-five million
pounds of butter, which contains no plant food of value, but sells
for much more than these imports cost.

"Italy applies to her soils every year about a million tons of
phosphates, which contain nearly twice as much phosphorus as is
removed from the land in all the crops harvested and sold from the
farms of Italy.

"The very good yields of the crops of New England are attributable
to large use of fertilizing materials, in part made from food stuffs
shipped in from the West; and the high development of certain lands
of Europe and New England has been possible under the system
followed only because the areas concerned are small. Thus, the
average acreage of corn in Rhode Island and Connecticut is less than
three townships, or less than one-tenth as much corn land in the two
States as the area of single counties in the Illinois corn belt.

"Did you ever hear of the 'Egypt' we have out West, Miss West?"

"Out West, Miss West," she repeated. "That is too much repetition
of the same word to make a good sentence. I like 'Miss Adelaide'
better; I do get tired of hearing West and Westover over and over.
Yes, I have heard of the 'Egypt' you have out West. Is it near
Illinois?"

"Near Illinois? Why, Miss Adelaide, I am surprised that you should
even know about the crop yields of Rhode Island and not know where