“They jumped at it like a hungry trout does at a worm,” he declared. “This is just the encouragement for which they’ve been waiting twenty-five years. Before next Wednesday I expect to have the name of everyone who can hold a pen on that list.” And Ruth was about as enthusiastic as Holt. “It was fine, Billy,” she said. “You certainly kept your promise about waking them up.” In looking back over these last few pages it strikes me that perhaps these things aren’t very important but my pen sort of ran away with me as I remembered that first meeting. But then again maybe these details are significant as showing how easy it was to rouse these people as a whole in contrast with how difficult it was to inspire them individually. If Holt and I had taken any one of these men into an office and given him the same talk it would have gone in one ear and out the other without leaving even a record of its progress. During the next week the five of us worked hard on our list of prizes. We wanted the money to cover as much ground as possible but we also wanted each prize to be substantial enough to be tempting. This is what we finally made ready to report to the next meeting: 1. For the best crop of hay on one acre of fresh broken land, one hundred dollars. 2. For the best crop of hay on an acre of land already used as hay land, seventy-five dollars. 3. For the best crop of corn on an acre of land, one hundred dollars. 4. For the best house garden, seventy-five dollars. 5. For the best market garden, seventy-five dollars. 6. For the best flower garden, fifty dollars. 7. For the best potato crop per acre, one hundred dollars. 8. For the largest return from chickens according to capital invested, one hundred dollars. 9. For the largest return from cows according to capital invested, one hundred dollars. 10. For the largest return from pigs according to capital invested, one hundred dollars. 11. For the most notable improvement in an old orchard, one hundred and twenty-five dollars. This seemed at the time and it seems to me to-day a pretty fair division. It gave everyone a chance whether the owner of one acre or fifty, and it was varied enough to interest everyone. As the awards were to be made on the basis of capital invested it gave the poor man an equal chance with the well-to-do.